1995–96 Colorado Avalanche season

The 1995–96 Colorado Avalanche season was the first season of the Nordiques/Avalanche franchise after moving to Denver.
The Avalanche played their first game in the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver on October 6, 1995, winning 3–2 against the Detroit Red Wings. Led by captain Joe Sakic, forward Peter Forsberg and defenceman Adam Foote on the ice, Pierre Lacroix as the general manager, and Marc Crawford as the head coach, the Avalanche got stronger when former Montreal Canadiens goalie Patrick Roy joined the team. Feeling humiliated for being left in the net after having let in 9 goals on 26 shots during a Canadiens game against the Red Wings, Roy joined the Avalanche on December 6, 1995, together with ex-Montreal captain Mike Keane in a trade for Jocelyn Thibault, Martin Rucinsky and Andrei Kovalenko. Roy would prove a pivotal addition for Colorado in the years to come.
On January 3, 1996, the Avalanche lost at home, 1–0, to the New Jersey Devils. It was the first time in 123 consecutive regular-season games that the team was shut out; the last time the team had been shut out was while they were the Quebec Nordiques. That game took place on January 27, 1994, and the Nordiques lost on the road, 3–0, to the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The Avalanche finished the regular season with a 47–25–10 record for 104 points, won the Pacific Division and finished second in the Western Conference. They scored 326 goals: an average of nearly 4 per game. They led the NHL in shorthanded goals with 20. Colorado progressed to the playoffs and won the series against the Vancouver Canucks, the Chicago Blackhawks and Presidents' Trophy winners Detroit Red Wings. In the Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche met the Florida Panthers, who were also in their first Stanley Cup final. The Avalanche swept the series 4–0. In Game Four, during the third overtime and after more than 100 minutes of play with no goals, defenceman Uwe Krupp scored to claim the franchise's first Cup. Joe Sakic was the playoff's scoring leader with 34 points (18 goals and 16 assists) and won the Conn Smythe Trophy, awarded to the most valuable player to his team during the playoffs. The 1996 Stanley Cup was the first major professional championship won by a Denver team. With the Stanley Cup win, Russians Alexei Gusarov and Valeri Kamensky and Swede Peter Forsberg became members of the Triple Gold Club, the exclusive group of ice hockey players who have won Olympic gold, World Championship gold, and the Stanley Cup.
==Regular season==
*December 11, 1995: Patrick Roy earned his first victory in net as a member of the Colorado Avalanche.Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.382, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2 It was a 5-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. 
In November 1990, Brian Hayward was traded to the Minnesota North Stars for defenseman Jayson More.Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.278, by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
*February 5, 1996: Patrick Roy played the Canadiens for the first time since he was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.382 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2 Roy stopped 37 of 39 shots in a 4-2 win. After the game, Roy took the game puck and flipped it to Canadiens head coach Mario Tremblay.Patrick Roy, winning, nothing else, p.383 , by Michel Roy, translated by Charles Phillips, 2008, John Wiley & Sons, Mississauga, ON, ISBN 978-0-470-15616-2
===Season standings===
===Game log===
1995–96 Game log	1995–96 Game log	 	 	 	 	 	
October: 7–3–1 (home: 5–0–1; road: 2–3–0)
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Record	Pts
1 	October 6 	Detroit 	2 – 3	Colorado 	 	1–0–0 	2
2 	October 7 	Colorado 	2 – 4	Los Angeles	 	1–1–0 	2
3 	October 9 	Pittsburgh	6 – 6	Colorado 	 	1–1–1 	3
4 	October 11 	Boston 	1 – 3	Colorado 	 	2–1–1 	5
5 	October 13 	Colorado 	1 – 3	Washington 	 	2–2–1 	5
6 	October 14 	Colorado 	1 – 4	St. Louis 	 	2–3–1 	5
7 	October 18 	Washington	2 – 4	Colorado 	 	3–3–1 	7
8 	October 23 	Anaheim 	1 – 3	Colorado 	 	4–3–1 	9
9 	October 25 	Colorado 	3 – 2	Calgary 	 	5–3–1 	11
10 	October 27 	Buffalo 	4 – 5	Colorado 	 	6–3–1 	13
11 	October 30 	Colorado 	6 – 1	Dallas 	 	7–3–1 	15
==Playoffs==
1996 Stanley Cup playoffs	1996 Stanley Cup playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	
Western Conference Quarter-final vs. Vancouver - Colorado wins 4–2
{|class="wikitable" width="100%"	 	 	 	 	 	 	
# 	Date 	Visitor 	Score	Home 	OT	Decision	Series
1 	April 16 	Vancouver	2 – 5	Colorado 	 	 	1 – 0
2 	April 18 	Vancouver	5 – 4	Colorado 	 	 	1 – 1
3 	April 20 	Colorado 	4 – 0	Vancouver	 	 	2 – 1
4 	April 22 	Colorado 	3 – 4	Vancouver	 	 	2 – 2
5 	April 25 	Vancouver	4 – 5	Colorado 	OT	 	3 – 2
6 	April 27 	Colorado 	3 – 2	Vancouver	 	 	4 – 2
==Player stats==
Regular season	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos 	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	82	51	69	120	44 	14 	17 	6 	7
 	C 	82	30	86	116	47 	26 	7 	3 	3
 	LW 	81	38	47	85 	85 	14 	18 	1 	5
 	RW 	79	39	32	71 	117	14 	9 	2 	10
 	RW 	81	21	39	60 	50 	2 	7 	0 	5
 	D 	66	13	37	50 	50 	0 	7 	1 	1
 	RW 	78	21	27	48 	142	20 	3 	0 	2
 	LW 	64	16	18	34 	250	10 	4 	0 	1
 	C 	71	13	14	27 	30 	15 	0 	2 	1
 	D 	75	7 	20	27 	50 	25 	0 	3 	0
 	C 	62	6 	21	27 	52 	1 	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	26	11	11	22 	16 	11 	3 	0 	3
 	C 	63	7 	14	21 	22 	15 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	55	10	10	20 	40 	1 	0 	2 	2
 	D 	65	5 	15	20 	56 	29 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	77	4 	15	19 	73 	32 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	73	5 	11	16 	88 	27 	1 	0 	1
 	D 	75	5 	11	16 	49 	26 	2 	0 	0
 	LW 	22	4 	11	15 	14 	10 	0 	0 	1
 	D 	56	3 	12	15 	20 	12 	0 	1 	1
 	LW 	33	3 	6 	9 	33 	10 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	52	6 	2 	8 	147	6 	0 	0 	1
 	RW 	9 	4 	4 	8 	9 	-3 	4 	0 	0
 	D 	6 	0 	3 	3 	4 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	0 	3 	3 	4 	2 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	8 	1 	1 	2 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	4 	1 	0 	1 	2 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	3 	1 	0 	1 	0 	-1 	1 	0 	0
 	RW 	7 	1 	0 	1 	6 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	37	0 	1 	1 	2 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	2 	0 	1 	1 	0 	1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	4 	0 	1 	1 	6 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	LW/C	3 	0 	0 	0 	0 	-1 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	5 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	39	0 	0 	0 	4 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	10	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Playoffs	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Scoring 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
{| border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" class="wikitable sortable"	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	 	
Player 	Pos	GP	G 	A 	Pts	PIM	+/-	PPG	SHG	GWG
 	C 	22	18	16	34 	14 	10 	6 	0 	6
 	LW 	22	10	12	22 	28 	11 	3 	0 	2
 	C 	22	10	11	21 	18 	10 	3 	0 	1
 	D 	22	5 	14	19 	16 	5 	2 	0 	1
 	C 	22	6 	11	17 	18 	-1 	3 	0 	1
 	RW 	22	5 	12	17 	25 	8 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	22	4 	12	16 	33 	5 	1 	0 	2
 	RW 	22	3 	12	15 	10 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	RW 	19	5 	7 	12 	55 	5 	3 	0 	0
 	D 	21	0 	9 	9 	12 	13 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	8 	3 	2 	5 	2 	3 	1 	0 	1
 	RW 	22	3 	2 	5 	16 	1 	0 	0 	1
 	C 	22	1 	4 	5 	8 	2 	0 	1 	0
 	D 	22	0 	5 	5 	12 	6 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	22	1 	3 	4 	36 	11 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	15	2 	1 	3 	0 	6 	1 	0 	0
 	D 	17	1 	2 	3 	8 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	12	1 	2 	3 	11 	-2 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	13	0 	2 	2 	2 	3 	0 	0 	0
 	LW 	12	1 	0 	1 	23 	4 	0 	0 	0
 	D 	7 	1 	0 	1 	8 	2 	0 	0 	1
 	G 	1 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
 	C 	8 	0 	0 	0 	19 	-4 	0 	0 	0
 	G 	22	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0 	0
Note: Pos = Position; GP = Games played; G = Goals; A = Assists; Pts = Points; +/- = plus/minus; PIM = Penalty minutes; PPG = Power-play goals; SHG = Short-handed goals; GWG = Game-winning goals
      MIN = Minutes played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; GA = Goals-against; GAA = Goals-against average; SO = Shutouts; SA = Shots against; SV = Shots saved; SV% = Save percentage; 
==Awards and records==
===Team trophies===
*Stanley Cup
*Clarence S. Campbell Bowl
===Player awards and trophies===
*Conn Smythe Trophy: Joe Sakic
==Transactions==
====Trades====
July 7, 1995 	To Calgary FlamesDavid Ling9th round pick in 1995 	To Colorado Avalanche9th round pick in 1995
July 12, 1995 	To Washington Capitals3rd round pick in 1996 	To Colorado AvalancheJohn Slaney
July 12, 1995 	To Philadelphia FlyersGarth Snow 	To Colorado Avalanche3rd and 6th round picks in 1996
October 2, 1995 	To Washington CapitalsCash 	To Colorado AvalancheWarren Rychel
October 3, 1995 	To New York IslandersWendel Clark 	To Colorado AvalancheClaude Lemieux
October 5, 1995 	To Tampa Bay LightningSteven Finn 	To Colorado Avalanche4th round pick in 1997
October 26, 1995 	To San Jose SharksOwen Nolan 	To Colorado AvalancheSandis Ozolinsh
November 1, 1995 	To Calgary FlamesClaude Lapointe 	To Colorado Avalanche7th round pick in 1996
December 6, 1995 	To Montreal CanadiensAndrei KovalenkoJocelyn ThibaultMartin Rucinsky	To Colorado AvalanchePatrick RoyMike Keane
December 28, 1995	To Los Angeles KingsJohn Slaney 	To Colorado AvalancheConditional draft pick in 1996
January 26, 1996 	To Ottawa SenatorsJanne Laukkanen 	To Colorado AvalancheBrad Larsen
March 19, 1996 	To Calgary FlamesPaxton Schulte 	To Colorado AvalancheVesa Viitakoski
March 20, 1996 	To Buffalo Sabres6th round pick in 1996 	To Colorado AvalancheDave Hannan
April 3, 1996 	To Washington CapitalsAnson Carter 	To Colorado Avalanche4th round pick in 1996
===Other transactions===
Date 	Player 	Transaction
August 8, 1995 	Troy Murray 	Signed as a free agent
September 8, 1995	Andrei Kovalenko 	Signed as a free agent
September 8, 1995	Curtis Leschyshyn	Signed as a free agent
September 9, 1995	Scott Young 	Signed as a free agent
October 2, 1995 	Ted Drury 	Claimed by Ottawa in the waiver draft
October 2, 1995 	Bill Huard 	Claimed by Dallas in the waiver draft
==Draft picks==
Colorado's picks at the 1995 NHL Entry Draft in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
Round	# 	Player 	Nationality 	College/junior/club team (league)
1 	25 	Marc Denis 	Canada 	Chicoutimi Saguenéens (QMJHL)
2 	51 	Nic Beaudoin 	Canada 	Detroit Jr. Red Wings (OHL)
3 	77 	John Tripp 	Canada 	Oshawa Generals (OHL)
4 	81 	Tomi Kallio 	Finland 	Kiekko-67 Turku (FinD1)
5 	129	Brent Johnson	United States	Owen Sound Platers (OHL).
6 	155	John Cirjak 	Canada 	Spokane Chiefs (WHL)
7 	181	Dan Smith 	Canada 	U. of British Columbia (CIAU)
8 	207	Tomi Hirvonen	Finland 	Ilves Jrs. (Finland)
9 	228	Chris George 	Canada 	Sarnia Sting (OHL)
==See also==
*1995–96 NHL season
*1995 NHL Entry Draft
*List of Colorado Avalanche seasons
*List of Colorado Avalanche players
*List of Colorado Avalanche draft picks
==References==
===General===
*The Internet Hockey Database
*Colorado Avalanche Database
*Official National Hockey League Site
===Footnotes===
Category:1995 in hockey
Category:1996 in hockey
1995–96
1995