Postseason Rewind: 1996

By Patrick Hoffman

The Champion: Colorado Avalanche
Road to the Cup:
Round 1 – 4-2 over 7) Vancouver
Round 2 – 4-2 over 3) Chicago
Round 3 – 4-2 over 1) Detroit
Round 4 – 4-0 over 4) Florida



In their own words: Ryan Boulding, The Avalanche Guild
“In 1995 the Quebec Nordiques were relocated to Denver, taking on the name and emblem of the Colorado Avalanche. Few knew at that time just how much of an impact that this new NHL team would make not only in the league, but also in the state of Colorado.

The team’s first game would be a victory against their future rivals, the Detroit Red Wings. The Avs would go on on to win the Pacific Division, finish second in the Western Conference and entrench the names of players like Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, Patrick Roy, Marc Crawford and more into the hockey lexicon around the world.

The team managed to succeed with a core of determined, hardworking players who were bolstered by an insanely passionate, new face to the team: Patrick Roy. Roy joined the team after demanding a trade from the Montreal Canadiens and proved to be a maelstrom in net, stealing up many a puck during his career in Colorado.

There was no imperfect mixture of talent and grit as well, as players like Sakic and Forsberg finished the regular season with over 100 points while those like Claude Lemieux, Chris Simon, Adam Deadmarsh and even Warren Rychel managed to contribute.

In three rounds of playoff hockey, Colorado managed to knock out the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Red Wings, establishing themselves as a legitimate new team.

Facing the Florida Panthers in the Stanley Cup final the Avalanche proved the success of time spent rebuilding in Quebec, steamrolling the Panthers 4-0 in the series and bringing the first Stanley Cup to Denver with a triple overtime goal scored by hero Uwe Krupp.

This was the first major championship won by a Denver team and it catapulted hockey into the hearts of local sports fans.”

Conn Smythe winner: Joe Sakic, Colorado Avalanche
At the end of the 1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Colorado Avalanche forward Joe Sakic was awarded the Conn Smythe as the league’s best player in the postseason.

Sakic posted an astounding 34 points with 18 goals and 16 assists in 22 games en route to helping the Avalanche win their first Stanley Cup in team history. During this postseason, Sakic scored six game-winning goals and was one off the record for goals scored in a playoff season.

The Runner-Up: Florida Panthers
In their first postseason appearance in franchise history, the Florida Panthers surprised many by getting all the way to the Stanley Cup Finals before being swept by the Colorado Avalanche.

En route to the Finals, the Panthers knocked out the fifth-seeded Boston Bruins, the top-seeded Philadelphia Flyers and the second-seeded Pittsburgh Penguins. The team got unbelievable goaltending from John Vanbiesbrouck while also getting strong play from Dave Lowry, Ray Sheppard, Stu Barnes and Bill Lindsay.



The Upset: ECSF – 4) Florida over 1) Philadelphia
Heading into their second round match-up against the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Philadelphia Flyers, many expected the Florida Panthers to receive a playoff wake-up call and be manhandled by the Broadstreet Bullies.

As it turned out, the Panthers showed that with tight defense, strong goaltending and timely goal scoring, the Flyers could be beat in six games. The team got great play from Vanbiesbrouck and were able to stymie the Flyers’ trio of Eric Lindros, John LeClair and Mikael Renberg.

Other notable upsets: ECQF: 7) Buffalo over 2) Ottawa; WCF: 2) Colorado over 1) Detroit

Best series: WCF – 2) Colorado over 1) Detroit
This was the series that started all the bad blood between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings.

There was a controversial hit delivered by Avalanche pest Claude Lemieux and Wings’ grinder Kris Draper in Game 6. The hit put Draper in the hospital with a broken jaw and shattered cheek while Lemieux was given a five-minute major penalty and game misconduct for the hit.

The Avalanche won the series in six games thanks to solid performances from Patrick Roy, Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Mike Keane, and a slew of others.



Game 7’s:
WCSF: Red Wings 1, Blues 0 (2OT)
ECF: Panthers 3, Penguins 1



The Bracket:


Photo credit: Getty Images