If Nathan MacKinnon represents the heart, then Gabriel Landeskog is the Avalanche’s soul and spine, the last link in a mighty chain that finally dragged Lord Stanley’s Cup to its rightful plinth a mile high.
But Keith Jones, like a lot of hockey pundits these days, is admittedly curious:
How strong will that Avs chain be, with the rest of the NHL gunning for the defending champs, without that link holding everything together? How far can a ship sail with its captain, o captain, sidelined for three months as he recovers from another knee surgery?