Avalanche Bests and Blursts: 2000-2005

3 Feb 2001: The North American team poses for a picture before practice for the NHL All-Star Game at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado. Captain Mario Lemieux of Pittsburgh sits in the center of the front row. DIGITAL IMAGE.

Mandatory Credit: Brian Bahr/ALLSPORT | Getty Images The past thirty years of Avalanche hockey have featured incredible highs, and some very, very dismal lows.As an avid fan of The Simpsons, I’ve witnessed plenty of “best of times” moments, but also been subjected to a smattering of unpleasant “blursts” of times. In this first of an ongoing off-season series, I take a look back through the past thirty years, highlighting one moment that stands among the best, and comparatively, the worst (or blurst, if you will) each season.

Here are the best and blurst moments from the second five years of Colorado Avalanche history.2000-2001The Best: Mission Accomplished (June 9, 2001)The Avs knew the clock was ticking coming into the 2000-2001 season, and they didn’t let a second of it go to waste. They set franchise records in regular season wins (52) and points (118), clinched their second Presidents Trophy, and secured the top seed in the playoffs.

The motto for the Avs entering the postseason was as sharp as a skate blade: Mission 16W.A four-game sweep of the Vancouver Canucks set the stage for a dramatic seven game series against Los Angeles. The Avs would emerge victorious, but at a significant cost (more on this later).

An overtime victory over the St. Louis Blues in Game Five sent the Avs to the Stanley Cup Final, where they would face the defending champion New Jersey Devils, who finished as the Eastern Conference’s top seed.The Avs certainly didn’t make things easy for themselves.

Trailing in the series 3-2, they won a pivotal Game Six in New Jersey to tie the series and set the stage for a dramatic Game Seven back in Denver.Alex Tanguay became a household name for Avs fans everywhere upon scoring the first two goals of the game. Joe Sakic added an