It’s Rivalry Week at the mothership (SB Nation) and we’re taking part by airing our grievances with each and every NHL team. None will be sparred, not even NHL Seattle.
Next up is the Colorado Avalanche, a team stolen right from underneath the good French speaking city of Quebec in the middle of the night only to watch them blossom and win a bunch of Stanley Cups immediately after leaving town (though thankfully it prevented this from happening).
The Avalanche suck.
Claude Lemieux
Look I really reading hate the Detroit Red Wings —and I hate Claude Lemieux even more.
TSN ranked the top 10 most hated players of all-time and it was a crime that Lemieux wasn’t just all 10 (Sean Avery was No. 1).
I hate that he won four Stanley Cups and a Conny Smythe. I hate that he almost killed Kris Draper and couldn’t have cared less.
Claude Lemieux sucks.
The Steve Downie Experience 2.0
The Flyers and Avs have hooked up on trades just four times in history (since they moved from Quebec that is), but it’s the most recent one that sticks out.
That would be the 2013 Halloween trade of Maxime Talbot for Steve Downie, which was one-for-one.
Downie already flamed out in Philadelphia once, but the organization went ahead for a second tour of duty on the Downie experience at the expense of the useful Talbot.
Though Talbot was never going to replicate the success he had in his first season in Orange and Black (19 goals, 34 points, 16.5% shooting), he was a popular locker room guy and one that helped the team transition from the divided room that existed from the Mike Richards and Jeff Carter days.
On the other hand, Downie was a free agent to be at the end of the season and gave the Flyers just three goals in 51 games before signing with the Penguins in the summer. The trade got the Flyers out from under Talbot’s bloated salary cap charge, but didn’t do much else and added a volatile personality to a team that could have used Talbot’s steady veteran presence while they were still undergoing a pretty drastic makeover.
Steve Downie always sucked.
Patrick Roy showboating
So this isn’t really a reason why I hate the Avs, it’s just funny that one of the greatest goaltenders of all-time had such a large gaffe with celebrating prematurely.
Stick to carefully orchestrating your dramatic exits from Montreal mid game there, Patrick.
Got a reason why you hate the Avalanche that isn’t above? Tell ‘em you mad by utilizing the comments section below.
