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In my daily nerdtastic exploration of hockey uniform intricacies (I peruse the various NHL team sites for photos from each game), I've noticed something interesting on the lower limbs of some of Colorado's players.
Normally, most players wear tape around their socks (or whatever you call those weird leg sleeves made by RBK) to keep them tight. The tape is almost always clear, as not to disrupt the look of the team's colored socks. For example, notice Scott Hannan on the left in this photo. Clear tape.
But not all of the Avalanche players are following standard practice as far as leg taping goes. A few of them are opting for colored tape instead.
You'll notice in the photo up and to the right that Ryan Smyth is wearing red sock tape. You can see his taping technique in full glory in this shot. And Smyth is not alone in his aesthetic experimentations. Captain Joe Sakic and oft-criticized-but-never-hated defenseman Brett Clark are doing it, too. Here's a great shot of Sakic standing apart from his clear-taped teammates. Why, I'm not sure, but Smyth, Sakic and Clark are all consistently wearing red tape at every home game so far this season.
But what about road games? I can't find any good photos of Sakic on the road, so I'm not sure about him. Clark, on the other hand, is keeping consistent. Smyth, though, is changing things up a bit when he's on the road, because he's wearing solid white sock tape instead of red OR clear. That seems to be unique to him.
I know hockey players can be pretty superstitious (like all athletes, pro or otherwise), so I wonder if these tape color choices will continue considering the Avalanche hasn't been doing so well. Maybe blue tape next time.