SEATTLE — Cale Makar dreamed the improbable into existence.
The night before Game 4 of Colorado’s first round against the Kraken, the Avalanche defenseman had a dream that a crowd was booing him. He doesn’t remember what he did to provoke the animosity in his sleep. But on Monday morning, “I just remember waking up, and I was playing a game and I was getting booed,” he told The Post.
He’ll always remember what caused the cascade of jeers in real life. So will the city of Seattle.
Makar’s late hit on Jared McCann at Climate Pledge Arena on Monday night resulted in a one-game suspension that will sideline the defending Norris Trophy winner from a critical Game 5 on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. MT, ESPN). The NHL Department of Player Safety held a hearing Tuesday morning, as well as Makar’s lack of previous on-ice transgressions.
This is the first time Makar, 24, has faced a suspension or any supplemental discipline from the NHL.
Now the Kraken’s leading scorer is out for at least Game 5 in a 2-2 series, and the defending Conn Smythe winner is a villain for the first time in his career.
Colorado’s Cale Makar has been suspended for one playoff game for Interference against Seattle’s Jared McCann.
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety)
Makar said he had never been booed before this. Now he might need to get used to it every time he returns to Seattle, if Kraken coach Dave Hakstol’s reaction was any indication.
“What I saw live and what I watched after the period on video is a late hit where the puck is out of play,” Hakstol said after the Kraken’s 3-2 overtime win. “McCann shoots that puck. It goes immediately out of play, straight up into the netting. … I believe the puck is being caught by a fan as (McCann) is being run into the end wall.”
The play started with a short-handed breakaway for McCann, who scored 40 goals in the regular season. Avs goalie Alexandar Georgiev saved the shot, and the puck deflected high over the glass and out of play. But Makar kept skating. He laid his shoulder into McCann’s after the play was dead, leaving McCann woozy on the ice. He had to be helped off. Hakstol thinks McCann will be out “probably longer” than just one game.
“It’s unfortunate. I never want to injure guys,” Makar said. “Hopefully (McCann is) all right. At the end of the day, I didn’t feel like I tried to finish him that hard. But I feel like if I was in that scenario, they would have done the exact same thing. So I’m not trying to hurt anybody. It’s just unfortunate. Tough bouncer. And they got the call right. That’s all you can ask for.”
The call was initially a five-minute major for interference, but officials decided to reduce the penalty to a two-minute minor. Citing that reason, Avalanche coach Jared Bednar said after the game that he didn’t fear Makar facing supplemental discipline from the NHL. But , an infraction that leads to a suspension or fine can be categorized differently than the call on the ice, meaning the minimized nature of the penalty had no bearing on whether Makar would face more consequences.
Bednar said Tuesday that he was disappointed by the verdict. Hakstol disagreed with the penalty being reduced from the beginning. Seattle’s coach said the officials’ explanation was “inaccurate.”
As for Makar, the star defenseman said he was unsure if the puck was still in play or out of play when he landed the hit.
“I know he got the shot off,” Makar said. “And then I was just assuming he was going to the corner because (the puck) was coming down. So I didn’t really look.”
In a video released Tuesday explaining the suspension, a Player Safety rep said, “It is important to note that McCann is in no way eligible to be checked on this play. Makar finishes this hit well outside the allowable window for finishing a check. In addition, it is clear that Makar knows McCann is not in possession of the puck when he decides to deliver this hit. While we have heard Makar’s assertion that he assumed that the puck would bounce into the corner and the play would continue, the onus is on Makar to ensure this occurs before initiating contact.”
Kraken players largely avoided commenting after the game, but forward Jaden Schwartz echoed Hakstol’s frustration. “I felt like the puck went in the netting for two or three seconds before (the hit) happened,” Schwartz said. “… When you see a guy go down like that, as a teammate, itap frustrating. You want to do what you can for him.”
That, the Kraken did.
Booing aside, the on-ice intensity increased with every shift. Makar noticed the Kraken targeting him every chance they had when he touched the puck.
“They’re running at me and stuff like that, so just trying to play dodgeball out there,” said Makar. “It is what it is. They’re a really physical team. We just have to be able to match that. … A big thing for us is just supporting each other on the ice.”
“If they’re going to head-hunt him,” Evan Rodrigues said, “then we’ll take the power play,”
Artturi Lehkonen and Logan O’Connor both started the second period in the box after scuffles. Bo Byram and Yanni Gourde continued to wrestle, as they have all series. Seattle’s Vince Dunn put Rodrigues on the ice after a whistle, while Rodrigues was without his helmet. “Crosschecked me from behind,” Rodrigues said, shrugging. “It’s the playoffs.”
Unfathomably at the center of the hostility was Makar, the 24-year-old superstar with the rosy cheeks and boyish charm. Makar, who has perhaps the highest approval rating in the league among his peers. Makar, who declined a penalty earlier this season when he knew Mathew Barzal didn’t actually hook him in Denver.
Ever thought that guy would become a villain?
If at first he seemed uncomfortable with the booing, he almost seemed to relish it by the end. During a third-period shift, Makar gathered the puck and waited behind Colorado’s net for a prolonged pause in play, as if to test the fans’ resolve.
“To be honest when I’m on the ice, I don’t really hear it that much,” he told The Post. “I just try and stay in the moment. In that moment, I was just tired, so I was just trying to hold it behind the net. We were changing, so I was trying to get some fresh guys on the ice and then hopefully make a play to get off the ice.”
This series is now guaranteed a Game 6 back in Seattle on Friday. Just enough time for Kraken fans to regain their voices and reload.
“You have to be a big boy about it,” Makar said. “You can’t just back down. If they want to run me and stuff like that, I’ll have to be ready for it.”
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