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Former Red Wings, Avalanche renew rivalry in Stadium Series alumni game

MiHockey Staff
Photo by Erik Roush/MiHockey
Photo by Erik Roush/MiHockey

 

MORE: Red Wings talk about the alumni game against the Avalanche

 

By @MichaelCaples –

It was a magical night for Hockeytown, as the Red Wings and Avalanche of years past renewed their rivalry on an outdoor sheet of ice at Coors Field in Denver.

Yzerman and McCarty. Sakic and (Claude) Lemieux. The big names were all there – ready to play in one more game against despised competition with 43,319 spectators.

In a night full of nostalgia, however, it was still a hockey game – and the Avalanche alumni won.

Joe Sakic and Ray Bourque were among the scorers for the Colorado alumni squad, as the home team posted a 5-2 win over the Red Wings old-timers.

Steve Yzerman and Brendan Shanahan scored for the Red Wings’ alums in the contest.

“This is unbelievable,” Darren McCarty said during the game broadcast. “You look around, see all these fans, this is a great conclusion to probably the last great hockey rivalry. To be a part of this and to see how guys are going out here and working hard – we’re both trying to win.”

Valeri Kamensky started the scoring in the contest, with two of Hockeytown’s most hated players picking up the assists. Claude Lemieux carried the puck into the Detroit zone and passed to Peter Forsberg, who set up Kamensky for an easy goal on Ty Conklin with an impressive backdoor pass.

Yzerman responded for the Red Wings, finding a rebound in the slot and beating Patrick Roy with a quick shot.

“I’m keeping my shifts short,” Yzerman said to Mickey Redmond and the broadcast team shortly after his goal. “I remember the game in Detroit was the same way. First couple of shifts, the excitement, then the adrenaline stops and you’re sucking air and your legs are burning. It’s a lot of fun, it really is.

“I almost missed, I had a wide-open net and almost missed it. Scotty was telling me all the time go to the net, go to the net, took ‘til the age of 50 to figure it out.”

Joe Sakic gave the Avalanche a 2-1 lead heading into the locker rooms, after beating Conklin with a wrist shot more reminiscent of 1996 than 2016.

“What a great venue, Coors Field, couldn’t have it a better place,” Sakic said during the broadcast. “You see the crowd here, so loud, even for a bunch of old stiffs like us. We have great memories with this club, six years span, what a rivalry, and you can every tell right now, nobody wants to embarrass themselves, everybody’s having fun out, but I think both teams want to win too.”

The second period featured a few more bumps and shoves, most notably Ray Bourque knocking Tomas Holmstrom over next to the Avalanche net. Adam Foote gave Chris Chelios a decent check into the boards, as well.

It took 16 minutes of play in the second period for the game’s fourth goal to come, however – and it went to the home team. Sakic passed to Mike Ricci, who sent the puck towards the Red Wings’ goal. Milan Hejduk redirected the puck past Manny Legace to increase the Avs’ lead to two.

Ray Bourque scored just over a minute into the third period to give Colorado a 4-1 lead, sending a shot from the blue line that got through traffic in front of Manny Legace and past the Wings’ netminder.

Tomas Holmstrom had a penalty shot opportunity with 14 minutes left in the third period, but he was stopped by Craig Billington.

Three minutes later, Mike Ricci had a penalty shot, but Legace stopped him to keep the game within reach for the Wings.

Brendan Shanahan buried a pass from Igor Larionov with five and a half minutes left in the third period to cut the Avs’ lead down to two.

Stephane Yelle, however, scored on his own rebound during a two-on-one break to regain the three-goal lead with two minutes left in regulation.

Some highlights, thanks to @StefanKubus’ GIF-making: