What once was the most heated rivalry in sports will be renewed in a more friendly way when the Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings face off in an outdoor alumni game on Friday (5 p.m. Mountain time), Feb. 26, at Coors Field in Denver.
Many of the players who competed for the teams from 1996-2002 when they met five times in the Stanley Cup playoffs have already agreed to participate as part of the 2016 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series.
The Avalanche and Red Wings will play a regular-season game at Coors Field on Saturday (6 p.m. Mountain time), Feb. 27. It will be broadcast on NBC in the U.S. and on Hockey Night In Canada and TVA Sports in Canada.
Rob Blake, Peter Forsberg, Patrick Roy and
Joe Sakic are among those who will suit up for the Avalanche in the alumni game.
Chris Chelios, Igor Larionov, Nicklas Lidstrom and
Brendan Shanahan are among the former Red Wings who will play.
No word on whether
Claude Lemieux and
Dino "I can't believe I shook his freakin' hand" Ciccarelli will participate.
“We have had an outstanding rivalry with the Red Wings during those years,” Sakic, now the Avalanche's executive vice president and general manager, said in a release. “We are looking forward to experiencing this grand outdoor setting and a special weekend of hockey in Denver.”
A pre-sale for Avalanche full-season ticket members, suite holders and sponsors will go on sale Aug. 10. Tickets are priced from $70 to $430 and include both games. The Colorado Rockies, who play their home baseball games at the stadium, will have an exclusive offer for their VIP customers beginning Aug. 17. Red Wings season-ticket holders will be able to purchase tickets starting Aug. 24.
The bad news: there is no guarantee that tickets will be available for the general public.
More details, including a seating chart, can be found
on the Avalanche web site.
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The Avalanche announced they have signed center
Joey Hishon, who was a restricted free agent, to a one-year contract. It's a two-way deal for Hishon, who was the team's first-round pick (No. 17) in the 2010 NHL draft. He'll make $890,000 if he's in the NHL and $70,000 if he winds up in the AHL.
Hishon, who turns 24 in October, has been hampered by injuries in his career. He had a goal and an assist in 13 games with the Avalanche last season. He missed all of the 2011-12 season and all but nine games the following season to recover from a concussion he sustained in the 2011 Memorial Cup tournament while playing for the Ontario Hockey League's Owen Sound Attack.
Hishon had 16 goals and 20 assists in 53 games last season with Lake Erie in the AHL.
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The Avalanche will play their annual Burgundy and White Game at Magness Arena on the University of Denver campus Sunday, Sept. 20, at 1 p.m. (Mountain time).
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