In 1995, the Quebec Nordiques relocated to Denver, Colorado and were renamed the Colorado Avalanche.   The Avalanche is a professional ice hockey team and a member of the Northwest Division of the Western Conference of the National Hockey League (NHL). The Avalanche have won eight division titles and made the playoffs in each of their first 10 seasons in Denver, but the streak ended in 2007.   The Avalanche is the only team in NHL history to win the Stanley Cup in their first season after being relocated.   The Avalanche has won the Stanley Cup twice, in 1996 and 2001. The Avalanche have a formed a strong rivalry with the Detroit Red Wings, partly due to having met each other five times in seven years in the Western Conference playoffs between 1996 and 2002.

Starting with the 1999-2000 season Denver has played their home games at the Pepsi Center. The Colorado Avalanche has the NHL record for the longest consecutive attendance sell out with 487. The streak began on November 9, 1995, on the Avalanche's eighth regular season home game during the 1995–96 season, with an attendance of 16,061 at their first home in Denver, the McNichols Sports Arena versus the Dallas Stars. Almost 11 years later, it ended on October 16, 2006, after a reported attendance of 17,681, which is 326 under capacity at Pepsi Center, before a game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Avalanche recorded their 500th home sellout in their 515th game in Denver on January 20, 2007, against the Detroit Red Wings.