Colorado Avalanche - A mile high hockey team
The Colorado Avalanche are a hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL). They are in the Western Conference with teams such as the San Jose Sharks and the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. Their home town is Denver, CO.
The Colorado Avalanche would begin playing hockey in 1972 and were known as the Quebec Nordiques of the World Hockey Association. During their seven seasons there, the Nordiques won the Avco Cup Championship in 1977. Two years after that, they entered the National Hockey League (NHL), along with other new teams such as the Edmonton Oilers, Carolina Hurricanes (formerly Hartfod Whalers) and the Phoenix Coyotes (formerly the Winnipeg Jets). They had a few excellent seasons on the ice but at the same time, found themselves in financial troubles during the 1994-95 season. It was at this time that the Nordiques were sold to a group of investors in Denver. This was when the franchise moved to CO and renamed the team the Colorado Avalanche.
Their first season in Denver had one of their best lineups (in my opinion). It included star players such as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and their defensive man, Adam Foote. One of the most important and memorable days for the Colorado Avalanche was the day they picked up first round pick Eric Lindros. However, Lindros refused to play for a “small town and uncompetitive team” and his trade actually ended up benefiting the Colorado Avalanche because their search brought on players such as Ray Bourque, Alex Tanguay, Rob Blake, and one of the best goalies in the league, Patrick Roy.
The Colorado Avalanche had strong teams the following years that took them far into the post season, but they still weren’t able to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals. This changed in the 2000-01 season. The previous season, they picked up Ray Bourque whose only other team was the Boston Bruins, and he was hungry for a Stanley Cup. It was also in this season they picked up their star defenseman, Rob Blake and star center, Steven Reinprecht. This made them a powerhouse team!
The Colorado Avalanche played a very tough and physical series with the New Jersey Devils for the Stanley Cup that year and it lasted all seven games of the series. They won the Stanley Cup and Joe Sakic handed it to Ray Bourque who lifted the cup in victory for the team for the first time.
Since then, there have been several trades including the trade of Peter Forsberg to the Philadelphia Flyers, but the Colorado Avalanche are still a strong team and continue to excel every year. At the end of the 2006 season, the Colorado Avalanche are finding themselves in the running once again for the Stanley Cup as they’ve currently advanced to the second round of the playoffs.