{"id":642610,"date":"2026-03-09T06:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/642610\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T06:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T06:33:14","slug":"nazem-kadri-just-made-avs-star-nathan-mackinnon-smile-like-its-2022","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/642610\/","title":{"rendered":"Nazem Kadri just made Avs star Nathan MacKinnon smile like it’s 2022"},"content":{"rendered":"

It took one game for Nazem Kadri<\/a> to turn the NHL\u2019s perpetual frown completely upside down.<\/a><\/p>\n

Nathan MacKinnon<\/a> hasn\u2019t flashed a smile like that on the ice since, what, June 2022?<\/a><\/p>\n

Just saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been here a short while, and I think we\u2019ve got what it takes (to win it all),\u201d Kadri said Sunday after helping the Avalanche snatch a scrappy shootout win over the Minnesota Wild in Naz\u2019s Denver return.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cBeing around the guys and understanding their level of focus \u2026 they understand that we\u2019ve got ourselves a great opportunity here. And when everyone\u2019s on that same page \u2026 (During the) 2022 (Stanley Cup run), that\u2019s exactly the feeling I had. So, I mean, there\u2019s a lot of work to be done. Nobody\u2019s going to give it to us. But we\u2019re going to work for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of work, it only took Kadri about a period-and-a-half to remind Avs fans<\/a> exactly what they\u2019d missed about him. The poking. The prodding. The pressing.<\/a><\/p>\n

With 7:41 to go in the second stanza, the veteran Avs forward closed in and nagged Wild defenseman Brock Faber behind the Minnesota goal \u2014 intercepting Quinn Hughes\u2019 drop pass for Faber in the process.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we had some good pressure on the forecheck,\u201d Kadri said. \u201cMade a good read, picked off a pass and found Nate in the slot. He\u2019s going to bury that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whenever MacKinnon\u2019s lurking nearby, it only takes a split second to turn a moment of chaos into utter genius.<\/p>\n

Sure enough, Kadri spotted a charging Nate Dogg all alone in the right face-off circle, and fed the Avs center a laser from goalie Jesper Wallstedt\u2019s blind spot. MacKinnon celebrated the gift by launching a wrister over the Wild netminder\u2019s shoulder, putting the hosts on the board with a 1-0 lead.<\/p>\n

Cue that smile. Oh, doctor. It was luminous. It\u2019s the one MacKinnon saves for Cup clinchers, downtown victory parades<\/a>, and reunions with his closest pals. Nate Dogg hugged Kadri. Avs fans hugged one another.<\/p>\n

NHL? You\u2019re in trouble deep.<\/a><\/p>\n

Lord Stanley? We\u2019ve got a table waiting for you at Fogo De Chao.<\/a><\/p>\n

The helper was Naz\u2019s first point with the Avs since his winning goal in overtime at Tampa to close out Game 4 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Finals.<\/p>\n

Mike Penny actually saw that last one in the flesh. Sort of. The Avs diehard was part of a pack of about seven \u201cKADRI 91\u201d sweaters sitting shoulder to shoulder in Sections 128 and 130 Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"NazemNazem Kadri (91) of the Colorado Avalanche speaks to Nathan MacKinnon (29) during the third period of the Avs\u2019 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was amazing,\u201d Penny said of that Naz game-winner. \u201cWe were catty-corner from where the goal got scored. And we saw these four Avalanche fans just jumping up and down. And we\u2019re like, \u2018They must have scored! They must have scored!\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we started jumping up and down. And then next thing you know, the whole crowd erupts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEven the Lightning fans?\u201d I wondered.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, not really,\u201d Penny replied. \u201cBut all the Avs fans in the crowd.\u201d<\/p>\n

Can\u2019t make this stuff up, kids.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew Naz was coming back (today), right? So we all decided to keep our tickets,\u201d Penny\u2019s friend Marc Angel explained. \u201cAnd we were all like, \u2018Look, we are wearing the Naz (sweaters on Sunday).’\u201d<\/p>\n

Angel showed me a group text they\u2019d put together after Avs GM Chris MacFarland landed Kadri from Calgary this past Friday. a coordinated effort to make sure everybody nabbed those old 91s out of the back of the closet. Like Colorado\u2019s power play, it takes a village, sometimes.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver year, (Penny) would get mad at me and tell me, \u2018He\u2019s coming back, he\u2019s coming back, I know he\u2019s coming back,’\u201d Angel recalled. \u201cThis year, it actually happened.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I kept the sweater,\u201d Penny countered. \u201cI don\u2019t know what else you want!\u201d<\/p>\n

One more Cup?<\/p>\n

One more summer cigar at Civic Center park?<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never been a (trade) deadline guy,\u201d Kadri said. \u201cBut, you know, to come here and play in front of these fans and play with this team is exactly what I could have asked for.\u201d<\/p>\n

If Sunday was any indication, the love affair between Avs fans and Kadri burns as hot as ever.<\/p>\n

Derek Huffman brought a 2019-2020 game-worn No. 91 with him from Thornton for Sunday\u2019s homecoming. He\u2019s got two more Naz sweaters back home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI call him, like, a Claude Lemieux. Like a hemorrhoid,\u201d Huffman said. \u201cThe ones you want on your team. And hate when they\u2019re not on your team.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guy just pokes and pokes and knows where to poke at.\u201d<\/p>\n

Huffman was on a Teams call in his home office around 2-ish this past Friday afternoon when news of the Kadri trade broke.<\/p>\n

His daughter, working upstairs, let outt a cry.<\/p>\n

\u201cOH MY GOD!\u201d<\/p>\n

She went running down the steps and burst into Derek\u2019s room. Huffman turned his mute on and his camera off. Why let a business call ruin a moment of absolute elation?<\/p>\n

\u201cWe landed him,\u201d she told Huffman. \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor what?\u201d he queried.<\/p>\n

Once they found out?<\/p>\n

Oh. My. God.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the best thing in the world. I think (Kadri) might be the missing piece,\u201d Huffman gushed. \u201cWhen you add that back in there and the grit \u2014 you already saw it in the beginning of the game, just a grit, (his) back-checking. Getting his face in the middle of the net and everything else. Just being him.\u201d<\/p>\n

Naz skated with the top line and opened on the first power-play unit. \u00a0With 13:03 to go in the first period, the Avs ran a video tribute to Kadri\u2019s first Denver stint, capped by a WELCOME HOME message on the scoreboard.<\/p>\n

Kadri looked up, briefly, then wagged a gloved finger in appreciation. As the applause continued, his gaze turned back quickly to the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s almost like a \u2018pinch-me\u2019 type moment,\u201d Kadri said later. \u201cLike, \u2018Wow, this is crazy. Hey, guys, can you settle down? I\u2019ve got to focus here.\u2019 \u00a0But no, of course, I love the noise. I love the support. And these fans are special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NazemNazem Kadri (91) of the Colorado Avalanche and Jake Middleton (5) of the Minnesota Wild race to the puck during the third period of the Avs\u2019 shootout win at Ball Arena in Denver on Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve heard of fans who can\u2019t wait to drive a player to the airport, right? Avalanche faithful apparently tried to get Kadri from DIA back to Ball Arena quicker after his plane landed late Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou get spotted?\u201d I asked Naz.<\/p>\n

\u201cSeveral times, yeah,\u201d Kadri replied. \u201cBut they actually helped me out with my luggage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Denver fans with the assist. Naturally. Some legends write themselves. And some sequels are worth the wait.<\/p>\n

Want more sports news? Sign up for the Sports Omelette to get all our analysis on Denver\u2019s teams.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It took one game for Nazem Kadri to turn the NHL\u2019s perpetual frown completely upside down. Nathan MacKinnon…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":642611,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[42],"tags":[839,4830,273357,32524,32527,273358,4439,2995,8605,58745,4440,1370,6995,3663,3112,32532,69954,64269,293,21701,88628,62,2632,7010,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-642610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-airport","tag-avalanche","tag-avalanche-takes","tag-ball-arena","tag-chris-macfarland","tag-civic-center-park","tag-colorado","tag-colorado-avalanche","tag-denver","tag-dia","tag-front-range","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lightning","tag-minnesota","tag-minnesota-wild","tag-more-avalanche-news","tag-nathan-mackinnon","tag-nazem-kadri","tag-nhl","tag-parades","tag-sean-keeler","tag-sports","tag-sports-columnists","tag-stanley-cup","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116197825483232391","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=642610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/642610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/642611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=642610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=642610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=642610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}