That first Avalanche team, the one that opened its maiden season in Denver by defeating the Russian Five, aka the Detroit Red Wings, in the NHL’s official return to the city at McNichols Sports Arena on Oct. 6, 1995, went on to eliminate Detroit in the Western Conference finals and win the Stanley Cup.
It was a legendary squad — Colorado’s first major-league sports champion. Sakic, Forsberg, Roy, Foote, Lemieux.
MacKinnon, Makar, Rantanen, Landeskog, Kadri — the Avs’ current stars – are on an even better pace.
“Obviously, that was an incredible group (in 1995-96) and we think we have a really good group here, too,” Avs goalie Darcy Kuemper said after Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Penguins at Ball Arena.