"I told Harry I wanted to keep my activity quiet," Lacroix said. "I said I'd pull out if I heard my name mentioned in rumors. That's how serious I was. Even Ray had no clue it was Colorado making such a strong pitch for him. He thought it was Philadelphia."

Lacroix held up his end to keep a low profile. He wouldn't let himself get caught up in the reality that he was about to obtain one of the greatest defenseman in the history of the game.

"After the deal was complete, my secretary, Charlotte, said, 'Do you realize what you just did? Usually you're so emotional. But the last few days you've been all business,'" Lacroix remembers. "I remember one of our trainers told me about the buzz in the locker room when Ray arrived in Calgary for his first game with us. But it wasn't until a couple of days later when I saw the reaction of our fans that I realized the scope of this deal."

2000-01

We told you that Lacroix had been weaned on the successes of the Canadiens. So it was only natural that Pierre would remember the Stanley Cups that Montreal earned with the "Big 3" on defense -- Serge Savard, Larry Robinson and Guy Lapointe.

When Lacroix dealt Ozolinsh to Carolina before this season, he was thinking about that tradition and how he might be able to add to his Dynamic Twosome on defense – Adam Foote and Bourque. But he didn't know how he could acquire a third tower of power on defense.

It wasn't long after that the Los Angeles Kings began to let the world know that they couldn't survive financially with Rob Blake's $5.627 million contract and his demand for $9 million would represent more than one-fourth of their payroll -- which wasn't going to happen.

Enter the magician -- and voila -- he was an Avalanche.

Well, it wasn't that easy.

"This was the most difficult trade I had to make," Lacroix said. "I had great feelings for Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller. They were a big part of our family. That's when I remembered those great Montreal teams and that when I remembered how great Savard, Robinson and Lapointe made those teams."

Not to mention the fact that Lacroix knew this deal might cause problems with the chemistry of the team, because of how popular Deadmarsh and Miller were with their teammates.

"We didn't like the deal at first," Sakic told me. "But we knew Pierre's track record of making the right deal for us. So, we waited and watched how it might play out."

"You know, there are only a few organizations in sports that really have a chance of winning -- and the Avalanche are one of them," Blake said. "I'll never forget going to Denver for the All-Star Game in 2001. I remember walking into the Western Conference locker room and seeing a royal purple emblem of the Kings stitched on the right sleeve and it hit me that this really could be the last time I wore a Kings' sweater because the rumors were rampant that I was going to Detroit or St. Louis. I remember not knowing how many suitcases to bring to the All-Star Game."

In March of 2002, the Avs beefed up for another playoff run by acquiring hard-hitting defenseman Darius Kasparaitis from the Pittsburgh Penguins for forward Ville Nieminen and defenseman Rick Berry.

That's also where Blake began to hear about an interest from the Avs.

"It's funny," Blake recalled. "I knew I was going to be traded and All-Star Saturday I remember walking into the locker room at Pepsi Center and Patrick Roy, whom I had never met, came up to me and asked about my situation in L.A.

"Patrick had this gleam on his face as he walked about -- like maybe he knew something and that's when I started wondering if the Avs might be coming in late and how their GM always seemed to come in and make the deal other teams couldn't seem to make."

Less than two weeks later, Blake was a member of the Avalanche -- and his new teammates not only saw a talented and dedicated player overcome the boos in L.A. in the regular season, but again in a hard-fought second round playoff series.

A bond had clearly developed between Blake and his new mates -- and a few months later he had helped Colorado win another Stanley Cup.

2003-04

Two more first-place finishes for the Avalanche and trades since that 2001 Cup. Lacroix acquired defenseman Darius Kasparaitis as his stretch run trade in 2002. A year later, he traded Chris Drury to Calgary for defenseman Derek Morris in the offseason and went for another defenseman, Bryan Marchment from San Jose, for the stretch run.

No Cups, showing again that there are no guarantees with trades.

We knew this season was clearly going to be a lively one when Patrick Roy announced his retirement while the New Jersey Devils and Mighty Ducks of Anaheim were playing for the Stanley Cup last June. Also, Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne brought their skills to Lacroix in a most unusual free-agent package on July 1.

Even with Kariya and Selanne and the strength they could provide in joining with the likes of Sakic, Forsberg, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay, Lacroix had to find a replacement for Roy. In addition, he let Marchment and Greg deVries, two important defenseman, leave via free agency. And the team's third- and fourth-line production had diminished.

An offseason trade for Karlis Skrastins from Nashville and Lacroix's confidence in Jean-Michael Liles right off the Michigan State campus eased the loss of Marchment and deVries. Free-agent-to-be Steve Konowalchuk was acquired from Washington early in the season for Bates Battaglia and in mid-February defensemen Bob Boughner and Kurt Sauer were obtained from Carolina and Anaheim, respectively.

Not the blockbusters that previously brought the Avs stars like Roy, Bourque and Blake, but you could say this season has produced another group of holes and responses from Lacroix -- just like 1996 and 2001.

"It's fun to look back now," Lacroix said. "I like the challenges -- and nine years later, you know, it's flattering to see players like Paul and Teemu come to us for a deal because they say they want to win a Stanley Cup. It's kind of exciting to see something like that happen.

In the summer of 2003, Paul Kariya and Teemu Selanne brought their skills to Lacroix in a most unusual free-agent package, making the Colorado GM an offer he couldn't refuse.

"But I know as well as anyone that there are no guarantees. You can't stand still. You have to keep shaping and reshaping your team."

"Pierre gives his players a chance to be creative," Selanne said. "More important, he gives them a chance to win."

I remember standing outside the Los Angeles Kings locker room with coach Andy Murray earlier this season and we began to talk about other teams and when the Avs came up, Murray was pretty succinct in his assessment of them.

"Look at that roster," Murray said. "Yeah, they've got stars. But there's more. Joe Sakic. He's a winner. Peter Forsberg -- winner. Rob Blake -- winner. Adam Foote, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay -- more of the same. And Tony Granato. He was a winner as a player and Pierre Lacroix hired him with no coaching experience -- and look how well he's kept those stars hungry and motivated."

Granato might have been Lacroix's most important acquisition last season, when he replaced Bob Hartley.

"I pride myself on the fact that we've turned over 25 percent of our roster and we've continued to win,'' Lacroix says. "My theory is you pick and choose how a player or draft choice might fit into your mix, and then adjust from there if necessary. To me, you can take chances; just don't make lateral moves."

You know something, I think Andy Murray missed the most important winner on the Avalanche -- Pierre Lacroix.

And that is the anatomy of trader story that I told you would be intriguing from start to finish.