Louisville Family Finds Old Avs Memorabilia Amidst Ruins From Marshall Fire: 'You Have To Be Grateful'
LOUISVILLE. Colo. (CBS4) - A longtime Colorado Avalanche fan is confident the team will win it all after finding a sign in the rubble that was once her home. That sign was two small pieces of Avalanche Stanley Cup memorabilia that survived the Marshall Fire.
"You have to be grateful for what survived," said Kate McCoy.
On Arapahoe Circle in Louisville, the charred remains on McCoy's property are cleared now, but what used to be will never leave her mind. For more than 33 years, she was proud to call the lot home. It's the place she got married, made memories, and watched the avalanche make two Stanley Cup runs.
"Sakic winning the MVP in '96, when Forsberg had his spleen ruptured, that was devastating. Roy winning his Conn Smythe for the third time," she said.
Over the years, she watched many of those defining moments with her husband at their home, but the couple was lucky enough to see some in person. McCoy will never forget watching Ray Bourque raise the cup after game seven in 2001.
"I got my journal out, and I wrote that that was one of the highlights of my life," McCoy said.
That journal is among the countless items McCoy lost in the Marshall Fire, including her home. This January, while sifting through the rubble, she was able to recover a few items, two of which surprised her.
"As I was digging, I started seeing the top of this, and was like what in the world is that," she said.
In the area that used to be her kitchen, McCoy found a ceramic replica Stanley Cup and old collector's pin. She had bought both items last time her favorite team made it this far in the playoffs.
"I pulled it out, ran home, told my husband, 'this is a sign,'" McCoy said. "We're winning the Stanley Cup, that was my first thought."
Months later, that thought could soon become a reality, as the Avalanche inch closer and closer to raising the cup again.
"I really think it's a way to escape what's going on," McCoy said.
For the longtime Avs fan and her husband, the find was among the few bright spots in a year full of devastation and frustration.
"You do insurance zooms, you do loss zooms, you go and talk about energy, so, this is a way of forgetting all of that."
McCoy has since cleaned up the replica cup and added a layer of polyurethane to protect it. On Wednesday night, it will be sitting right next to the couple's TV as they root for the Avs to bring home cup number three.