Cale Makar excels at both ends of the rink.
– Are you kiddin’ me? Knuckle, palm, top shelf.
That’s how Sportsnet’s enthusiastic commentators squealed when Cale Makar -show would be in Chicago in January 2022.
– Oh, my goodness. Is this cunt special or what?
If someone hadn’t noticed Makari’s exceptionality yet, the overtime hit in the Blackhawks net at the latest opened their eyes.
Makar spun around confusingly quickly and left his shadow By Kirby Dach to sway in wonder. The breakaway was followed by a silky and, above all, quick diversion, which was crowned by a lift to the second post by the Konkar keeper Marc-Andre Fleury to the roof of the goal.
The wonderful hit was like the starting shot for the spring season, which culminated in the Stanley Cup and the empty trophy table. Makar was chosen as the best defender of the season and the most valuable player of the playoffs.
Even in the hardest moments, Makari’s playing had a magical primalness. Just as if he had flown into the NHL’s player bags straight from the Alberta pond ice rinks.
– There are still the same movements that you can see in the videos when he was nine years old, Laura– mother commented in The Athletic story a few years ago.
– He has just taken them to the next level.
Quadruple booking
The Avalanche took Makar with the number four pick in the summer 2017 draft. There was time to shout before him by Nico Hischier, by Nolan Patrick and Miro Heiskanen the names.
The AJHL is not the most traditional breeding ground for superstars. In April, Makar was still far from top speculation on NHL Central Scouting’s lists, but his dominance in the Brooks Bandits shirt in the AJHL playoffs quickly raised his status.
Jan Ludwiga former NHL player and long-time player scout for the New Jersey Devils, visited Makar on site numerous times.
– One half of his body seemed to go one way and the other half the other – kind of like With Roger Federerwhen he hits the palm, but the body is already turning to the knuckle, Ludvig characterizes.
– I had to find something wrong with his playing. The closer I looked, the fewer faults I managed to find.
Ludvig ended up summing up “right’s side”. Bobby Orr” – but not out loud.
– If the scout dared to bring up Orr’s name, he would be considered overzealous, overshooting or not understanding.
The Devils ended up using their No. 1 pick on Hischier. He has grown into the Devils’ skipper and point-per-game center, but…
Kivikova Orr
Wayne Gretzky made an Orr comparison in the summer of 2022 when Makar dominated the Stanley Cup-ending playoffs.
– I will never say that someone is as good as Bobby Orr, Gretzky begins.
– Orr was really good defensively and hard as a rock. Orr fought and won the stock markets.
According to the Hockeyfights special website, Orr fought 47 times in his NHL career.
– Makar can hit the table with 90 or 100 points. Like Bobby, he plays against the best players on the field, dulls the opponents’ top guys, kills three-on-five underdogs, blocks shots and puts his body in the box, Gretzky enumerates.
– He is the Bobby Orr of the new era.
Bobby Orr is considered the greatest defenseman of all time and one of the best players along with Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. PDO
“I’m really young”
– Are we surprised? The Colorado Avalanche asked on their X account on October 18, when Makaris became the fastest defenseman in NHL history to reach the 250-point mark.
Maybe a little – because Bobby Orr’s remarkable records have not been in the habit of being broken.
Makar reached the 250-point mark at 241 games, Orr six games later. Big defenders Denis Potvin (251), Brian Leech (253) and Paul Coffey (260) were clearly slower.
Makar commented on the heated Orr comparisons during the season with his typical modesty.
“Comparing to a guy like that is crazy,” he says.
– It’s hard for me to understand it.
In his record season, Orr recorded 139 (37+102) points in 78 games. The balance of the whole career is huge: 657 matches, 915 (270+645) points.
Orr was chosen as the best defender no less than eight times. He is the only defenseman who has won the NHL point exchange.
– His achievements are pretty much overwhelming, Makar sums up.
– I’m not even close yet. I’m still really young.
Makar, 25, is playing in his sixth NHL season. He has registered 276 (70+206) points in 258 matches.
Sources of quotes: The Athletic, ESPN and Sports Illustrated.
Cale Makar won the Conn Smythe as the best player in the Avs’ championship spring: 20 games, 29 (8+21) points. AOP / USA TODAY Sports