The history of the current Colorado Avalanche (nickname – Avalanche) began with the appearance in the Canadian province of Quebec in 1972 of the Quebec Nordiques hockey club, which lasted until July 95 and after moving to Denver changed its name to Colorado Avalanche.
The club could get a different name, for example, “Extreme”, also considered as an option. But after it gained a lot of negative reviews, it was decided to stay at the Avalanche. It is noteworthy that after moving in the same year, Lavigne was a success. They won their first Stanley Cup, beating the famous Detroit in the semifinals. Since that time, there has hardly been a season in which they would not be ranked among the favorites of the regular season or the Stanley Cup. But what path did the team go before and how did they get to today’s results?
It is worth noting the fact that the Quebecers, then called the “Quebec Bulldogs”, participated in the first NHL championship, held in 1917. It is he who is considered the year of birth of the National Hockey League. However, the Bulldogs did not last long. Already in the next championship, due to financial difficulties, the team did not take part and soon completely disintegrated. Until 1979, Quebec teams did not play at the highest level. Everything changed with the admission to the NHL of a new member of the Colorado Avalanche with coach Jacques Demaire. Although the resurgent Quebec then got the last place in their conference, he was able to gradually get out of the outsiders into the center of the standings. The team peaked in the mid-eighties, when the Nordiques, under the leadership of Michel Bergeron, regularly received more points per match and advanced to the playoffs. But again, success was short-lived and from the 1986/87 season, Quebec began to slide down the tournament ladder. The team increasingly fell into the last places, but with the advent of Pierre Page and such hockey players as Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Valery Kamensky, Owen Nolan, Adam Foote and not only, the backbone of the future Quebec-Colorado began to form, which brilliantly got the main north- American hockey trophy. Unfortunately, the difficult financial situation forced the loss-making owners to sell the unprofitable US backcountry.