When Cale Makar scored in Game 3 of the Colorado Avalanche’s first-round series against the Calgary Flames, it was the kind of moment a television network would script if it could. The shot came in Makar’s NHL debut in the Stanley Cup playoffs—a first for a defenseman—against the very team he grew up loving. Sure, it wasn’t a game-winner. But it was arguably more notable—a sign of how good he is and how fast he’s grown up.
“You gotta be mature when you’re in these situations,” Makar says. “It’s changing levels and everything, but at the end of the day, you gotta have fun with it.