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Avalanche


 













The Colorado Avalanche/Quebec Nordique franchise is one of the greatest yet unheralded stories in sports history. In the early 1990's the Nordiques were the worst team in the NHL. The future looked brighter, though, when Quebec prepared to choose young hulking phenom Eric Lindros with the first selection in the NHL draft. But Lindros, apparently unwilling and/or incapable of improving a last place team, didn't want to play for the Nordiques. Instead he sat out, demanding a trade to one of two teams: the New York Rangers or the Philadelphia Flyers.  Quebec was in a compromising position. Unable to sign they player they drafted, the Nordiques traded the rights to Lindros to Philadelphia. It appeared that the frustration would continue for the Nordiques. However, the trade turned out to be a monumental blessing in disguise for Quebec. In order to procure Lindros, the Flyers gave up:

Unfortunately for hockey fans in Quebec, financial contraints forced the franchise to move to Denver. Hence, the NHL's Colorado Avalanche were born. In their first year of existence, the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup. On the way to the NHL Championship, Colorado defeated the heavily favored Detroit Red Wings, who hadn't won a Stanley Cup in over forty years. Led by Forsberg and Roy, the Avalanche capped their initial season by sweeping the expansion Florida Panthers in the Finals. Today, many hockey experts consider Forsberg a better player than Lindros.

Over the past few years, Colorado has been involved with Detroit in the most bitter rivalry in the NHL. It was prompted by a hard check by Colorado's Claude Lemieux on Detroit's Kris Draper during their first playoff meeting. The hit resulted in massive facial injuries for Draper and made Lemieux a marked man in Detroit. These two franchises have combined to win three consecutive Stanley Cups.

The rest of this page includes images of the franchise's brief but memorable history as the Avalanche.
 


 
 






 Lemieux's infamous hit on supposed "Tough-guy" Draper. Note Draper's boyfriend Darren McCarty (#25) in the background. McCarty would attack Claude in future games looking for revenge. Apparently, Draper couldn't fight his own battles.

Lemieux decks Draper
 
 
 
 

First year, first Stanley Cup

Stanley Cup celebration
 
 
 
 

Peter Forsberg scores a goal against Detroit in Game 6 of the 1999 Playoffs.

Forsberg beats Osgood
 
 
 

Roy and others celebrate the remarkable comeback series win over Detroit.

Wasn't Detroit going to sweep the series?
 
 
 
 

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