Colorado Avalanche: Best Pictures from the Stadium Series

The Colorado Avalanche Stadium Series weekend took place February 25-26, 2016. Fans enjoyed the spectacle put on in and around Coors Field.

Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Colorado Avalanche’s Stadium Series game.

Though the game itself didn’t yield the result we wanted — the Avs blew a third period lead to fall 5-3 to the Detroit Red Wings — it culminated two -days’ worth of festivities and months’ worth of anticipation.

Actually, scratch that. The anticipation was more years’ worth. Practically one of the first things Joe Sakic did as Avs head honcho was announce that he was working toward getting the city awarded a stadium series game.

That was during the golden Why Not Us season, 2013-14, when our hopes were so high.

The game didn’t take place for another couple years, until the 2015-16 season. Indeed, it happened on a warm February weekend. The spectacle encompassed two days. The organizers turned the area in front of Coors Field, where the game took place, into a fan fest.

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Everyone was walking around in their Avs gear, enjoying the festivities and just generally sharing in camaraderie. Fans came from different countries — from Canada and countries in Europe (Eurolanche). Many also came in from out of state. The Stadium Series weekend really drew our community altogether.

Being the nostalgic sort, my favorite part of the weekend was the Alumni Game. I was lucky enough to have gotten to watch the Colorado Avalanche greats — Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Adam Foote, Miland Hejduk, Ray Bourque, Rob Blake and, of course, my beloved Patrick Roy — in their heyday. I was over the moon to get to see them in action one last time.

The anticipation for the actual Stadium Series game, played by the then-current roster, was high as well. Remember, in February of last year the Avs were in a playoff spot. The roster had its issues, but our disappointments were nothing like they are this year.

In any case, let’s look at some of the best pictures from that great Stadium Series game.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Rock band The Fray performs during the first intermission of a Stadium Series hockey game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Part of the decor for the Stadium Series included a backdrop of the Rocky Mountains with a stage in front of it. The field around the mountains held fake snow — which hilariously turned into snow-nado when the wind kicked up during the game.

The Fray performed during the first intermission. They’re from Denver, but none of them were wearing Avalanche jerseys. I mention that only because one of the musicians in the Andy Grammer band was wearing a Red Wings jersey.

Meh, we were all there for the hockey anyway.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; A general view as the sun sets before the Stadium Series hockey game between the Colorado Avalanche and the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports /

The Colorado Avalanche vs Detroit Red Wings game sold out. And, yes, there’s a lot of red there. However, one of the concessions in the deal to bring an outdoor game to Colorado was to open a certain percentage of tickets to Detroit Red Wings season ticket holders. And Detroiters do love coming to Colorado for obvious reasons. (Look at the beauty!)

If you look really closely, you can see me just to the left of that yellow line. I’m wearing my (then) new Erik Johnson Stadium Series jersey.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Tomas Tatar (21) chases the puck with Colorado Avalanche left wing Blake Comeau (14)and center Shawn Matthias (18) in the third period during a Stadium Series hockey game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Remember when Shawn Matthias was our old new guy, instead of Matt Nieto? Matthias isn’t with us anymore. (He’s not dead — just in Winnipeg, which might be a little like the same thing.)

To me this picture of Shawn is iconic of a hockey Stadium Series game. The blackening under the eyes, the action, the Red Wing player looking foolish…

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nick Holden (2) sprays Detroit Red Wings center Dylan Larkin (71) with snow in the first period during a Stadium Series hockey game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Here’s another former Av, in this case Nick Holden, in another iconic outdoor game hockey picture. The snow spray!

That’s Francois Beauchemin in the background. He’s still with the Avs. I’ll leave it to you to decide if you want to add “unfortunately” to that sentence.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) battles for the puck with Detroit Red Wings center Brad Richards (17) in the third period during a Stadium Series hockey game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

That’s our captain! During the third period the wind started kicking up so strongly that the two teams had to stop midway through the period and change sides so neither one would have a wind advantage for the whole period.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Colorado Avalanche center Matt Duchene (9) controls the puck against the Detroit Red Wings in the third period during a Stadium Series hockey game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Matt Duchene is a player who always shows up. Opponents always know when he’s on the ice.

During the Stadium Series lead-up and the game itself, Duchene was involved in a charity fundraiser. He was wearing a set of ice skates made especially for the Stadium Series game. He auctioned them off after the game to raise money to battle childhood cancer. He was inspired by the friendship he’s created with a young girl with cancer. He was paired with Haven Anderson during the Avs charity brunch and has been her champion ever since.

Feb 27, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Detroit Red Wings left wing Henrik Zetterberg (40) battles for the puck with Colorado Avalanche defenseman Erik Johnson (6) in the first period during a Stadium Series hockey game at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports /

Defenseman Erik Johnson is another player who always makes his presence known on the ice. Here he is working especially hard.

Funny story. He’s not wearing the eye black because apparently he sweats it right off. According to the man himself, he sweats a lot. Hey, all that hard work comes at a price.

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Here’s a picture of Blake Comeau sticking a finger up his nose.

Oh, wait, who’s that man right behind him? (Right, because I was going to reminisce about the Stadium Series game and NOT include Patrick Roy.) Hey, that is one sharp jacket he’s wearing.

In fact, Roy was the hero of the Alumni Game. He played two periods — he let his onetime backup Craig Billington take the third period to get some ice time. I’m not going to lie — Biller did well.

But Patrick… the butterfly… stacking the pads… the swagger… He was the hero of the Alumni Game for me the same way he always was as a player in the Colorado Avalanche’s heyday.

One of the best moments for me during the Alumni Game was when they announced all the players. When Patrick Roy’s image came up on the big screen, the stadium erupted. You literally could not hear his name announced because of all the cheering. Personally, I screamed myself hoarse.

Unfortunately, we don’t have permission to use any pictures from the Alumni Game in a post. However, if you want to reminisce about that game, look at our social media (Facebook, Twitter) from February 25 for images and video.

Related Story: Alumni Game Memories

What were your favorite memories from the Colorado Avalanche Stadium Series weekend?

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