An unknown number of Soviet Roma joined the armed resistance in the occupied territories. Thousands fought as privates, tank drivers, pilots or engineers in the Red Army and some were highly decorated. Despite antiziganist positions within the population, the king of Bulgaria opposed the deportation of Roma and Jews, while the allied Nazi Germany and other Axis powers murdered hundreds of thousands of Roma (Porajmos). For the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, held during the 1997/98 season, the Avs turned off ten players. HDD Ljubljana also strengthened during the season. Colorado finished the regular season in second place in the Western Conference with 44 wins. In the 2008/09 season, Hertha BSC improved on the previous record from 1974 with 33 points and the most successful first half of the season in the club's history. There were victories against teams from the top third of the table (including over the later autumn champions TSG 1899 Hoffenheim) and disappointments such as high away defeats against FC Bayern Munich (1: 4), Werder Bremen (1: 5) or the failure against Energie Cottbus ( 0:1 at home), but the club was still in third place at the end of the half-series.
Although he was relegated three times and rose twice in a total of seven seasons with the then elevator team Sogndal, he remained loyal to the club until 1999. These were the first losses for FC Barcelona in seven years. There they lost to the Detroit Red Wings after seven games. With the new players, the Avs reached the conference finals for the fourth time in five years after victories over the Phoenix Coyotes and the Detroit Red Wings. In the playoffs, the Colorado Avalanche won the first two rounds against the Chicago Blackhawks and the Edmonton Oilers and was eliminated in the conference finals by eventual Stanley Cup winners Detroit Red Wings. He was fit again in the play-offs and with 27 points in the 20 Avalanche games he was the most successful points collector in the entire National Hockey League. The 2000/01 NHL season was to be very successful for the Avalanche: In addition to the renewed division title, the team also won their second Presidents' Trophy after the Avs had a record of 52 wins and 20 losses after 82 games, four of them after overtime and 10 draws for a total of 118 league points. At the beginning of the 1998/99 NHL season, the Avs were transferred to the Northwest Division as part of the league expansion to include the Nashville Predators.
The Avs defeated the Boston Bruins 2-1 in their first game at the Pepsi Center. The Avalanche reinforced before the start of the playoffs with defenseman Raymond "Ray" Bourque and forward Dave Andreychuk from the Bruins. The City of Denver refused to give the land rights on which the Pepsi Center sits to Storm because it gave no guarantee could allow teams to remain Denver-based even if Sturm died or the franchises were sold.Peter Forsberg spent the entire regular season recovering from spleen surgery and did not play a game.But they were not banned, and federal authorities took no further state action Safeguards against racist and anti-Semitic propaganda Avalanche beat the St. Louis Blues 4-1 in the Western Conference finals The Avalanche faced the New Jersey Devils in the Stanley Cup finals This season, the Avalanche scored between January and February 1999 with 12 straight wins, the longest winning streak in franchise history. In his second international match on February 11, 2003, he scored his first international goal in a 3-0 win over Cameroon.
On February 21, 2001, the Avalanche reinforced defensively with Rob Blake, who was drafted by the Los Angeles Kings along with Steven Reinprecht for Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, and a first-round pick for the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. Canada's Joe Sakic, Rob Blake and Adam Foote returned from Salt Lake City with the gold medal, while USA's Chris Drury and his team won the silver medal. The two rookies Chris Drury and Milan Hejduk were selected to the NHL All-Rookie Team; Drury also received the Calder Memorial Trophy as the top rookie in the league. Goalie Patrick Roy received the Conn Smythe Trophy as Playoff MVP. Patrick Roy received the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is awarded annually to the goaltender whose team concedes the fewest goals. The Avalanche contributed five players to the game: The North American All-Stars included Patrick Roy, Ray Bourque and Joe Sakic. Raymond Bourque won his first Stanley Cup in the last game of his career. Captain Joe Sakic passed the trophy directly to Bourque in recognition of Bourque's career, rather than being the first player to lift the trophy, as is customary in captain's roles. Following this season, Joe Sakic signed an offer sheet as a restricted free agent.