By Jordan Long
The 2001 Colorado Avalanche were on a mission to get future Hall of Fame defenseman Ray Bourque’s name on the Stanley Cup. Colorado acquired Bourque at the trade deadline in 2000, but they lost to the Dallas Stars in 7 games in the Western Conference Finals. The goal in 2001 was for Colorado to win the division and also have home ice throughout the playoffs. On this date in 2001, Colorado looked for its’ 2nd Stanley Cup in franchise history against the New Jersey Devils.
Colorado cruised through the regular season with a record of 52 wins, 16 losses, 10 ties, and 4 overtime losses for a total of 118 points, most in the history of the franchise. Colorado won the President’s Trophy for the league’s best record, their 2nd time in franchise history. The Avalanche knew they were well on their way to reaching their target and set a goal of “16 W,” the total number of playoff wins needed to capture the Cup.
In the 1st-round of the playoffs, Vancouver was no match for Colorado. The Avalanche swept them. In the 2nd-round they faced the L.A. Kings. Colorado took a commanding 3-1 series lead. It looked like the series would be wrapped up early. The Kings had other plans, beating Colorado in game 5 in overtime 1-0 and double overtime in game 6 1-0 to force a winner take all game 7. Colorado won game 7, 5-1 but lost star forward Peter Forsberg after the game. He had emergency surgery to take out his spleen. Colorado knocked off the Blues in 5 games in the Western Conference Finals to reach the Stanley Cup Final.
In the Stanley Cup Final, they faced the defending champion New Jersey Devils. Colorado drummed them game 5-0 in game 1. In game 2, New Jersey responded with a 2-1 victory. Colorado retook the series lead in game 3 with a 3-1 triumph. Games 4 and 5 were all New Jersey outscoring Colorado 6-4. Heading back to New Jersey for game 6, it looked like the Avs might fall short of their goal. Colorado came out and shutout New Jersey 4-0 to force game 7 which occurred on this date.
In game 7, the Colorado Avalanche started their hall of fame goaltender Patrick Roy. On the other side was the Devil’s Hall of Fame goaltender Martin Brodeur. These were the same goaltenders for the last 6 games.
Colorado went on top with 12 minutes and 2 seconds left in the 1st period. Forward Alex Tanguay skated with the puck around the net. He fired a shot high with Brodeur out of position and found the back of the net. Colorado and New Jersey exchanged scoring chances but neither team was able to score. The 1st period ended with Colorado up 1-0.
In the 2nd period, Colorado extended their lead 4 minutes and 57 seconds into the period. Captain Joe Sakic had a breakaway. The puck was stopped by Brodeur but the rebound came right to Tanguay who shot it into the empty net to make the score 2-0 Colorado. 1 minute and 19 seconds later, Colorado scored another one, this time by Joe Sakic on the power play. Colorado’s lead was now 3-0. The Devils finally answered with 10 minutes and 27 seconds left in the period on a goal by Peter Sykora. Colorado headed into the 3rd period up by 2 goals. A 2 goal lead in hockey isn’t’ much. If New Jersey could at least find a way to score another goal, they would be back in the game and have chances to tie it up and head into overtime.
In the 3rd period, New Jersey kept the pressure on to cut into Colorado’s advantage. Roy made the saves to keep his team in the lead. In the end, it wasn’t enough. Colorado won 3-1, finally giving Ray Bourque the Stanley Cup he needed to close out his NHL career.
Bourque retired after the season, ending his NHL career in the best possible way, a champion. Today we remember Colorado completing mission “16 W” to win the second Stanley Cup in franchise history.
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