The Colorado Avalanche brought the first professional sports championship to Colorado. You can talk all you want about how that was then, and what have you done for me lately — not to mention 48 points. However, the boys in burgundy and blue brought the first pro sports championship to sports-loving Colorado.
Colorado won the Pacific Division with 104 points, behind only the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference (131 points, Presidents’ Trophy). They faced the Vancouver Canucks in the first round.
Now, pause for a second because this was momentous in itself. No team had represented Colorado in the NHL playoffs since 1978 — 18 years prior when the Colorado Rockies lost in the Preliminary Round.