Re-Imagining the NHL: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche

The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche

Click here for a larger and more detailed version of the jerseys.

Colorado's Current Jersey Set
(est. 2009)

Here is my bold statement to start off The Colorado Avalanche re-design; The Colorado Avalanche has the best primary and secondary logos in the entire NHL. There, I said it. Now it is my job to try and convince you why I barely used these logos on The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche.

The Color Scheme: Black, Burgundy, Dark Blue, Baby Blue & White.

After they moved from Quebec in 1995, the team was successful on the ice, winning 2 Stanley Cups (1996, 2001) and looked good doing it. The only thing that stood in their way, design-wise, was the implementation of the Reebok Edge Jersey System in 2007. Colorado was an early casualty of the Reebok system and got too wrapped up in the jersey piping fad (too many unnecessary stripes).

Debut Jersey Set (est. 1995)

For the most part, Colorado's color scheme is right on the money. Their black, blue, burgundy, white and silver really remind me of Colorado. Cold and mountainous is the way to go. Having said that, I wanted to tweak those colors to give you more of a feel for the mountains.

The blue was darkened, along with the burgundy. The current burgundy is a little too red for me and I thought I'd bring it closer to purple to give you more cold colors. The silver was swapped out with with a baby blue to once again keep the cold feeling in your face.

The main colors were switched from blue and burgundy to dark blue and white. I think of cold and snow when I think of Colorado and I wanted this team to really express that with their colors.

The Branding: Primary 'Word-Mark' Logo, Secondary 'A' Logo & 'Sasquatch' Logo.

305cHL Colorado Avalanche Logo Set

Even though The Avalanche have the two best logos in the entire league, I decided to use them in the secondary role. The very modern look of the home and away jersey designs just didn't work with the rotated and angular A logo or the circular Sasquatch logo.

The Best Logo in The NHL

I had actually never seen the Colorado word-mark before beginning my work on this jersey set. I have to say, I'm really surprised that this isn't on their current jersey somewhere, even as a secondary logo. The word-mark is fantastic. It really gives you that mountainous perspective and is a very sturdy logo.

For the secondary logos, I swapped out the burgundy with black and it made the logos much stronger. I love the burgundy in the Colorado palate, but it doesn't need to be in each logo.

Home & Away Jerseys: Home Dark Blue, Away Primarily White.

Originally The Quebec Nordiques
(est. 1991)

I really wanted to try something daring with The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche. Their jerseys before the Reebok era were great and I liked the play on the mountains. I wanted to go back to the glory days of the team but make the mountain lines a bit more subtle.

I'm really not sure if I made those mountain lines more subtle or more pronounced, but I really like the direction of these home and away jerseys. The shoulder design and body design mirror each other, with very, very slight differences.

The shoulder design is the most unique in all of The 305cHL. The middle mountain defines the shoulders while the side mountains enclose the sleeve numbering. I knew that I couldn't get away with the run-of-the-mill striping on this jersey like they tried on the 2001 third jersey. It just doesn't work for these mountain people. The shoulder design also borders the name on the back of the jersey. Every thing in these home and away jerseys work together as a full system and isn't just slapped on there to look nice.

The primary word-mark logo fits nicely on this modern look to The Colorado Avalanche. There are no harsh angles to compete with on the logo and it fits symmetrically between the outer mountains on the jersey design. The secondary logos would not work because of their asymmetric styles and conflicting angles.

An equally awesome secondary logo.

Alternate 3rd Jersey: Primarily Baby Blue.

I knew I had to use those great logos somewhere and this third jersey was the place to do it. I also wanted to try and tie in the Quebec Nordiques some how, as they were the original franchise.

The 1991 Quebec Nordiques had a very simple but striking jersey set. Simple striping on the arms/sleeves and the fleur de lis on the bottom of the jersey. No, I didn't want to copy that style and have Sasquatch feet along the bottom of the jersey, but I wanted to pay tribute to the Nordiques somehow.

So, I took their simplistic style and added two stripes to symbolize, you guessed it, their two championships. The jersey is reminiscent of the Nordiques but still has a style that Colorado can call its own.

Summary:

Overall, I'm excited that I was able to take a chance on The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche and it didn't completely blow up in my face. I believe that most people will like this jersey set the least in all of the 305cHL but I am proud of the home and away jerseys. The alternate jersey is one of the few jerseys that I'm actually a little disappointed with. I didn't want to simply make a baby blue version of the home/away jerseys but I feel like I could have done more with it. I actually tried a few other designs but nothing was as solid as the third jersey that I presented to you. 

Final thought: I will re-visit this jersey after all 30 teams are completed... Sasquatch jersey anyone?

Damn! They beat me to it!

Images of jerseys from Chris Creamer's Sports Logos &  The Hockey Uniform Database.

Jersey Template from Icethetics.