NHL Report Other powers from the Avs’ glory years have slipped too

In the nine postseasons from 1995 through 2003, four NHL franchises won the Stanley Cup. The Detroit Red Wings and New Jersey Devils won it three times, the Colorado Avalanche twice and the Dallas Stars once.

Emerging from that period, both the Avalanche and Stars had every right to feel as if they should have won it at least one more time, and that’s reflective of the high in-house standards for both.

In fact, one of the reasons Avalanche coach Bob Hartley had such a ridiculously short grace period after the 2001 championship and was fired in late 2002 was the front-office view that there should have been at least one more Stanley Cup parade in Denver during his tenure.

Colorado lost three times (1999, 2000 and 2002) in the Western Conference finals during Hartley’s four postseasons on the bench — and that was held against him, though he won the Stanley Cup the other time. To put it another way, Hartley, albeit blessed with a talented roster, got his teams at least to the conference finals every year. And he didn’t keep his job.

Another reason for Hartley’s ouster was that with the Avalanche off to a 108-9-4 start — 15 years later, I’ve forgotten what all those numbers meant, but it added up to perceived underachievement with a star-laden roster — management was concerned its streak of consecutive division titles was in danger of ending. (It didn’t. Under Tony Granato, the Avalanche pulled out the league-record ninth straight division title on the final day of the season, but lost to Minnesota in the first round of the playoffs.)

All of that, plus Hartley’s subsequent work at Atlanta and Calgary, should have earned him at least an interview and consideration for the Avalanche job after Patrick Roy’s resignation last August. Yes, his relentlessness has been known to grate on young players, especially as time passes, but does anyone think that would have been a negative here? I don’t. At least not in 2016-17.

You probably guessed this was coming, but here is the list of the Stanley Cup champions from 1995 to 2003 that will be in the 2017 playoffs: (None.) Colorado, 20-46-3 going into its Saturday game at Detroit, has locked up the worst record in the NHL, and it’s not even close. The Avalanche will miss the playoffs for the sixth time in the past seven seasons, with only the 2014 firstround loss to the Wild interrupting the postseason inactivity.

The Devils and Red Wings will be fighting it out down the stretch for the worst record in the Eastern Conference.

The Red Wings also won the Stanley Cup in 2008 — and this will be the first time they will miss the postseason since 1990. Under the leadership of longtime general manager Ken Holland, there is reason to believe this is more aberrational than a trend.

In New Jersey, the Devils will have missed the playoffs five times in a row since losing to the Los Angeles Kings in the 2012 Stanley Cup Finals. General manager Lou Lamoriello’s departure and eventual move to the Maple Leafs two years ago was a setback for the franchise.

In Dallas, this will be the seventh time in nine seasons the Stars will miss the playoffs.

This is small consolation, but the Avalanche isn’t alone in its regression. Terry Frei: tfrei@denverpost.com or @TFrei