History of the Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Avalanche is a professional ice hockey team and one of five teams in the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League.

The franchise was originally founded in Quebec and moved to Colorado in 1995 after Quebec Nordiques became one of the worse teams in the NHL finishing last three consecutive years. They were purchased by the Denver based COMSAT Entertainment Group who organized the franchise under a separate subsidiary and renaming the team Colorado Avalanche.

Colorado played their first game in the McNichols sports arena in Denver on October 6 1995 and became the first franchise to ever win the Stanley Cup in their first year after relocation. Since 1995, The Avalanche have won eight division titles, two conference championships and have won two Stanley cups. They have also gone to playoffs in each of their first ten seasons in Denver with their streak ending in 2007.

Key players in the Avalanche franchise have been Joe Sakic, who was the only captain known to Colorado until his retirement in 2009. He leads the franchise in points as well as other categories. Patrick Roy was also another noteworthy player that played for the team until his retirement and played goaltender for both their Stanley cups.

Retrieved from: Fotopedia

Retrieved from: Fotopedia

Since the retirement of Joe Sakic and Naming Greg Sherman and Joe Sacco general managers and head coach respectively, the Avalanche have gone downhill and have missed the playoffs since. Currently in post rebuilding stages, they are  fighting for a playoff spot and should become a competitive team over the next few years with current young players like Matt Duchene and Paul Stastny leading the way.