The Colorado Avalanche may be planning on implementing the whiteout, a playoff tradition that dates back to 1980s Canada.
The Colorado Avalanche haven’t officially stated so, but it looks like the giveaway at the Colorado Avalanche playoff games, or at least the first one, is going to be a T-shirt:
Now, I don’t want to get my hopes up too high. It could be these T-shirts are for sale. However, the Toyota tag under the logo suggests the shirts have been sponsored. The T-shirts for sale in the Altitude Authentics gift shop don’t include the Toyota logo.
If this truly is the giveaway, it’s one of the best ones the team has had in a while. Traditional playoff game giveaways have been white pom poms. Now, the white pom poms do look sharp when we’re all shaking them, but it’s not quite as useful an item as a T-shirt.
And if the Avalanche are giving away these white T-shirts for the game, then they’re probably looking for a whiteout.
The tradition of the whiteout dates back to the 1987 Winnipeg Jets. It’s a pretty simple tradition — fans are encouraged to wear white to to the game so you see a blanket of white in the crowd.
They still maintain the tradition:
The Jets started the tradition as a response to the Calgary Flame’s “C of Red,” which is the same concept but with Calgary’s signature red:
Now, I don’t know that the Nashville Predators have named their tradition, for obvious reasons, but they seem to be attempting the same but with yellow:
Sea of Yellow? Yellowout? No matter what you call it, that’s an eyesore.
Next: Playoff Series Predictions for the Avs
To be honest, I’m not sure why the Jets started the tradition of the whiteout specifically since their main color is blue. However, it makes more sense for the Colorado Avalanche — what color, after all, is an avalanche?
Side note: The city has implemented its longtime tradition of decorating Larimer Square for the playoffs:
In any case, in anticipation of the whiteout at Pepsi Center, I’m going to wear my home Patrick Roy jersey from back in the day when home teams wore white. I’ll use the white giveaway T-shirt to
whack opponent fans
whip around as a rally towel.
Imagine the image of the smattering of Preds fans wearing home yellow amidst an expanse of Colorado Avalanche white. We all know what makes yellow on snow. Really, Preds fans coming to the game should probably stick to their away white jerseys.