How blink-182's "All the Small Things" became an Avalanche tradition

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche crowd at Ball Arena might be unmatched across the league in terms of how loud it gets – but nothing quite gets them going like a singalong to a certain 1999 hit song.

Blink-182’s “All the Small Things” has become an unofficial anthem for the Avalanche, courtesy of fans’ singalongs and some viral posts on social media. Even when the music stops and play resumes, the fans … just keep singing.

You can even hear it on the TV broadcasts and in the radio booth.

“Whether you experience it live, whether you watch a video back of it, I mean, it’s a goosebump event and I like that it’s turned into a tradition for the Avalanche,” said Conor McGahey, the play-by-play announcer for Altitude Sports Radio and Altitude TV, who said they try to let the song play over the broadcast.

“We’ll just try and lay out and let people sort of soak it in, almost,” McGahey said. “And that’s the goal every night, to feel like you’re there, and I don’t think there’s any more specific and better example of feeling like you’re there than hearing that.”

According to the Avs, the tradition started in 2019, when Avs DJ Craig “DJ Triple T” Turney decided he wanted to play a new song – something upbeat.

So, the pop-punk hit many of us Millennials had in our CD players in middle school was chosen – and the fans loved it. After that, the team and Turney strategized when would be best to play the song, deciding midway through the third period if the Avs had a comfortable lead, or during a stoppage in play, would be ideal.

With the Avalanche’s success over the past few years and in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs, it’s been oft heard to send the team on their way to another victory.

Avs players have been spied singing along to the song, and even blink-182’s Mark Hoppus took notice of the tradition – calling it “amazing” on Twitter.

Hoppus introduced the song on the Jumbotron during Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final.

Backed by their chorus of fans and their late-90s anthem, it’s time now for the Avs to “turn the lights off” on the lightning – and carry the Cup home.