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Colorado Avalanche: Evaluating all the Stadium Series Jerseys

By Nadia Archuleta |
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Coors Field may be the site of an outdoor hockey game next season. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports

The Colorado Avalanche Stadium Series sweaters combine tradition, local pride and bold graphics for a design that’s a winner.

The Detroit Red Wings released the design of the jerseys they’ll be wearing when they meet the Colorado Avalanche at Coors Field for the 2016 Stadium Series game yesterday. The Minnesota Wild and Chicago Blackhawks both released their designs today.

If you’re looking for an honest style opinion, take to Twitter. Obviously as an Avalanche fan — and native Coloradan — I love the Avs’ Stadium Series jerseys best. However, I genuinely either dislike or find the other three jerseys boring. Indeed, let’s start with the final reveal — the Minnesota Wild’s.

Next: Minnesota Wild

Minnesota’s Stadium Series Jersey is Boring

I had high hopes for the Minnesota Wild’s Stadium Series jersey. Their home uniform is such a train wreck that I was certain they would go even bolder for this epic event. Indeed, I remarked on Twitter that I thought an awful lot of Christmas decorations would have to be sacrificed to make their uniforms. Blinking lights were not outside the realm of possibility in my imagining. Well, their new uniforms certainly do look like Christmas trees. Unfortunately, they’re sans decorations. Looking at their uniforms is like looking at a forest for the trees — boring and pointless. As Twitter personality Antrhax Jones obseved, even the Wild players seem unenthused:

I personally love how Reebok recycled the white should shingles that make the Colorado Avalanche’s third jerseys look so sharp. On the Wild’s Stadium Series jersey, the effect is just… as bland as the rest.

Next: Chicago Blackhawks

Chicago’s Stadium Series Jersey is Perfunctory

Does anyone else get the feeling the Chicago Blackhawks are getting tired of playing these “epic” games. I feel like they’re especially annoyed to be playing against the Minnesota Wild. I mean, why would they get heated up about playing a team they eliminate from the playoffs every single year? It’s not like there’s any kind of rivalry there. Anyway, the design of their Stadium Series sweater seems to reflect the fact that they’re just going through the motions.

My personal favorite aspect of the design is the little dig at the… smallness of the Wild’s history. The placement of the logo on the sleeves hearkens back to the 1950s — to a time when the “State of Hockey” was just a state with frozen over lakes whereas Chicago had had a hockey team for 50+ years.

In fact, the sweater is already on sale. The Chicago Blackhawks know they’ll sell out of anything with their logo on it, so why make a big production.

Next: Detroit Red Wings

Detroit Gets Too Cute

The Detroit Red Wings have the opposite problem as the Chicago Blackhawks. They went overboard on design. (Kind of what I was hoping the Wild would do — and with better results!) The Detroit Red Wings splashed a big diagonal stripe across the front with a stylized “D” for Detroit that’s supposed to incorporate the winged wheel logo. Personally, I think it just looks like gang tagging, but I guess that gives you the feeling for the state of Detroit these days. My personal favorite part about the disaster of these uniforms is Wings captain Henrik Zetterberg’s reaction when he hears the team will be wearing white gloves:

Here are the gloves in question:

I don’t think Zetterberg agrees that they’re particularly “silky.”

Next: Colorado Avalanche

Colorado Gets it Just Right

By now you’re hopefully glad to rest your eyes on some burgundy and blue — and lots of white.

More from Avalanche News

The white, in addition to signifying the snow on our beautiful Rocky Mountains, stems from the days of an actual rivalry, those storied battles between the Avs and Wings. In those days, teams wore home whites, and so the Colorado Avalanche are going to do the same when they host the Detroit Red Wings in Coors Field. The traditional Avalanche logo has been replaced on the front with a “C” that’s almost straight off the Colorado flag, except it’s in Avalanche colors. The actual logo is on the shoulder. As defenseman Erik Johnson

once observed

, the numbers are nearly the same size as Landeskog’s head. But, of course, that’s to make them big enough to be seen from afar in a Stadium Series game.

The silver around the logo on the front symbolizes the silver mining that helped make our state great. And, of course, the 5280 on the collar signifies the fact that Denver is the Mile High city, or 5,280 feet above sea level.

In other words, the Colorado Avalanche Stadium Series sweaters combine just the right amount of history and tradition with modern design.

What do YOU think, Avs Nation? Who won the Stadium Series design contest?

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