Avalanche Briefs RIVALRY NOT SO HOT ANYMORE

detroit» Coming nearly 20 years to the day of the March 26, 1997, brawl between the Avalanche and Red Wings at Joe Louis Arena, the farewell meeting of these rivals in the building was about as tame as the rivalry has grown to be, a meek 5-1 loss by the Avs.

With both teams about to miss the playoffs for the first time since the Avalanche moved to Denver in 1995, there isn’t quite the intensity that seethed from every pore of both teams while they were splitting five Stanley Cups between them from 1996-2002.

“Growing up in my young adult life watching those games and watching those teams play, I loved the competitive fire that those teams played with,” Avs coach Jared Bednar said Saturday. “I think it’s one of the best rivalries in the game. The passion, the intensity that they brought to every game they faced each other, I think is so good for the game.”

The only person left bloodied during the final Avs-Wings meeting at the Joe was an unlucky secondrow fan who took a clearance attempt by Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin square in the nose.

Early in the first period Saturday, Beauchemin put the puck on the glass and it found a way directly through the tiny hole cut to allow photographers to shoot game action and struck the fan.

Wisconsin Badgers coach Tony Granato visited each team’s dressing room before the game.

Granato coached the Avalanche from 2002-04 and again in 2008-09. He served as an assistant coach with the Red Wings from 2014-16, working under Mike Babcock and Jeff Blashill.