Ricci said he's most looking forward to seeing his former teammates back in Denver.
"Even back then, you could tell why we had such good chemistry," Ricci said. "Players could not see each other for years and all of a sudden, boom, it's right back there, and that's what I'm looking forward to."
Selected in the first round (No. 4) of the 1990 NHL Draft by the Philadelphia Flyers, Ricci was part of the mega-Eric Lindros trade on June 30, 1992 that also sent Forsberg, Steve Duchesne, Ron Hextall, Kerry Huffman, two draft picks and $15 million to Quebec. The trade would eventually turn the Nordiques into a contender; they earned the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference in the 1995 season, but fell to the New York Rangers in the first round of the playoffs.
"[Losing to the Rangers] was the best thing for us," Ricci said. "It was a prototypical learn-from-your-mistakes. We didn't play that bad in that series and we realized the things we had to get going."
They got going in more ways than one when the franchise moved to Denver to start the 1995-96 season. On Dec. 6, 1995, the Avalanche acquired Roy and Mike Keane from the Montreal Canadiens. Just like that, a championship nucleus was born.
"It was a great group of guys, we kind of grew up together, being in Quebec for a few years and then going to Colorado," said Ricci, who played parts of three seasons with the Avalanche before being traded to the Sharks. "Quebec was very passionate. It was a tough move, but once we got to Colorado we immediately had a chance to win. It didn't hurt that we got [Patrick] Roy and Mike Keane."
Ricci said these days he's focused on getting himself ready for a full game and his first professional outdoor game.
"I'm just trying to stay healthy right now," he said. "I'm trying to lose weight. When you are coaching, you don't move as well. You stand. You monitor. You really don't move as fast as the guys do. I think I'll be all right."