Avs Name Top-30 Goals. I Fix it.

No. 1 is easy. The rest are up for debate.

In their continued celebration of the 30th anniversary of the move to Denver, the Avalanche announced their “Top 30 Goals” via social media and the team website.

After two viewings (and several dramatic sighs), I’ve decided to correct some of my issues with the official list the team put out and present the actual Salvas-approved Top-30 goals. It still amazes me that the Avalanche don’t consult me on stuff like this. Stupid, nerdy projects like this aren’t just in my wheelhouse… they’re in the house I built, decorated, and hold the deed to.

Before Dater gave me this platform, I was just making these lists and handing them to my wife. She must be the fastest reader alive because my painstakingly crafted essays usually ended up at the top of the recycling bin within minutes! I wish I had her speed-reading skills!

For the sake of this exercise, I’m sticking to the list the Avs provided rather than adding my own entries. I don’t have the time or mental capacity right now to comb through 30 years of goals — not as a working dad with two kids and a nine-month-old black lab who thinks carpet is a food group.

(That said, the absence of Peter Forsberg’s one-man demolition of Calgary on Feb. 9, 2003, should immediately void the original list. That’s easily a top-10 goal on skill and effort alone. Sure, it came in the regular season, but don’t tell me it wasn’t as memorable as some of the ones that did make the cut.)

To be fair, most of the goals on the Avs’ list are deserving. My main gripe is that the team never really defines what makes something a “top” goal. Are we talking about individual brilliance? Sheer skill? Playoff significance? Or just vibes? They say, “The goals on this list are remembered as remarkable for each of their own reasons.”

I guess.

Either way, here’s the much more accurate list and some light Sunday reading/watching:

30. Valeri Kamensky – October 6, 1995 (Avs ranking: 25)
We start at the very beginning. The first goal in Avalanche history deserves a spot, but let’s be honest: it’s more historical than iconic. Kamensky went breakaway on the power play, scored, and suddenly Colorado had a team that could win a Cup. Kids still talk about that moment… oh, they don’t? Huh. Well, either way, the first goal goes first… or last, in this case.