December 2nd, 1995 - Patrick Roy is in net as the Montreal Canadiens hosted the Detroit Red Wings. He gets absolutely shelled, allowing 5 goals in the first period (on 17 shots). Roy is incensed when coach Mario Tremblay is slow to pull Roy and St Patrick would eventually allow 9 goals on 26 shots in front of a jeering home crowd. When Tremblay finally gives Roy the hook in the 2nd period, a hot-headed Roy storms off and stops to tell team president Ronald Corey that he is done in Montreal.

He was.

4 days later, Roy was traded with forward Mike Keane to the Colorado Avalanche for Andrei Kovalenko, Jocelyn Thibault and Martin Rucinsky. Roy would win two Stanley Cups with the Avalanche.

November 27th, 2005 - To replace Steve Konowalchuk (wirst surgery) on the roster, the Avalanche recalled Brad Richardson from Lowell. Richardson made his NHL debut on this day - a 6-2 win over the Canucks at the Pepsi Center (hopefully, you've figured out the above picture is NOT from this game). Richardson played 9:04 in the game, skating on the 4th line with Dan Hinote and Cody McCormick. Richardson - a 5th round pick in the 2003 draft - would play 136 games for the Avs over 3 seasons, scoring 19 goals and 21 assists.

November 21st, 2005 - Phil Sauve leads the Calgary Flames to a 3-2 Shootout victory over the Colorado Avalanche at the Pepsi Center. Steve Konowalchuk played the entire game and had an assist, but suffered a right wrist injury at some point during the match. Originally listed as day-to-day, an MRI a few days later revealed torn ligaments requring season-ending surgery. Although Kono would return for two playoff games the following May, this would be the last regular season game for #22 - he was forced to retire the following summer.

View full size photo »

November 18, 2008 - Peter Budaj is the only member of the Colorado Avalanche to show up for a game in Calgary. Budaj faces 50 shots and turns away 47 of them (a career high). The anemic Avs manage just 23. Despite getting peppered with shots, Budaj keeps his team in the game and the score is tied at 1 midway through the third. Unfortunately, Adrian Aucoin blasted a slapshot past Budaj to make it 2-1 and the Flames added two very late goals - an empty netter and then a PP goal after Ryan Smyth was tossed for unsportsmanlike conduct - to seal the victory.

November 3rd, 1999 - Claude Lemieux was traded to the New Jersey Devils. The Avalanche sent Lemieux, a 1st round pick (David Hale) and a 2nd round pick (Matt DeMarchi) to the Devils for Brian Rolston and a 1st round pick (Martin Samuelsson). Lemieux was just 13 games into his 5th season with the Avalanche.

Rolston would not spend much time in Denver. He and that first round pick (and Martin Grenier and Sammy Pahlsson) were traded to Boston just 4 months later for Ray Bourque and Dave Andreychuk.

October 3rd, 1995 - On the eve of the season (man, don't you wish deals still happened right before the start of the season?), the Avalanche acquired Claude Lemieux from the Devils in a 3-way deal. The Avalanche sent Mats Sundin  Wendel Clark to the Islanders, the Islanders sent Steve Thomas to the Devils and the Devils sent Lemieux to Denver. Interestingly, Clark was traded again later that year to the Toronto Maple Leafs for the draft pick that would become...today's likely starter, Roberto Luongo. As for Lemieux? Hmmm, I don't really recall anything memorable about his stay in Colorado.

October 1st, 2002. It's a trade that is still regarded with some bitterness. On this day, Avalanche GM Pierre Lacroix traded forwards Chris Drury and Stephane Yelle to Calgary for Derek Morris, Jeff Schantz and Dean McAmmond. While it was supposed to be a big splash for both teams, it didn't really work out for either club. Morris had a solid 48-point season in 2002 but was moved at the deadline the following season for (and this is hard to type) Ossi Vaanaanen, Chris Gratton and a 2nd round pick. By that point, Schantz was out of the NHL, McAmmond had been traded back to Calgary and Drury was playing in Buffalo. Just 17 months after the deal, Stephane Yelle was the only player still on the same team.

Those of you with access to a calendar might note that this entry is, in fact, a day early. That would be because I didn't want anything to take away from Joe's day tomorrow.