Just over a year ago, the Avalanche and Red Wings met outside at the Coors Light Stadium Series at Coors Field. As the Red Wings skated their way to a 5-3 win over the Avalanche, the winds ripped through Coors Field, tearing up the cotton-like fake snow and scattering it through the stands. Though it was just a novelty at the time, perhaps that wind ripping apart the aesthetics was a sign of things to come for these two teams.
At the time, the Stadium Series was a celebration of the incredible past these two teams had, as they dominated the Western Conference and the NHL throughout the late 1990's and early 2000's before the salary age changed the landscape of the NHL.