DENVER — These last five-or-so years, Colorado has been blessed with its very own powder keg, courtesy of its seasonal inhabitants. Its mailing address is 1000 Chopper Circle, Denver, CO 80204. Sometimes its surface is hardwood, other times ice.

Just like the season before, both floors will be polished and cleaned, shined and rolled out for the most wonderful time of the year. You’d be wise to go see either the Colorado Avalanche or the Denver Nuggets participate in their respective playoffs.

Your level of interest in sports is irrelevant. To revel in the atmosphere during the sacred elimination rounds is often an out-of-body experience: 18,000 to 20,000 people, under one roof, gripping their armrests, feet glued to concrete terraces, butts on the edges of seats, all watching with bated breath as history is made—or unravels.

Ball Arena, the structure itself, is hardly special. It’s a circular coliseum opened in 1999, one of the many indoor arenas built at the turn of the century across the country. One look at it from the outside, or the inside while it’s empty, may muster praise to the tune of “Well, it’s a stadium!”

The Intuit Dome (Steve Ballmer’s $2 billion spaceship where the Los Angeles Clippers play) and Smoothie King Arena (a trash can filled with folding chairs, home to the tragic New Orleans Pelicans) are the high and low marks of quality. Ball Arena is equidistant from them, smack dab in the center.

The food is pretty good. Local Denver staples like Redeemer Pizza, Billy’s Hot Dogs, or Breckenridge Brewery have their own annexes, among more traditional concessions (get me nachos and a Coors Banquet, and I’m happy as a clam).

It’s easy to navigate: The three levels—big circular concourses with tons of exits—are clearly marked, so there’s never too much of a traffic jam. Parking is ample, and it’s close enough to downtown that you can walk to and from its confines for pre- and post-game activities. Ball Arena gets the job done.

Why in the world does it warrant its own Discover Colorado article? Simply put, the magic lies in its tenants. Each April for the past few years, these two teams have conjured moments that must be experienced in person. This time around, it should be no different. 

The Colorado Avalanche may very well have just had their best regular season in franchise history. This is thanks to a number of things, but mostly a vicious two-headed, two-way dragon in Nathan Mackinnon and Cale Makar, a pair of generational talents at their positions that just so happen to wear the same jersey.

Mackinnon, who should win the Hart Trophy—the NHL’s “Most Valuable Player” award—is as fast as he is strong. If he doesn’t skate by you, he’ll skate through you, doing so with a composed demeanor often associated with the all-time greats.

Makar, only 27, already has hockey pundits comparing him to the best defenseman the game has ever seen, wielding a lethal combo of offensive and defensive ability. This in a sport where you usually just need to be good at one and sufficient at the other. 

The current Denver Nuggets may very well have the best roster, top to bottom, in franchise history. Bruce Brown’s hustle, Julian Strawther's unlimited shooting range, Tim Hardaway Jr.’s fearlessness and Jonas Valenciunas’s physicality are just a few of the backup parts that make this team whole.

Aaron Gordon, a cult-favorite who garners the “Mr. Nugget” title with pride, does everything well, and is capable of blowing the roof off with dunks you’d see on trading cards or posters in dorm rooms. Jamal Murray, a tried-and-true supporting co-star, can take over a game with a scoring bag so deep, he’s still pulling out midrange shots we haven’t seen before.

And then there’s the big man. I need to be careful with how I talk about Nikola Jokic. But then again, do I? There’s nothing I can say about Denver’s Serbian savior that would be hyperbolic. He’s the greatest European-born player to step on a basketball court.

He was selected in the tail end of the NBA draft during a Taco Bell commercial. He defies logic within a craft so used to certain archetypes of “big men.” To witness Jokic in person is to witness sporting history. Words do not do his abilities justice. Going into these playoffs, he may be at the peak of his powers. 

The Nuggets begin their playoff run this Saturday, April 18, and the Avalanche will begin theirs the following week. The NBA and NHL playoffs are wild and volatile and unpredictable, but both units could reasonably bring home a trophy and a championship parade a couple of months later.

Do yourself a favor: Try to make it to a game in person. Let the wall of sound inside Ball Arena wash over you. Give yourself to the occasion.

Sports are made of moments. It’s why the machine stomps on. If you’re lucky, on any given night these next few weeks, you’ll be there in the flesh for one of those moments—a blip in time when the powder keg erupts.