To borrow from a famous phrase, it is better to have played together for a few days and lost than to have never played together at all.
When Ryan Lindgren arrived with the Colorado Avalanche, he was excited to play for a Stanley Cup contender. But he was also going to play with one of his best friends, center Casey Mittelstadt.
It was a great moment for the former Minnesota Gophers teammates and offseason golfing buddies. It lasted a week.
Lindgren arrived March 1. Mittelstadt was shipped out March 8 to the Bruins for Charlie Coyle.