POLL: MOST MEMORABLE MOMENT IN AVALANCHE HISTORY

[yave1964]

 With apologies to the Quebec Nordiques, Goulet, the Stastny's and the rest, this is post 1995 when the team moved to mountain time. The greatest moments in Avalanche history:

 

THE TRADE: PATRICK ROY COMES TO THE MOUNTAINS

 

   Mario Tremblay and Rejean Houle belonged to the Habs dynasty club of the seventies but many still curse their names in Montreal for greasing the skids for Roy to be dealt out of town, first by leaving him in during a blowout loss to the Wings and then trading him less than 48 hours before cooler heads could prevail.

  Three time Vezina winner and two time Conn Smythe winner Roy, along with heart and soul guy Mike Keane were shipped to the Avalanche, insulting Quebec fans who had already lost their beloved Nordiques earlier in the year to Colorado, in exchange they acquired Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky, and Andrei Kovalenko in one of the most lopsided deals of all time.

 

1995-96 AVALANCHE WIN CUP IN FIRST YEAR!

 It is not fair. A city should have to suffer, put up with a half dozen years or more of bad hockey before winning a cup, the Avalanche, fresh from a perfect build in Quebec moved to Colorado and led by fiery coach Marc Crawford and Superstars Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg who were coming into their prime and the trade that brought Roy out West and veteran presence such as Claude Freaking Lemieux and Keane, as well as young hungry players such as Kamensky, Foote, Deadmarsh, Simon, Yelle and Ricci this team was stacked and the Avalanche in their first year of existence win the cup. Joe Sakic established his brilliance with 120 regular season points and then won the Conn Smythe as postseason MVP.

 

"LANCHE WIN THE LOTTERY, DRAFT NATHAN MACKINNON

 They were bad during the strike shortened season of 2012-13 going 16-25-7 which got them the first pick in the draft. With home town boy Seth Jones sitting there as well as Jonathan Drouin the Avalanche chose Nathan Mackinnon instead and he rewarded their faith by winning the Calder as the leagues top rookie. He has declared that he idolizes Crosby and his work ethic and wants to be the next Crosby. If so the Avalanche who are loaded with top tier forwards and Varlamov in net, should be relevant for a decade.

 

 THE RIVALRY, THE HATRED BREWS AND BOILS OVER WITH THE HATED RED WINGS

 

Okay, i make no bones about being a wings fan, i see things through red colored goggles, and i HATED this team during the most intense rivalry of my lifetime. From 1996 thru 2002 the Wings of Avalanche won 5 cups between them and one or the other was in every conference final. The road to the cup led through these two,

 Over a decade has passed since the brilliance and intensity of the rivalry has cooled and i still hate Claude Freaking Lemieux. I use freaking in here in lieu of what i usually use. https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=pMqixqzKoRQ

Even our goalies fought! first Roy with Vernon and then a year later with Osgood. Even soft players such as Forsberg and Larionov had brawls.

  Most remember the rivalry starting with Lemieux breaking Drapers jaw but it began two nights earlier when Kozlov slammed Foote's face into the glass.

What Lemieux did

was insane and it built from there.

 The Bruins/Habs of the seventies. The battle of Alberta. The Battle of Ontario or Pittsburgh/Philadelphia. All were/are wonderful but for my money the fact that 15 or so HOFers were on the ice in any given night when these two teams met, no quarter asked, none given, every February game as intense as game 7 of the Cup finals, this rivalry for nearly a decade beat them all. And as much as i hate the Avalanche, i sure miss it.

 

2001: WINNING ONE FOR RAY BOURQUE

 

After a brilliant career in Boston that saw no Cups Bourque joined the Avalanche in 2000-01 and the Avalanche led by Roy who went 40-13-7 and would capture his third career Smythe that year, along with Sakic who banged in 118 points, Forsberg who netted 89 points, Rob Blake who came over at the deadline and a whole new line of Chris Drury, Alex Tanguay and Milan Hejduk who sparked the club, along with Bourque who had 7 goals and 59 points on the back end the Avalanche capped their run of brilliance with their final cup.

 

  There. I managed to write this one about the Avalanche. I think i need to go throw up now.

[jammer2]

  A team's first Cup should usually win, but just remembering that day when Ray hoisted the Cup.....WOW, that was one for the ages!!

[yave1964]

  A team's first Cup should usually win, but just remembering that day when Ray hoisted the Cup.....WOW, that was one for the ages!!

I was torn between the two cups and the intense rivalry. I went with the first cup with reservations.

 

  Like i wrote, no city deserves a cup without suffering first. San Jose, when they finally win, will have earned it. Same with the Flyers, the Capitals and all of the clubs who come close but never quite get in. I remember the look of joy and relief on StevieYzermans face when he won his first cup in 1997, after so many frustrating almosts.

 I cannot quite call it Quebec's cup, because no way, no how would Roy have ever been dealt to the Nordiques if they were still around. Houle would have been ran out of the Province. I ccannot help but wonder what the state of Hockey would have been like if the Nords had still existed. Where would Roy have been traded to? Would Quebec have won a championship or two as assembled? One thing i am fairly certain of to a high degree of probability is the 1996 cup, sans Roy being dealt to the "Lanche would have almost certainly   been won by the Wings and they would have had a three peat. Just one more thing (as if i needed one more) for me to hate about that team.

[jammer2]

@yave1964  I also had to resist the urge to pick the rivalry. When Lemieux pasted Draper, it was more than Wings vs Ave's....it was decency against the ruthless outlaws of the league. I know, odd a Flyers fan coming down on the side of decency, huh....but that is exactly where I came down. When Osgood and Roy started throwing those shots, MAN OH MAN....was that ever exciting!!!  If you are not from around here, you'll never know just how much the Wings fans hated Lemieux and the entire Ave's team!!

[ScottM]

I'm kind of surprised that I was the first one to vote for the Roy trade. In my mind, that was a big piece (certainly not the only one though) in setting up those two Cup wins.

[Vanflyer]

but just remembering that day when Ray hoisted the Cup.....WOW, that was one for the ages!!

 

But that team was stacked. The only thing with the first cup (and while thats my choice), there is apart of me that feels that really is Quebecs cup, or at least partially. 

[Vanflyer]

I know, odd a Flyers fan coming down on the side of decency, huh....but that is exactly where I came down. When Osgood and Roy started throwing those shots, MAN OH MAN....was that ever exciting!!!  If you are not from around here, you'll never know just how much the Wings fans hated Lemieux and the entire Ave's team!!

 

Those Avs / Detroit battles were some of the best. I can never forget Crawford trying to climb over the glass to have a go with Scotty Bowman and Bowman just looking at him like "are effing serious"? 

[Yorick]

Bourque.

[J0e Th0rnton]

  A team's first Cup should usually win, but just remembering that day when Ray hoisted the Cup.....WOW, that was one for the ages!!

Yeah. Watching Sakic get handed the cup and immediately just give it to Ray was an amazing moment. Finally Ray went to a team that could compete for the cup and finally we get to see him hoist it.

 

That was a memorable moment not just for Avs fans, but for a lot of Hockey fans. Everyone liked Ray Bourque and was rooting for him. Even bruins fans completely undestood and wanted to see him succeed

[jammer2]

@J0e Th0rnton  Yeah, it was just one of those moments that you put who you root for aside and were just glad that such an all time great got that honour bestowed upon him. If there is such a thing as hockey gods, they were smiling that particular day.

[Vanflyer]

I am really unsure how the second cup could usurp the first cup in voting. Borque came on late on a star studded team. The first cup was a bunch of young guys. I love the Bourgue story and what Linden did for him to trade him to the Avs, but the first Avs cup is the best and sweetest in my mind. That team might be one of my favorite in the last 20 years. 4 HOF's. 

[Vanflyer]

Joe Sakic established his brilliance with 120 regular season points and then won the Conn Smythe as postseason MVP.

 

Nicest player I have ever met. I met him three times. A couple of times while doing an old school tournament at World Arena in colorado springs and then again in Cherry Hill Mall. He is an everyday joe. I lived in Burnaby for a bit as well- but never played that card.

 

He exemplifies what a hockey player person at any level should be.