Brutal comments from Nathan MacKinnon after Game 7 loss.

I suspect there are a good number of hockey fans waking up in the city of Denver on Sunday morning that aren't very happy with the Colorado Avalanche after the way things unfolded on Saturday night in Game 7.

The Avalanche were left shell-shocked after a 2 goal lead in the third period evaporated thanks to the first ever third period hat trick in a Game 7 in National Hockey League history, a hat trick that was scored by none other than Mikko Rantanen. Rantanen was of course traded earlier in the season by general manager Chris MacFarland in a shocking move that left everyone in the hockey community completely stunned, a trade that now looks more questionable than ever before.

Following the loss on Saturday night, Avalanche star forward Nathan MacKinnon was asked about the series and the next steps for his team, and it would be an understatement to say that MacKinnon sounded completely dejected.

"They were missing their best D and maybe their best forward and we still couldn't beat them," said a dejected MacKinnon. "I don't know what we are gonna do."

MacKinnon of course played along side of Rantanen for his entire NHL career prior to the trade, with Rantanen joining the Avalanche during the 2015-16 regular season while MacKinnon had arrived only a few years earlier during the 2013-14 regular season. There was perhaps no one more negatively impacted by the decision to trade Rantanen away than MacKinnon himself, who lost not only a teammate in the trade but a very close friend as well.

The friendship between the two men was evident in the handshake line as MacKinnon couldn't help but smile for his friend despite having just suffered a crushing loss.

It's hard not to look back at the Rantanen trade in the context of this series and in the context of Game 7 as a major fumble on the part of the Avalanche, and it's even more difficult not to view it that way after hearing just how dejected MacKinnon sounds about the future of his team.