In the mid-90's, a nasty rivalry was born in the National Hockey League. The setting was Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals and the Colorado Avalanche were up 3-2 in the series against the Detroit Red Wings. The hit that sparked a rivalry for the next few years happened in this game when the Avalanche's Claude Lemieux hit the Red Wings' Kris Draper from behind. The hit sent Draper face first into the dasher boards where the players' benches were and left him with a litany of injuries in the face, as well as a concussion. After the game, Draper's teammate at the time Dino Ciccarelli was quoted as saying, "I can't believe that I shook that son of a bitch's hand," in reference to the tradition of shaking hands after a series in which the Red Wings shook hands with Avalanche players, including Lemieux. Lemieux was suspended for the first two games of the Stanley Cup Finals against the Florida Panthers, a series that Colorado swept to gain their first of two Stanley Cups.
In 1997, in the first meeting between the two teams since the Lemieux hit, there were numerous brawls in the game, which is most memorable for the teams' respective goaltenders Patrick Roy and Mike Vernon duking it out at center ice. This was just the beginning, as in subsequent meetings, the teams would continue to let the bad blood spill, which included another brawl of the goaltenders, only that it was Roy vs. Chris Osgood.
Looking back on this rivalry, which can still happen at any time, this wasn't the searing hate filled rivalry that the Battle of Alberta (Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames) was, nor was it near the levels of the Toronto Maple Leafs and Montreal Canadiens, but the Avalanche and Red Wings rivalry set a new standard for being downright bloody. And like the rivalries before it, there was a Stanley Cup berth on the line more often than not.
A special video that defines this rivalry is included for today, and features highlights of the infamous game in March of 1997:
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