Avalanche Unveil New Sweaters Before Draft

The Avalanche’s 1st round selection wasn’t the only new thing unveiled to Avalanche fans Friday night in Sunrise, Florida. The Avalanche also debuted new home jerseys on Instagram shortly before the first round of the NHL Draft.

The new uniforms keep the apron string piping introduced in 2007, but replace the “Bigfoot” logo which the team has used since their debut in 1995. With “Bigfoot” logo merchandise on clearance at the Pepsi Center, it appears as though the Avalanche have scrapped their unique and well loved secondary logo in favor of a modified version of the Colorado flag.

The new uniforms also feature a patch with the team’s 20th Anniversary Logo which was unveiled last week.

Check out the new additions to our sweater. pic.twitter.com/2HzGVZoJAl

— Colorado Avalanche (@Avalanche) June 26, 2015

Changes now make it unlikely that the Avalanche will do a full redesign on the 8 year old uniforms on their own, but with Bauer pursuing the NHL’s uniform rights in 2016 they could eventually be forced into change. For now, the tired base template Avalanche jersey loses a unique secondary logo in favor of a simple, stuffy, corporate-feeling design.

History of the Avalanche Sweater

Comparatively, the Colorado Avalanche have seen very limited jersey changes throughout their 20 year history in the NHL. When the Avalanche debuted in 1995 they sported the same logo and font seen today along with the recently retired bigfoot secondary logo. The Avalanche wore a lighter shade of burgundy, and the CCM/KOHO branded jerseys bore unique, iconic striping to resemble the Colorado Mountains

After minor changes to number sizing in 1996 and 1997, the Avalanche made their first real uniform changes at the start of the 1999 season. The Avalanche kept the iconic design of their original uniforms, but the team changed to a darker shade of burgundy. The Avalanche would hoist their second Stanley Cup in the new, darker jerseys in 2001.

Immediately after winning their 2nd Stanley Cup, the Avalanche added a burgundy alternate jersey with “Colorado” lettering diagonal across the chest. The Avs would wear their burgundy alternates from 2001 to 2007.

The Avalanche underwent sweeping changes in 2007 when Reebok won the NHL’s uniform contract. The Avalanche’s distinctive “mountain range” striping was abandoned in favor of a base Reebok template featuring “apron string” piping. Most NHL teams made adjustments to the Reebok templates in the coming years, but the Avalanche, as the league’s longest holdouts have kept their original Reebok design through today’s changes.

The Avalanche added a third Reebok jersey to their rotation in 2009 and wore it through 2015. The team’s second alternate sweater mimicked the first, with diagonal “Colorado” lettering across the chest. The second alternate swapped Avalanche burgundy for a new, lighter shade of blue, added shoulder yokes, black marks under the armpit, and new striping patterns on the arms.

The Future of the Avalanche Sweater

In addition to the home sweater debuted at the NHL Entry Draft, the Avalanche are set to release a matching white road jersey plus two more new uniforms this season. According to Icethetics.co the Avalanche will replace their alternate jersey later in the 2015-2016 season. The Avalanche will also sport new uniforms on February 27th when they host the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field as part of the 2016 NHL Stadium Series.