Earlier this year, the Avalanche hosted the 2001 Cup Classic, presented by KeyBank, to honor the team that brought the franchise its second Stanley Cup championship. Prior to the game on the ice that was preceded by a ceremony honoring the 2001 squad, several members from that team spoke to the media to share memories from that season.
In the 1999-00 season, the Avalanche lost to the Dallas Stars in Game Seven of the Western Conference Final. Entering the 2000-01 season, Ray Bourque said he remembers the team being dedicated to what they needed to do.
“[Avalanche Head Coach] Bob Hartley talked about really paying attention to detail and trying to be one of the best defensive teams in the league,” Bourque said. “We all thought that scoring shouldn't be a problem, but defending to win it all by the experience that we had getting to the semifinals, the seventh game against Dallas, and just looking back on maybe some of the stuff that we needed to do better. And talking about it first day of camp, and really challenging the team to really commit to that. And we ended up being the best defensive team in the league, and [goaltender] Patrick [Roy], you know, having an amazing year, and Joe [Sakic] winning the Hart [Trophy, given to the NHL’s most valuable player], and just everybody buying in and finding a way to get it done.”
Peter Forsberg added to Bourque’s thoughts on how the team was feeling entering training camp in 2000.
“When we got together after we lost to Dallas the year before and we got together in training camp,” Forsberg said. “And we had one mission that was just to win the Stanley Cup, and then you do it in the end, it was a great feeling.”
Forsberg added that Bourque returning the Avs for the 2000-01 season meant a lot to the group.
“So, we're like, ‘okay, we [have] got to get together,’” Forsberg said. “We [have] got to win. I think that just carried out throughout from preseason, and then we decided we want home ice advantage. [We’re] not gonna take a day off throughout the year and try to get home ice. And I guess it worked in our favor twice there in that run. So, it meant a lot for the whole group that Ray stayed and played another year for sure.”
Part of what made the Avs so successful that season was the team’s practice habits, according to Dave Reid.
“Bob put us through some tough practices at times,” Reid said. “We didn't think we needed to be out as long as we did, and the drills were a lot of one-on-one battle drills. And when you're playing against future Hall of Famers like we had, and you're doing battle drills with Joe and Peter and Ray and [Rob Blake] and [Adam Foote] and Chris Drury and the young guys, you elevate your game.
“And I learned it early in my career when I was with the Bruins that I'm playing with some great players and practice was hard, and that was the accountability that, you know, we've got to show up and work harder in practice, and that made the games easy. And then our inner accountability was [that] we knew what we did right and wrong, and we knew we didn't do a lot of things wrong that year, but we held each other to a standard, but that started with how we did it in practice.”
Bourque also spoke about how difficult it is to win the Stanley Cup.
“In the end, it's so hard, regardless if you're favored or not,” Bourque said. “It is so hard to win. I played 22 years. I got to the finals three times, and I realized that if you're not playing for that fourth win, you're really not playing for the Cup. And it was so much fun to be part of that game.”
Before that aforementioned game, Game Seven of the 2001 Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche had to win Game Six to keep its season alive, being down 3-2 in the series to the New Jersey Devils. In the first period of that game, the Devils outshot the Avs 12-5, but Colorado took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission thanks to Adam Foote’s goal at 18:02 and an outstanding 12-save performance from Roy.
Bourque said the team was a confident group ahead of the game.
“We talked about if we really leave it all on the ice,” Bourque said. “And we could all look at ourselves in the mirror after the game and really be honest with ourselves and leave it out there, totally, 100%, that, with the talent we have in this room, I really thought that there's no way we're losing that game. And saying that, thank [goodness] Patrick was up to task for the first 10 minutes, because they came out really hard at us. And once Adam scored that goal, we kind of took off from there and took control of the game.”
Roy’s 24-save shutout helped the Avs win Game Six 4-0 and force a Game Seven back in Denver.
After winning Game Seven, Bourque was able to lift the Stanley Cup for the first time in his career. What made that moment unique was that Sakic, the team captain, let Bourque be the first player to lift the Cup, when it’s usually the captain who takes that honor.
Bourque said conversations about that moment happened well before the end of Game Seven.
“Well, I remember Joe on the fight home from New Jersey, just asking me how we were going to do the Cup thing," Bourque said. "And I'm like, ‘we're not talking about that right now.’ I said we're going to win the game first, and we'll have plenty of time. But Joe was just an amazing, classy, great captain, and an amazing person. Hall of Fame player, but as a person, he was so conscious of just making that moment very special for me, and I'll always appreciate that move that Joe [did]. And he won the Hart Trophy, but I joke about that being the best assist he had all year was passing me the Cup.”
The five-time Norris Trophy winner reflected on his experience with the Stanley Cup that was 22 years in the making to conclude a special season for him and the Avalanche.
“Afterwards, just on the ice with the cup, the fans, winning it here in front of your fans [and] the party after in a dressing room,” Bourque said. And then, [Avalanche General Manager] Pierre Lacroix [told] me to bring the cup home with me. I [had] about 15 people here at the game, and I [ended] up turning on my street with all my family and my friends and beeping the horn, and I had a big cooler, putting the Cup on the sidewalk, the cooler in the street, and partying with my neighbors and my family till 5:30 in the morning. I mean, those are special moments that you'll never forget. So not that they're talked about a lot, but when I'm out talking about my experience with the Cup, that is a special one.”
