The past thirty years of Avalanche hockey have featured incredible highs, and some very, very dismal lows.
As an avid fan of The Simpsons, I’ve witnessed plenty of “best of times” moments, but also been subjected to a smattering of unpleasant “blursts” of times. In this first of an ongoing off-season series, I take a look back through the past thirty years, highlighting one moment that stands among the best, and comparatively, the worst (or blurst, if you will) each season.
Here are the best and blurst
moments from another five years of Colorado Avalanche history.
2005-2006
The Best: The Lockout Ends (July 22, 2005)
After lasting over ten months, the NHL and NHL Players Association came to terms on a brand new collective bargaining agreement, ensuring that all thirty clubs would return to action in the fall.
A hard $39 million dollar salary cap took effect as part of the agreement, and with it, a lot of uncomfortable decision had to be made by Avs GM Pierre Lacroix. With Lacroix’s hands bound by the new salary cap, longtime fixtures Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote were not offered new contracts, and instead signed long-term deals with the Philadelphia Flyers (the team that originally drafted Forsberg in 1991) and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively.
Lacroix mobilized to fill the void in the wake of the departure of Forsberg and Foote. He signed both center Pierre Turgeon (previously with the Dallas Stars) and defenseman Patrice Brisebois (previously with the Montréal Canadiens) to two-year contracts on August 3.
The Avalanche began the season in Edmonton on October 5, losing by a score of 4-3.
Three nights later, the late Marek Svatoš made his NHL debut against the Dallas Stars, scoring the go-ahead goal to secure the Avs’ first win of the season. The 2001 seventh-round pick (227th overall) would go on to have the best season of his short NHL career in his rookie campaign, scoring 32 goals and 18 assists for 50 points before a shoulder injury in March 2006 sidelined him for the remainder of the season.
The drama of losing both Forsberg and Foote to free agency, the subsequent signings of Turgeon and Brisebois, the rapid rise of Svatoš, and an eventual return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs would not have been possible if not for this moment.
Hard to find a better moment of the season than the League resuming play again.
The Blurst: Brad May Signed by Colorado (August 20, 2005)
They signed WHO?!
When news had broke that the Avs had signed Brad May, the excitement over the return of hockey turned the stomachs of Avs fans sour. How could this franchise sign the very person–a multi-year contract at that–who openly admitted that a bounty was placed on Steve Moore’s head?
“Brad May is a good skater who brings us additional grit, leadership and experience,” said Avs GM Pierre Lacroix.
A far too simple justification in the wake of a far too complex situation.
Avs fans got an early look at May in burgundy and blue on September 16 during the Avs’ Burgundy and White Game at the University of Denver, and they didn’t hold back. Boos showered the Magness Arena ice surface each time that May was in possession of the puck. Although he didn’t finish the game due to sustaining a groin injury during the contest, the message was clear: you are not welcome here.
This would have been an opportunity for May to try to make amends for his role in the attack on Moore, but that would have been far too easy. “I’m not even interested in talking about it, really,” he said to The Denver Post after the game. “It’s just what it is.”
So much for the olive branch.
Head coach Joel Quenneville defended his new winger in an equally tone-deaf manner. “I think this is a thing that’s going to be over with, and the fans are going to like his style of play,” he said. “He’s a tough guy who can play. There are some tough guys who can be more difficult to get in the games. The role of the tougher player has to be that you feel comfortable with him on the ice.”
What a way to double down.
May played 64 regular season games during his Avs tenure, scoring three goals and six assists for a total of nine points. He appeared in three postseason games, registering zero points. He was traded to the Anaheim Ducks on February 17, 2007, in exchange for goaltender Mike Wall.
Wall never played a game for the Avs. May would win the Stanley Cup with Anaheim that summer.
The most controversial signing in franchise history felt all too long of a blurst for being so brief.
2006-2007
The Best: Budaj Goes Beast Mode (February 27 – April 07, 2007)
By this time in Avalanche history, making the playoffs wasn’t just an expectation: it was pure assumption. The thought that this team that set such high standards from year to year could ever be outside the playoff picture was simply unfathomable.
After losing to Anaheim on February 25, the Avs were squarely on the outside looking in, and an eleventh consecutive playoff appearance since relocating from Quebec was in jeopardy.
Something had to change. On February 27, Peter Budaj, who had been backing up José Théodore in goal, stepped into the crease for the Avs, and proceeded to win ten of his next twleve starts in goal (losing once in overtime and once in a shootout).
The playoffs were once again within reach. Théodore was reinserted back into the lineup on March 27–his first start in a month–but a 3-0 loss to Vancouver that night all but ensured Budaj would get the chance to pull the Avs across the finish line and back for an eleventh straight playoff appearance.
Budaj won his next four starts, setting up a dramatic matchup on April 7 in Nashville. Unfortunately, the magic ran out for Budaj, as Peter Forsberg, who had been acquired by Nashville before the trade deadline, set up another former Avalanche winger in Paul Kariya for the go-ahead (and game-winning goal). The loss sealed the Avs’ fate, as they would miss the playoffs for the first time since leaving Quebec.
Budaj started all but three games during that run, pulling off an insane 14-2-2 run to pull the Avs within a hair of the playoffs, a goaltending streak that wouldn’t be duplicated for nearly twenty more years.
The Blurst: Alex Tanguay Traded to Calgary (June 24, 2006)
In October 2002, Avs general manager Pierre Lacroix traded Chris Drury and Stéphane Yelle to the Calgary Flames for forwards Dean McAmmond, Jeff Shantz, and defenseman Derek Morris. Morris was the centerpiece of that deal in the eyes of Lacroix, who cited Morris’ abilities that could be a fixture on the blue line into the future.
Lacroix was roundly criticized for dealing away two key pieces of the team that had just won the Stanley Cup less than four months earlier. Morris played just over two seasons with the Avs, registering 17 goals and 59 assists in 117 regular season games, while only recording three assists in seven postseason games. He was traded to the then-Phoenix Coyotes prior to the trade deadline in 2004.
François Giguère, who succeeded Lacroix as general manager, made a similar move with similar shortcomings. Alex Tanguay, who was on the verge of becoming a restricted free agent in July, was traded to Calgary in exchange for defenseman Jordan Leopold and two second round picks in 2006 (used to draft center Codey Burki) and 2007 (used to draft goaltender Trevor Cann).
Both Giguère and Leopold spoke after the trade. “Jordan is a solid defenseman and a very good skater,” he said in comments to the Associated Press. “He is only 25 years old and has a bright future ahead of him.”
“I have an offensive background and I like to show it,” said Leopold.
Leopold spent three seasons with the Avs, but injuries kept him out of the lineup throughout his tenure, limiting his offensive capabilities. He scored 13 goals and 25 assists for 38 points in 122 regular season games, and like Morris, managed to record only three assists in seven postseason games.
Tanguay set career highs in assists (59) and points (81) the following season with Calgary. He would play another year with the Flames prior to making stops in Montréal and Tampa, then returned to Calgary for three more seasons. He racked up another 90 goals and 191 assists for 281 points across 391 regular season games in that span.
Leopold would be sent back to Calgary on March 9, 2009, for defensemen Lawrence Nycholat and Ryan Wilson, along with a 2009 second round draft pick (later used to draft defenseman Stefan Elliot). He played for six more teams across five more seasons before retiring.
Those who don’t learn from history are doomed to repeat it. Or blurst it. Or something.
2007-2008
The Best: Franchise Victory #1000 (December 09, 2007)
José Théodore’s time with the Avs was certainly an adventure.
On this night when the St. Louis Blues came into town, the adventure lived up to its billing in the best way.
Jay McClement broke open the scoring for St. Louis just past the halfway mark of the first period. His future teammate, Milan Hejduk, would tie the game just over five minutes later. Hejduk’s second goal of the game a little over five minutes into the second period gave the Avs their first lead of the night.
McClement was awarded a penalty shot seconds later, and he tied the game at two.
At the halfway point of regulation, Paul Stastny put the Avs ahead 3-2, scoring the first of four goals (Wojtek Wolksi, Brett Clark, and Ryan Smyth scored the other three) past St. Louis goaltender Hannu Toivonen in a span of 6:26. The comfortable lead felt less so after Doug Weight and David Perron scored a minute apart early in the third to make things more nervewracking interesting, but three straight goals by Stastny, Hejduk, and Wolski put the game out of reach.
A meaningless goal from Lee Stempniak with less than a minute to play wrapped up this affair, with the Avs emerging with a 9-5 victory, their 1000th as a franchise.
Hejduk took first star honors of the night, recording a career best six points in one game and scoring the fifth career hat trick of his career. Stastny was right behind him, with two goals and three assists, good enough for second star honors. Overall, ten skaters recorded points for the Avs in this contest.
Although Toivonen had a pretty rough night, Théodore’s wasn’t much better, having allowing five goals on twenty-eight shots, but a win is a win.
This game stood as the highest scoring game played on home ice in franchise history until the Avs’ 9-6 victory over the Minnesota Wild in Game Two of their second round playoff series this past May.
For now, being the highest scoring regular season game on home ice–and recording the 1000th franchise victory–is a pretty impressive feat for second place on that list.
The Blurst: McLeod Mouths Off in Motown (April 26, 2008)
The rivalry between the Avs and Red Wings featured a lot of trash talking, but this was the first (and only) time that an inanimate object was the focal point of wrath between both clubs.
The Avs were at Joe Louis Arena for Game Two of the Stanley Cup semifinals. Having lost Game One two nights earlier, they were eager for a spark to build on to prevent from falling further behind in the series.
During the national anthem, a spectator threw an octopus onto the ice. Avs enforcer Cody McLeod scooped up the lifeless sea creature, shook it vigorously in the direction of Detroit’s Dallas Drake and Dan Cleary, then launched it past an arena attendant stationed near the back of the Avs bench.
McLeod’s actions certainly were motivational…for the Red Wings. Led by Johan Franzén, Detroit would score four unanswered goals (including an eventual hat trick for Franzén) en route to a 5-1 victory and a 2-0 series lead. Ian Laperrière scored the only goal in the contest.
The Avs would lose both games on home ice, falling in Game Three by a 4-3 decision, and Game Four by a lopsided 8-2 decision, reminiscent of the Game Seven defeat six years earlier in the Western Conference Final.
Losing, even decisively, to your most hated rival, is one thing. To get swept out the playoffs by your most hated rival?
That’s a blurst.
2008-2009
The Best: The 300 Club (January 18, 2009)
It’s fun when players reach a milestone moment in their careers, but when two players hit the same milestone in the same game, that a certain kind of special.
With the Avs leading the Calgary Flames 2-1 in the second period, Ryan Smyth scored a shorthanded goal to reach the 300 goal mark. Just under five minutes later, Milan Hejduk also scored his 300th career goal.
How often has something like this happened? Turns out, it’s pretty rare: the last time a pair of teammates reached the 300 goal mark in the same game was back on February 26, 1983, when Danny Gare and Ivan Boldirev of the Detroit Red Wings accomplished the feat against the New York Islanders.
Smyth and Hejduk are the last pair to most recently accomplish the feat. They both took first and second star honors in the Avs’ 6-2 victory over Calgary that night, but this achievement is in a class by itself, twice over.
The Blurst: Snowblower v. Sakic (December 09, 2008)
You had to know this was coming.
The 2008-2009 season saw Joe Sakic begin his twentieth NHL campaign at over a point per game pace into early November. A herniated disk put a pause in his season, causing him to miss three weeks of action. He returned in the Avs 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Blues on November 26, but pulled himself after a brief shift two nights later against the Phoenix Coyotes.
Avs fans waited for news on his recovery and eventual return to the lineup. December 10, the team announced that Sakic would miss the next three months of action for an entirely different reason: surgery on his left hand to repair tendon damage and three broken fingers.
The culprit? Sakic’s own snowblower.
“He put his hand where he should not have put it. He’s, in a way, lucky. He’ll have a full recovery,” Team vice president Jean Martineau explained to The Denver Post.
Had Sakic’s recovery gone according to the projected timeline, he would have returned to the lineup in mid March, just in time to gear up for a potential playoff appearance. At the time of Sakic’s injury, the Avs were hovering just above the .500 mark with a 14-13-1 record, with plenty of time in the season to put themselves into postseason contention.
The exact opposite occurred, with the Avs going 18-32-4 for the remainder of the season and missing the playoffs for the second time in three seasons. Sakic never suited up for the Avs again.
“He’s very, very mad at himself. I’ve never seen him like that, and I’ve known him for 21 years,” Martineau further elaborated. “He knows he made a mistake.”
Unfortunately, a mistake that literally cut Sakic final season short.
All thanks to an appliance designed to clear out snow and ice, the very foundations of…an avalanche.
2009-2010
The Best: Craig Anderson’s San Jose Shutout (April 18, 2010)
The 2009-2010 season saw the Avs take their first steps to forge a new identity. Joe Sakic had retired at the start of the year, and the newest class of Avs draft picks featuring Matt Duchene and Ryan O’Reilly were now the foundations to build the next wave of success.
A shootout win in Vancouver in early April ensured that the Avs would return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs. They drew the powerhouse San Jose Sharks–the team they hosted for Sakic’s jersey retirement–as their first round opponent.
After splitting the first two games at the Shark Tank, both teams met for Game Three at Pepsi Center on April 18. San Jose threw everything they could towards Craig Anderson, who stopped a whopping fifty saves in regulation to keep the Sharks off the board. The upstart Avs, however, struggled to put pucks on Evgeni Nabokov throughout the game, mustering just sixteen shots through sixty minutes.
The brilliance of Anderson and the lack of offense by the Avs sent this game to overtime.
With less than a minute gone in the extra frame, San Jose’s Dan Boyle attempted to fling the puck around the end boards in the Sharks zone. O’Reilly reached out with his stick and grazed the puck with the very edge of his blade. The puck changed direction just enough to sneak between Nabokov and the near post, securing an improbable 1-0 victory for the Avs and a 2-1 series lead.
Having witnessed this game in person, the video above doesn’t do the crowd’s reaction justice. The Pepsi Center crowd’s chants of, “Andy! Andy! Andy!” in recognition of Anderson’s fifty-one save performance still stand out, even among recognizing other incredible goaltending performances in the pantheon of Avs netminders.
It was the season’s best moment, and signaled a future full of promise.
The Blurst: A Snowy Saturday Shellacking (November 14, 2009)
The new-look Avs were enjoying some early season success as the 2009-2010 season got underway. Through the first eighteen games of the year, they compiled a 11-4-3 record, a result that may have caught more than a few people by surprise.
With the Vancouver Canucks coming into town as part of Hockey Night in Canada’s late night presentation, the Avs would be front and center to take on one of the strongest teams in the League. Despite losing their last two games to Edmonton and Chicago, the young Avs had little reason to doubt they could compete with Vancouver.
It didn’t take long for Vancouver to assert their will. Henrik Sedin scored his first goal of the game just under two minutes into the period, and the Canucks didn’t look back. Head coach Joe Sacco pulled Craig Anderson was pulled after the first period in an attempt to inject some life into his squad, but Vancouver would increase their lead on a Mathieu Schneider goal as the game approached the halfway point of regulation.
Marek Svatoš and Matt Hendricks broke through in the third period to finally solve Roberto Luongo, but Vancouver rattled off four unanswered goals in response. The lopsided 8-2 defeat illustrated that, as promising as the nucleus of talent on the Avs roster was, they had a long way to go before they could compete with the likes of a true Stanley Cup contender.
Was there a best (or blurst) from these five years of Avalanche hockey that was overlooked? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
