Let’s Talk About the New Avalanche Sweaters

It’s no secret the Avalanche were in dire need of a change to their look. And with the transition from Reebok to Adidas this year, the Avs finally (forcibly) delivered that long overdue face-lift.

If you asked me earlier in the 16-17 season what the new sweaters would look like I would undeniably tell you the ‘A’ was finished. The rebranding officially started when the Yeti foot was replaced by the ‘C’ in 2015. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that was a sad day in Avalanche history. We all want the Yeti foot back, but sorry folks, it’s not going to happen. With the ‘C’ becoming a larger focus in apparel and stadium branding I was dead set on their thirds becoming the primary home jersey. And to be honest, it wouldn’t have been a complete flop. I think the third jersey has generally been accepted by most fans as a good jersey (and it doesn’t have piping!).

Then the leak came out a few months ago that in fact, the Avs would be keeping the ‘A’ as their primary logo on the new jerseys. This made me a happy man. I’m a big fan of the ‘A’ and it’s certainly a big part of our history. Sure, we don’t have 90+ years using the same logo such as the Canadiens or Rangers or the team that will remain nameless who wears red up in Detroit. But who’s to say we shouldn’t have the ‘A’ for the next 100 years.

adidas Hockey

If you didn’t know already, none of the 31 teams in the NHL will wear a third jersey for the upcoming 17-18 season. Big bummer for all us fans who purchased the new thirds that have now become obsolete. I wouldn’t fret too much however, I strongly believe the thirds will be back the following season once the manufacturing at Adidas catches up to rolling out 62 brand spanking new jerseys.

As far as the Avs go, they finally ditched the ugly apron piping and brought back the mountain design from their inaugural year in Colorado. A big change from that jersey to the new is the lack of black trim anywhere on the jersey itself. The trim has now been replaced with silver and brings a fresh yet modernistic look. The Avalanche will also continue to use a crescent shape nameplate which only a handful of teams still use (Rangers and the nameless ones).

adidas Hockey

Another big change to all the sweaters this year is how the collar is shaped. We got a glimpse of the Adidas design in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey and indeed they have been brought over to the NHL. The Avs collar, in particular, is a big improvement. I was never a fan of the white collar against the burgundy jersey. It should have always been blue.

The most perplexing thing is the color used for the numbers on the white jerseys. Immediately I questioned what color the numbers would be since they dumped the black trim on both home and away sweaters. On draft day, I was a little confused to find they were still going with the black numbers and silver trim on the whites.

Colorado AValanche

Even more puzzling was the blue trim and white numbers on the sleeves. Typically, we don’t see the Avalanche take bold moves when it comes to design. I guess I would have liked to see what a burgundy number with silver trim would have looked like. A guy can dream.

Colorado Avalanche

I think the Avalanche hit a home run in the design of their new jerseys. I was hoping they would return to the classic mountain design and I was not disappointed. A new look will surely move the Avalanche towards a look good, play good approach, right? Right?