I watched ESPN’s ‘Unrivaled’ on Detroit Red Wings-Colorado Avalanche: Here’s what I think

Detroit Free Press

There’s a moment about midway through ESPN’s “E60” episode on the Detroit Red Wings-Colorado Avalanche rivalry, when Mike Vernon recalls advice from his brother: “If you’re ever in a fight, just don’t stop throwing punches.”

It perfectly describes the “Fight Night” that erupted March 26, 1997, a game that, even 25 years on, is embedded in the memories of Wings and Avs fans old enough to have seen it live. Vernon threw punches at his Colorado counterpart, Patrick Roy; Igor Larionov and Peter Forsberg, two of the hockey’s most cerebral players, tangled, and, most famously, Darren McCarty avenged Claude Lemieux’s cheap hit on Kris Draper.

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YouTube has made it possible to view the main events of that night with ease; ESPN’s “Unrivaled” goes beyond and behind the fabled feud. There are excellent interviews not just with McCarty and Lemieux and Vernon, but with Steve Yzerman, Joe Sakic, Patrick Roy, Brendan Shanahan, Paul Devorski (who refereed the game), Scotty Bowman, Marc Crawford, and many more.

The episode delves into the backstory of the rivalry, exploring how the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver and were rechristened the Avalanche. Mike Ricci, who was with the franchise at the time, relays how he and several players decided on one of their first nights in Denver to go to a Cheesecake Factory. It turns out that no matter who you are, there’s always a wait: “[The hostess] said it’s an hour, 45-minute wait. We’re not used to waiting in Quebec — they would probably clear tables for us. That was a culture shock. Joey Sakic couldn’t get us into the Cheesecake Factory for almost two hours.”

Then there’s the Wings’ role in Roy joining the Avalanche: They were the ones who filled his net with pucks on Dec. 2, 1995, scoring seven times on 26 shots before Montreal Canadiens coach Mario Tremblay finally pulled Roy. (Roy reveals he’d “never tell his coach, ‘pull me out,’ but you go in in the second and you’re still not stopping a beach ball — come on.”). Roy was so furious he told Canadiens president Ronald Corey “it’s my last game in Montreal.” Four days later, he was traded to the Avalanche.

Again, Ricci is terrific with an anecdote: “I was at a campus bar in Denver, where all the college kids hung out. One of the kids said, you guys just traded for Patrick Roy. We didn’t have cell phones. I was like, oh my God. I think I bought the whole college bar a round of shots.”

(I don’t want to give the whole episode away, but Vernon has a juicy tidbit to add to the Roy trade story).

Wings fans look at Lemieux’s blindside hit on Draper in Game 6 of the 1996 Western Conference finals as the flame that ignited the rivalry, but the Avs point to Slava Kozlov’s hit on Adam Foote in Game 3. (Ricci: “We thought it was the dirtiest thing.”) The Avs went on to win the 1996 Stanley Cup, and Lemieux said the Wings “should be furious at how they’ve played the last two years in the playoffs” and not his hit on Draper.

Shanahan reveals what he wouldn’t have publicized at the time: Conveniently overlooked when he was traded to the Wings in October 1996 was the fact he and Lemieux were teammates with the New Jersey Devils in 1990-91. Lemieux shares that he named one of his son’s after Brendan; Shanahan shares what Lemieux said to him before the March 26 game. (Hint: It was ruthless).

A chunk of time is devoted to Vladimir Konstantinov, whose career ended in a limousine crash June 13, 1997, six days after the Wings won the Cup. It is emotional to watch, I’ll leave it at that.

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The show premieres on ESPN at 1 p.m. Sunday, but the Wings are holding a free watch party Saturday from 6– 8:30 p.m. at Little Caesars Arena, with the ESPN producers in attendance and doing a Q&A afterwards.

The program is insightful and detailed (as Devorski put it: “I had lots to look at that night”) and on top of everything else, an opportunity for Wings fans to appreciate not just the rivalry but what a fantastic team the Wings were back then. Seeing a young Yzerman, Nicklas Lidstrom and Sergei Fedorov — all three Wings draft picks now in the Hockey Hall of Fame — in action along with Konstantinov, Shanahan, Larionov, Kozlov, Slava Fetisov and many more is an indulgent and delightful memory.

Contact Helene St. James at hstjames@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter @helenestjames. Read more on the Detroit Red Wings and sign up for our Red Wings newsletter. Her book, The Big 50: The Detroit Red Wings is available from AmazonBarnes & Noble and Triumph Books. Personalized copies available via her e-mail. 

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