Keith Jones’ head still kind of likes San Jose to dance on, even though watching the Sharks get slapped around by the Avalanche Thursday night had his heart thinking his head might be full of it.
“This year’s (playoffs) have been so unpredictable, it just might be the year that the Avs can grab it. Itap wide-open,” Jones, the former Avs winger and current NBCSN NHL analyst told The Post.
“After Tampa Bay (the Eastap No. 1 seed) was beat out, and with Pittsburgh and Washington gone … there is, without a doubt, a big shift going on as far as trying to figure out which teams are going to be the next powerhouses. Why not try to grab it while you can? So if they snuck up and grabbed it, that would be awesome.”
For Jones, the Avs-Sharks matchup in the Western Conference semifinals rolls back all kinds of Rocky Mountain memories — especially the ringing-in-your-ears-won’t-stop kind. The Ontario native piled up 28 regular-season goals and 57 regular-season points over 102 games with the Avs from 1996-99, contributing to Colorado squads that reached Western Conference finals in 1997 and the quarterfinals in 1998.
That three-year stretch was part of the apex of the Avs’ first golden decade in Denver, a 10-year stretch that saw the franchise make the playoffs every season from 1995-96 through 2005-06, winning a pair Stanley Cups along the way.
“And I believe this Avalanche core is going to have a better blue line than the Avs teams that won Cups, as well,” Jones noted. “I think thatap whatap coming.”
Better?
“I don’t know (about) ‘better’ — but younger,” he clarified. “But I think thatap really important. When you watch (Samuel) Girard and (rookie Cale) Makar and how (they’ve) started to develop already … they’re the type of players in today’s game that take you a long ways on the blue line.”
How long can the current Avs navigate a topsy-turvy Stanley Cup Playoff bracket? Jones said it depends largely on Colorado’s dynamic young offensive core of , and .
“Sometimes, younger players and younger teams have, I would think, a tendency to start to think they’re a little bit better than they are just yet,” Jones said. “So that would be the challenge for (coach) , to keep that in check. Keep that believability — but at the same time, keep that chip on your shoulder.”
Interest keeps building too: The first four Avs-Sharks series games on NBCSN have drawn the network’s highest-ever ratings for the Avalanche in the Denver market, with Game 3 (7.8) teasing an 8.0 rating and Game 4 (8.4) topping it.
“It was a crazy hockey town when I was there,” Jones said. “It was just prior to the (Super Bowl) heyday of the Denver Broncos (in 1997-99) … so thatap really refreshing to see it make a comeback.”
