The Coors Light Stadium Series this weekend has the city of Denver buzzing in excitement. Not only are we getting the chance to see a rare outdoor game between two playoff hopeful teams, but with the Alumni Game on Friday night, we’ll be treated to a blast from the past.
The historic meetings between the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings created a rivalry for the ages that will most likely never be replicated. The alumni game gives Avs and Red Wings fans alike a chance to look back at the bloody, hate-filled history between the two franchises. And if we’re lucky, maybe it’ll be the start of a brand new chapter of Avs-Red Wings heat.
This rivalry was the story of two talented Stanley Cup contenders who truly didn’t like one another. Even for a sport that allows fighting, these meetings were filled with aggression and violence that’s yet to be replicated.
Often in sports, we see two teams that get at each others’ throats, but we rarely witness the true embodiment of hatred. To see that live out one last time, in the open air of Coors Field, will be an unbelievable experience for the many Avalanche fans who have been supporting this franchise through the decades.
But for those who need a fresh reminder of how the rivalry got to this point, let’s take a little trip down memory lane. Here’s a visual timeline of hockey’s bloodiest rivalry:
DISCLAIMER: Mile High Sports is not responsible for any damaged computer screens after watching the following compilation.
1996: Red Wings at Avalanche, Game 6
On October 6, 1995, the Colorado Avalanche had their inaugural regular season game against the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit was one of the early favorites to win the Stanley Cup that season, but Colorado’s 3-2 win was a real statement to the league: We’re here to win.
A few months and a few trades later (Patrick Roy and Mike Keane most importantly), the Avalanche found themselves in a battle for the Western Conference against none other than the Red Wings. The Avalanche prevailed and ultimately won the Stanley Cup.
That series ignited the flame that would soon develop into a raging house fire, changing the landscape of the NHL.
In the sixth and final game of the series, Colorado’s Claude Lemieux laid a hit on Kris Draper of the Red Wings that would require reconstructive surgery on Draper’s face. The hit infuriated the entire Red Wings team, and they weren’t going to forget it any time soon.
per NHL tradition in the final game of a playoff series the two teams were to shake hands following the final game.
After the honorary handshake, one Red Wings player, Dino Ciccarelli, was famously quoted as saying, “I can’t believe I shook that guy’s friggin’ hand.”
McCarty Assaults Lemieux, Roy helps out, March 1997
After a few mild-mannered meetings the following season, the two teams finally unleashed their built up anger towards one another. Almost an entire year after the Lemieux-Draper incident, a game in late March of 1997 will always be remembered as one of the major components that made this rivalry what it was.
A small quarrel between Peter Forsberg and Igor Larionov sparked a few more scrums around the ice. An assault by Darren McCarty on Claude Lemieux in hopes to seek revenge from the previous playoffs ensued. This resulted in in a full-on brawl, with the goaltenders even jumping into the mix.
Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon exchanging punches was certainly the story of the night, but on the particular evening it was official, the true rivalry was born.
Fights ensue, the benches go crazy, May 1997
A couple of months later and the two teams were meeting in the Western Conference finals again. The intensity continued to pile up, and naturally, some fights broke out.
The Avalanche head coach at the time, Marc Crawford, took exception to what he was seeing and began to yell at the Red Wings bench, particularly head coach Scotty Bowman. The next morning the local papers in Denver had a picture of Bowman giving Crawford “the finger.”
Detroit went on to win the series and eventually the Stanley Cup following this series in 1997.
Lemieux and McCarty square off at puck drop
In a November meeting the following season, Lemieux and McCarty were able to square up just seconds after the puck was dropped to start the game. This fight was, of course, in reaction to the sucker punch and full-on assault McCarty placed on Lemieux in the bloody meeting the previous March.
Being early on in the season, this fight showed the league that neither franchise was willing to let bygones be bygones. The rivalry was on in full force.
Roy calls out Chris Osgood, April 1998
Later during the 1997-98 season, the two teams met in yet another game full of fights. Just before heading into the playoffs, both teams engaged in a full-on line-brawl, wrestling around just to the left of Patrick Roy. Roy decided he had seen enough and began pushing around his teammates; he then calmly removed his gloves and helmet and went to help out on the pile.
As a referee began to pull Roy away from the other fights, Roy noticed Red Wings goalie Chris Osgood moving closer towards the scrum pile. The fiery Roy then challenged Osgood to meet him at center ice and the two went at it making it the second goalie fight to occur in the rivalry.
Another goalie fight almost breaks out, March 2002
A season after the Avalanche won their last Stanley Cup, a small scrap broke out between Patrick Roy and Kirk Maltby. A larger one soon followed, involving players from both teams, and it appeared as though Roy was going be fighting his third Red Wings goalie of his career.
Instead, Dominik Hasek fell on his way to the scrum and the officials were able to prevent the fight from happening.
Later that year, when Detroit and Colorado met in the playoffs for the fifth time in seven seasons, the Avs would get blown out, 7-0, in Game 7 of the Western Conference Finals. That was the last “big moments” of the Avalanche-Red Wings rivalry.
McLeod throws the octopus, April 2008
The final moment of true anger and hatred between the Avalanche and Red Wings came in 2008 when Cody McLeod threw an octopus back into the stands.
In Detroit, throwing an octopus onto the ice is tradition and McLeod wasn’t having any of it.