Colorado Avalanche: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 21:11, 17 June 2007

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The Avalanche have failed to reach the Stanley Cup Finals since 2001. In the [[2001-02 NHL season|2001-02 season]], the team finished the regular season with 99 points of a 45-28-8-1 record and won the Northwest Division. Colorado had the league's lowest goals conceded: 169, which makes an average per game of 2.06. The NHL season was interrupted once again for the [[2002 Winter Olympics]], in [[Salt Lake City]], [[Utah]]. The Colorado Avalanche had 9 players representing 6 countries. [[Canadian national men's hockey team|Canada]] won the [[Ice hockey at the 2002 Winter Olympics|ice hockey tournament]] and [[Rob Blake]], [[Adam Foote]] and [[Joe Sakic]] won Gold medals. [[American national men's hockey team|American]] [[Chris Drury]] got a silver medal.<ref name="recordbook"/> With the win, Blake and Sakic became members of the [[Triple Gold Club]].<ref name="triplegoldclub"/> After advancing through the first two rounds of the playoffs with a 4-2 series win against the [[Vancouver Canucks]] and a 4-3 series win against the [[San Jose Sharks]], the Avalanche met their rivals of the [[Detroit Red Wings]] in the playoffs for the 5th time in 7 years. In a seven game series, Colorado had a 3-2 lead after five games, but lost Game 6 at home 2-0 and then the Red Wings won the deciding game at home 7-0. Like in 1997, Detroit went on to win the Stanley Cup. [[Patrick Roy]] won the [[William M. Jennings Trophy]], given to the goaltenders of the team with fewest goals scored against. Roy was elected for the league's first all-star team, together with Joe Sakic; Rob Blake was elected for the second all-star team.

The following season, [[2002-03 NHL Season|2002-03]], saw the Avalanche claim the NHL record for most consecutive division titles, nine,<ref name="divtitrec">The 1994-95 Division title was won while the franchise was still in Quebec and together with the 8 titles the Avalanche won between 1995-96 and 2002-03 makes the record number of 9 consecutive division titles</ref> breaking the [[Montreal Canadiens]] streak of eight, won between 1974 and 1982.<ref>{{cite news |title =NHL Hockey: Colorado Avalanche Team Report|url =http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-99870515.html|author =|publisher =[[The Sports Network]]|date =2003-04-10|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref> The division title came after a bad start by the team, that led to the exit of head coach [[Bob Hartley]], in December.<ref>{{cite news |title =Roy, Avs put clamps on Red Wings|url =http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/games/2003-02-06-avalanche-redwings_x.htm|author =Allen, Kevin|publisher =[[USA Today]]|date =2003-02-06|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref> General Manager [[Pierre Lacroix]] promoted assistant coach [[Tony Granato]] to the head coach position.<ref>{{cite news |title =Avs bench change: Hartley out, Granato in|url =http://www.usatoday.com/sports/hockey/nhl/avalanche/2002-12-18-hartley_x.htm|author =Brehm, Mike|publisher =[[USA Today]]|date =2002-18-12|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref> The team's playoff spot seemed in doubt, at one point, but the Avalanche managed to finish with 105 points, ahead of the division rivals Vancouver Canucks by one. The race to the title was exciting, namely the second-to-last game of the season, as the Avalanche needed to win the game to stay in the race, and [[Milan Hejduk]] scored with 10 seconds left in overtime to beat the [[Anaheim Ducks|Anaheim]].<ref>{{cite news |title = Colorado 4, Anaheim 3|url = http://sportsline.com/nhl/gamecenter/recap/NHL_20030404_COL@ANA|author =| publisher =CBS Sportsline|dateG=2003-04-05|accessdate =2007-05-06}}</ref> The title was guaranteed in the final day of the regular season, when the Avalanche won the [[St. Louis Blues]] 5-2 and the Vancouver Canucks lost against the [[Los Angeles Kings]] 2-0.<ref>{{cite news |title =Avalanche win game, Northwest; Hejduk gets 50th|url =http://sportsline.com/nhl/gamecenter/recap/NHL_20030406_STL@COL|author =|publisher =CBS Sportsline|date =2003-04-06|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref> In the playoffs, the Avalanche blew a 3-1 series lead over the [[Minnesota Wild]], and lost in overtime of Game 7 to be eliminated from the first round of the playoffs.<ref>{{cite news |title = Minnesota 3, Colorado 2|url =http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/nhl/recaps/2003/04/22/col_min/|author =|publisher =Sports Illustrated|dateG=2003-04-22|accessdate =2007-03-25}}</ref> Peter Forsberg won the [[Art Ross Trophy]] for the leading scorer of the regular season, which he finished with 106 points (29 goals, 77 assists). Forsberg also won the [[Hart Memorial Trophy]] for the regular season's most valuable player and shared the [[NHL Plus/Minus Award]] with teammate [[Milan Hejduk]]. Hejduk scored 50 goals to win the [[Maurice 'Rocket' Richard Trophy]] for the best goalscorer of the regular season. Forsberg was elected to the league's first all-star team; Hejduk was elected to the second all-star team.

After that season, Patrick Roy retired and the Avalanche signed star wingers [[Paul Kariya]] and [[Teemu Selänne|Teemu Selanne]] from the [[Anaheim Ducks|Mighty Ducks of Anaheim]].<ref>{{cite news |title =Patrick Roy retires after 18 years|url =http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2003/05/28/roy_retires030528.html|author =|publisher =[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|CBC]]|date =2003-05-28|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title =Avalanche sign Kariya, Selanne to one-year deals|url =http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/hockey/news/2003/07/03/avs_signings_ap/|author =|publisher =Associated Press|date =2003-07-03|accessdate =2007-03-25}}</ref> Both failed to live up to the expectations: Kariya spent most of the [[2003-04 NHL season|2003-04 season]] injured and Selanne scored only 32 points (16 goals and 16 assists) in 78 games.<ref>{{cite news |title =Passion is back for Selanne|url =http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/sports_columnists/article/0,1299,DRMN_83_5422098,00.html|author =Sadowski, Rick|publisher =[[Rocky Mountain News]]|date =2007-03-16|accessdate =2007-05-17}}</ref> Having "nine elite players"<ref>{{cite news |title =2003-2004 NHL Season Preview: Colorado Avalanche|url =http://proicehockey.about.com/cs/nhlseasonpreview/a/03_04avalanche.htm|author =Fitzpatrick, Jamie|publisher =[[About.com]]|date =2003-09-02|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref>, "the most talented top six forwards on one team since the days of the [[Edmonton Oilers]]"<ref>{{cite news |title =Avs' silver lining has a cloud|url =http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?page=2003pvw/col|author =Heika, Mike|publisher =[[ESPN]]|date =2003-09-24|accessdate =2007-06-17}}</ref> was not good enough as the franchise failed to win the Northwest division title, ending the NHL record streak. The 40-22-13-7 record was good enough for 100 points, one less than the Northwest division winners Vancouver Canucks. Colorado won the Conference Quarterfinal against the [[Dallas Stars]] in a five game series, but lost in the Semifinal against the [[San Jose Sharks]] in a six game series. Joe Sakic became the only Avalanche player ever to be chosen as the All-Star Game Most Valuable Player during the [[54th National Hockey League All-Star Game|2004 NHL All-Star Game]], when he scored a [[hat-trick]]. Sakic was elected for the league's first all-star team at the end of the season and won the [[NHL/Sheraton Road Performer Award]].<ref name="recordbook"/>