A once great Rivalry

Not to long ago in the National Hockey League there was a great rivalry that was made up of blood, sweat, okay well mostly blood. I'm taking about the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. Now for hockey fans like myself this rivalry was a big as the Yankees and Red Sox. And since I am a huge Red Wings fan my hatred for Colorado runs deep. This rivalry started back in 1996 during the Stanley cup playoffs. It was a hit heard around the world when Colorado's Claude Lemieux blatantly hit Detroit's Chris Draper and broke his jaw. What followed after that was later in the series Claude went through and shook the Detroit players hands with a huge smile on his face. The very next year on March 26, 1997 the Red Wings proceeded in laying the smack down on Lemieux and the Avalanche. Darren McCarty pretty much jumped on Lemieux before the first puck dropped and Lemieux turtled and took the beating of his life. The fans loved it and so did I, I mean these two teams hated each other so much they would of fought if they saw one another at the supermarket.

This rivalry pretty much died out though after the 2002 season, and we can pretty much draft thank the lockout for that. The rivalry is still fresh in my mind because it put hockey on a whole new level and made it more intense. I don't care what anybody says but in sports there was no rivalry as intense and bloody as the Red Wings and Avalanche. It is sad that since hockey has adopted the salary cap, it took away all the key payers from the Detroit Colorado rivalry. In my opinion I would put the Detroit vs. Colorado rivalry in the top 10 all time greatest sports feuds, and you can quote me on that!

~Derek Gause~