DENVER – Manny Legace and Ty Conklin weren’t the goalies most associated with the rivalry that defined the Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche of 20 years ago.
In fact, one was just a 19-year-old playing junior hockey in Green Bay, Wis., when the rivalry was ignited with Claude Lemieux shoving Kris Draper face-first into the dasher board in front of the Wings’ bench during Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference finals.
Conklin, who played for the Red Wings in two different stints of his career – 2008-09 and 2011-12 – was honored to be the only player outside of the rivalry era invited to play in Friday’s Stadium Series alumni game in front of 43,319 fans at Coors Field.