Why is there a rivelry between Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings in the playoffs?

In the late 90's the Red Wings and Colorado had a huge rivalry going on. There is actually a whole book about it called Blood Fued. I have not had a chance to read it yet but it is all about their rivalry. In 1996 in game six of the western conference finals Claude Lemieux hit Kris Dr and ended up breaking his jaw, shattering his cheek bone, he needed a lot of stiches, and I believe he got a concussion too. He ended up being out until part way through the next season. The hit was very controversial most believing that it was a bad hit. The following season during the fourth wings avs game things got crazy. Several fights broke out before McCarty got Lemieux back. McCarty was a grindliner with Dr and was avenging his teammate. McCarty landed several punches on him, and kneed him in the head before they were seperated. More fights broke out throughout the game. McCarty ended up scoring the game winning goal that night in over time. This night has been called "Bloody Wednesday" "Fight Night at the Joe" and "Brawl in Hockeytown". Esentially this night began a rivalry between the two teams it kind of died down because many of the key players are retired or playing with other teams. I put a link to an article about it, I think its kind of a fun article to read.