INSTITUTIONAL KNOWLEDGE    January 22, 2026      On December 11, the Avalanche honored the the remarkable 1995-96 team, which became Colorado's first-ever major sports champion its first fist season in Denver.  I'm one of the few media folks in town now who covered that team at all. And that night, at the game against the 1996 Stanley Cup finalist Florida Panthers in Ball Arena, the reaction from the fans seemed warm and affectionate, but also surprisingly underwhelming.    I told the story of that team in the "Pucks" section of my 2010 book, Playing Pianlo in a Brothel.   Five years later. the Avalanche did it again, winning the Stanley Cup in 2001 in a stirring seven-game Finals against New Jersey.    By then, the Broncos had won back-to-back NFL championships and it just felt different. Denver had the parade routes down pat.     On Friday night, the Avalanche will honor that 2001 Cup team before and at the home game against the Philadelphia Flyers.   The 1996 Avalanche was the most important and impactful singke-season team in franchise history; the 2001 team was the best. Most significantly, the salary cap was five years off.      Here's that team's section in Playing Piano in a Brothel. (NOTE: I covered the subject of the famous Joe Sakic handoff of the Stanley Cup to Ray Bourque HERE, in my Q & A interview with Sakic for Mile High Sports magazine.)