‘Unrivaled: Red Wings v Avalanche’ Review
On Sunday, ESPN released their long-awaited E:60 documentary that details the rivalry in the ’90s between the Detroit Red Wings and the Colorado Avalanche. It will air throughout the week on ESPN and will be available to stream whenever on ESPN+.
The documentary is set up beautifully in my humble opinion. It starts the current day with former Red Wing, Darren McCarty, talking in front of a live crowd about the big brawl that happened 25 years ago. Then he brings on his new friend and former enemy, Claude Lemieux. This reunion takes place in the Detroit area, mind you.
Luckily, the crowd was intrigued and there was no hostility towards Lemieux. Perhaps most people let go of the anger from 25 years ago.
It goes in and out of the current day and then takes us back through the story to how we got to the rivalry. The Red Wings were swept in the 1995 Stanley Cup Finals by the New Jersey Devils. The Finals MVP? Claude Lemieux.
It then details the sale of the Quebec Nordiques to a Denver area owner who then changed the name to the Colorado Avalanche. Then how they acquired Claude Lemieux from New Jersey and later acquired the great Patrick Roy from Montreal.
Following that is when the big incident happened in the 1995–1996 Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Avalanche were facing off with…
