Avalanche Bests and Blursts: 2005-2010

ENGLEWOOD, CO - JULY 09: Joe Sakic (C) is honored as he announces his retirement during a press conference at the Inverness Hotel on July 9, 2009 in Englewood, Colorado. (L-R) are Don Baizley, Debbie Sakic, Joe Sakic, Pierre Lacroix and Greg Sherman. Sakic played 20 years in the NHL with the same organization, the Quebec Nordiques from 1988-1995 and the Colorado Avalanche from 1995 to 2009.

(Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) | 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 another five years of Colorado Avalanche history.2005-2006The Best: The Lockout Ends (July 22, 2005)After lasting over ten months, the NHL and NHL Players Association came to terms on a brand new collective bargaining agreement, ensuring that all thirty clubs would return to action in the fall.A hard $39 million dollar salary cap took effect as part of the agreement, and with it, a lot of uncomfortable decision had to be made by Avs GM Pierre Lacroix.

With Lacroix’s hands bound by the new salary cap, longtime fixtures Peter Forsberg and Adam Foote were not offered new contracts, and instead signed long-term deals with the Philadelphia Flyers (the team that originally drafted Forsberg in 1991) and Columbus Blue Jackets, respectively.Lacroix mobilized to fill the void in the wake of the departure of Forsberg and Foote. He signed both center Pierre Turgeon (previously with the Dallas Stars) and defenseman Patrice Brisebois (previously with the Montréal Canadiens) to two-year contracts on August 3.

The Avalanche began the