The Colorado Avalanche hoists a Stanley Cup Banner. When the Colorado Avalanche last brought a Stanley Cup banner home to Denver, that time had passed.
The Avalanche finally broke their banner drought on Wednesday, when they beat the Blackhawks 5-2 and raised their third championship banner in club history at Ball Arena.
Bernie, the Avalanche mascot, skated around the ice carrying a huge “Hockey is Back” banner, and the crowd erupted as it always does whenever he does this. After introducing the team, the fans gave the players and coaches standing ovations.
Pavel Francouz, Erik Johnson, Nathan MacKinnon, Anze Makar, and Mikko Rantanen all received the most vociferous cheers.
Avalanche Fans Were Surprised To See Gabriel Landeskog
Fans of the Avalanche were taken aback when they were presented to captain Gabriel Landeskog, who is now on injured reserve. Upon entering the rink in full uniform, Landeskog was met with a thunderous ovation from the crowd.
The players didn’t leave the ice when Mark Hoppus, bassist, and vocalist for Blink-182, stepped out there to pump up the fans. An Avalanche anthem since its release in 2000, “All the Small Things” was sung in its entirety by the audience as led by Hoppus.
A video montage of ecstatic supporters singing the team’s victory song was shown on the stadium video screen, and the audience erupted in song. Possibly the greatest applause of the night was saved for when Landeskog snatched up the Stanley Cup and hoisted it over his head.
He put the prize down and went to join his teammates so they could watch the flag be raised to the ceiling. Jack Johnson, a defenseman for the Blackhawks, sat off to the side. He participated in last year’s championship run as a player.
Before joining his old colleagues, he sat on the bench for the duration of the ceremony. They united as one to witness the raising of the flag, which would hang among those commemorating the team’s championships in 1995–96 and 2000–01.
It’s going to be awesome to soak it all in,” Newhook remarked before the game. “But we also know that the festivities have come to an end and that we must be prepared.” The anticipation for each new banner-raising event is always high.
The Avalanche’s Day Began with a Morning Skate
As soon as the players entered the new locker room, they were bombarded with inquiries about the night’s events, which had been planned for years. Once the athletes arrived at the arena, the festivities continued with a red-carpet stroll through a crowd of cheering spectators.
Similar to that occasion, Hoppus showed up at Ball Arena. Workers and spectators alike gave him a second look as he made his way around the stadium in a blue Los Angeles Rams sweatshirt.
The entertainment and production staff of the venue then met with Hoppus to brief him on his duties during the event. Early in the 2019-20 season, playing Blink-182’s iconic song became a regular part of the game experience.
The song was played in-between sequences, and the audience continued singing along even after the song had finished and the game had resumed. Hoppus claimed he learned about the Avalanche’s use of Blink’s signature song thanks to a fan’s tweet alerting him to the fact. “It’s insane.
We composed that song in ’99 and here 23 years later, people are still singing it,” Hoppus remarked. “There has been a noticeable uptick in people trying to mimic [guitarist/singer Tom DeLonge’s] style of singing. It is the whole article. It’s got a life of its own beyond us and our band. It makes me very happy.”
Hoppus Was Unable to See the Avalanche’s Whole Playoff Run
However, he did get to see them win the Stanley Cup in Game 6 against the Lightning. Hoppus, speaking only one day after the band announced their reunion and next album.
He said that they had attempted to come out during the Stanley Cup playoffs but were unable to take flight due to technical problems with their jet. A few months later, it all worked out.
NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer told ESPN on Wednesday that it was an easy choice for the organization to reach out to Blink-182 after witnessing how much of a connection Avalanche fans had with the song.
Mayer said the league had a past connection with the band, and that it was immediately on board until the travel concerns delayed the preparations. As Hoppus did on Wednesday, Travis Barker, Tom DeLonge, and Mark Hoppus were all supposed to go to Denver for Game 5. They wanted to join the audience in singing the song.
In the afternoon, Mayer received a phone call informing him that everyone was on board the aircraft, but that it was experiencing technical issues. “Despite our best efforts, we were unable to board another aircraft. Unfortunately, our search yielded no such item.
To Top It All Off, We Were Disappointed
Not that anybody knew, anyhow. We were heartbroken.” But if there was a Game 7, the plan called for Blink-182 to give it another go. After it became clear that wasn’t going to happen, the team shifted their focus to the opening move.
According to Mayer, Blink-182 has already made contact to see if there is a possibility to collaborate this coming autumn. Unfortunately, not everyone in the band was able to make it today,” Mayer said.
“Mark, though, is the song’s most ardent supporter. At the moment we reached out, his response was enthusiastic. It ended up being a very sweet experience.” According to Steve Johnston, executive producer, and executive for game presentation for Kroenke Sports & Entertainment. He was planning for the celebration to begin soon after the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup.
After the Avalanche won the Stanley Cup, Johnston stated his squad got right to work. The ceremony’s movies were produced, and preparations were made for additional elements, such as acquiring a special winch to hoist the banner over the netting along the glass and into the rafters among the other banners.
Finishing Words on This Discussion
However, there were a few things that were resolved considerably later on. Given that Landeskog is currently nursing an injury, there is some doubt about how involved he will be in the event. Finding time to go through the ritual was also an important consideration.
Johnston said that due to the hectic nature of events at Ball Arena, his team was only able to have one dress rehearsal for the banner-raising ceremony. It got in one more practice session Wednesday afternoon, a few hours after the Blackhawks had finished their morning skate.
We didn’t want people taking photographs of the new flag, so we used the 2001 banner to hoist it,” Johnston said. Plans for this evening have been in the works all summer.