The Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche had so many back-and-forths since that pivotal 1995-96 season that you could write a book on it. You got Fight Night at the Joe, which came nearly a year after the Wings lost in the Conference Final to the Avs.
But then, you got that memorable 1997 series, including one of the most heroic moments of Steve Yzerman's career. So many good, nailbiting times flooded the Red Wings-Avalanche rivalry of the 1990s and early 2000s.
So, when 2002 came and they once again faced the Avs, you'd have thought it'd be another memorable chapter in what was already a historic run for both teams. Both teams had two Stanley Cups to their names, with the Avs skating in as the defending champions in this Western Conference Final.
And when you look at this one as a series, it was climactic, since the Red Wings came from behind and won the thing 4 games to 3. BUT, when you get to Game 7, it was about as anticlimactic as it could've gotten, and that's not a bad thing.
The Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche played to an anticlimactic finish in 2002
So, Red Wings fans all over the world thought the Avs had this one locked up when those wearing the winged wheel went down 3 games to 2. Or, at least they thought it was trending in that direction.
The Avs held a 3-2 lead after getting the best of the Wings in Detroit, and the series went back to Denver for Game 6. But the Wings held on and won 2-0, forcing a Game 7. With the series tied 3-3, it injected hope back into the fanbase since the finale would go down in the Motor City.
It's always good to retake momentum while evening the series. But it didn't mean this one wouldn't be yet another memorable affair regardless of the outcome. Well, that was the case until it turned into a forgettable one for Avs fans while Red Wings fans found out quickly that they had a lot to celebrate over.
The Red Wings crushed the Avalanche in a game that wasn't even a contest
Yeah, the game ended with the Wings scoring a touchdown and an extra point. Heck, you could argue it was over by the first frame, when the Wings took a four-goal lead heading into the intermission with two of those goals coming from Tomas Holmstrom.
Detroit tacked on two more goals in the second, and the Avs should've just given up then bcause there was no way they were coming back in this one. Once Pavel Datsyuk buried one home to tack on the extra point, that was all she wrote, and the Wings were going back to the Stanley Cup Final.
As you know, Detroit went on to the Final and upended the artists formerly known as the Hartford Whalers 4 games to 1. It was their third Cup in six seasons, and it would be their third out of the four they'd win in that 12-year gap between 1996-97 and 2007-08.
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