History

• The Quebec Nordiques started playing in the WHA in 1972 and eventually won the league's championship in 1977. They joined the NHL when the two leagues merged in 1979. The Nordiques had a natural rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens and a regional one with the Boston Bruins, and they became one of the most exciting teams in the league. They made the playoffs from 1981 to 1987 with a high-scoring and creative team that was very difficult to defend. Peter and Anton Stastny keyed the attack.
  The team eventually moved to Denver in 1995, where the franchise became the Avalanche. The Avs won the Stanley Cup in their first season in Denver behind the great all-around play of Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg. They added former Montreal goalie Patrick Roy in the early part of the season and they defeated the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and the Detroit Red Wings to earn a spot in the Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers. They won that series in four straight games.
  The following year, they appeared to be on their way to another title, but they were beaten in six games in the Western Conference Finals by the Detroit Red Wings. That series planted the seeds for a storied rivalry between the two teams.
  The Avs would win their second Stanley Cup in 2001. One of the key angles of that Stanley Cup victory was the acquisition of defenseman Ray Bourque, who had been traded by the Boston Bruins the year before. Bourque had enjoyed a Hall of Fame career with the Bruins but he had never won a Stanley Cup. In the last year of his career, he was able to come up with the championship that had eluded him for so long.
  As of 2009, the Avs have not been back to the finals since 2001, but they have regularly had a solid team that has consistently been in the palyoffs.
  
  

Great players

• Brothers Peter and Anton Statsny were two of the greatest players in Nordiques history who both had a knack for clutch scoring. Joe Sakic has been a great scorer and is one of the top face-off men in NHL history. Peter Forsberg has the ability to take a big hit and still set up teammates with great scoring opportunities. Ray Bourque is considered one of the top five defensemen in NHL history by many experts. Patrick Roy was an awesome goaltender for both the Avs and the Montreal Canadiens. Milan Hejduk is one of the top snipers in the league.
  
  

2001 title run

• The Avs had a brilliant season in 2000-01, when they finished with a 52-16-10-4 record to win the Presidents' Trophy for the best regular-season record in the NHL. They beat the Vancouver Canucks, the Los Angeles Kings and St. Louis Blues to reach the finals. However, when they got to the Finals against New Jersey, they were without Peter Forsberg, who ruptured his spleen in the series against the Kings. Without their best offensive player, the Avs were up against it in their series with the Devils. They were in real trouble, trailing three games to two as the series moved back to New Jersey. Prior to the game, Ray Bourque stood up and spoke to his teammates, asking them to leave everything they had on the ice. Bourque scored a key goal in the game and Patrick Roy was brilliant in goal. The Avs won the sixth game, sent the series back to Colorado and beat New Jersey in the seventh game, giving Bourque his long-awaited Stanley Cup. Fans in Denver and Boston celebrated Bourque's triumph.
  
  

Twin rivalries

• As the Nordiques, the team had something akin to a blood rivalry with the Montreal Canadiens. Both teams had roots in French Canada and both teams wanted to be the champions of the region. It was one of the most exciting battles in the league and the Nordiques were David to Montreal's Goliath. The Canadiens usually came out on top, but the Nordiques never shied away from the battle and were able to win in the 1982 playoffs by beating Montreal three games to two.
  The Avalanche have developed an even bigger rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings. Their playoff meetings have been physical and punishing. The teams have split six playoff meetings and the winner has gone on to take the Stanley Cup four times.
  
  

Potential

• As of 2009, the Avs are no longer one of the dominant teams in the league. They no longer have the scoring power that they did in their glory years and management must rebuild and reload if they want to contend for the Stanley Cup in the future.