This Day in Hockey History – August 10, 1995 – Avalanche Buries Nordiques to the Extreme

Aug 10, 2019

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The new owners of the relocated Nordiques apparently were so excited, they could not keep anything out of the news. Newspapers had already reported the new name, and merchandise with the new colors and logo hit the stores before the announcement. No one was surprised on August 10, 1995, when the Comsat Entertainment Group announced that the team would be called the Colorado Avalanche.

The Nordiques, a team that had transitioned from the WHA to the NHL in 1979, led their division and nearly the NHL in the 1994-95 season. However, Quebec City was too small to financially support the team. That May Comsat Entertainment Group agreed to buy the team, and the sale and relocation to Denver were finalized July 1st. They kept GM Pierre Lacroix and coach Marc Crawford and almost none of the players changed.

That meant that the next item on the checklist was to choose an identity. For the interim, the team was referred to as the Denver Nordiques. Comsat began the process of naming them the Black Bears before changing course. It was almost extreme, the nickname for the relocated Nordiques, the Rocky Mountain Extreme. However, Adrian Dater leaked the name in The Denver Post, and Colorado hockey fans reacted negatively, extremely. After the franchise’s marketing VP, Shawn Hunter, rang Dater, the latter predicted what would happen next. “Burned by all that bad publicity the day before, the ‘Extreme’ would get cold feet and pull the whole concept, then deny it ever was a possibility.”

The new owners went back to the literal drawing board and announced their openness to public suggestions via a “Feedback Forum.” Alternatives for the nickname included many nature-themed options like Storm, Ice, Blizzard, Rapids, and Cougars. The other options seemed to harken back to the cowboy era with Wranglers, Outlaws, and Renegades. The geography part of the name also came up in discussions. They could highlight the city of Denver, the state of Colorado, or the region of the Rocky Mountains. Hunter reminded everyone that they had only had two months (since the sale and move) to brainstorm and decide. He said, “The name was something we always thought we’d wait with and do right.”

The right thing ended up being the Colorado Avalanche. The nickname Avalanche actually had already been attached to at least three other sports organizations in the state: a pro paint-ball team, a semi-pro football team, and a junior A-league hockey team.

Although the same designers made logos for seven of the options (and the Extreme), they only ended up needing the one for the Avalanche. The logo featured an A looking like a mountain, obviously representing the Rocky Mountains, which symbolizes the strength to succeed. Swooshing around the A is the avalanche of snow on a puck. This symbolized the “power and speed of skating, passing and shooting in the game.” For the colors, the team went with burgundy, silver, and a deep blue.

With all that sorted, the players wanted to, well, play. “As players we’re very excited,” Captain Joe Sakic began. “We’ll start with identity, and we’re just looking forward to starting to play hockey now.” He had already told GM Lacroix, who commented, “Time to go on the real side of the business. My captain calls me up this morning and says, ‘I’m in town. I hear we have a name. I’m ready to play.’ These are the things that show a lot of positive stuff for next year.”

He wasn’t the only one with a prediction. Jack Todd of Montreal Gazette wrote for the edition going out the day after the announcement, “The Avalanche will be very rich and very good. It’s not inconceivable that they could win a Stanley Cup in their first year in Denver.” When you’re right, you’re right. The newly minted Colorado Avalanche did indeed win the Cup that first season in Denver.