Completely accurate. So many ignore or sweep aside the Kozlov hit on Foote. Rammed his frickin forehead into the glass. Uncalled. That was the igniter.
Also, a degree of demographics played a role in this rivalry. There were LOTS of Michigan origin hockey fans in Denver at that time.... Still are in fact.... for whom the Red Wings was their home team. They possessed a bit of an arrogance in their assurance that they knew hockey and no one else could compare. It was on display from the 1st inaugural game of the 95-96 season. I still remember those 2 Red Wing fans sitting in the row in front of me dressed up in their Red Wing paraphernalia and elitist commentary during the game. It was gratifying that the Avs won that home opener.
Joe Louis Arena was better than McNichols. Detroit had classic uniforms and logo while the Avs new introductions were ridiculed. I still remember the Michigan core bragging that Little Caesars had surpassed Littleton Hockey as the largest Tier II youth hockey organization in the Nation. Colorado was inferior when it came to hockey (having lost a franchise 14 years previously). It was relentless.
You know how today Minnesota Wild fans are despised here in Avalanche-ville? Esp. with their smugness and narcessistic attitudes that they know the sport better than anyone else? Well, that was the attitude of the Red Wings fans towards Denver in 95-96.
Woody Paige nicknamed them the "Dead Things". We fans started the Red Wings Suck chant..... Pretty childish and unsophisticated. But the night the Avs beat the Red Wings in the 96 Western Conference Final still must register audibly as the loudest cheer ever recorded in that building. And the parking lot was a pure joy experience (Never again heard so many repeated car horn blasts as were sent in that parking lot!)
You experience something like that. You don't forget it. You don't trivialize it and you remember it fondly.
Sorry but I have over 40 years on you.
