30th Anniversary Stanley Cup Reunion (1996) | Colorado Avalanche Alumni

30th Anniversary Stanley Cup Reunion (1996) | Colorado Avalanche Alumni

This team not knowing whether this may be their final game as the Quebec Northeast since today and we are underway. The inaugural game of the Colorado Avalanche regular season has begun. To most Avalanche fans, the beginning of their franchise started with a newscast announcing that after 13 long years, an NHL team would finally be back in the Mile High City. Martis have been sold to the Comat Entertainment Group and will be moving to Denver, Colorado for the 199596 season. But to truly understand how this franchise came to be so successful so early and how this brand was actually built, we need to go in reverse all the way back to 1987 when the Quebec Nordics drafted a young center out of British Columbia named Joe Sackic. When they drafted Joe, they got a great player, but they also got somebody that was a really, really intelligent winner that brought a lot so much to the table for the Avalanche. Two years later, the Nordiks drafted a hard-nosed stay-at-home defenseman in Adam Foot as the struggling team continued to rebuild their roster. In 1992, after another losing season, the Nordiks drafted and traded young superstar Eric Lindros to the Flyers for a slew of talented players and picks, including the Swedish phenom Peter Forsber. Eric Lindros for Peter Forsber straight up would have been a conversation, but it was the Lindros for this package included $15 million and all of these players. And so when the trade was made, you have to understand that no one knew who Peter Forsber was. It wasn’t until he got to Colorado that the fascination was set in. Oh, a brilliant goal by Peter Forsber. Following another year of missing the playoffs, an important deal happened in 1994 that didn’t involve a player, but rather a general manager. The savvy player agent Pierre Laqua was named the Nordik’s president and GM a year before the team moved to Denver. At the time, no one in the hockey world could predict the impact this final move by the Nordiks would have on the soontobe Colorado Avalanche and the game of hockey. And I remember the first time Pierre called me. I said, “Pierre, can’t do another rebuild.” Um, not knowing, you know, his intentions. And I remember first, like right away, he said, “I didn’t leave my practice. Great agency. I didn’t leave that to lose. We I’m here to win.” right in the very beginning, he he set the tone for how the avalanche were going to be perceived in this marketplace. And I remember at one point he looks in the camera and says, “The goal for the Colorado Avalanche will always be to win the Stanley Cup. Anything less, and the season is a failure.” So, back to that famous news clip. Avalanche faithful remember so fondly. Quebec Nardis have been sold to the Comat Entertainment Group and will be moving to Denver, Colorado for the 199596 season. You know, the problem in Quebec was uh they had had to make moves uh because of uh the financial situation. the trade of Matt Sundine was one of those moves and and and I think coming to Colorado we all recognized that we were going to be able to keep those great players. I I think we all looked and we said this is going to be be pretty exciting for us. To our fans in Quebec, thank you for your help throughout the years. While Quebec City mourned the loss of their rebuilt, finally competitive team, hockey fans in Denver were about to get a crash course lesson on just how good and exciting the newly formed Avalanche were going to be. after only two months into their first season in Colorado. The Joe Sackic led Avalanche were proving to be a powerhouse in the West. So, there was a certain curiosity, excitement about the team and McNichols was a great place to watch a game. I mean, it was it was hot. It was old. It was, you know, but it was right on top of you. It was intimate. All those those fun things that an old building can bring. But as the season went along, you started to see this team just like show itself. So I I think people were incredibly excited, swept up in the moment. But it’s one thing to be good and it’s one thing to be Stanley Cup ready to win good. Although GM Pierre Laqua, guided by the principle that winning builds brands, knew more was needed to take the team from good to great. And then what happened in the months later has to rank as one of the great all-time stories in Colorado professional sports. In December of 1995, Laqua pulled off one of the greatest trades in NHL history by acquiring goalender Patrick Wah from the Montreal Canadians. Uh the one thing about Pierre is he seized opportunities and he was relentless. He could simply not have given away less to get Patrick Wah and then insist on throwing in that little extra Mike Keane who ended up being that straw inside of the the Avalanche locker room that kept everything going. but he knew he needed both parts. It went to a different level uh once Pierre was able to make that trade for Patrick and Mike Ke. For the remainder of the 9596 season, ABS fans were treated to high-flying offensive hockey combined with a smart and physical defensive play and of course stellar goalending that set the Avalanche apart as a true contender. By the time the playoffs rolled around, a significant rivalry was emerging with another Western Conference powerhouse, the Detroit Red Wings. I think one of the turning points for us that year, um, we go into Detroit and lose 7 nothing. We were embarrassed and remember that the next day we had good long team meeting about about, you know, what are our goals? Are we here to win the cup or are we just here to to take another step? And if we’re here to win the cup, what do we got to change? And and you know, after that meeting, we changed the way we played the game a little bit. The Wings had finished with an astounding 131 points that easily granted them the first seed in the West. It was magnificently intense. You had to keep your head up. After defeating the Canucks and Blackhawks, as fate would have it, the Avalanche faced off against the Red Wings in the Western Conference Finals. game six against Detroit when Peter Forsber scored the goal. in shot. And that building just got louder and louder and louder to the point where I I’ve just never never been inside an arena that was that loud. The the Avalanche fans, they got it. With a perfect mix of skill and grit, the Avalanche defeated the mighty Red Wings in six games, sending the ABS to their first Stanley Cup finals to face off against the Florida Panthers. Go to the Stanley Cup finals. I think it came down to the fact that we had guys that have been there before. They were teaching uh our young superstars, the Footers, uh the Joe Sackix, the Peter Forsbergs, the Dead Marshes, the Corbes, the Clems, all of the people on our team who hadn’t won before. They were teaching everybody how to act, how to carry yourself, uh how to prepare, and that’s such a comforting way to go into any playoff series. Well, then that series starts and the Avalanche win the first two. And I’m like, is this going to happen? As AB’s faithful fondly remember, their team would dispatch the Florida Panthers in a four game sweep to win the Stanley Cup. Held it in. Still held in. group shot score the score. I mean this it’s hard to describe but but uh it’s like you just you achieve the pinnacle. This is what you always played for but we went through adversity. We had tough games and we overcame all of them. learn to win on the fly and and yeah, I mean that’s uh every round was tough. Nothing brings a community together like a championship. They win the cup and they’re going to have a parade and there was people everywhere and they were ecstatic. They were hanging out on top of the roof. They’re hanging out windows and I think you know just talking with the players I think it was the first time they realized what they had done to the city. I never knew this many people lived in Denver. It was just remarkable. The Colorado Avalanche with Pierre Laqua at the helm and Joe Sackic leading the locker room brought the first major sports championship to Colorado. But it was more than just the first major title. It was the start of community initiatives that would see millions of dollars raised and thousands of lives impacted. It was the catalyst that would see the game of hockey grow exponentially in Colorado. It was the start of something special that proudly lives on today. Our history is rich. Our future is bright. There you go. I told you I build it. Exciting. entertaining. Has anyone seen the current Avalanche team record? I don’t know what it’s called when you have deja vu before it happens, but that’s what I’m having right now. You know what I mean? All right. It is time now for the moment you’ve all been waiting for. It is time to welcome the alumni of the 199596 Colorado Avalanche who brought Denver not only its first Stanley Cup but its first ever professional championship. And before we introduce the alumni, I would like to introduce someone you all know. The most storied, the most historic, the best trophy in all of sports. Please welcome cupke keeper Mario Delis Savia and the Stanley Cup. Thank you Mr. Delisavia. And now let’s meet the alumni. Defenseman number five, Alexi Gusurov. Defenseman number six, Craig Walon. Defenseman number seven, Curtis Leision. Defenseman number eight, Sandis Oal. Center number nine, Mike Reichi. Left wing number 13, Valerie Kaminski. Left wing number 14, Dave Hammond. Left wing number 16, Warren Reichel. Setter and captain number 19, Joe Sakic. Left wing number 20, Renee Carb. Center number 21, Peter Barber. Right wing number 22, Cloamu. Defenseman number 24, John Clam. Rightwing number 25, Mike Keane. Center number 26 Stephan goender number 35 Stefan Fay. Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it for your 1996 Stanley Cup champions. And now it’s my pleasure to welcome our hosts for the evening. Please welcome Kyle Keef from Altitude Sports and Conor McGee from Altitude Radio. Pretty good crowd, I’d say. Hi, Joe. Hi, Keeper. Uh, so Connor and I were talking to these guys earlier that our goal tonight is to speak as little as possible and to hear the stories from these guys. If we’re if we’re talking, it’s a huge problem. Um, so they want to remind you guys make sure your microphone is on and to talk into it like this. And feel free to speak whenever you want to speak. Say whatever you want to say. Well, not everything you want to say, but PG-13 warned us about the hot mics. Yeah, the hot mics. Uh, just watching that video probably gave us all chills. It was just, it was amazing. Um, I’ll just open it up right away for the 10 of you guys that were with Quebec. What was it like when you heard that your lives were going to be changed, that you were going to be moving to a whole new city called Denver, Colorado? Well, I mean, I think it was shocking at first hear rumors a little bit, but uh, you don’t really take it seriously. Uh, you never never believe a media, right? Uh, I’m not loud enough. All right, there we go. Anyways, as I was saying, uh, we never believe in media, so we didn’t really believe the rumors, but uh, no, I I remember Pierre calling me and telling me or Marcel um, telling me that we it was it was a done deal. We were moving. So, I mean, everybody was shocked obviously uh not not not believing it, but you find out where you’re going. And we all came out, the whole group came out uh early July just uh for the kickoff, meet realtors, get together, find out different places to live, just learn as much as we could in a short time about Denver, Colorado. And uh um the rest is history. I mean, it was it was it was amazing. We’re as a team, actually, that first year was unreal. And we all came here. No one knew who we were. And it was amazing. Like like like we can go anywhere, do whatever we wanted to do. And uh they didn’t have camera phones, nothing. So uh but but really we as a as a group, we did everything together. We we went to restaurants, uh we went to ball games, football games, and and we had a great time. And then obviously uh winning a lot of games early on helped. Well, I’ll tell you what. They know who you are now. Look at this crowd out here. What else do you guys remember from that summer moving from Quebec to Denver? Well, I I hated all these guys. So minus minus Pepe who we played with in Montreal. Uh Quebec and Montreal, we didn’t like each other. So all these guys, not joking, I hated all these guys. And they didn’t like him either. We hated you too. We still ate you. We still ate you. I think it was mutual. Still it may have been a little bit mutual. maybe a little bit. They were uh so they he was he was probably the front runner actually of of like he was he was such he was such a like it is a it is a live mic. But as as the year goes on and it happens, you you uh see what what type of people are. And it’s uh it just came into a bond that uh we knew, you know, we had somebody special who was awesome. And you know, Kener Kener, when you got here, you experienced, you know, falling in love with Reach like we all did. And not just the players, but the entire state. I mean, Mike Reachi Mike Reachi was named the sexiest man in Denver. I I still remember that. I I don’t think he had any votes in the locker room. He’s just jealous. He is jealous. But But he got the vote somewhere. I’m not I’m not Brad Pitt, but he’s a mut. Hey, you guys are all lying. Hey. Hey, they said hardest working athlete and sexiest. I said, “Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I’m not the hard, but I’m definitely the sexiest.” And these guys are lying, too. We have to admit we were going to get paid in American money again. So, that was good. I mean, that was good. Pete, not about Reachi and the sexiest man alive, but that’s because Peter thought he was ripped out of his hands. Well, it makes me think back in all those days. Uh whatever I remember of those days. But u wherever Rich Reichi was going, we had to go to a different bar. I remember that. And then and uh I was just calling texting to see where he was going and then we had to find another place. Uh no, it was good. You know, for me in Sweden, I barely knew where Denver was. So, whatever it was, I knew it was on the west side of the country, but uh kind of worked out. Uh didn’t even I didn’t expect that our team was going to be that good though, then when I got here. Uh but we added a few pieces. Uh Claude was great, Kener was okay, Patrick was great. So, we got some good players during the way. Hanner got in, I think you said in January, and a few other people got in. And uh so um I think you know for me I always said it you know it was one of my you know it was probably the best time in my hockey life when I was here in Colorado. This is awesome. Uh Peter’s Peter’s last one. So So we get traded here and uh we had a charter plane and so we’re early and it’s like so where do we sit? We don’t know because guys have their seats. They had to sit there. So it was Peter’s seat. So no one no one told us. So So the year goes on, we win the whole bit. I get Peter to sign a stick for me. On the stick, he signs two keener. I don’t hate you anymore. No, I I hate No, I did hate you for a while, Derek, cuz you’re cuz I was sitting I was playing cards, I think, with Lemieux and a few other people. And then then you I was sitting there and you go go back and play but it’s a Lego with dead marsh back there instead and um so I I went back and sat there and then you were not nice in practice either. So I I did actually hate you for a while. You were not nice to young players Kener as you know it. What do you guys remember most about McNichols? old. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Bad locker rooms, no gym, which was great for me. I hated gyms. Um, I mean, small small everything was small. Everything was old. I got to tell you, we we were the only we were the only team that got dressed at the at the rink. Uh, or half-dressed, depends. Kener put on put on everything even the helmet and then we drive to DU or we drive to South Suburban and South Suburban and and I often tell that story when guys are complaining about the amenity or the food they get their chef is not that good you know and teams are not doing a great job and I tell them you know to a little bit I got pulled you need to be quiet I got pulled over I got pulled I got pulled over with my equipment on. The guy’s looking at me like I’m from another planet. I guess is that the story about hide the beard boys? He he didn’t know guys on the fourth line anyways. I remember uh remember on the plane in the card game Pepe the window a crack there. Yeah, that was tough. We were playing Joe folded was down. I remember this and you we had there’s some money in the pot and well you two guys had a lot more money than I had at the time and I think it was four five grand and I said I’m going to grab this pot here. I’m going to bluff Pepe out and uh I bluffed them out and you were pissed and you whacked the window. Claude’s a big man. He’s a big strong man. He cracked the window, you know, the the double pain and I was like the pilot ran back and I go, “It’s okay. Don’t worry about it. Just land this plane. And I got to get to the bank. I I did have to pay the bill. It was not cheap. Thank God you didn’t headbutt it or we wouldn’t be here right now. Okay, we’re even. I’m a professional at this. Yeah. So, I I want to tell this story. I got traded here in in uh January from Buffalo and um so you know had to fit in uh Warren Warren was you know we’re all in the third or fourth lines the fan we were talking about this today. So story I have is to to a guy Joe Sack who’s a Hall of Famer right and and you got to understand how humble he was. So, I came in here. I was a defensive player, good on faceoffs. I watched Colorado. They weren’t very good on faceoffs when I seen their statistics all the time. So, I got traded here. So, I had a little niche, right? So, so Joe would always, you know, want to take faceoffs. And Joe, like he’d go out and shoot, and you guys know this, he shot tons of pucks every morning on clear ice. And that’s why he was just an unbelievable goal scorer. And he was a Hall of Famer. So, then he says to me, Hanner, he goes, “Do you want to come out and take some face offs? a lot of them. I know here’s a Hall of Famer telling me, you know, on the third or fourth line that I need help, right? And that was the culture that we sort of had on the team that year. And so, you know, we went out and did that. So, then as we were doing that, he used sticks with a wooden blade, right? He was the first guy, I think, to use them. And he goes, he goes, “Dave, you got to try these Eastston sticks. They’re lighter. You know, you can get your own curve, your pattern, and everything.” So, I said, “Yeah, Joe, no. I use Sherwoods. There’s no way.” Right. I I know what I use. I know what I’m good at. So he he goes to the East rep. He sends one of my sticks, you know, before the playoffs. And you know, I I He says, “I got this for you, Dave. You know, your your shot will be better. Maybe you’ll score more goals.” And I said, “I’m worried about faceoffs. I’m not worried about goals, Joe. I’m just want to stay on the team.” And then and then um you know, so so then we he goes, “You got to you know, you got to put it in the game.” So we talked one day. We were talking about this a couple years ago. He goes, “Put it in the game.” So, it was like just before the playoffs, I go out to kill penalties. I get it. You know, I’m using it. It’s going okay. I go out to kill a penalty. I take a face off in our end. And guess what happens? Like, I go back, the blade breaks, the stick’s awful. And I’m like, “Oh, Jesus Murphy.” And then I went back to the bench and he grabbed my other wooden stick I had as a backup. He goes, “Okay, sorry about that. Forget about it. I was just trying to help you get paid. You know what? I could have got score more goals. Yeah. No, but but that’s just the the as we all remember tonight. It’s the culture that our leadership had, right, Peter? Obviously, Joe, they didn’t care like, you know, we wouldn’t play as much, we wouldn’t score as many goals, but they knew that they needed a whole bunch of guys to to bring the cup here to Colorado. Well, roommates, I want to bring this up because there’s no roommates anymore. Who was with who? Who is the best? Who is the worst? I I had the best. Who was yours? Curtis. Where’s Where is he? There he is. Very clean. Very clean. Hung his stuff up. You’re in the house by 900 p.m. We didn’t snore. We on the same schedule. It was good. It was good. No snoring. It was It was good. Now these kids are so spoiled. They have They have everything. So, we we made it we made it work. I’m not sure about the snoring part, but I’ll buy that. I had Peter as a roommate when he first came into the league. Um, and the schedule over in North America is a little tougher than what he had faced in in Europe. We would come on the road, we’d get to our hotel room, he would go to sleep, like literally three hours just solid sleep, get up, have dinner, then him him and Adam Dead Marsh would go find the Dave and Busters and go play video games cuz they were they were young and that’s what they did and they they enjoyed it and they did their thing and the way they went. The best roommates were Valerie and Goose. I had we don’t speak English this time. That’s why we’re the best. So Valerie and uh Valerie I had Russian roommates for five or seven years and Val and Goose were two of them and they were so kind to me that so respectful and very well read. We very rarely turn the TVs on but they They were so kind in the sense that they would go into the bathrooms, close the bathroom doors, and then they’ll light up their marbles. And they would smoke all night long, right? Like, and I’d be like, “You know what? Just smoke out in the room. We’re good. I’m okay. I grew up with a dad that smoke, but the towels will smell like moss. If I die of lung cancer, you’ll know. I was rooming with goose. So, we two of us smoked in that little bathroom. Maybe that’s why they changed the law there. So, you can’t smoke in a hotels anymore. But that was old hockey. How many packs How many packs did you guys go through game four in Florida? You guys were pulling on a Jesus. That was a little stressful. And that’s the kind of place to go back in the day, right? Curtis and and Joe would remember like our charter plane in Quebec before between the French and the Europeans and our press. I mean, if we had 53 seats on that plane, 50 of them were smoking. We wonder why we couldn’t win at that point. These guys would be in during intermission with the trainers outside smoking cigarettes before periods. They’d use a blowtorrch. That’s right. Yeah. They’d use the blow torch to like know we would like warm up our sticks to fix the curves. And then you’d see goose with the blowtorrch lighting up in between pairs. That’s why you’re so relaxed on the ice. In the ranks, you find you you see them all over the rink, too. You see all like there being vents everywhere and you see them just kind of hanging out on a chair in a in a corner in the rink just like this going. But you know what? All these non-smokers. All these non-smokers on a road trip after a one game around midnight or 1ish. Hey, can I b a smoke? Hey, can I smoke? And then in the morning, they all pretend. They’re like, goody two shoes. Ah, you’re you’re Euro smokers, Malber stuff, right? I mean we would bring two packs just for those North Americans just to last two hours and that’s yeah kind of like that. So but a lot has changed in in these days. So I mean we all are responsible adults and uh stuff like that. Is that is that part of what made this team so cool was relationships? Not the smokers. Absolutely. cigarettes won us the Stanley Cup in 1996. Our our our goal was, you know, before the playoffs, we got to get the majority of the guys smoking. Then then we know we’re really tight. But, you know, we we had the coaches that believed in development and fitness. And I I hated fitness. I hated everything about it. I didn’t like and and And with Peter was great and and Val, they they were just like me. We didn’t like the any of the off ice stuff. So they did some uh they call them the V2 Max. And you know, our line was doing pretty good. We’re one the top lines in the league in scoring. Um, I was kind of just a passenger with those two guys, but but they do the uh mid-season V2X and you look at the bottom of the list and it’s like Kaminski, Forsberg, and Lemieux. And so Crow says, you know, if I could get you guys, imagine what you can do. I get you guys near the top. And I looked near the top and there’s Gooerov. And I said, “There is no f way there’s anything legit. This is all genetic. This guy smokes a pack a day. I’ve never seen him train and he’s got one of the best V2. I know what I got to do. I got to smoke more. open up my lungs. I I do remember that actually. I had I think I had 42 in max V2. I was I think I was the bottom. You were. Uh but I think it was a no backing for Forsber. He’s got a bad V2. I got called into Crawford actually. I think this is actually Sunday morning. That’s I think that’s why I had 42. Um so he called me in on Monday. He go, “Peter, you’re going to do some extra biking. And we got here for like a month. You’re going to bike and then we played LA I think on Tuesday and I had five points. I got called in. It’s like no more. You don’t have to do it with Max V2. But I do remember we had Yeah, we got called mid-season that Max V2. Yeah. Let’s talk about the playoffs that run uh Vancouver, Chicago, Detroit before we get to Florida. What do you guys remember most? Is there a a game or a team that sticks out to you guys? It’s got to be I mean Chicago was a I for me Yeah. Yeah. Everybody knows Detroit but that Chicago series was tough. That was that was exciting. I agree with that. I mean don’t forget we had a tough time with Vancouver too. I mean we were down game five at home and we ended up coming back and winning that. And then you had a hat that game did you Joe? I didn’t want to bring that up, Kyle. But but I I was I I was waiting for somebody. Thank you, Kyle. No, but that’s that Chicago series that was that was tough. They were good. And uh I mean, every series had its challenges, but but man, that was that was an exciting one. I mean, we went to what? Two double or one triple, two double, and a single overtime. That was tough. We were tired. Just a clutch lot of lot of clutch scoring. Someone answered bell all the time and obviously the big boys played the goalie was good. We were we were good all the way around just clutch scoring but there was opponents long games. Remember how long now the games are over in two hours you go home do your homework now the kids we would drag this out Detroit games were four hours and long and ugly but yeah that I liked it but I mean the club scoring was the biggest thing for me. We we brought the gas. We brought the gas for sure. Corby. Hello. Hi everyone. Can you hear me? This is This is Corbe. So I got I got a quick story about and I I’ll do the transl the translating for Corby French and English. I I don’t problem. problem because you’re not going to understand what he means. So, so Renee got called up in uh October and he’s on my line. He could I can sit down. You were down there. Let him get traded. Okay. I can sit down. So, so first of all, he couldn’t speak English. He still can’t. Goose talks better than him. He’s saying at breakfast this morning he’s talking to me in English. were both French Canadian and he talked to me in in in English the whole breakfast. So I only got about half what I could have got. So I I couldn’t talk too much when you talk too much and we’re still talking the whole time. So I couldn’t So I got a I got a great story. So Mark Crawford was intense. I can’t even tell some of the stuff that happened. He’s a good coach. He’s not So anyways, here we go. Renee, he’s on my line and crows down on me. You’re actually on my line, but that’s okay. I’m on your line. So, I don’t even know. I think it was yeller. I don’t know. So, he gets stays. He’s all excited. He gets in there. I go, “Listen, man. You got to settle the f down. If you don’t dump that puck in and we turn it over, we’re done. We’re done like dinner. We’re not getting on the ice.” I go, “My buddies are in town. I need to play a little bit.” Okay. So, first first shift, he gets it. I give it to him. He chips it in. We cycle back to the point. Hits three guys in the net. Plus one. I go, “Way to go, kid. Way to go. Keep doing it. Keep doing it.” Next shift, chips it in. We get it back. This is great. You’re four chicken like crazy. Keep it up. Keep it up. You’re crazy. Keep it up. So, we have a good game. I’m happy for him. We go out for a couple beverages after the game. And uh girl comes over, beautiful woman comes over to to Renee. She goes, “What’s your name?” He goes, “Call me crazy. Well, I was uh earlier this morning, we we came here from Calgary and I was saying to my wife, “How many times I’m going to crazy today?” I said I said probably 50 times. I’m around like 28 times right now. Crazy. How are you? Crazy. How you doing? So, I mean, that’s kind of stick with me. And uh yes, I was I guess crazy legs. I’m not a very good skater, but I would just go hard every single shift. Well, if you remember, the tagline for 96 was get cup crazy. So, it actually did make sense for Renee Corbett. What about you guys? Was there a a moment in any of those series that you were like, we can win? There was for sure. Um, but first, could I get a beer? We have We have people for that. We have people for that. Anybody else? Anybody else? Bring a cooler. All right. Raise your hand if you need one. We’re going to need about a thousand beers. All right. Yeah. If we Yeah, just put on the Avalanche card. Thanks, Joe. No problem. Anything. Whatever you guys need. Kener, was there a moment or a game that you thought this this is a could be a reality for No, there there’s, you know, like I said earlier, there’s when when it when it started come together, it was it was Oh, wait. There we go. One right there. Thank you very much. Thank you. What’s that taste like? He goes, I’ve never had one. Never paid for one. I’m Polish. I’m No, like I said earlier, like you we we we knew we had something down in front. Well, you guys keep drinking like this. We’re going to need some cigarettes. Quit smoking a long time ago. No, they they they you you know what when we we you we started clicking and and the team kind of came together after the deadline and it it’s you you you knew there was something there. you knew from uh our superstars who um were best in the league to like like Bundy said, we had a great supporting cast of we we weren’t happy with um just being average and the teams we played like like Joe said like there was there wasn’t a bad team. Vancouver Vancouver is tough, Chicago was tough. Um but it’s just we we found a way and if if it was Daddy or Scott Young or Peter or Joe or Bindy or you know Crazy Legs. We we we just found a way and and and it was and anything and then you throw on obviously having Patty Wall was a big factor. So um it’s it’s just it’s kind of a I don’t know how to you know describe it but you’ve you’ve been on different teams but uh when you knew in in January February there was something there, uh you knew we were going a long way. And the reason The reason we asked you is because the 22 team that won, a lot of the guys say that when they beat the Blues in game six, when that goal went in, they knew that they were going to go on and and beat the Oilers and go on and beat the Tampa Bay Lightning. I have a little bit different perspective on that. I Well, I was 23. I didn’t know more, but I thought we’re going to win from a game one. Joe’s going to score. Peter’s going to pass. Patty is going to stop the puck and everything’s going to be just fine. Uh but in a Detroit series, I believe that was Yukiner who scored a game-winning goal. And that’s when I understood that how much everybody meant for that game, how much everybody put in into that effort. Yeller with penalty killing and everything like that and defensive plays. And it was not just about scoring goals. It was about the whole concept of the game. how much like the crazy like right and bonding and bringing energy in the locker room and stuff like that how much it all meant and when the pier was talking about the putting the puzzles together and stuff like that it was kind of like all right he’s just kind of you know this cliche something like that right but then it actually came through and in that Detroit game I don’t remember which one it was but then I understood how much each individual each player of this team meant to that success and after that you know, you know, when you go through that. So, one of the one of the things I think that was sort of key and and you all know this and it was tremendous for our team is the Chicago series, like Joe said, was was a tough series. And when RNick, you know, Patrick had a bad game and all of a sudden we we got some momentum back and then Patrick looked at the reporters. no phones back then, no like social media and said, “I’m not sure what he said because my two previous Stanley Cup rings were in my ears.” So, so for I I I I I think for us, me noticing that was like cuz you know, we don’t talk about it, but when he said it, everybody went that was just a great comeback. We sort of needed it. I would say the best comeback of all time. Like, how do you come back from that? I felt I felt like we brought a lot from Quebec the year before. I mean, we had some lean years there and uh you know, Joey and Curtis lived through most of them. Goose was there, Val um Peter came, Reach in a big trade for Lindros. That was a strike shortened year if I remember our lockout year the year before. There you go. So, I felt like uh there was a there was a process to it. It was a fiveyear plan in essence that took six. Uh Joe would So, the matchup is Florida. They were a good team. Um what did you feel like when you got into the Stanley Cup final with this gang? Did you believe right then? Did it take you a while? Well, I think we’re just every series, it’s presents new challenges, right? And then, you know, we have a tough we had a tough road. Vancouver, Chicago, Detroit, and then you’re playing Florida. They just beat Mariel Lemieux, Yarmagger, Ron Francis, I think he was still there. I mean, what a great hockey team. They beat the Legion of Boom, Eric Lendros, and the Flyers. They had a good They had a good team and they had a good recipe in the playoffs. They checked, right? They had some good players, but they checked really hard and I think everything their whole game plan was going to wear these guys out and try and huck it out. Um, but I think we still felt really confident going into that series just because we felt like our top two lines are better than their top two lines and our lines three, four were better than their lines three, four and we loved our D and we had Patrick and Net. So I I don’t I think that’s the one series where just just knew we had to play our game and we find a way to win. Not taking stay away from them, but it was more about us and Joe and Joe is so modest. So, I’ll say it for him that we were we were equally balanced teams. We had more superstars. So, so that that’s a Florida Florida was a a great hardworking team, but we had Peter and Joe and and Patty and that’s what and maybe this big fat head beside me, but there there was this but we’re we were we were just We were just We had better players, wasn’t it? Well, they knew I wasn’t going to take any stupid penalties the first two games. I was suspended, so but also I think I was just happy to get back in the lineup for game three and four. Uh Patrick Patrick set the tone I think before the games and uh there was this um when we go to Florida where any team went to Florida after they scored a goal there was this sea of rats just flying on on on the ice and then all the goalies they would hide in the net. What Batty did I think I saw in on YouTube somewhere like it was a crappy goal that was his goal. It was not mine. That was his like shortsighted off the post. I mean, close the close the post, Patty. Right. So, we get scored on and these rats are flying on the ice. You can probably find it on and he’s just standing there, not hiding. And he told us before the game, I’m not going to hide from those rats. We are going to rats are not going to intimidate us. Rats are not going to make a difference. Screw you. We’re winning this. And that was kind of his attitude. And you guys did win a clean sweep. Game four, Yui Kroo, triple overtime. Is there any way to describe the feeling immediately after that goal went in from Yui? I changed group’s life. He was my roommate. We were both rehabbing uh long, so I’m taking credit for that. I changed his life. Sorry. All right. It was Rachie’s goal. goal in triple over. But I just I changed him. He was my roommate and we were both injured. So, uh, needless to say, we had some fun, but Krooppy became a new man. Kier almost brought it up at my wedding. I was happy. Went to let’s over time so I can play more shift. That was great. We were hoping you wouldn’t play. So, so here’s a great great story you remember, right? So, we win it. We’re in the dressing room. I got traded in January, so I didn’t spend the whole time with the guys. So, my wife, she’s here tonight, 40 years. She She remembers, she goes, “Dave, I can’t remember the guy that wore his hockey equipment on the plane all the way back to Denver. Mike Keane with a cigar.” Hockey players are dumb. Hockey player is dumb. So they wouldn’t let me take it on the plane. So they or sorry my wife of actually four years also. Hanner had a boy. Had a boy Kener. So they they said listen you’re no you’re done. Like get this off. It was great. It was awesome. You guys remember it. It was just it’s legendary. So, so I the the stairs were down at the bottom and I’m taking off my stuff and I’m throwing it down, throwing it down and I had nothing on but my underwear after stair stairs went up and that was it. We’re like we’re off gone. That was it. What was that moment like in the locker room? Because I, you know, I I saw Charlotte, Johnny, and Jock and I saw those guys. There were so many people involved in making this happen. You know, you think about all the staff. What was that moment like to share it amongst yourselves and with the rest of the Avalanche staff in Florida? I’ll say this. I’ll say this. We just we had all family there. We wanted to get out of there and get back to Denver. Well, we did. And I remember Well, DTOR’s not here, but my wife walked in and saw him naked. I don’t know. Think she was creeped out a little bit. Just a little bit. We did relax and smoke some cigars after that. Remember sitting up on Remember there there was an inch half inch of champagne on the floor. Cigars was good. Yeah. I don’t I can’t remember when the game ended, didn’t it? It was 100°. I don’t think we left there till like 5 in the morning. I think that um I have been fortunate to in Montreal, which is, you know, obviously very special and the expectations are really high. Got to win in New Jersey. We didn’t have the real true fan base like, you know, you want to experience when you win. So, coming to Colorado after winning, winning on the road, we knew it was going to be good, but you guys surprised us. The parade, the celebration was like, it was just and I you know, as players, you go through all this and in the end it’s about the celebrations and and post winning. Um, so you guys made it so special. It was first class. It was memorable for me. I always said, you know, uh, they weren’t two million people like we had in Montreal, but it was uh, it was just as intense. It was really special. It was great. It was wonderful. The bars were rocking for a few weeks that day. Hey, people knew who you were then. Joe said they didn’t know who you were when you came there. They knew who you were after you guys. I want to specifically ask you about the goal in Florida that bounced off the glass. I’m sure people want to know about the one you banged in off the end of the glass and the goal. I mean, do you remember it? My goal there. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Game two. Game two hattick, wasn’t it? Yeah. No, I I think after the first game I I realized that, you know, I didn’t have to pass it to Claude. I could shoot it by myself. There’s no chance he was getting a hat-tick with me. Yeah. Then he then he then he got back to the lineup when he shot me out again. So he’s always open. I was open. I I mean I scored that thing the first period when I got back. No chance Peters having three goals if I’m in the lineup and I was open. What do you remember about that goal? Uh it’s when I look back though it’s you know one of my best goals I would say you know score a hattick in the first uh period. Uh and uh also after I have to say, you know, after um spending a few years with that marsh, you know, he’s the first one to graduate me after the goal and and we’re kind of laughing together after I scored. So I miss him here today. I wish he would be here. Uh we had a good couple years with the roommates, too. Four and a half years. So uh yeah, when I look out back and I see the the highlights of that goal, it’s uh give me a little, you know, I don’t creep. I’m not creep. Unbelievable good because it was a just a game uh that we won and got to score atric first period and then celebrate with my kind of best friend and it was awesome. Do you want to bring say what he just said Joe? What he had one and one or something and one second one or second star I don’t know. I was hoping after that game like, you know, I got a goal and a sis. I’m like, maybe I get the first star tonight. I’m like, oh, Peter got three goals in the first per. I’m not getting the first star, but I did get a second or third. I don’t remember, but that was my first star ever. You’re crazy. Hey, uh, we want to open it up for like three questions here in just a sec, Connor. No, I’m I’m I got to get a head start. I’ve got a couple of fun questions that I just want to ask you guys. Um, who paid for the most dinners and who paid for the least amount of dinners? Nachos. Peter for sure. The least. I second that for sure. You’re always in your You’re with DTOR. Uh, yeah. I was playing games. You were never out. Well, I was I was over always underpaid. You were overpaid the whole time. You should have paid. Well, it is better to be over than under. That’s for sure. Pierre Laqua. Pierre always bought us dinner. He was We had a lot of team dinners. Pierre would buy us dinner a lot. I thought we did that credit card game all the time. No, that one too. That’s why it’s hard to say. John Martino had that credit card once in a row. Credit cards in and then someone did one guy lose more than the other. Can’t remember. Probably dead. Folks know like that it’s called a credit card game. So if if a bunch of guys go for dinner, you put the credit card in a hat and the waiter or waitress picks out the last one. Whoever’s the last card pays it pays a bill. So that’s that’s the game we played a lot. Sometimes they were they were sters because we had some guys that uh maybe used to drink a little bit. So it’s a wine connoisseurs and maybe and maybe used to smoke the odd cigarette. So it’s kind of cost them off. But so that was the credit card game. So it’s who ran the music in the room? Oh, you got a story. Let’s hear it. Yeah. So Renee Corb ran the music. We were we were in uh Tampa Bay and we’re on a road trip in in East and it’s a rookie uh dinner coming up and before that the guys get together for dinner and we’ll get a big group. It’s about 12 or 15 of us and we play this game who’s going to for dinner and the last two guys named Joe and Joe he’s like it’s okay kid it’s your just you know you’re 22 23 years old I got this. No, no, I won’t take you down. I tell Jo, I’ll take you down and we play and I lost. I’m like now I’m in for like 1,8002,000 and the next day or the next weekend I’m in for the six for the rookie dinner. I’m like so oh well hey I to down I lost and I pay for it or Joe helped me out a little bit. I didn’t help you out. I didn’t help you out. Sorry you kid. We are but that’s when you say I go for the truth. I take you down. I go for the truth. That is exactly remember his shirt. All right. Here here’s Bundy Warren. I haven’t seen you in a while. He’s going to tell you a great story in the locker room. This is the first week that I got trained and came to Colorado with Chris Simon who is a big part of our team that’s not here in in the in the training room and and and you know hockey players are always looking for stupid things to bet on and you guys won’t believe this. This is a true story. Warren was involved and Warren is going to tell the story. So where’s where’s KS and Mattie Sakaloski were the these these guys. By the way, before I tell the story, just our our support staff was unbelievable. Johnny Martino Goo’s been around Motor City Smitty Pro Scout Deluxe um training staff was unbelievable. Anyway, so one day, um Chief’s in there and pretty big man, pretty pretty intimidating man, God bless him. And uh uh I’m in the tub and so I used to take this cold tub with the ice in it. So we have this long cold tub. So I’m going to go in the tub and they say, “Well, honey, I’ll give you everyone bucked up. We’ll give you 1,800 bucks if you can stay under there for 45 seconds.” And it was I’m like, “I’m going to do this. That’s a lot of coin. That’s a lot of American. I was playing for free. I was playing for free in 1995.” I think I’m joking. But you guys serious? 1,800 bucks. So there was 1,800 bucks on the table and I had to stay under. So it was cold. It was like the cold this much this much ice and then a little bit of water. So I had to go under and stay under the rule was 45 seconds. I think Carn had the the timer on it. So I went under. I got this cold about 10 seconds. I go, “Oh my god, is it cold?” So now I said, “Knock every 15 seconds.” So I know how much I can I can cut it out, right? I can do this. 1800 and all of a sudden 15 seconds I hear the knock. Okay, I got I just started seeing things and monsters. I I flew out of there like I flew out of there. Like I almost passed out probably 20 seconds. I thought but like why I wanted to say that is because those are the dumbest things that bring teams together because I think we are all in there watching this like horror story and it happens. That was a lot. That was a lot of We had a lot of fun. There’s no doubt. We We had a lot of Every guy on this uh panel here in in this in this team is special. And I had a lot of memories. And what I what I didn’t understand was, man, our defense were big. Like I just came in the room. I said it to Joe, you know, scouting now. And I said to Pepe, like, “Look, Clemer’s huge, Ozo’s huge, Curtis, we’re big. We’re big Dui. Big German crew. Like we were big team. Jesus Lord. Goose. Look at Goose. Giant man. Wake up Goose. Goose. You brought Goose. We need to hear from you. You got your translator back there. You’re the only one with a translator. Come on. I bring my translator for emergency. Okay. I got to tell you, I I try to organize. I I believe in in having team parties and including the family and our wives and girlfriends. And we we put probably once every other month, maybe more. Uh when whenever we could find a reason or an excuse to have a party, cash bar, we wanted we wanted we wanted to take everybody. And I got to tell you, we were so our Russian teammates were so consistent. They always showed up, but they always showed up by themselves. And I go, “Where are your wives?” “Sorry, no babysitter.” And I said, “Enough with this. We’re going to get you babys.” No, no, no. It’s a It’s a It’s a Russian thing. There’s no babysitter. Wife, stay home with the children. Uh, but we were a tight group and we had so much fun. So much fun. We had one last one, guys. Okay. And somebody suggested it’s a great suggestion to share your best memories of Chris Simon. I’ll probably start from this one if you may. Um, the year I got raided, the year before was lockout. So, uh, we didn’t play against I was in Western Conference team and we didn’t play against Eastern Conference team and, uh, it gets rated and but I saw this team and since we didn’t play, I just saw saw him on the TV and Chris had this long hair up to here like this really kind of mean looking player and he was a tough guy, right? And I get traded and somebody calls me and tells me that somebody’s going to pick me up from the hotel to take to the first practice, right? And Chris was scary looking guy. We had a go tea and everything. And guess who was in a car? He goes, “Oh, good to meet you. Sit down.” I go, “Okay, good. Hi, Chris.” And guess what? He goes, “You smoke?” I said, “Yes, I do, sir.” Although we say, she goes, “Good. Never smoking.” So, he takes me to the to the the first practice. And that’s how I met Chris Simon. And uh he was definitely big part and uh really really really good guy. Yeah, he’s what what a great guy. I mean, we we all know what I mean. He was tough, right? He could do he he protected everybody and uh but he was also a good hockey player. I like he was my line for a lot of that year and uh I mean he once he got going he can really skate. Um but he had nice soft hands. He can rifle the puck. Um he he was a smart hockey player and such a great teammate. Um I I just remember I think at Christmas time he had I think he went home at Christmas time during the break and I I think he had four goals. I remember him coming back. I think it was his grandfather that he either had a bet or he had a deal that if he scored 20 goals, he get something. I think he finished that year with 18. So, he just took off in the second half. 16 or 18 or he got close anyways, but uh um yeah, he was he was a good hockey player, great guy, great teammate, and miss out here for sure. Sorely missed. I’ll I’ll go next with that story on on Chris. Um so after week one in 96, he was a free agent, was holding out and a trade was imminent with with Chris and um I actually got traded with him from here to Washington and it demoralized me because I was leaving this team and I was like they’re going to win another Stanley Cup and I’m not going to be a part of it. So I hated leaving this group of guys because they were so good. So I’m at home and the phone rings and it’s Chris. He’s not, you know, excited about us going to Washington together. He’s he’s apologetic. He’s like, “I’m so sorry that you had to be involved in this.” And he was such a nice guy that he didn’t have to do that, but he called me and he and he wasn’t excited about the trade. He was just worried about me. And that’s the kind of guy he was. Yeah, I got one, too. I came to Quebec and I got hit by Croo in the first practice and he grabbed Kroo like don’t don’t hit Forsber again I’ll take care of you. So after that I got to play with it. Nobody really touches touched me after that and he went with me to uh to buy some you know to furnitureures and all that in Quebec and and but I have a funny story with him. He’s he met Elsa. I think she worked at the [ __ ] bear and I was actually empty there at the bar just one night with my friend and um so Chris was there too and and um so my friend they stayed there and my friend got a little drunk so Chris here’s my Elsa’s phone number if you don’t know how to get home and stuff so my friend gets a little hammered so he calls her 3:00 in the morning to get home but uh so we get to the practice the next morning and um so my buddy comes with me to the practice and And Chris grabs my friend and he sits down at the at the video there at the TV. He puts in a video and uh and Chris goes, “Here’s my fights so you know who I am. Do not call my girlfriend ever again at 3:00 in the morning.” My friend and she just went to bed. When we got home, he didn’t say a word. He was so scared of him. I’ll do, you know, the the the big he was the big chief. We got drafted together in Philly and then we got traded. Um we were roommates for a little bit, but he blew his shoulder out in junior and he came to Philadelphia to work out. I was playing, he was back in junior and uh they said, “Hey, will you let him live at your house?” I said, “Yeah, sure.” So he got this big the big chief at my house and I said, “Hey, you want to go out?” And he’s like, “No, no.” He had a girlfriend back then. And uh, “No, no, no. I I’m going to stay home.” So, whatever. It was a little late at night. I came in, I opened the door, and I hear, “Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey, watch your feet. Watch your feet.” And I was like, “What? What?” And he looked, he had cleaned my floors cuz I wasn’t charging him. He cleaned all my floors. He’s like, “Hey, hey, hey, watch your feet. Watch your feet.” I’m like, “What the he watch my floors?” I got one more I got to tell. Big G. I get a package. We all didn’t have summer places back. I lived at my mom’s house. I don’t know. I was 25 years old here. I lived at my mom’s house in the offse, I guess. Yeah, I did. So, I get a package and it’s about this big. I open it up and it’s a bottle of Canadian club with two glasses and it has pictures. First of all, I dipped into the Canadian club. I didn’t even look at the pictures. I looked at it. We like to hunt. He had a picture of just the biggest bull moose you could ever think and he had a little I can’t remember exactly what it said and but he sent me a bottle of CC2 glasses, a picture and then when I finally got here he uh obviously he’s proud of his native heritage. Um he’s a native Indian. I go, “How’d you get it?” And he goes, and in his voice that everybody knows, he just told me nonchalantly, “Well, I was driving on the highway and I seen the moose and I pulled my rifle out of the back and I put it on the on the front mirror and I shot it.” I’m like, “What?” I go, “You kidding me?” He goes, “No, I’m native. I can do whatever I want.” He was a sweetheart of a man. His kids are here and God, man. Yeah, he was a sweetheart. Okay. Uh, we have one more piece of business we need to. We’re going to do a selfie. Apparently, we have a bunch of phones and they want you guys all to stand up backwards and take a selfie with all of you guys in the background. So, JJ has these phones. Oh, okay. Do I need to do like kneel down sority pose in the front here? Say cheese. Hey, one more time for your 1996 Stanley Cup champions. Hey. Uh on uh hold on on on behalf of this uh the entire group here, we thank you. Thank you all for being here. This is a great night. We had a lot of fun. So appreciate your support. All right, one more time. Your Stanley Cup champions.

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