Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche is a professional hockey team in the Northwest division of the NHL's Western Conference. The Avalanche play at the Pepsi Center in Denver.

The team was originally founded in 1972 in Canada. First called the Quebec Nordiques, they were a founding member of the World Hockey Association. In 1979 when the WHA was dissolved, the Nordiques joined the NHL. Their first year, they finished in last place, but made it to the playoffs for the next seven years. The Nordiques made it to the Conference Championships a few times and never played for the Stanley Cup.

Due to financial problems, the Nordiques were sold to Comsat Entertainment Group in 1995 and were moved to Denver. The new team, the Colorado Avalanche wasted no time in making a name for themselves by winning the Stanley Cup Championships in 1996. They defeated the Florida Panthers in 4 games. Patrick Roy was the goalie at the time.

The Avalanche made it into the playoffs the next 4 years and reclaimed the "Cup" in 2001 by defeating the New Jersey Devils.http://www.nhl-players.com/colorado_avalanche/history.htm

The Affiliate Teams for the Avalanch are the Lake Erie Monsters (AHL) and the Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL).http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/teams/history/COL

Colorado had been without a hockey team for 13 years when the Nordiques moved to Denver. They had been home to the Colorado Rockies but that team was moved to New Jersey and became the New Jersey Devils. Realizing that the team was coming into its stride, the Avalanche acquired Claude Lemieux to add to the strength of the team, and also acquired NHL Goalie, Patrick Roy, considered to be one of the greatest goalies ever.

The strengths of Claude Lemieux, Joe Sakic, and Patrick Roy combined with the intense desire of the entire team to take the Stanley Cup Championship took the Avalanche through the grueling playoffs in which they defeated the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Detroit Red Wings, all the way to the Cup where they swept the Florida Panthers 4 games to 0.

Every year following their Stanley Cup win, the Avalanche made it to the playoffs, and it was in the 2000-01 season that they regained the cup by defeating the former Colorado team, the New Jersey Devils, in 7 games. Defenseman, Ray Bourque was playing his last season of professional hockey and had never been on a Stanley Cup winning team. The Av's did not disappoint him. The team defeated the Vancouver Canucks, the L.A. Kings, and the St. Louis Blues advancing to the Championship to meet the Devils. The Devils took a 3-2 game lead over the Avalanche, but the Av's shut the Devils out in game 6 of the series, and won the final game with a score of 3-1.

The Av's first miss at the playoffs since arriving in Denver came in the 2006-07 season. That year was a transitional year for the team having a number of rookie players. The salary cap, among other things, caused the Av's to lose a number of key players. The missed the playoffs by 1 point that year.

The following season, the Av's returned to the playoffs. Their year began sluggishly, but with the addition of defenseman, Scott Hannan and left winger, Ryan Smyth along with the late addition of Peter Forsberg and the re-acquisition of Adam Foote, the Av's managed the 6th seed position in the playoff berth, eventually losing to their nemesis, the Detroit Red Wings in the second round. (The Wings won the Stanley Cup that year.)

The 2008-09 season proved to be the worst in Avalanche history. Tony Granato was head coach and was having a problem getting the Av's into form. The Av's Captain, Joe Sakic, played only 15 games of what would be his final season in the NHL. The Av's finished last in the Western Conference with a record of 32-45-5, but there was a silver lining. Their poor performance gave them great drafting opportunities.http://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/colavs/avalanche.html

The 2008-09 season was the worst year the Av's had since arriving in Denver. Immediately following the season, the Avalanche started dismissing their staff. Tony Granato, was fired and Joe Sacco replaced him as the head coach. They got rid of their general manager, Francois Giguere and replaced him with Greg Sherman. They fired the assistant coaches, Jacques Cloutier and Dave Barr, the goaltending coach Jeff Hackett, the Assistant to the General Manager Michel Goulet and even the video coordinator PJ DeLuca.

Then they started working on the players. They traded Ryan Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings for defensemen Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincey. Alternate captain Ian Laperriere signed with Philadelphia. The Av's acquired Matt Duchene with the third overall pick in the draft. They signed goalie Craig Anderson. They picked up David Koci from Tampa Bay. Team Captain, Joe Sakic, retired and the Av's named [[Adam Foote as the new captain.

The new Av's started the 2009-10 season solidly, but began to falter following the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. They were able to hold on to a playoff spot and were seeded 8th. They met the San Jose Sharks in the first round of the playoffs and were eliminated. They finished the season with 95 points (compared to the 2008-09 points of 69 points). And their overall season stats were 43-30-9.http://avalanche.nhl.com/

The Nordiques, formed in 1972, was a charter franchise team that was originally awarded to San Francisco. It took a few years of development before the Nordiques made it into the playoffs. In the 1974-75 season, the Nordiques made it to the championship round, but the Avco Cup was awarded to the Houston Aeros. The Nordiques went on to make it to the playoffs the next 4 seasons, but in 1979 the WHA was dissolved and the Nordiques joined the NHL. The Nordiques were an NHL team from 1979 until 1995 when the franchise was sold.

They finished in last place in their first year in the NHL, but the following year, they made it to the playoffs but lost to the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round. However, Peter Stastny was named NHL Rookie of the Year and took home the Calder Memorial Trophy. The Nordiques made it into the playoffs the next 6 seasons. They made it to the Conference Championship Games twice, once in the 1981-82 season and again in the 1984-85 season.

The Nordiques failed to make the playoffs in the 1987-88 season and did not get there again until the 1992-93 season. During this time, the highest number of points that the Nordiques were able to collect was 61in 1988-89, and the lowest was a pitiful 31 points in 1989-90.

In the 1991-92 season, the Nordiques received 52 points for the season, but in 1992-93, doubled that with 104 and set an NHL Record for NHL record for best-ever single-season turnaround. They lost to the Montreal Canadiens in the first round, however.

The Nordiques didn't make it into the playoffs in 1993-94. Even though they were more successful in the 1994-95 season having taken the Divisional Championship and Peter Forsberg won Calder Memorial Trophy (rookie of the year) and Coach Marc Crawford was named coach of the year and received the Jack Adams Award, it was too late, and the Nordiques were sold.http://www.nordiquespreservation.com/record.html

• 3 J.C. Tremblay (Nordiques)

• 8 Marc Tardif (Nordiques)

• 16 Michel Goulet (Nordiques)

• 19 Joe Sakic

• 26 Peter Stastny (Nordiques)

• 33 Patrick Roy

• 77 Ray Bourquehttp://www.cbssports.com/nhl/teams/history/COL

• 1995-96 Stanley Cup Champions

• 1996-97 Western Conference Finals loss to Detroit

• 1997-98 Lost in first round to Edmonton

• 1998-99 Western Conference Finals loss to Dallas

• 1999-2000 Western Conference Finals loss to Dallas

• 2000-01 Stanley Cup Champions

• 2001-02 Western Conference Finals loss to Detroit

• 2002-03 Lost in first round to Minnesota

• 2003-04 Lost in second round to San Jose

• 2004-05 Cancelled due to lockout

• 2005-06 Lost in second round to Anaheim

• 2006-07 Did not make the playoffs

• 2007-08 Lost in second round to Detroit

• 2008-09 Did not make the playoffs - worst year ever in Denver

• 2009-10 Lost in first round to San Josehttp://www.sportsecyclopedia.com/nhl/colavs/avalanche.html