MacKinnon: Sutter's 'waste of 8 days' comment turned out to be right

No one knew facing the Avalanche in the postseason would be difficult more than Calgary Flames head coach Darryl Sutter, who proclaimed back in March that a first-round matchup with Colorado would be "a waste of eight days."

As Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon pointed out on Monday's episode of the "High Button Podcast," Sutter wasn't wrong.

"I don't know if he really even meant it ... I don't know if we was trying to jinx us or what, but he turned out to be right, I guess," MacKinnon said. "We did win in seven days."

The Nashville Predators had the misfortune of drawing an opening-round date against the eventual Stanley Cup champions as the second wild-card team in the Western Conference. They were swept out of the playoffs.

"But it's so close, it's really close," MacKinnon said. "We win in OT in Game 2, that can go either way. We had a great (Game 3) win, and then we were down in the fourth game against Nashville."

For MacKinnon, the Avalanche didn't face serious adversity until the second round against the St. Louis Blues.

"That St. Louis series really got us prepared for the final," he said.

He added: "We had a great two games on the road (in St. Louis), and then we blow a three-goal lead at home in Game 5. We were just like, 'Oh, my God.'"

The Blues took Game 5 thanks to Tyler Bozak's overtime winner. However, Colorado won the series on the road in Game 6, which MacKinnon said was "huge" for the Avalanche given their recent second-round struggles.

"We (were) terrified of losing Game 6, but you have to put that to the side," he said.

The Avalanche then swept the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Final before beating the Tampa Bay Lightning in six games to claim their first Stanley Cup since 2001.

MacKinnon was key to the team's success. The Nova Scotia native led the Avalanche with 13 goals while chipping in 11 assists in 20 games.