Kickin’ It with Kiz: Peter McNab celebrated championship with “last kick of the can” – The Denver Post

Peter McNab passed away. Please, nooo! I have turned on Avalanche games as much to listen to him as to watch the action on the ice. What an amazing life he lived. His love of the game and the players showed in everything he did.

Brian, raising a toast

Kiz: I sat three seats down from McNab the night Colorado won the Cup in Tampa, and will never forget the joy in his eyes as the final seconds of the third period ticked away. He would not have missed it for the world, despite the challenge of traveling after a long battle with cancer. As McNab told me before getting on the plane to Florida: “The heck with it. I’m going to the Stanley Cup Final in Tampa and will enjoy every minute of it.’ Why not? This might be my last kick of the can.”

Hey, Kiz. Great column on impending Broncos free agent Dre’Mont Jones. It brought to mind a saying of a colleague in high-tech engineering many years ago: I care about them as much as they care about me.

Roy, Fort Fun

Kiz: Yes, professional football players get paid to play a child’s game. That’s cool. But NFL teams like to talk about being family, until bottom-line considerations make football management look about as warm and cuddly as Elon Musk.

It makes a ton of sense for Michael Porter Jr. to be the highlighted scorer on the second unit and Bruce Brown to play with the Nuggets’ starters. That would give the starting unit defense and the second unit scoring. MPJ spends too many possessions standing in the corner when he’s out on the court with Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic.

Mike, straight shooter

Kiz: Not everybody liked my crazy idea that Porter should become the sixth man for the Nuggets. No surprise there. But some of NBA’s greatest players, from John Havlicek to Kevin McHale to Manu Ginobili, have served as the big dog off bench. Here’s hoping MPJ enjoys the same championship success as those Hall of Famers. Having one of your best players lead the second unit has been a tried-and-true formula for success.

Does Nikola Jokic have to play basketball in Hollywood to get the recognition as the NBA’s version of Shohei Ohtani? A unicorn can exist in a mountain region. I looked it up. Is the problem his nickname? Should we blame the alternate city uniform? Or is inadequate sports writing the reason for lack of proper recognition for Joker?

Lonnie, unicorn cowboy

Kiz: Isn’t the problem obvious? Inadequate sports writing is responsible for everything from all the losses the Broncos ever suffered in the Super Bowl to the heartbreak of psoriasis. Or so I’ve been told. Repeatedly.

And today’s parting shot is from a reader old enough to remember the year John Elway and I both moved to this dusty old cowtown.

I appreciate you, Kiz. You write well and keep us well-informed. I’ve been reading you since you joined The Denver Post. Keep up the good work and enjoy the journey.

Linc, Westminster

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