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Colorado Throwback Thursday: Avalanche Logo

By Nadia Archuleta

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Surprisingly, the Colorado Avalanche logo is a polarizing topic for many Avs fans. Quite a few criticize the logo as looking “too 1990s.” Well the design was created in the 1990s — 1995, to be exact, since that’s when the team got relocated to Colorado from Quebec. Strangely, a lot of these same fans have no problem with the 1970s Quebec Nordiques logo.

The 2015-16 season marks the 20th anniversary of the Colorado Avalanche. In honor of that occasion, let’s look at how the Avalanche logo came about.

Rocky Mountain Extreme

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As I noted in a previous post (see below), the original team name was the Rocky Mountain Extreme. COMSAT Entertainment, who purchased the team and brought them to Colorado from Quebec, wanted to make the team as regional as possible, hence the Rocky Mountains.

Then-owner Charlie Lyons was a skiing enthusiast. He initially pushed for the Rocky Mountains aspect of the team name. He also pushed for the name “Extreme” because he was into extreme sports.

Then Denver Post journalist Adrian Dater broke the story, revealing the name and logo of the team. This was met with universal displeasure by sports fans in Colorado, so the name and logo were scrapped.

Avalanche Logo Designers

Dan Price, the former creative director for the Avalanche and the Denver Nuggets, spoke to Adrian Dater a few years back. In that interview he detailed how quickly he and his team had to come up with a logo after the Rocky Mountain Extreme debacle.

Graphic designer Michael Beindorff designed the ‘A’ portion of the Avalanche logo. Naturally, the logo as a whole went through a transformation.

Dan Price now heads a graphic design firm called Adrenalin, which designed the current Arizona Coyotes logo.

Avalanche Logo Transformation

Before Beindorff designed the ‘A,’ the logo consisted of the entire team name. One version of the logo looked like a throwback 60s design with a puffy swoop.

Next, the snow became more distinct. However, it swooped to cross the ‘A’  from right to left. The design team apparently decided the logo needed a background image. They first added the diamond reminiscent of a Caution sign. However, this transformed into a puck. Eventually the puck flattened and became the oval we know from today.

The designers also started drawing the snow swooping from left to right. They tried a few more designs, but eventually they centered the whole logo so that the swoop continues part of the oval and ends in a puck.

Oct 14, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog (92) skates on the ice prior to the game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports

I hate to admit it, but there’s something I didn’t notice until another fan pointed it out to me — the swoop with the logo creates a very subtle ‘C’ for Colorado. It’s one of the coolest hidden icons in sports logos, to my mind. I’ve always loved the Avalanche logo, but that hidden ‘C’ is genius. (Look here to see the evolution.)

View image | gettyimages.com

On August 10, 1995, the Colorado Avalanche with their present logo were introduced to the world. Personally, I was already in love with them.

What about you, Avs Nation? What do you think of the Avalanche logo?

Next: Avs TBT: Rocky Mountain Extreme

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