The concern level about Cale Makar missing Game 1 is on a sliding scale

Colorado faces Vegas in Game 1 without its star defenseman, but Makar's appearance on the ice at practice has Dover and Cecil cautiously optimistic

BY JOEY FREEBURG

May 20, 2026, 2:57 PM

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The Colorado Avalanche have weathered plenty of adversity to reach this point in the postseason. A goaltending carousel. A 3-0 hole in Game 5 against Minnesota. A series that demanded every ounce of resilience the roster could muster.

Now, with the Western Conference Finals beginning tonight against the Vegas Golden Knights, they face a new wrinkle. They’re opening the series without the best defensemen in the world.

Breaking: Avalanche star Cale Makar will miss Game 1 of the Western Conference finals vs. the Golden Knights, head coach Jared Bednar announced.

Bednar said Makar is day-to-day. pic.twitter.com/ylWiUuNBV1

— ESPN (@espn) May 20, 2026

On a Wednesday edition of “Dover and Cecil” on 104.3 The Fan, hosts Josh Dover and Cecil Lammey addressed the news that Cale Makar will not be available for Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals. The reaction, however, wasn’t panic.

Lammey set the tone for the conversation.

“We’re fired up for Game 1, without Cale Makar,” he said. “We’re concerned about that; we’ll see how the Avs perform. Friday’s gonna be very, very interesting.”

It is a measured response. Makar was on the ice at practice earlier in the day — not playing, but skating, going through movements, doing the kind of work that suggests his unavailability for tonight may be a short-term situation rather than a long-term concern. That single detail changed the tenor of the entire discussion.
Dover expanded on that.

“The fact that he was on the ice and trying, it gives me (hope),” Dover said. “I’m still holding onto hope for what it could be moving forward.”

That hope is doing significant work. Makar is not a player a team can simply replace. He is a Norris Trophy winner, a generational defenseman, and one of the most important players in the Avalanche lineup. Colorado has the depth and talent to manage a single game without him — Nathan MacKinnon’s heroics in Game 5 are evidence enough that this roster can deliver in the biggest moments. But a series without him is a fundamentally different proposition.

Lammey laid out the timeline that matters.

“Today, my concern level is lesser. But Friday, my concern level could be incredibly high,” he said.

It’s the right framing. Tonight is manageable. The Avalanche have the firepower to win Game 1 at home, even shorthanded, against a Vegas team that racked up just 95 points in the regular season. The question is what comes next.

If Makar returns for Game 2, this becomes a minor footnote in the series. If he doesn’t, the conversation changes entirely.

For now, Dover and Lammey are choosing optimism. But Friday is when the real story begins.