Colorado Avalanche Mount Rushmore
There I was minding my own business on Thursday evening cooking some hot wings to eat after another day of quarantine craziness in a business deemed essential, when Trey had to go get my brain all running again. It was just starting to switch off too. Thanks a lot, Trey!
Instantly I was awake, running through possible scenarios. I know I haven’t been a Colorado Avalanche fan as long as others so I am basing this on what I had found over the years through YouTube and watching old games on the NHL network. Also, there is a strong possibility that Avalanche fans with many more years behind them will disagree with me on this. That’s what this sort of article is supposed to do, get people talking and debating because let’s face it, things would be pretty boring if everyone thought the exact same.
Number #1
Firstly, I went with Joe Sakic. The current General Manager of the Colorado Avalanche played his entire career as part of the franchise, first in Quebec where he was drafted by the Nordiques in 1987 and then in Colorado until his retirement in 2009. He played 1378 games between the two teams, scoring 625 goals and assisting in 1016 more to total 1641 career points, hence an average of 1.19 points per game. He also captained the Colorado Avalanche to two Stanley Cups and gave Boston sports their best ever moment when he handed Ray Borque the Stanley Cup for the first time ever in 2001. As the GM, Sakic is looking to build a team in hopes of bringing a third to the great state of Colorado.
Number #2
Patrick Roy was an easy second for me. Despite how his coaching tenure with the Avalanche ended there is no denying the fact he is the best Av’s goaltender of all time. Traded to Colorado in the inaugural 1995-96 season he helped the Avalanche lift the Stanley Cup with a 4-0 series win over the Florida Panthers, recording a save percentage of .971 in the finals. A hot head by nature he also wasn’t a stranger to the odd confrontation as a player or coach.
Number #3
Then there was Peter Forsberg who was traded to the Quebec Nordiques in the Eric Lindros trade and made his debut in the 1994-95 season, a year before the franchise became the Colorado Avalanche. After amassing 50 points in 47 games for the Nordiques before the move, the Swede blew onto the season in that 1995-96 season with 30 goals, 86 assists and 116 points as the Av’s marched to the Stanley Cup. Injuries hindered his career and after leaving the Avalanche he had short stints with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Nashville Predators, as well as Modo Hockey in Sweden before retiring as a member of the Colorado Avalanche in 2011.
Number #4
While you could have easily put Milan Hejduk or Claude Lemieux in as the fourth face, I decided to go a different route with the final pick. Looking at the three above I had my goaltender and my forwards, now I needed a defenseman. Someone who could help Roy while Sakic and Forsberg terrorized teams. A shut-down Defenseman. And who better than the best shut-down defenseman in Avalanche history… Adam Foote. He could also chip in with an important goal.
But talking about these past greats got me thinking, what about the current crop of players? When the likes of MacKinnon, Landeskog, Rantanen and Makar are done where will they rank? What will it take to knock one of those greats off the perch? Will it take multiple Stanley Cup wins like The names above or will one be enough? And if they don’t win any can they be even discussed?
The idea that this mountain could be completely different in a decade is why being an Avalanche fan right now is fun. Or at least it will be once everything starts back up.
