TABLE OF CONTENTS
*****************
1. Introduction

2. Movement
   a. Quebec Nordiques
   b. Colorado Rockies

3. Major Trades
   a. Eric Lindros
   b. Mats Sundin
   c. Claude Lemieux
   d. Sandis Ozolinsh
   e. Patrick Roy
   f. Theoren Fleury
   g. Raymond Bourque
   h. Rob Blake
   i. Chris Drury
   j. Jose Theodore

4. Lindros Trade Tree

5. Notable Nords
   a. Retired numbers
   b. Hall of famers

6. History
   a. All-time results
   b. 1996 Stanley Cup
   c. 2001 Stanley Cup
   d. Red Wings rivalry
   e. Todd Bertuzzi incident

7. Draft picks
   a. All-time picks
   b. First round analysis

8. Attending games
   a. Tickets
      I.   Single game
      II.  Fan Plan and season tickets
      III. Playoff tickets
   b. Pepsi Center
      I.   Directions
      II.  Parking
      III. Fun facts
   c. Autographs
   d. Music at games
   e. PA announcers

9. Salary Cap and Roster

10. Miscellany
    a. Colour/uniform changes
    b. Foot on shoulder
    c. Sellout streak

11. Credits

****

1. Introduction

ASHNCA FAQ Version 1.7, Copyright 2006

This is the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) for the group
alt.sports.hockey.nhl.col-avalanche regarding the NHL team Colorado
Avalanche. This document can also be found at
http://members.iglou.com/zbeg/ashncafaq.html

This document will be posted on the first day of the month, or whenever I
remember to post it.

2. Movement

a. The Quebec Nordiques and their move to Denver

In the early to mid 1990s, Quebec Nordiques minority owner and president
Marcel Aubut was unhappy regarding subsidies from the Canadian government
(or lack thereof), especially compared to government subsidies of several
American NHL teams. Aubut wanted money to subsidize a new stadium but the
Mayor of Quebec City was adamant against using taxpayer money to build the
Nordiques a new arena. In what might have been an effort to gain leverage
against the government, Aubut put the team up for sale.

Ascent Entertainment, based in Denver, had been hoping to land an NHL
team, either through expansion or by buying a team and moving it to
Denver. Ascent thought they were just being used as a pawn in the scheme
to get a new stadium, but they made an offer of $75 million (US) and to
the surprise of the Premier of Quebec, Aubut agreed to sell the team and
the following season the Quebec Nordiques were moved to Denver where they
became the Colorado Avalanche.

Bob Kravitz sums it up well in _Avalanche! Capturing the Cup_:

***

The story of the Avalanche's march to the Stanley Cup was remarkable
enough, but no more remarkable - or unlikely - than the team's move to
Denver.

How did it get here?

Well, it was not the result of some concerted civic effort.  The Denver
sports calendar was already pretty well-rounded, especially with the
Broncos, the Nuggets and the 1993 arrival of baseball's expansion Rockies.

For the time being, folks seemed happy enough with the minor-league Denver
Grizzlies, who would draw nice crowds and win the International Hockey
League's Turner Cup in 1994-95, their first and only year in town.

And be honest: While Denver had a long and varied hockey history, it
wasn't exactly brimming with success stories.  Beginning in 1950, the
Denver Falcons, Denver Mavericks, Denver Invaders and Denver Spurs filled
the years, in fits and starts, with minor-league hockey.  But the teams
were gone almost as soon as they had arrived.

The National Hockey League finally made it to Denver with the sad and
befuddling, if occasionally exciting, Colorado Rockies.  They came to town
in 1976 as the Kansas City Scouts and left six years later to become the
New Jersey Devils.  In the interim, they were sabotaged by mismanagement,
multiplie ownership and a lack of funds, especially from what they
bemoaned was a bad lease at McNichols Sports Arena.

A decade later, efforts to bring the NHL back began.  In the background -
the deep background - Comsat, the owner of the Denver Nuggets, started
expanding the company's sports and entertainment base.  That meant
strengthening basketball and luring an NHL team to play in a a planned,
privately financed arena.

The plans of Comsat and Ascent, its new sports and entertainment arm,
coincided beautifully with the NHL's long-term vision.

Convenient, eh?

It was 1993 and former National Basketball Association executive Gary
Bettman had just taken over as NHL commissioner.  Bettman knew about
Comsat and Ascent.  He also knew Ascent's president, Charlie Lyons, from
their NBA days and thought Denver might be a suitable spot for a future
hockey franchise.

It didn't matter to Bettman that the old hockey Rockies had a short and
often unhappy tenure in Denver.  What he knew was this: Denver had grown
both as a city and sports market, Denver had great demographics, Denver
had produced some of the best TV ratings among non-NHL cities and, more
than anything, Denver had Comsat.

"He called us from the moment he began in the NHL," Lyons said.  "He said,
'Look, you guys have done a great job cleaning up a real mess with the
Nuggets.  Denver would be a great city for the league, and you're the
right group if the NHL were to come to Denver.'"

At that point, Lyons figured he was embarking on a mission to bring an
expansion team to Denver around 1998, coinciding with what he hoped would
be the opening of the new Pepsi Center.  His company, he thought, would be
a stalking horse, helping the NHL solve some of its weak franchise
problems by giving club owners leverage in their attempts to get new
buildings.

Recalled Lyons: "They told us, 'If you're willing to put your reputation
on the line and are willing to be left at the altar a few times, it's
probably worthwhile because ultimately, you'll get married to the NHL.'"

Who knew such a happy marriage was in the works?

Nobody.

In fact, the chase for an NHL franchise actually started in Hartford,
where the Whalers were desperate for an owner who would keep them in
Connecticut. Comsat wasn't terribly interested but was willing to help the
NHL as a potential bailout.

Luckily - and fortunately for Denver - the Whalers were saved by another
owner.

Then Bettman called again, this time in the winter of 1994, and set up a
meeting between Lyons and Quebec Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut.

Aubut was having difficulty convincing city and provincial leaders to help
him build a new arena to replace the aging Le Colisee.  Worse, the
Nordiques were playing in the league's smallest market.  Aubut insisted he
could not compete in the modern-day NHL playing in that building.

If Quebec could not take care of him, might Comsat be interested in
buying, and moving, his franchise?

"I thought, 'There ain't no chance,'" Lyons said.  "It was very clear from
the beginning Marcel wanted nothing more than to keep his team in Quebec."

But Lyons met with Aubut anyway, fully expecting Quebec officials to
capitulate to Aubut's demands.

Then came a phone call in April 1995, shortly after the Nordiques' playoff
loss to the Rangers.

"It's over," Aubut told Lyons.  "The (Quebec) government has not
responded."

And the Denver deal was done, $75 million to purchase this fine young team
and its minor-league affiliate in Cornwall, Ontario.  The process deeply
pained Aubut; he would make a financial killing, but this team was his
life's passion.

Now, it would be part of Colorado's sporting life, the final piece making
Denver one of nine cities boasting four major professional teams.

As Aubut completed the transaction, he told Lyons, "Denver has no idea
what it's about to get."

How prophetic he was.

***

b. The Colorado Rockies and their move to New Jersey

Jack Vickers (owner of the Vickers gas stations which were bought out by
Total) bought the Kansas City Scouts and moved them to Denver,  where they
were renamed the Colorado Rockies. He was upset with the lease with the
city of Denver which was no parking revenue, concession money, and a scant
8% of the ticket sales. Vickers got into a pissing contest with then
Denver mayor Bill McNichols and McNichols didn't change his stance even
with the NHL got involved and asked the city of Denver to be more
accomodating. To add insult to injury, the city of Denver had the arena
booked for the Ice Follies when the Rockies made the playoffs and the city
said that the Ice Follies were more important, so the Rockies were very
nearly cheated out of the home playoff date when the Follies finally gave
in and said that they could play at home for their lone playoff game (that
series was a best of 3 with games 1 and 3 being in Philadelphia. Colorado
lost games 1 and 2 both by just one goal each.)

Vickers was pissed and he said he would either build his own arena or sell
the team to someone who had the patience to deal with the stubborn city.
At no point was fan support an issue and Vickers said he would have never
sold the team if he had anything resembling a decent lease (i.e. fan
support was NOT the issue).

So he sold it to an ownership group of Arthur Imperatore/Armand Pohan
(well, one family - they were in-laws) who were based in New Jersey, and
in their very first press conference they planned on moving the team
because they wanted an NHL team in New Jersey.

After they failed miserably at running the NHL franchise, they sold the
team to Peter Gilbert who was a Buffalo man. Gilbert was a moron as well
and the fans absolutely hated him with a passion. It was at this point
that the fans finally lost their patience with the ownership that was
still saying publicly that they were moving the team to New Jersey and
Gilbert was the most hated man in Denver. Gilbert sold the team to John
McMullen who completed the move to New Jersey. The Rockies did struggle to
fill the stands at times, but considering the quality of play of the team
and the product they put out on the ice, any franchise in North America
would likely have met the same struggles. Regardless, the lack of
attendance was not the issue. To compound the attendance problems, the
fans struggled with the idea of going to see a team that would be moving
sooner rather than later (turns out it took three years to move it instead
of two because of the sheer incompetency of the ownership).

3. Major trades

a. Eric Lindros

Eric Lindros was the #1 overall pick by the Quebec Nordiques in 1991 after
completing an outstanding career with the OHL Oshawa Generals. Lindros'
mother, Bonnie, hinted in the press that her son would not play for Quebec
if they drafted him. Three days later, Nordiques president Marcel Aubut,
Nordiques GM Pierre Page, NHL president John Ziegler and NHL hall of famer
Guy Lafleur met with the Lindros family and his agent Rick Curran in a
Toronto hotel to try to smooth things over but Lindros didn't budge and
said he would not play for Quebec.

The Nordiques drafted Lindros anyway and he refused to put on the jersey.
Curran told the Nordiques that Lindros would play in the OHL if the
Nordiques did not trade him, a threat he carried out as Lindros spent the
1991-1992 season on the Oshawa Generals and the Canadian Olympic team. The
Nordiques had hoped to sign Lindros by offering him a $50 million, ten
year deal but Lindros wouldn't budge, so in 1992 the Nordiques announced
that they were going to trade Eric Lindros.

Both the Philadelphia Flyers and the New York Rangers claimed they had an
agreement with Quebec for Eric Lindros. The NHL appointed an independent
arbitrator, Larry Bertuzzi (uncle of Vancouver forward Todd Bertuzzi), to
review the case. After reviewing the evidence, Bertuzzi awarded Lindros to
Philadelphia. In exchange for Lindros, the Nordiques received Mike Ricci,
Peter Forsberg, Steve Duschesne, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall, Chris Simon,
the Flyers' first round pick in 1993 (Jocelyn Thibault) and the Flyers'
first round pick in 1994 (later traded to Toronto and then Washington who
took Nolan Baumgartner), and $15 million US.

It was never revealed publicly what the Rangers offered, but among names
reported in the rumoured deal were Sergei Nemchinov, Tony Amonte, Doug
Weight, Alexei Kovalev, James Patrick and John Vanbiesbrouck, as well as
multiple first round picks and $20 million US.

The Chicago Blackhawks were also in the running for Lindros, but then
Blackhawks GM Mike Keenan said owner Bill Wirtz balked at the cost.
Chicago was reportedly willing to send Eddie Belfour, Steve Larmer, Dean
McAmmond, Steve Smith, Karl Dykhuis, a first round pick and $15 million
US. Montreal was also reportedly willing to give up Patrick Roy, among
others.

But in the end it was the Flyers, and the deal was the biggest in
franchise history. The Nordiques (and later the Avalanche) reaped the
rewards of it by engineering multiple trades for key players that were
major contributors to their two Stanley Cups.

b. Mats Sundin

This trade did not work out in Quebec's favor. The Nordiques sent Mats
Sundin, Garth Butcher, Todd Warriner, their 1994 1st round pick (#10
overall -- one of the two picks they received from Philadelphia) for
Wendel Clark, Sylvain Lefebvre, Landon Wilson, and Toronto's 1st round
pick (Jeffrey Kealty).

The Nordiques entered the 1994 draft with the 9th and 10th overall picks.
Nordiques GM Pierre Lacroix only gave Toronto his second first-round pick,
10th overall.  Instead, he traded his 9th overall pick and Ron Sutter to
the Islanders for Uwe Krupp and their 12th overall pick thereby allowing
the New York to draft Brett Lindros, who had warned the Nordiques against
drafting him, ahead of Toronto. Lacroix fooled Toronto GM Cliff Fletcher
because he never specified which pick he would give him. Fletcher said
later that it was his mistake.

c. Claude Lemieux

This was essentially a three way trade involving the New York Islanders,
the New Jersey Devils, and the Colorado Avalanche. The Avalanche sent
Wendel Clark to the Islanders, the Islanders sent Steve Thomas to the
Devils, and the Devils sent reigning Conn Smythe winner Claude Lemieux to
the Avalanche.

d. Sandis Ozolinsh

In 1995, Owen Nolan was traded to the San Jose Sharks for Sandis Ozolinsh
straight up.

e. Patrick Roy

Early in the 95-96 season, then Montreal Canadien goaltender Patrick Roy
was having troubles with Montreal coach Mario Tremblay. It started with a
verbal spat in the locker room in late November of 1995 and there was
turmoil as the Canadiens went on a 5 game winless streak. In early
December 1995, the Red Wings played the Canadiens at the Montreal Forum
and Detroit scored nine goals on Patrick Roy. Tremblay left Roy out there
on the ice to demonstrate that it was Tremblay and not Roy that controlled
the team. After Roy was pulled after the ninth goal, he told team
president Ronald Corey, "This is my last game for Montreal." He faced
Tremblay and said, "As-tu compris?" (Did you understand?)

The next day, an apologetic Roy met with Montreal GM Rejean Houle, who
decided to trade Roy anyways. It turns out that before the season began,
Corey had decided to trade Roy before the deadline and this incident
provided the impetus to do so. Roy was traded the same day they
inaugurated his wing at the Ronald McDonald Children's Hospital in
Montreal.

On December 6th, 1995 the Avalanche traded Jocelyn Thibault, Andrei
Kovalenko, and Martin Rucinsky to Montreal for Patrick Roy and Mike Keane
to complete the fourth major trade in post Lindros era.

f. Theoren Fleury

In late February of 1999, the Avalanche went after Theo Fleury of the
Calgary Flames who was slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the
end of the 1998-1999 season. The Avalanche traded Rene Corbet, Wade Belak,
Robyn Regehr and a 2000 second round compensatory pick to Calgary for Theo
Fleury and Chris Dingman. Fleury signed with the New York Rangers
following the 98-99 season after not receiving an offer from the Avalanche
organization, possibly because of a questionable scratch in game 5 of the
1999 Western Conference Finals against the Dallas Stars when Fleury did
not play because of what was reported as the "flu". With the series tied
at two games apiece, it certainly raises an eyebrow as to why Fleury did
not play that game if he indeed was sick. When players skate with broken
jaws, feet, hands, and noses, the "flu" was questionable indeed. It is
certainly possible that whatever the real reason was behind the game 5
scratch was also the reason why Colorado did not tender an offer to Theo
Fleury and allowed him to go to New York as a free agent. Colorado did not
make an offer to Fleury.

Incidentally, Fleury has become one of the most unstable personalities in
all of sports, in an exclusive pantheon that includes Mike Tyson and
Darryl Strawberry. After having a strong start to the 2001 season, he
entered the NHL substance abuse program. During that season he was
reprimanded by the team for an obscene gesture directed at the fans,
broken the ribs of the San Jose Sharks mascot, then had an episode where
he was going to retire/play in Europe if he didn't play with the Rangers.
But he came to his senses long enough to sign a major contract with the
Chicago Blackhawks. After signing with Chicago, he was suspended by the
NHL for violating the league's substance-abuse aftercare program two days
before Chicago's first regular season game of the 2002-2003 season.

After serving his 25 game suspension, he returned to the ice and hasn't
missed any time due to substance abuse since, although he came close to
being suspended for an additional six months in volation of the NHL-NHLPA
substance-abuse aftercare program when he was found with a cut over his
left eye and was intoxicated outside a strip club on January 19th of 2003.
The NHL ruled not to suspend him, but did not provide a reason.


g. Raymond Bourque

In March of 2000 Raymond Bourque, the longtime Boston Bruin, went to
Colorado alongside Dave Andreychuk for Brian Rolston, Martin Grenier, Sami
Pahlsson, and a 2000 1st round pick #27 (Martin Sammuelson). Bourque
re-signed after the 2000 season with the Avalanche despite his
unrestricted free agent status. He finished the 2000-2001 season by
winning the Stanley Cup and retired having won the last game of his
career.

h. Rob Blake

The seventh trade in the post-Lindros era had the Avalanche sending Adam
Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, Jared Aulin and a first round pick to the Los
Angeles Kings for Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht in February of 2001. Rob
Blake was an unrestricted free agent following the 2000-2002 season, but
opted to re-sign with the club.

i. Chris Drury

On October 1, 2002, the Avalanche traded Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to
the Calgary Flames for defenseman Derek Morris and forwards Dean McAmmond
and Jeff Shantz. Lacroix felt as if the depth on the blue line was not up
to the standards of a Cup contender, and the 24-year-old Morris was the
cornerstone of this trade. However, Morris was traded to Phoenix for Chris
Gratton and Ossi Vaananen on March 9, 2004. That wasn't a very long-lived
cornerstone.

j. Jose Theodore

On March 6, 2006, the Avalanche traded goalie David Aebischer to Montreal
for former Hart and Vezina winner Jose Theodore straight up. Theodore had
been the subject of controversy in Montreal, including a failed drug test
which he attributed to Propecia, a hair-growth supplement. His father and
half-brother pled guilty to loansharking, and his father had been
connected by authorities to the Macedonian Mafia. Jose was also
photographed with the Hell's Angels, who are more Mafia-esque in Canada
than they are in the United States. With all that pressure in Montreal and
being in the fishbowl, the Avalanche felt a change of scenery would do him
good and he would be able to regain his previous form.


4. Lindros Trade Tree
The Eric Lindros trade tree is as follows:

To PHI:
   Eric Lindros

To QUE:
   Peter Forsberg
   Steve Duchesne
      To STL: 1/23/94
        Denis Chasse
      To QUE:
         Garth Butcher (part of Sundin deal; see below)
         Ron Sutter
            To NYI:  6/28/94
               1994 1st Rd Pick #9 (Brett Lindros)
            To QUE:
               Uwe Krupp (To DET as free agent)
               1994 1st Rd Pick #12 (Wade Belak)
               TO CGY:
                  Robyn Regehr
                  Rene Corbet
               To COL:
                  Theo Fleury (To NYR as free agent)
                  Chris Dingman
                  To CAR:
                     2001 5th Rd Pick (Mikko Viitanen)
         Bob Bassen (left as free agent)
   Kerry Huffman (To OTT via waivers)
   Mike Ricci
      To SAN: 11/21/97
         1998 2nd Rd Pick (Jaroslav Kristek)
      To COL:
         Shean Donovan
         To ATL:
               Rick Tabaracci (taken by Columbus in expansion draft)
         1998 1st Rd Pick #12 (Alex Tanguay)
   Ron Hextall
      To NYI: 6/20/93
         1993 1st Rd Pick #23 (Todd Bertuzzi)
      To QUE:
         Mark Fitzpatrick (To FLA via expansion)
         1993 1st Rd Pick #14 (Adam Deadmarsh)
            To LAK:  2/21/2001
               Aaron Miller
               2001 1st Rd Pick (Dave Steckel)
               2003 1st Rd Pick (Brian Boyle)
               Jared Aulin
            To COL:
               Rob Blake
               Steve Reinprecht
                  TO BUF: 7/3/03
                  Keith Ballard
                     TO PHO: 3/9/04
                     Chris Gratton (new CBA buyout)
                     Ossi Vaananen
                     2005 2nd Rd Pick (Paul Stastny)

   Chris Simon
      To WAS:  11/2/96
         Curtis Leschyshyn
      To COL:
         Keith Jones
            To PHI:  11/12/98
            To COL:
               Shjon Podein
               To STL: 2/17/02
                  Mike Keane (released)
         1998 1st Rd Pick #20 (Scott Parker)
               To SAN: 6/21/03
               2003 5th Rd Pick #163 (Brad Richardson)
         1998 4th Rd Pick
   1993 1st Rd Pick (Jocelyn Thibault)
      To MTL:  12/6/95
         Andrei Kovalenko
         Martin Rucinsky
      To COL:
         Patrick Roy (retired)
         Mike Keane (to NYR as free agent; returns as part of Shjon Podein
deal above)
   1994 1st Rd Pick #10 (Nolan Baumgartner)
      To TOR:
         Mats Sundin
         Garth Butcher
         Todd Warriner
      To COL:
         Wendel Clark
            COL to NYI:  10/3/95
            NYI to NJD:
               Steve Thomas
            NJD to COL:
               Claude Lemieux
                  To NJD:  11/3/99
                     2000 2nd Rd Pick
                     Option to swap 2000 1st Rd Picks
                  To COL:
                     Brian Rolston
                        To BOS:  3/6/2000
                           Martin Grenier
                           Sami Pahlsson
                           2000 1st Rd Pick #27 (Martin Samuelsson)
                        To COL:
                           Ray Bourque (retired)
                           Dave Andreychuck (To BUF as free agent)
                Sylvain Lefebvre (To NYR as free agent)
         Landon Wilson
            To BOS:  11/22/96
               Anders Myrvold
            To COL:
               1998 1st Rd Pick #19 (Robyn Regehr; part of Fleury deal see
               above)
         1994 1st Rd Pick #22 (Jeff Kealty)

5. Notable Nords
a. The Nordiques had three retired numbers:

3  - J.C. Tremblay
8  - Marc Tardiff
16 - Michel Goulet

However, the Avalanche does not honor the retired numbers and active
players have worn them (Jeff Odgers and Warren Rychel, #16). It's a shame,
since Goulet is still with the Avalanche as Vice-President of Player
Personnel.

The numbers the Avalanche have retired are:

33 - Patrick Roy
77 - Raymond Bourque

The only other number no Avalanche can wear is the #99 that has been
retired leaguewide in honour of Wayne Gretzky.

b. Hall of famers
Michel Goulet and Peter Stastny are both in the Hockey Hall of Fame. If
you wish to consider him a part of the Quebec/Colorado organization,
Raymond Bourque will be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as well in
the year 2004. Patrick Roy is a shoo-in for the Hockey Hall of Fame and
will go in the year 2006.

6. History
a. All-time results

1981 - Lost to Philadelphia 3-2

1982 - def. Montreal 3-2
       def. Boston 4-3
       Lost to NY Islanders 4-0

1983 - Lost to Boston 3-1

1984 - def. Buffalo 3-0
       Lost to Montreal 4-2

1985 - def. Buffalo 3-2
       def. Montreal 4-3
       Lost to Philadelphia 4-2

1986 - Lost to Hartford 3-0

1987 - def. Hartford 4-2
       Lost to Montreal 4-3

1993 - Lost to Montreal 4-2

1995 - Lost to NY Rangers 4-2

***MOVED FROM QUEBEC TO COLORADO***

1996 - def. Vancouver 4-2
       def. Chicago 4-2
       def. Detroit 4-2
       def. Florida 4-0*

1997 - def. Chicago 4-2
       def. Edmonton 4-1
       Lost to Detroit 4-2

1998 - Lost to Edmonton 4-3

1999 - def. San Jose 4-2
       def. Detroit 4-2
       Lost to Dallas 4-3

2000 - def. Phoenix 4-1
       def. Detroit 4-1
       Lost to Dallas 4-3

2001 - def. Vancouver 4-0
       def. Los Angeles 4-3
       def. St. Louis 4-1
       def. New Jersey 4-3*

2002 - def. Los Angeles 4-3
       def. San Jose 4-3
       Lost to Detroit 4-3

2003 - Lost to Minnesota 4-3

2004 - def. Dallas 4-1
       Lost to San Jose 4-2

2005 - (Season cancelled)

2006 - def. Dallas 4-1
       Lost to Anaheim 4-0

*Stanley Cup Champions

b. 1996 Stanley Cup Champions
The 20 players who played in the Cup Finals against Florida in 1996 were:
Rene Corbet, Adam Deadmarsh, Adam Foote, Peter Forsberg, Alexei Gusarov,
Dave Hannan, Valeri Kamensky, Mike Keane, Jon Klemm, Uwe Krupp, Sylvain
Lefebvre, Curtis Leschyshyn, Sandis Ozolinsh, Mike Ricci, Warren Rychel,
Joe Sakic, Stephane Yelle, Scott Young, Patrick Roy and Stephane Fiset.
Chris Simon played in the playoffs but not the cup finals. Joe Sakic was
the Conn Smythe winner and Uwe Krupp scored the cup-winning goal in the
third OT of game 4.

c. 2001 Stanley Cup Champions
The 20 players who played in the Cup Finals against New Jersey in 2001
were:
Rob Blake, Raymond Bourque, Dave Reid, Chris Dingman, Chris Drury, Adam
Foote, Greg DeVries, Milan Hejduk, Dan Hinote, Jon Klemm, Eric Messier,
Ville Nieminen, Shjon Podein, Steven Reinprecht, Joe Sakic, Martin Skoula,
Alex Tanguay, Stephane Yelle, Patrick Roy, and David Aebischer. Bryan
Muir, Peter Forsberg and Scott Parker appeared in the playoffs but not the
cup finals.
Patrick Roy was the Conn Smythe winner and Alex Tanguay scored the
cup-winning goal in the second period of game 7.

d. Red Wings rivalry
The focal point of the rivalry was Claude Lemieux. The prologue to the
rivalry was in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals when Lemieux was with the New
Jersey Devils. The heavily favored Red Wings were expected to win their
first Stanley Cup since the Terry Sawchuk era but Lemieux and the Devils
would have none of that and Claude Lemieux was instrumental in engineering
a four game sweep of Detroit as Lemieux captured the Conn Smythe trophy
for playoffs MVP.

The following year Claude was traded to Colorado and as fate would have
it, Colorado and Detroit met up in the Western Conference finals. The Red
Wings had come off a record regular season where they had amassed an
astonishing 131 points and were heavily favored.

The series turned out to be a physical one and in game 3 Detroit's
Vyacheslav Kozlov and Colorado's Adam Foote got into a minor tussle and
Kozlov hit Foote's head, causing his face to go into the glass. Foote was
cut and was gushing blood on the ice but there was no call. Claude Lemieux
then sucker punched Kozlov which lead to a one game suspension. After the
game, Red Wings coach Scotty Bowman held up the team bus and he verbally
attacked Claude Lemieux while he was in the presence of his wife and two
year old child with a profanity-laced tirade.

In game 6 of that series, Claude Lemieux had hurt Igor Larionov on a hit
earlier in the game, but the defining moment of the Colorado/Detroit
rivalry came when Claude Lemieux viciously hit Detroit's Kris Draper along
the boards and as Draper's body was falling, his face was smashed by the
edge of the boards and Draper's jaw was shattered as the Red Wings lost
game 6 and the series that night. Claude Lemieux refused to apologize for
the incident. After the game Dino Ciccarelli reflected on the postgame
handshake when he shook Lemieux's hand:

"I can't believe I shook that guy's friggin' hand."

Claude Lemieux was suspended by the NHL for the first two games of the
Stanley Cup Finals but Colorado went on to sweep Florida anyway and Claude
had his second cup in as many years, much to the chagrin of the Wings
fans.

The following year, March 26, 1997, marked the return of Claude Lemieux to
Detroit. The game was a brawl-filled game with a total of 156 minutes of
penalties. In the first period during a brawl, goalies Patrick Roy and
Mike Vernon squared off at center ice. During the same stoppage of play,
Detroit's Darren McCarty savagely attacked Lemieux from behind (who was
engaged with another player during the brawl) and Lemieux went down to the
ice in a "turtle" position. The Red Wings won that game in OT and they
said that was the game they "became a team".

That year the Avalanche were the favorites to repeat and had home ice
advantage throughout the playoffs and as luck would have it, the two teams
would meet again in the conference finals. This time, Detroit would not be
denied and they utilized a stifling defensive style combined with
outstanding goaltending by Mike Vernon to defeat Colorado in 6 and Detroit
captured their first Stanley Cup in 42 years.

On 11/11/97 the Avs and Wings met in the regular season and three seconds
into the opening faceoff Lemieux and McCarty dropped the gloves. This time
Lemieux wasn't being attacked from behind and the two fought to a draw.
After the game McCarty said he respected Claude for backing up his words
with his fists.

April 1st, 1998 was another memorable affair between the two clubs. With
Detroit unwilling to do anything physical on the road, they waited for yet
another home game to start something and the bad blood was flowing yet
again. The game was highlighted by a brawl-filled third period that
featured thirteen misconduct penalties and seven fights, most notably a
fight between the two goaltenders, Patrick Roy and Chris Osgood (which
also became a career defining moment for Avalanche radio announcer Mike
Haynes).

The Avalanche and Red Wings failed to meet up in the postseason that year
as Colorado was upset in 7 games by the upstart Edmonton Oilers while
Detroit went on to sweep the Washington Capitals to capture their second
consecutive Stanley Cup championship.

In 1999, Colorado had been making waves after they traded for Theo Fleury.
However, Detroit had their own counterpunch when they acquired Wendel
Clark and Bill Ranford from the Tampa Bay Lightning as well as all-star
defenseman Chris Chelios from the Chicago Blackhawks. There was much
bantering back and forth as to who got the better deal. Adam Foote was
quoted as saying, "It'll make it that much sweeter when we beat them."
Adding fuel to the fire, in a late regular season game between the two
teams, Detroit's Kirk Maltby slashed Colorado's Valeri Kamensky and broke
his wrist, knocking him out until somewhere until the second round of the
playoffs -- maybe longer.

Sure enough, the two teams had a playoff date in the second round. Detroit
had come off a sweep of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks while the Avalanche were
tested by a gritty San Jose Sharks team. Detroit, being the two time
defending champions, was heavily favored even though Colorado had the
better record during the season and home ice advantage.

Osgood had suffered a knee injury in the previous round and Bill Ranford
was the starting goalie in his stead. In game 1, Avalanche center Peter
Forsberg boarded Detroit's Brenden Shanahan, cutting his face open and
requiring over one hundred stitches. Forsberg was assessed a five minute
major and was kicked out of the game. Later in the game, it was McCarty
hitting Claude Lemieux from behind yet again and McCarty was assessed a
five minute major but remained in the game because there was no blood.
Incidentally, both teams killed off the five minute powerplay. Colorado
and Detroit played to overtime when Detroit fourth liner Kirk Maltby
scored the game-winner and Detroit took a 1-0 series lead.

Game 2 wasn't so kind to the Avalanche when the Red Wings completely
outplayed Colorado and Bill Ranford was looking like a fine trade when he
stopped all 28 of Colorado's shots and Detroit cruised to a 4-0 shutout
and a 2-0 series lead. They had won both games in Colorado and the Avs
were in a major hole, now needing to win 4 of their next 5 games to a team
that was looking to get its third cup in as many years. The Avalanche
would get Valeri Kamensky back for game 3 but it didn't seem to matter at
that point.

Game 3 in Detroit didn't have a very good start for Colorado. Detroit
captain Steve Yzerman scored just 7:07 into the game and Joe Louis Arena
was rocking. Shortly after Yzerman had a wide open chance but he hit the
crossbar and narrowly missed his chance to go up 2-0 in the game.

That's when Ranford cracked.

Lemieux, Fleury, Dale Hunter, Chris Drury, and Aaron Miller scored 5 goals
in a row to chase Ranford from the net 5:05 into the second period.
Detroit tossed in two meaningless goals afterwards and Colorado won 5-3.

Game 4 didn't go much better for "Red Light Ranford". Drury, Deadmarsh and
Milan Hejduk scored the first three goals of the game and Bill was sitting
on the bench with a deer in the headlights look in his eyes at the 14:04
mark of the second period. Backup Norm Maracle stepped in but didn't fare
much better; Forsberg, Kamensky and Deadmarsh scored and the Avalanche had
stunned the Detroit crowd by tying the series at 2-2 by scoring eleven
goals in two games.

Game 5 welcomed the return of Chris Osgood (who was probably playing hurt)
and it didn't get any easier for Detroit. The scoring opened with fourth
liner Jeff Odgers scoring from behind the blue line. Colorado would score
two more times in that game; Detroit wouldn't score any.

Now with Colorado up three games to two, the Avs had a chance to close out
the series in front of the Detroit crowd. Detroit would go with Osgood.

Colorado opened the scoring when Forsberg made it a 1-0 game. Then Hejduk,
Drury and Joe Sakic tossed in three goals in a row and the Red Wings were
all of a sudden down 4-0. Detroit battled back to make it 4-2 but they
would get nothing more past Patrick Roy and the Red Wings were eliminated
in Detroit by a score of 5-2. Afterwards, McCarty refused to shake
Lemieux's hand even though he had done so in years past.

The following year (2000) was anticlimactic. Once again the two teams met
in the playoffs, but unlike the previous three series, Detroit posed
little threat. Despite winning the regular season series, the Red Wings
would win all of one game in the series against Colorado and they lost the
series in 5.

The two teams did not meet in the 2001 playoffs as the Red Wings were
upset by the LA Kings in 6 games in stunning fashion, with former
Avalanche and notorious Red Wings killer Adam Deadmarsh scoring the series
winning goal in OT of game 6 to end Detroit's season.

In the 2001 offseason, the Red Wings decided that their makeup wasn't
enough to win the cup. Offseason moves brought future hall of fame
goaltender Dominik Hasek and wingers Luc Robitaille and Brett Hull, both
600 goal scorers. The Red Wings roster was the oldest in the league at 31
years of age, but if experience counted for anything, they were the team
to beat in the NHL. Boasting future hall of famers in Sergei Fedorov,
Steve Yzerman, Luc Robitaille, Igor Larionov, Nick Lidstrom, Brett Hull,
Luc Robitaille, Dominik Hasek, Brenden Shanahan and a guy already in the
hall of fame behind the bench in Scotty Bowman, their collective resumes
would make for one of the most impresisve in the history of the National
Hockey League. In short, they were built to make a serious run at the
Stanley Cup. Their regular season kicked off with a bang, with one of the
best starts in NHL history, essentially wrapping up the President's Trophy
as long as they played merely competent hockey down the stretch.

On March 23, 2002 the Avs and Red Wings met up for yet another memorable
contest. The festivities started when Maltby got in Patrick Roy's way and
knocked Roy down as the play was moving away from the net. Roy tried to
move Maltby by shoving him away and the two began to scrap. At that point,
all hell broke loose. With everyone scrapping, Detroit goaltender Dominik
Hasek skated down the length of the ice to Roy's crease (where he was
busy). Nobody noticed Hasek until it was too late. Hasek, in all his fury
and anger, came up behind Patrick Roy and he menacingly....fell down.
During his fall, he got the back of Roy's legs and they both went down.
Roy and Hasek got up and threw down their blockers, but did not get to
fight as they were both restrained by the officials.

After play resumed, Mike Keane of the Avalanche bumped Hasek in the crease
and Chris Chelios took exception to that. He cross-checked Keane six (6)
times before he was finally whistled for the penalty. Chelios continued to
argue the call and was ejected from the game.

In the same contest, Brenden Shanahan scored his 500th career goal. Even
though the centerpiece of the rivalry, Claude Lemieux, is long gone, the
rivalry was not over. In the words of Mike Haynes, this rivalry is way far
from being over.

But the best was yet to come.

After Detroit dispatched the Canucks and Blues in the first two rounds,
they were scheduled to meet the Avalanche in the Western Conference
Finals, the third time they had met in the WCF and the fifth time in the
last seven years. The hype was tremendous, as they were clearly the two
best teams in hockey. It was perhaps the greatest collection of talent in
one playoff series since the Oilers and Islanders met in the 1983 Stanley
Cup Finals. In addition to Detroit's hall of famers, the Avalanche added
in their share with Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, and Rob Blake.
The players and head coaches in the series had won a combined 59 Stanley
Cup Rings and a mind-numbing 47 NHL postseason trophies. Some said this
could be one of the greatest postseason contests ever.

Unfortunately for the hockey world, game 1 was a disappointment. Colorado,
coming off a 7 game series with San Jose, looked tired and lethargic
against Detroit. With the score tied 2-2 in the third period, the unlikely
hero Darren McCarty scored a natural hat trick against Patrick Roy in the
third and the Red Wing, who had scored all of five goals during the
regular season, provided all the offense the talent-laded Detroit Red
Wings would need.

Game 2 made for much better hockey. Patrick Roy was not at his best,
giving up the puck to Kirk Maltby and allowing him to score on a
shorthanded breakaway, then late in the game with Colorado nursing a 3-2
lead, an innocent dump in off the end boards by Lidstrom went into the net
after Patrick accidentally kicked it in while trying to squeeze off the
post. In spite of those two gaffes, Roy played well otherwise, but he
would undoubtedly be looked towards as the goat had Colorado gone down 2-0
to the Red Wings.

In overtime, it didn't take long to get things settled. Peter Forsberg
made a nice move to get a shot off which Hasek saved, but Steve Reinprecht
got the rebound and sent it to Drury, who made a beautiful hesitation move
to get Hasek to go down, then flipped the puck in over him.

Series tied.

Game 3 proved to show the start of the goaltender matchup people had
anticipated so much. Roy and Hasek stoned the shooters all game long,
allowing just one goal apiece, and it they would head into overtime for
the second straight game. Once again, it was an unsung hero for Detroit
who would come through as Frederik Olausson shot from inside the blue line
that deflected off an Avs defenseman and into the net behind a screened
Roy.

True to form, Colorado would not give up in the next contest. The two
teams showed a tremendous amount of skill, battling back and forth, and
with Colorado with a one goal lead late in the game, Peter Forsberg set up
Chris Drury to give Colorado their first two goal lead of the series. With
Brett Hull scoring with under 2 seconds left to go, Drury was credited
with the game-winner, his seventh career playoff goal against Detroit was
the fifth game-winning goal.

Game 5 was one of the greatest playoff games in recent NHL history
according to Colorado and Detroit fans alike. Like two heavyweights, they
battled back and forth, but the two goaltenders had to be excellent.
Skill, speed, size, defense, shooting, goaltending...this game had it all.
It was a case of the two teams giving everything they had and not being
able to get an advantage.

But Detroit got their break. With under three minutes left to go in a tied
game, Shanahan had fooled Rob Blake down to the ice, then moved around a
sprawling Patrick Roy and had the net wide open. But at the very last
second, Peter Forsberg deflected the puck oh so slightly, just enough to
alter the puck's trajectory. It hit the post.

And so the game would head to overtime for the third time in the series.
Detroit came out firing, outshooting Colorado 4-0, and Shanahan once again
rang a shot off the post. The tension was as high as you could imagine.
But it only took one mistake.

Kris Draper broke his stick and went to the bench to get a new one at the
same time Detroit was in the middle of a line change. Forsberg, closely
shadowed all game, got a little bit of daylight, and a three on one
ensued. Colorado's Brian Willsie tried to set up Drury with a pass, but
Drury fanned on the shot. Unfortunately for Detroit, Drury's fan meant the
puck would land right on Forsberg's tape. In all alone, Peter Forsberg
scored, his 9th goal of the playoffs and 27th point of the postseason to
take the 3-2 series lead. Regardless of how the series would turn out,
Forsberg was writing one of the more remarkable comeback stories in recent
sports history.

Game 6 showed why nobody should ever count out the Detroit Red Wings. The
first goal of the game was a strange one: Steve Yzerman shot in traffic
and Patrick Roy made an unbelievable save. Roy raised his arm to show the
puck to the crowd as he's done so many times before, except the puck
wasn't in his glove. It remained on the ice, the whistle hadn't blown, and
the puck just lay there for Brenden Shanahan to take a 1-0 lead in the
game, the first time in the entire series Detroit had scored the first
goal of the contest. But it was Detroit's smothering defense that limited
Colorado to only 22 shots on Dominik Hasek, all of which he stopped. With
McCarty picking up another goal, Detroit had shut out Colorado 2-0 at the
Pepsi Center and it was fitting that these two teams would go to a game 7.

Unfortunately, game 7 was not a game for the ages. There was no overtime,
no tight-checking contest, no great saves on both sides of the ice, no
tense lead changes, and nothing that resembled what had become some of the
most entertaining hockey NHL fans had seen in quite some time. Detroit
scored early, going up 2-0 at the 3:17 mark. And with the Avs putting up a
fight at that point, they just gave up. Detroit dominated in every facet,
scoring 6 goals on Patrick Roy, who was pulled for David Aebischer 6:28
into the second period. Aebischer would allow one more goal and Hasek
didn't allow any, and Detroit had won game 7 by a lopsided 7-0 score.

It wasn't the blood rivlary we had seen in the past. It was clear that
there was more respect than hatred for the other team in both locker
rooms. Even after game 7, both Brett Hull and Scotty Bowman talked
candidly about the amount of respect they had for the Avalanche. The
feeling was mutual. It is still a rivalry, but it appears to have evolved
into a skill rivalry.

And had Colorado won the series, it is difficult to say what that would
have done to the rivalry, having beaten them the last three playoff series
in a row. But they didn't, and the Red Wings went on to win their third
Stanley Cup since 1997. The bottom line is that these are two excellent
teams, but Detroit prevailed in the end not because of talent or injuries,
but they just wanted it more. In the end, it was Colorado's demise. And in
the process, they reminded every Avs and Wings fan why they love the sport
to begin with.

After the Red Wings defeated the Carolina Hurricanes in the Stanley Cup
Finals, Scotty Bowman announced his retirement as coach of the Red Wings.
One of the greatest coaches in the game's history had decided to call it
quits after getting his name on the Stanley Cup nine times, one more than
legendary Montreal coach Toe Blake. Incidentally, Blake's last Cup came
against Bowman, when his Canadiens beat Bowman's St. Louis Blues in the
1968 Cup Finals.

With Bowman's departure, the face of the rivalry, if it is that anymore,
continues to change. In the 2003 playoffs it seemed as if the two teams
were on another collision course for a second round playoff matchup,
provided that the #2 seeded Red Wings got past Anaheim and the #3 seeded
Avalanche got past Minnesota. Detroit was swept by the Mighty Ducks and
the Avalanche blew a 3-1 series lead to Minnesota before losing to the
Wild in 7. There would be no epic playoff matchup between the Avalanche
and Red Wings that year. It was also the first time since 1994 that
neither the Avalanche nor the Red Wings would play in the Western
Conference Finals. Similarly, both teams were eliminated in the second
round of the 2004 postseason. And with the season cancelled in 2005, there
was obviously no hockey with which to keep things going. The teams did not
meet in 2006, when the 7th-seeded Avalanche defeated the Stars in five,
which would have pitted them against the President's Trophy-winning Red
Wings in round two had Detroit not lost the opening round series to
Edmonton, the eighth seed.

The Red Wings do not even appear to be public enemy #1 anymore among
Avalanche fans. That distinction, at least for the time being, belongs to
the Vancouver Canucks (see below).

e. Todd Bertuzzi incident

On February 16, 2004, Avalanche forward Steve Moore put a questionable hit
on Vancouver Canucks star forward Markus Naslund. Moore laid an open-ice
hit on Naslund after Naslund had released the puck, hitting him high with
a possible elbow. Naslund was knocked out of the game and missed the
following three games with a concussion. The hit was not penalized and the
league reviewed the hit and deemed it clean; no fine or suspension was
given.

The Canucks, on the other hand, were incensed and vowed revenge on Moore.
Vancouver forward Brad May told the Vancouver Sun there was a bounty on
Moore's head. "There's definitely a bounty on his head," he said. "Clean
hit or not, that's our best player, and you respond. It's going to be fun
when we get him."

Todd Bertuzzi told Rick Sadowski of the Rocky Mountain News, "No way will
that punk be in their lineup in March."

However, the first game between the two teams after the Moore hit on
Naslund came and went without incident. On March 3rd, 2004, NHL
commissioner Gary Bettman was in attendance for a 5-5 tie at the Pepsi
Center where nothing of note happened.

March 8, 2004, was a different story.

At GM Place in Vancouver, the game started out rough and got rougher.
There were four fights in the first period, including one between Steve
Moore and Vancouver forward Matt Cooke. But it was at the 8:41 mark of the
third period when Todd Bertuzzi committed one of the most heinous acts in
NHL history.

With Colorado up 8-2, Bertuzzi skated up to Moore from behind and sucker
punched him in the head, then drove Moore's head into the ice using his
own body weight of 240 pounds. Moore laid motionless on the ice for
several minutes in a pool of his own blood before being taken away on a
stretcher. Steve Moore had a broken neck.

The NHL suspended Bertuzzi for the remainder of the 2004 season and the
playoffs. He, like the rest of the NHL, played no hockey in the 2005
season. Bertuzzi was cleared to resume play starting the 2005-2006 season.

The Vancouver Canucks were fined $250,000 for their role in the incident.
Bertuzzi lost $501,926.39 (US) in salary and was not allowed to play in
the 2004 World Cup of Hockey, two world championships, or any European pro
league.

Bertuzzi also faced legal action. After an investigation by Vancouver
police, British Columbia's ministry of the attorney general charged
Bertuzzi with assault causing bodily harm on June 25, 2004. Bertuzzi pled
guilty and was sentenced to a year probation and 80 hours of community
service.

In addition, Moore filed a lawsuit in Denver against Bertuzzi, Crawford,
May, then Canucks GM Brian Burke, and the Canucks' parent company, Orca
Bay Sports and Entertainment. As of May 2006, Moore still suffers from
post-concussion syndrome and his return to the NHL is in doubt.

Adding insult to injury, the Avalanche signed Brad May following the
2004-2005 lockout.

7. Draft picks
a. All-time picks
The draft history for the Colorado Avalanche can be viewed at
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000690.html

The draft history for the Quebec Nordiques can be viewed at
http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/draft/teams/dr000047.html

b. First round analysis
In 1990 Quebec took Owen Nolan as their first pick, 1st overall. He played
parts of 6 seasons with the organization before being traded to San Jose
early into the team's identity as the Avalanche. He's still with the
Sharks, where he wears the captain's C. His best year statistically was
1999-2000 when he had 44 goals and 40 assists. He was not as effective in
the 2002 playoffs as much maligned UFA Teemu Selanne or even streaky
producer Patrick Marleau, but he has his supporters.

In 1991 the Nords' first choice and, again, first overall was Eric
Lindros. Suffice to say that Lindros produced fairly well during his "on"
streaks with the Rangers after leaving Philadelphia. He's a power forward
and appears to work well with Pavel Bure on his wing, so stat freaks might
look for him to have a good season in 2002-2003 --if he doesn't meet up
with Kaspar, Scott Stevens, or a similarly minded player on the way. No
matter which direction you go on Lindros personally, you've got to admit
that you'd be hard-pressed to find a sane person on the hockey community
that would take Lindros for Forsberg straight up, much less orchestrate a
trade that would be what this one was--Lindros in exchange for Forsberg,
Steve Duchesne, Kerry Huffman, Ron Hextall, Mike Ricci, Chris Simon, two
first round draft picks that turned into Jocelyn Thibault and Nolan
Baumgartner, and $15 million dollars. These players were later traded for
various others and if the Lindros deal had never gone down, Colorado fans
would never have seen the likes of Patrick Roy, Adam Deadmarsh, Rob Blake,
and Alex Tanguay. It has secured two Stanley Cups for Avs fans.

In 1992 as their first pick (4th overall) the Nords selected Todd
Warriner. Warriner's player scattered seasons with the Leafs, 'Yotes,
Lightning, and he's now with Vancouver where he played 14 games last
season. Despite being well-traveled, he's been disappointing as far as 1st
rounders go, having 59 goals and 138 points in 404 NHL games.

In 1993 the Nords had two picks in the first round due to the Lindros
trade. The first pick, from Philadelphia, was Jocelyn Thibault, who played
47 games for Quebec and a bit (10 games) in Colorado before being traded
to Montreal in the Patrick Roy deal. This season for the Chicago
Blackhawks, Thibault started extremely strong but struggled after the
Olympics, though he ended up with decent GAA and S% stats. His playoffs
were decent as well, but unfortunately the team playing in front of him
was offensively challenged (ala Philly) and his counterpart at the other
end of the rink, Brent Johnson of St. Louis, enjoyed a 3-game shutout
streak.

So how'd the Nords get the second of their first rounders? Ron Hextall,
acquired in the Lindros trade, was traded to the New York Islanders with a
pick--one that became Todd Bertuzzi (since traded to Vancouver). In
exchange they got Mark Fitzpatrick and a pick that was the second of the
Nords' first rounders in 1993: Adam Deadmarsh. We all know Deader quite
well, thankyouverymuch, and haven't been allowed to forget him in the
playoffs since the Avs traded the fan favorite with Aaron Miller to LA in
the Rob Blake/Steve Reinprecht trade. Deader's had a great year with the
Kings on their stellar first line, but sadly the depth on that club pretty
much stops after that, and when he was injured in the 2002 Colorado series
(and liney Jason Allison also was, but played regardless), the writing was
on the wall for LA.

In 1994 the Nords again had two picks (the first in exchange for sending
Ron Sutter to the Isles, a trade which also procured a pick for--of all
people--Brett Lindros, who was then traded for Uwe Krupp). The first was
Wade Belak. Belak bounced back and forth between Hershey and Colorado
before being traded to Calgary, and then to Toronto. He had a decent year
this time around with the Leafs, as the defenseman played in 63 games and
had 4 points (142 PIMs).

The second pick for Quebec in 1994 was Jeff Kealty. Kealty finished a
career at Boston University and was last seen playing for the Milwaukee
Admirals in the since-folded IHL. After playing one game in 1999-2000 for
Milwaukee, Kealty hasn't been seen since. Needless to say, 1994 was not a
good draft year for Quebec.

1995-1996 was the inaugural season in Colorado for the organization. The
club chose as their first rounder goaltender Marc Denis, who is now with
the Columbus Blue Jackets. Denis doesn't get much help in Columbus so his
stats are terrible, but by all accounts he looked good in sharing
netminding duties with veteran Ron Tugnutt (now with Dallas in an
off-season trade).

Colorado's first round pick in 1996 was Peter Ratchuk, who never played a
game for the organization. He's a defenseman who's toured a lot of the
minor league affiliates--and the Florida Panthers which debatably amounts
to the same thing--and last season he played with the Baby Penguins in
Wilkes-Barre. He put up 16 goals and 23 assists there.

1997 saw the Avs picking last in the first round. They took Kevin Grimes,
a defenseman with the ECHL at the moment. At this point, he's not yet
played an NHL game.

1998 was a huge draft year for the Avs. Vincent Lecavalier was up, and
everyone wanted him. The Avs were so intent on getting him that they ended
up with four first round picks, but weren't able to swing a deal for
Vinnie. At 12th overall they took Alex Tanguay. Tanguay had a snake-bitten
year and, like the rest of the Avs, were offensively challenged in the
Foppaless 2001-2002 season, but he picked up somewhat in the playoffs
(he's starting to show a trend of doing that). He also battled sinus
problems and other injuries throughout the year. Tanguay's problems in
putting the lotion in the basket in 2002 likely had more to do with
confidence than anything else.

At 17th overall the Avs chose Marty Skoula. Skoula's a young defenseman
who was brought up right away; his style of skating is so smooth that he
gets a hard time from fans because it appears he's not working hard to
play the game. Despite having problems-- in adapting to less ice time
following the Kasparaitis acquisition--in the playoffs, Skoula had a
career year offensively and the Avs were one of the few clubs to have two
defenseman scoring 10 or more goals (the other, of course, was Rob Blake).
His outbound passes are impressive, but his puck possession is definitely
a problem. For a 22 year old, he gets rather too much criticism from fans
who should know to be more patient with the development young, European
defensemen.

At 19th overall Colorado picked defenseman Robyn Regehr. Like Skoula and
many other young defensemen, the Brazilian-born player is developing
slowly in Calgary, where the Avs traded him in exchange for Theo Fleury
(played last year in NYR, now belongs to San Jose but will go UFA on
Monday) and Chris Dingman (traded to Carolina and then to Tampa). The
Flames had their choice of Regehr or Skoula, and chose Regehr--looking
like a bad choice for Calgary as Regehr's offensive numbers are fairly
non-existent. However it's worth noting that Regehr was in a serious car
accident before his career in Calgary had a chance to begin. He's returned
to the ice since to put up 24 points in just over 200 NHL games.

The Avs' final first rounder at 20th overall was Scott Parker. The
enforcer has improved in ability since his first call-up, but he's still
just an enforcer, and a disappointing choice for Colorado when one
considers that Simon Gagne, Jiri Fischer, and Scott Gomez were taken in
the first rounder (by Philly, Detroit, and Jersey, respectively) after
Parker.

In 1999 the Avs chose Mikhail Kuleshov. The forward played three games
with Hershey in 2000-2001 before finishing the season in his native
Russia. This past year, though, he played 60 games with Hershey and put up
8 goals and 11 assists.

2000's first round pick for Colorado was Vaclav Nedorost. He started out
2001-2002 with the big club, but during the Avs' injury-plagued season his
fellow countryman and forward Radim Vrbata, a low pick in the 7th round of
1999, came up to help out while regulars were out of the lineup. The kid
surprised people by showing early confidence and, though people were
waiting for him to stop scoring, he just never did. Therefore, he stayed,
and Nedorost--who had had a tentative style probably influenced by lack of
the same confidence that made the speedy Vrbata appear comfortable in the
league--was sent back down where he had continued success in Hershey. He
was called up on what was supposed to be a permanent basis for the
2002-2003 season, but struggled so mightily that he was sent down during
midseason. He was traded to the Florida Panthers for Peter Worrell on July
19, 2003.

The Avalanche traded away their 2001 first round pick.

Colorado's 2002 draft pick, RW Jonas Johansson, didn't get much time in
the organization. He had trouble with the physical aspect of the game and
lasted just one year before being sent to the Washington Capitals for
Steve Konowalchuk on October 22, 2003.

The Avalanche traded away their 2003 first round pick.

Their 2004 first round pick, Wojtek Wolski, won the 2006 OHL player of the
year when he scored 47 goals, and 81 assists (128 points) in 56 games. He
didn't get much time with the Avalanche, but his limited time was mixed.
He had some strong shifts and showed natural playmaking ability at times,
but often he looked like a rookie. That's pretty much expected.

8. Attending games
a. Tickets
I. Single game tickets
Single game tickets can be purchased from Ticketmaster online at
www.ticketmaster.com or by calling Tickemaster at (303) 830-8497 or (719)
520-9090. Tickets can also be purchased from any area Ticketmaster outlet.

II. Fan Plan and season tickets
The Fan Plan is a plan that will get you one preseason game and thirteen
regular season games. This is essentially 1/3 of the full season ticket
package. You do not get to pick your 14 games, however. There are three
different plans to choose from, and each of them includes games against
the big rivals. One advantage to the Fan Plan holders is that you get
rights to purchase tickets to every playoff game. Fan Plan holders also
get options to buy parking passes for the Pepsi Center main lot, get the
plastic card that enables discounts at the Team Store, and get the option
to purchase the full playoff package.

Season tickets are tickets to every preseason and regular season game, and
also comes with the option of purchasing tickets to every playoff game.

To get on the Fan Plan waiting list, you need to deposit $100 per seat at
the time they add your name to the list. For season tickets, it's $200 per
seat. This money will be put towards your first season's tickets when that
date arrives. The money is fully refundable upon request should you decide
to remove your name from the waiting list.

To get on the waiting list for either the Fan Plan or season tickets, go
to https://www.coloradoavalanche.com/waitlist/ and fill out the form or
mail your request to:

Colorado Avalanche Season Ticket Sales
1000 Chopper Circle
Denver, CO
80204

Or you can call (303) 405-1212 to get a hold of the ticket office.

Presently, the waiting list is approximately 2.5 to 3 years long (as of
May 31, 2001).

As for priorites, when the Avs came to Denver, IHL Grizzlies season ticket
holders got first priority for Avs season tickets, then NBA Nuggets season
ticket holders, then NBA Nuggets fanplan holders, then the general public.
Longtime Denver hockey historian Art Caldwell holds the #1 priority number
for the Avalanche.

III. Playoff tickets
The Avalanche offer their playoff tickets for sale through ticketmaster by
phone and internet ONLY.  No walkup sales are made at the Pepsi Center or
at any Ticketmaster outlet. There at most a couple thousand seats
available for each home playoff game, and this number dwindles as each
series passes such that only 750 seats per game were available for the
home games of the 2001 Cup Finals.

b. Pepsi Center
I. Directions
The Pepsi Center is located in the Platte River Valley between Elitches
and Coors Field. The easiest way to get there is to take I-25. If you are
coming from the south, take the Speer Blvd. exit. The arena will be on
your left, approximately 1/4 miles after exiting.

From the north, take I-25 to the Speer Blvd South exit (212A). Once you
get on Speer you will see the Pepsi Center almost immediately to your
right.

The Pepsi Center's address is 1000 Chopper Circle (the street named for
the well-loved, now-deceased trainer, Bob "Chopper" Travaglini of the
Denver Nuggets.  Chopper lived in the Ramada hotel at I-25 at 23rd Avenue
for years, and after his retirement, was named "community ambassador" and
hosted "Chopper's Dinner" for charity [which continues on after his
passing]). The Ramada hotel is now something else, though I don't know
what. A Red Lion, perhaps?

II. Parking
Parking is not cheap. The two closest lots are the Pepsi Center parking
lot and the Elitches parking lot.

Elitches will let you park in their lots most times, but occasionally they
don't allow Avalanche parking when they are expecting big crowds.  These
times are typically weekend days in the late spring.  Elitches is a right
hand turn off of Speer BEFORE you get to the Pepsi Center. It is pretty
obvious where to turn.  Parking there was $10 during 2000-2001, the same
as the Pepsi Center lots.

For the Pepsi Center lots, they are also a right turn off Speer, about 1/4
a mile past the Elitches turn. Again it is pretty obvious. You'll be on
the North side of the Can but will wind way around to the south before you
get to park. Parking cost $10 during the 2000-2001 regular season, but was
raised to $15 sometime before the first game of the Cup Finals.

Some have had more success with the lot on the Northeast side of the
arena. If you make the left hand turn from Auraria where the Brooklyn's
steakhouse is, and take that around to the right, just before you hit
Speer again, there is a lot on your right hand side behind the buildings
that line Auraria. Park there (close to the center lane!), and you can
then exit rather quickly onto Speer, then onto I-25.

Another good place is just across Speer in the lower downtown area.  There
is a parking lot near 15th and Blake/Wazee that has pretty cheap parking
and is walking distance from a few dozen restaurants and the arena. It
looks a bit seedy, but it really isn't.   Given the dearth of decent
food/bev places within a couple of football fields of the arena itself,
this is a good choice if one wants to revel pre-game.

There are other Lower Downtown spots which involve a reasonable walk, or
if you prefer, fans can take mass transit with RDT to downtown either via
bus or light rail with a reasonable walk to the arena.

III. Fun Facts
(taken from the Colorado Avalanche 2000-2001 Media Guide)

Pepsi Center is an ultra-modern sport and entertainment venue designed to
set new standards in fan entertainment, comfort, and convenience.  The
official ground breaking for the $160 million dollar [sic] facility took
place on November 20, 1997 with the grand opening occurring on October 1,
1999, when Celine Dion opened the facility before a capacity crowd.
Located on 52 acres in Denver's Central Platte Valley, Pepsi Center is
home to the Colorado Avalanche, Denver Nuggets, and other events ranging
from amateur competitions in gymnastics and skating to college basketball
tournaments and a wide variety of travelling shows, including ice
extravaganzas, circuses, concerts, musicals, and other performances. The
site also calls for future studio/office, restaurant/specialty retail, and
gas/convenience developments.

Size: 675,000 square feet, five levels.

Seating Capacity: 18,007 for hockey.

Luxury Suites: 95, in addition to a 1,879-seat Club Level.

The center-hung scoreboard weights 60,000 pounds.  The main video display
is a four-sided, center-hung video and graphics display.  It hovers 35
feet off the ice and features four 16'x9' high-resolution Sony JumboTron
video display boards for highlights, video segments, and announcements.
The scoreboard also has eight display boards designed for game and player
statistics.

Constructed by M.A. Mortenson Company of Denver (who also built Coors
Field, Target Center, TWA Dome and the Los Angeles Convention Center).

Press Box: located on the northwest side, level 6.  Three TV broadcast
booths, three radio booths, video replay and NHL off-ice officials booths,
and two auxiliary boxes.  Has a capacity of 110 to accomodate print media,
television and radio personnel.

c. Autographs
The players exit the arena from an entrance on the North end of the
building.  It looks like a big loading dock type entrance and you'll find
lots of people waiting there for autographs.  A short walk from this exit
you'll find a fenced parking lot full of SUVs, luxury cars, and sports
cars. The players walk out as the fans seeking autographs are all behind
construction barricades. If the players want to sign that night they will.
Else they will walk to their cars.

d. Music at games
The opening music when the Avs take the ice is "Scalped" by legendary surf
guitarist Dick Dale. This song can be found on his CD entitled "Unknown
Territory".

When the Avs score a goal, the song they play is "Rock And Roll Part II"
by Gary Glitter, which has become a sports anthem for sporting events all
over the country. McNichols Arena, the Avalanche's first home, was the
first sports venue of any of the four North American major leagues to play
the song when the Colorado Rockies inhabited McNichols Arena.

Incidentally, Gary Glitter visited McNichols arena in 1996 during an
Avalanche/Capitals game and he said that was the first time he had ever
heard his song played during a sporting event.

e. PA announcers
The PA announcer at McNichols was Sean Moth. When the Pepsi Center opened,
they hired Kelly "Alan Roach" Burnham, formerly of KRFX-103.5 FM. Burnham
is also the PA announcer for the Colorado Rockies games. The Rockies have
priority on Burnham's schedule for conflicts, during which Moth fills in
as a sub. However, that is not absolutely set in stone; during the 2001
Stanley Cup Finals, Burnham was allowed to work an Avalanche game that
conflicted with a Rockies game. They found a sub for the Rockies.

9. Salary Cap and Roster
As of May 12th, 2006, this is the status of their roster for the 2006-2007
season with their corresponding cap numbers for the 2006-2007 season:

UNDER CONTRACT:
Patrice Brisebois - $2,250,000 expires after 2007
Andrew Brunette - $800,000 expires after 2007
Milan Hejduk - $3,900,000 expires after 2010
Steve Konowalchuk - $1,900,000 expires after 2007
Anti Laaksonen - $646,000 (team option for 2007)
Ian Laperriere - $1,140,000 expires after 2007
Brad May - $650,000 expires after 2007
Brad Richardson - $525,000 expires after 2007
Jose Theodore - $5,333,000 expires after 2008
Pierre Turgeon - $1,500,000 expires after 2007
Wojtek Wolski - $984,200 expires after 2009

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS:
Peter Budaj
Dan Hinote
John-Michael Liles
cody McCormick
Brett McLean
Kurt Sauer
Marek Svatos
Alex Tanguay
Ossi Vaananen

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS:
Rob Blake
Bob Boughner
Brett Clark
Jim Dowd
Joe Sakic
Karlis Skrastins

Estimated 2006-2007 NHL salary cap: $40,000,000
2006-2007 team cap value: $19,628,200 (11 players)
2007-2008 team cap value: $10,742,200 (4 players)
2008-2009 team cap value: $4,884,200 (2 players)
2009-2010 team cap value: $3,900,000 (1 player)
2010-2011 team cap value: $0 (0 players)

10. Miscellany
a. Colour/uniform changes
When the Nordiques moved to Colorado, they went from the blue and white
Quebec uniforms to a red and blue motif. For the first part of the
1995-1996 season, the Avalanche wore dark helmets with their home and away
uniforms, but the NHL stepped in and required white helmets to be worn
with their home jerseys.

At the start of the 1996-1997 season, Colorado darkened the red to a
burgundy colour.

The Avalanche debuted a third jersey during the 2001-2002 season. From the
official Colorado Avalanche website:

The new third sweaters are dark burgundy with two white stripes and two
thin blue and black stripes (touching each other) circling the elbows of
the sleeves, and one wide white stripe bordered by narrower blue and black
stripes at the waist. The collar, which is solid black, features a
traditional lace-up design below the neck. The word COLORADO is spelled
out on the front of the sweater, running diagonally from the right
shoulder to the left waist. The lettering is predominantly white with blue
and black accents. The primary Colorado Avalanche A logo is positioned on
each shoulder.

The letter and number styling is in the traditional Colorado Avalanche
font stitched in a standard twill as opposed to the glacier twill found on
the regular Avalanche home and road sweaters. The player names are solid
white and sewn onto a matching dark burgundy nameplate. The numbering on
the back and sleeves is primarily white with blue and black accents,
matching the lettering on the front of the sweater.

The third sweater uses solid black pants, a black helmet, and
matching socks, which are also predominantly burgundy with a wide white
stripe flanked by two thin blue and black stripes (touching each other) at
the shins.

b. Foot on shoulder
The foot on the shoulder has nothing to do with former defenseman Adam
Foote. The Avalanche
wanted to use a Bigfoot marketing theme when they moved but initially
didn't have the cash for it. Now they do, and their mascot, Howler, is a
hairy Bigfoot like creature.

c. Sellout streak
The Colorado Avalanche own the longest home sellout streak in the history
of the National Hockey League. They have sold out every regular and
postseason game since the 7th home game of the 1995-1996 season against
Calgary on 11/01/95. That night the attendance was 15,390 (out of 16,061).
That game is only one of three that did not sell out since the Avalanche
moved to Denver -- home game #3 against Pittsburgh drew 15,411 and home
game 4 against Washington drew 15,589. The streak stood at 439 consecutive
sellouts heading into the lockout-cancelled 2004-2005 season. The
Avalanche came out of the lockout by extending the streak throughout the
entire 2005-2006 season.

11. Credits
Thanks to all the folks who contributed to this. This was certainly a team
effort.

M. Zaiem Beg
broonzy
"Mad" Mark Chelap
Chris
Elz
Erin no longer in Boulder
Tim Larison
Paul Leach
Phil Maddaloni
Brad Murray
Doug Norris
Olof Oberg
Bob Ojamaa
Bob Sargent
Brian J Walter