On December 10th, the Avalanche will host a celebration of the 1996 Stanley Cup championship team at the Paramount Theatre, presented by KeyBank. The event will feature entertainment, banter, and storytelling from players that helped bring Colorado its first major professional sports championship 30 years ago. Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg, Claude Lemieux, Sandis Ozolinsh, Stephane Yelle, Alexei Gusarov, Mike Ricci, Jon Klemm, Rene Corbet and Stephane Fiset will be the Avs Alumni at the event.
In its first season since moving from Quebec, the 1995-96 Avalanche went 47-25-10 in the regular season and finished first in the Pacific Division. Sakic led the team with 120 points (51g/69a) while Forsberg posted 116 (30g/86a). Additionally, Lemieux posted 39 goals and Valeri Kamensky lit the lamp 38 times. In net, in-season trade acquisition Patrick Roy went 22-15-1 with a .909 save percentage and a 2.68 goals-against average.
The Avalanche began the playoffs with back-to-back six-game series wins against the Vancouver Canucks and Chicago Blackhawks before facing the reigning Western Conference-champion Detroit Red Wings. Highlighted by Sakic’s two-goal performance in Game Six against Detroit, the Avalanche clinched the Western Conference on home ice in what would mark the beginning of one of hockey’s great rivalries.
In the Stanley Cup Final, the Avalanche met the Florida Panthers. At 4:31 of the third overtime of Game Four of the series, Uwe Krupp scored the game’s lone goal to bring the Stanley Cup to Colorado for the first time. After posting 34 points (18g/16a) in 22 postseason games, Sakic won the Conn Smythe Trophy, given to the playoff MVP.
Tickets for the event can be purchased starting Friday, November 14 at 11 AM at ColoradoAvalanche.com/Paramount. VIP tickets are sold out. Additionally, you can continue the celebration on December 11 as your current Colorado Avalanche takes on the Florida Panthers at Ball Arena at 7:30 PM for our 1996 Cup Classic night. Purchase the Joe Sakic bobblehead ticket package that includes a ticket to the game and the bobblehead at ColoradoAvalanche.com/Tickets.
