Don’t listen to the national media, the Avalanche jersey and logo are great

Earlier this week Greg Wyshynski of ESPN published an article, in collaboration with IceThetics, about the NHL teams that most desperately need an aesthetic change and to many in the Avalanche community’s dismay Greg included Colorado on the list.

If you want to see exactly what Greg said about the logo that garnered its placement on this list here is the article. In short Wyshynski states the logo is more like the ‘A’ in a children’s book about the alphabet than a professional sports teams logo and that it would be best for the team to embrace the yeti that the organization has slowly phased out of existence. Although I disagree with his opinion on the current look of the logo I do agree with his sentiment about Colorado needing to embrace the yeti more, however, I don’t think it should be included in the main logo. This should be prefaced with the fact that I am not a designer and have no experience in design but consider myself as unprofessional of a jersey expert as there is. There’s no reason to make changes to or replace an already great logo.

The Avalanche ‘A’ was made in 1995 when the team relocated from Quebec and has held up since. As a result some believe the logo is “too 90’s”, and although there is a strong 90’s aesthetic in the logo it holds up very well, especially with the recent movement in the NHL from actual mascots to modified letters as teams primary logos. The snow swoosh that wraps around the ‘A’ incorporates the team’s identity into the logo smoothly and emphasizes the subtle mountainous look of the ‘A’. The use of the light blue the team has been incorporating more and more of in the past couple years also works very well in the logo, it isn’t too loud but the accents make it the first thing you look at after the burgundy ‘A’. One of the more subtle details in the logo, the slightly tilted oval in the background, adds some nice shaping and gives a subtle reference to the surface the sport is played on. Even the puck at the base of the A provides a nice touch to the shaping and overall look of the logo.

To Wyshynski’s wishes that the Avalanche would make more of an effort to include a yeti in their branding, as much as I agree I don’t believe it is practical. Colorado has tried to incorporate the yeti in their branding in several different ways in years prior, from shoulder patches to Red Wing fan beating mascots, but both were removed and forgotten by many.

Unfortunately, it seems as if the team has tried to erase any yeti themed branding so sorry Greg, no yeti logo. Even if the team wasn’t getting rid of yeti branding it would be hard to see a good way to incorporate it on a logo for the team. Of the 32 teams in the NHL only nine have a mascot as their logo and all nine of them have the same logo as they did when their team was originally founded. The NHL is clearly trying to go the way of the MLB and use as few mascots in their logos as possible. Similar to baseball the logos with mascots are generally associated with minors so a new yeti primary logo would look unprofessional, so to speak. The yeti foot on the shoulders would be a practical way to bring back to yeti, but because of the current third logo that is featured on the team’s highly popular third jerseys the Colorado ‘C’ needs to stay to help tie all three uniforms together.

Long story short Colorado’s logo is one of the best in the league despite what Wyshynski or Tom Hunter (feel free to tell him how wrong he is about Colorado’s logo) says to the contrary.

**Editor’s Note: Eddie is right, I don’t think the look is good at all. I understand that many fans like to current aesthetic of the team but I honestly believe a lot of that is based in a resistance to change. Like the teal of the Sharks, the Avs look is VERY 90s. The look is tired. It’s a big reason why people go so crazy for any new alternate jerseys the Avs introduce.

The burgundy and blue color palate is fine but I think the weight of the dominant color should be switched - more blue, less burgundy - something the organization seems to understand as well. The Avs modern jerseys look retro to my eye and they definitely need a big upgrade.

For me, the bigger issue lies with the NHL as a whole. For the most part their jerseys are boring. Red Wings jersey, boring. Maple Leafs jersey, boring. Stars jersey, boring. Even this year when Seattle decided to embrace a more creative team name/brand, they unveiled the new jerseys and...boring.