Deen’s Daily: 1996 Champs in the House; Avs Home Dominance; Fowler Shines Bright

The Avs honored their 1996 championship team and got another dominant win at home. Also, the Habs got a great performance from their rookie goalie, and the Dallas Stars lost in regulation.

All that and more on this edition of Deen’s Daily — December 12.

Colorado Hockey Now

I loved watching the Avalanche honor the 1996 Stanley Cup championship team before Thursday’s puck drop. It’s crazy to think that this team has a three-decade-long history now. I truly feel old.

But it was really great. Sandis Ozolinsh, Alexei Gusarov, Stephane Yelle, and, of course, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Claude Lemieux. It was quite the bunch.

I loved the added nice touch of honoring Chris Simon and having his kids there. Simon passed away in 2024. And of course, the lovely wife of Pierre Lacroix was there, too. Kudos to the organization for putting this together.

An added kudos for getting some nice words from both Patrick Roy and Adam Foote to play on the Jumbotron. Roy’s Islanders and Foote’s Canucks were both in town in recent weeks.

https://t.co/GLYfx4riGz pic.twitter.com/JIJdQ5ZFcC

— Jesse Montano (@jessemontano_) December 12, 2025

On the ice, the Avs followed it up with an epic performance. They completely dominated the two-time defending Stanley Cup champions. Albeit they did it against a team on the second of a back to back without its top two forwards.

But it was yet another game where Colorado manhandled the road team at Ball Arena. And it came after the Dallas Stars lost in regulation against the Minnesota Wild.

Not a bad day for the Avs.

READ MORE: Avalanche Dominate Panthers In Front of 1996 Championship Team

There was also a gem of an interview with Claude Lemieux during the second intermission. It was really fun, and I’ll be writing about it soon.

It was a heck of a bucket list item to check off young Aarif’s checklist. What a life.

Claude Lemieux met with the media during the second intermission. Wonderful interview, very well spoken. He said the Avs have the pieces to win the Stanley Cup this year, but:

"They need to figure out their power play. The power plays gotta be clicking in order to win."

— Aarif Deen (@runwriteAarif) December 12, 2025

Around The NHL

Montreal Hockey Now: Big shout out to rookie goalie Jacob Fowler, who was called up to stop the bleeding and instantly played, and won, in his first NHL game. The moment was not too big for the 21-year-old.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins were too little too late against the Habs. They finished the game with 35 shots but only four of them came in the first period, where Montreal gained the lead and added to it early in the second.

New Jersey Hockey Now: The Devils will be without Timo Meier for the foreseeable future, as he takes a leave of absence to attend to a personal matter.

San Jose Hockey Now: Tough night for the Toronto Maple Leafs, falling in OT to San Jose and losing another defenseman along the way.