The Avs Hockey Podcast

Hello, again.  It has been a while.  Our favorite NHL team was struggling and motivation to add to the collection was definitely low.  Knowing a new jersey brand was on the way was a factor as well.  I was ready for the old style Reeboks (as well as how the team had been playing in them) to go and was more than ready for the new style Adidas jerseys to arrive.

I’m very happy to say that the wait is over.

This is Blake Comeau’s set one jersey worn from the 2017 preseason through the December 12, 2017 game in Washington D.C. against the Capitals.  This jersey was not worn in the Global Series game against the Senators in Sweden on November 11, 2017.  The Avalanche had one game only sets, both home burgundy and away white, made for each of the Global Series games.

First, the jersey itself.  Adidas is the new provider of jerseys for the entire league.  These jerseys feature new fabrics and new pretty much everything.  Besides the fabric itself, one of the most noticeable changes is on the Avalanche crest.  One of the goals of the new jerseys is to be lighter and supposedly faster.  The burgundy part of the logo has always been solid twill and must have been slowing players like Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg WAY down.  Now the logo looks like this:

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of The National Hockey League all teams wore this patch just below the number on the right sleeve of their jerseys.

The brand logo is once again located on the back of the neck.

The league has also switched to what I believe is something called liquid plastic with their shield located on the front of the neck just below the player’s chin.  It’s shiny and catches your eye.  I’m positive that’s by design and it most definitely worked on me.  (I’m easily distracted by sparkly things to begin with though.)

The new materials and layers are evident in this shot of the nameplate.

And it’s not an official Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club game worn jersey without this, located on the lower left of the inside of the jersey.

Concerning the number written on the tag, which has been consistent with all the game worn jerseys the Avalanche have offered the past few seasons, there’s a pattern here.  The first four numbers are the month and year the auction closed or when the jersey was last worn.  In this case it was January of 2018, thus: 0118.  The last two numbers are simply the player’s jersey number.

There wasn’t a lot of damage or repairs to the jersey itself which was able to be photo matched, but those of you who have followed my collection know that all it takes for me is one prominent thing.  Here’s that thing on this jersey located on the front of the left forearm above where Comeau’s glove would be.

I have been able to match that repair to multiple pictures.  It’s ALWAYS good to have photo matches.

Comeau, up to December 12th, had scored four goals away from Pepsi Center.  One of those goals was scored in Minnesota on November 24, 2017.  This was a game when the teams decided to switch jersey colors prior to this game so he scored that goal wearing his burgundy set one jersey.  That’s a rude thing to do when someone is trying to research the action a jersey has seen.  Let’s move on.  He scored another in Sweden on November 11 wearing a jersey which was worn for one game only.  That leaves two goals left.  One of those two was scored in Pittsburgh during the second to last game for this jersey on December 11, 2017.  This goal gave the Avalanche a 2-0 lead late in the third period.  Phil Kessel then scored with 11.8 seconds left on the clock.  It’s not often we get to see empty-net game-winning goals.  Check one out below and note the SWEET feed off of Erik Johnson’s foot.  (Fast forward to seven minutes and 30 seconds.)

The other goal Comeau scored while wearing this jersey was his third goal of the season and the 111th goal of his career.  It was a shorthanded goal scored in Philadelphia on November 4, 2017.  (Fast Forward to four minutes and 20 seconds.)

The puck from that goal is also something I recently added to my Avs game used collection.

It is exciting to have the jersey and puck involved in a goal as well as a photo match to the celebration following the goal.  Good collecting stuff.

So the game worn journey continues with a new era in Avalanche and NHL jerseys.  There are a lot of new features and details to note.  This is something I love to track and compare over time.

It’s also preferable to watch the team play much improved hockey so far this season.  Mentioning this is a good young team with a bright future ahead is much easier to say when it’s actually happening rather than hoping it may happen someday.  Here’s to continued development and improvement as the team and organization moves forward.

Let’s Go Avs.