DENVER — Thursday night in Denver was supposed to be nostalgia night. An homage to throwback sweaters, retro glory, and hockey theater. Instead, it turned into a theater of petty gamesmanship starring Jack Drury, with the Avalanche acting like tough guys who forgot how to win. The Carolina Hurricanes walked away with a 5–4 shootout victory, but make no mistake: the drama behind the drama was the antics of Drury, backed (knowingly or not) by overly permissive officials, in a game that should have been about skill, not cheap shots.
Drury, now a center for Colorado, put his dirty hat on early. He baited Hurricanes players into taking penalties, stuck elbows into unsuspecting rivals, and slowed the game down whenever momentum tilted toward Carolina. On throwback night, he looked less like a respectful pro in vintage threads and more like a middle schooler mouthing off in gym class. The refs let him play rough — a little too rough — and his behavior went largely unchecked, suggesting that whatever limits were supposed to exist in officiating broke down early.
To his credit, Drury did draw some whistles — but more often than not, he was the instigator. He tossed in a slash here, a hook there, tied up sticks, and flinched play after play as though the Avalanche brass told him “don’t win with finesse — get in their heads.” But let’s get real: letting the other team take penalties by acting like a pest is not fierce; it’s frustrating. It’s the bark of a dog who knows he has little bite.
His stat line in the game? Not flashy. One doesn’t recall a dominating performance score-sheet wise. His value in this game was more in the annoyance factor than net presence. That’s the problem. A player can help by being physical without being obnoxious. Drury leaned hard into the latter. When a game’s outcome is decided by grit and skill — or by goaltending, as Frederik Andersen proved with 44 saves — cheap antics only undermine your credibility. Fans watching know when someone is playing the part of a tough guy but lacks the substance to back it up.
Then there’s the Avalanche themselves — all swagger, all posturing, but as fickle as a mid-December gust. They dress like bruisers, talk tough, but fold when pressure arrives. They pretend to be a team that can scrap and skate; they pretend to be able to trade hits for momentum. But the moment they needed to stand tall, they wobbled.
Meanwhile, the Hurricanes deserve respect for staying composed in a penalty-laden game. Carolina gave up nine power plays — nine! — yet found ways to stay in it, score timely goals, and eventually prevail in the shootout. That’s resilience. That’s character. That’s earning a win even when the referees give you handicap spots. The officials’ mercy (or inconsistency) helped the Avs; Carolina absorbed it and still won.
What the Avalanche would rather not admit is that when games tilt toward chaos, that’s where their weaknesses are exposed. They have skill, they have talent, but they don’t always have discipline. Drury’s antics made that abundantly clear: cajole the opponent into mistakes, try to pull the referee into your mental chess match, and hope that the actual game doesn’t matter.
Short version: Drury looked like a punk, the refs let it slide, and Colorado looked like a house of cards when push came to shove. The Hurricanes, gritty and composed, beat them anyway. If you’re going to posture as a tough team, you better be ready to show it when the chips are down. Otherwise, you’re just pretending — and tonight, the Avalanche did plenty of pretending.
Let this game be a lesson: trash tactics don’t override real play. Fans see it. Opponents see it. That faux-tough aura wears thin fast. Drury had his moment. The crowd probably cheered his clever snipes. But in the end, when a genuine goal and solid goaltending won this night, that bark looked hollow. If the Avs want to stop being pretenders, they need more backbone than an elbow in the ribs — and more integrity than cheap theatrics.
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