Meet the Avalanche How long does a sports team need to play in a city before it can call that city home The players on the Colorado Avalanche wondered this when the team moved from Quebec City in Canada CCanadda to Denver Colorado That question was answered at the end of their of their first season when the Avs won hockey’s greatest prize the Stanley Stanley Cup They have been treated like family ever since The Avalanche began their hockey journey in the 1970s 0s Back then they had a different name Nordiques and many y of their fans spoke a different language French The team was located in Canada and played in a different league This book tells the story of the Avalanche Today they are as much a part of the Colorado landscape as the Rocky Mountains Fans travel from all over the region to watch them play When the Avalanche get rolling they truly live up to their name At their best there’s simply no stopping them Gabriel Landeskog congratulates goalie Semyon Varlamov after a victory 5
Glory Days Hockey has been a professional sport in North America since the early 1900s Over the years there have been several professional leagues Some were major leagues including the National Hockey League NHL and some were minor leagues As long as fans were willing to buy tickets there was always a chance to start a new team or a new league In 1972 the World Hockey Association WHA began One of the league’s 12 teams was the San Francisco Sharks Before their first season the owners of the Sharks decided to move the team to Quebec in Eastern Canada The club was renamed the Nordiques The move made a lot of sense Quebec had once been a powerhouse in pro hockey A team called the Bulldogs won the Stanley Cup twice in 1912 and again in 1913 Their leader was a legendary goal-scorer named Joe Malone The WHA was made up of hungry young players as well as a few stars who left the NHL to make more money The first 6
leader of the Nordiques was J C Tremblay He had played in the NHL All-Star Game seven times with the Montreal Canadiens Quebec filled out its lineup with emerging stars such as Rejean Houle Marc Tardif Serge Bernier Christian Bordeleau Richard Brodeur Jamie Hislop and Réal Cloutier All but Brodeur and Cloutier had seen ice time in the NHL The Nordiques played twice for the WHA championship They lost in 1975 and won in 1977 In 1979 the Nordiques were invited to join the NHL along with three other WHA teams Facing new competition a fresh group of stars led the Nords One of them was Michel Goulet who grew up in Quebec There was also Dale Hunter and the Stastny brothers Peter Marian and Anton They all helped the team reach the finals of the LEFT Joe Malone was one of the first major hockey stars in Quebec ABOVE J C Tremblay was a good leader and a great passer 7
