A look back at the Colorado Avalanche sweaters over the years
Which jersey is your favorite and which is the worst?
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Denver7 takes a look back at the Colorado Avalanche’s sweaters and uniforms over the years and the changes since they moved to Denver and became the Avalanche in 1995.
Posted at 3:08 PM, Jun 22, 2022
and last updated2022-10-20 17:44:14-04
DENVER — The Colorado Avalanche’s jerseys have remained fairly consistent over their 27 years as a team compared to some others – with some tweaks along the way. But there have been some interesting alternate jerseys that some love and others love to hate.
With the Avalanche back in the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since their 2001 victory, we’re taking a look back at the Avs’ sweaters and uniforms over the years.
We also talked with Todd Radom, a sports logo designer who has written multiple books on uniforms over the years, who says the 2015 navy blue alternates and 2020 Air Force Academy Stadium sweaters are his favorites. More from him and Denver7’s Jason Gruenauer below.
A look back at the Colorado Avalanche sweaters over the years
Which ones are your favorites and which are the worst? Click here to vote in our poll, or scroll down to the bottom of this story. You can also shoot us an email by clicking here.
2022 'reverse retro'
The NHL partnered with Adidas to design a third, alternate jersey for all 32 teams. This is the Avalanche's "reverse retro" sweater, a nod to the Colorado state flag with the "C" logo and a color scheme that pays homage to Denver's first professional hockey team, the Colorado Rockies.
2021-Present The Avalanche moved away from the black helmets and pants to steel blue in 2021 and added white stripes to their alternate uniform pants. This past season, they changed the names and numbers on the back of the white away jerseys from black to burgundy and blue. The navy alternate jerseys remain.
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Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) during the shootout of an NHL hockey game Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, in Denver. The Avalanche won 4-3 in a shootout. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado Avalanche's Gabriel Landeskog in action during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series against the St. Louis Blues Monday, May 23, 2022, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
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Colorado Avalanche right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) is congratulated for his goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the second period in Game 2 of the NHL hockey Stanley Cup playoffs Western Conference finals Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)
2021 Reverse Retro The Reverse Retro jerseys harken back to the Avalanche’s time as the Quebec Nordiques, utilizing the logo and the fleurs de lis across the bottom and on the shoulders. But they take Colorado’s color schemes to modernize the look.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Ryan Graves (27) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Feb. 22, 2021, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2020 Stadium Series The Avs wore special sweaters for the 2020 Stadium Series game against the Los Angeles Kings on Feb. 15, 2020, at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Some people love them, some people hate them. But they didn’t bring good luck, as the Avs lost 3-1.
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Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar (8) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020, at Air Force Academy, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2017-2020 The Avalanche move to Adidas jerseys from Reebok in the 2017-18 season and move the strip on the lower half of the jersey from the ribs and sides back to the bottom of the jerseys. There are also slight changes to the fonts on the jerseys. In the 2018-19 season, the Avalanche bring back the navy blue alternate after a year away, with changes from Reebok to Adidas.
In 2015, they moved away from the Howler foot patch on their shoulders and replaced it with a “C” patch from the state flag – an homage to the former NHL team in Denver, the Colorado Rockies.
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Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) in the first period of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 9, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado Avalanche left wing Matt Nieto (83) celebrates with Colorado Avalanche left wing J.T. Compher (37) after scoring during the first period of an NHL hockey game against the Vegas Golden Knights, Monday, Dec. 23, 2019, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Steve Marcus)
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Colorado Avalanche right wing Joonas Donskoi (72) in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2019, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2007-2017 Home and Away There are several tweaks the Avalanche’s home and away sweaters underwent over this 10-year period. The NHL moved to Reebok uniforms in 2007 and the Avs moved the stripes from the bottom of their jerseys to the ribs and sides.
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Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) celebrates with teammate right wing Mikko Rantanen (96) after scoring in overtime against the Chicago Blackhawks during an NHL hockey game Friday, Dec. 23, 2016, in Chicago. The Avalanche won 2-1. (AP Photo/Kamil Krzaczynski)
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Colorado Avalanche center Carl Soderberg, left, of Sweden, pursues the puck as Calgary Flames right wing Garnet Hathaway is called for a penalty in the first period of an NHL hockey game, Tuesday, Dec. 27, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2015-2017 Alternate The Avs debut their current alternate jerseys, using the "C" logo and navy blue as the main color, with a Colorado flag patch on the shoulders.
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Colorado Avalanche left wing Gabriel Landeskog, front, of Sweden, looks to pass the puck as New York Rangers left wing Marek Hrivik, of Slovakia, pursues in the third period of an NHL hockey game Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016, in Denver. The Rangers won 6-2. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2016 Stadium Series The Avalanche played in their first Stadium Series game on Feb. 27, 2016, against the Detroit Red Wings at Coors Field. Some of the aspects of the navy blue alternates went into the logo design.
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Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon celebrates after scoring a goal against the Detroit Red Wings in the first period of an NHL hockey game in Coors Field Saturday, Feb. 27, 2016, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2009-2015 Alternate The Avs introduced a blue alternate from 2009 to 2015 which plays off the burgundy alternates the team wore from 2001 to 2007, with the diagonal nameplate “Colorado” across the front, stripes on the elbows, burgundy on the sleeves as well as an Avalanche logo patch.
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Colorado Avalanche goalie Craig Anderson takes a break while facing the New York Islanders in the second period of an NHL hockey game in Denver on Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
2001-2007 The Avalanche home and away jerseys change very little from the 1999-2001 versions, but they add a burgundy alternate jersey after winning the Stanley Cup in 2001 that has “Colorado” diagonal across the front, with black, white and blue striping and Avalanche logo patches on the shoulders.
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Colorado Avalanche goalie Patrick Roy, right, misses the puck fired by Dallas Stars right wing Bill Guerin, lower left, for a goal during the first period Friday night, Nov. 15, 2002, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)
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Colorado Avalanche center Steven Reinprecht raises his arms after scoring a power-play goal in the first period as Washington Capitals defenseman Rick Berry, front, skates past the net in the Pepsi Center in Denver on Monday, Dec. 16, 2002. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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**FILE**Colorado Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg, of Sweden, stretches before an NHL hockey game in this Dec. 27, 2003 file photo in Denver. Avalanche officials announced Monday, Feb. 25, 2008, that Forsberg, who has been struggling with a foot and ankle injury, will rejoin the Avalanche for the rest of the 2007-2008 season. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
1999-2001 The overall patterns for the Avalanche jerseys change little from the 1997-99 version, but the burgundy gets considerably darker than earlier iterations.
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** FILE ** In this March 24, 2001 file photo, Colorado Avalanche's Ray Bourque skates during the warm-up before playing hockey against the Boston Bruins in Boston. Second acts in sports aren't always pretty, even for the great ones. "You would like for Hall of Fame players to be able to finish the same place they started," Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson, File)
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FILE-This Feb. 21, 2001 file photo shows Avalanche defenseman Ray Bourque in Denver. Bourque will enter Canada's Sports Hall of Fame this fall. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, AP, David Zalubowski)
1997-1999 There are few changes from the 1996-97 sweaters – with the numbers getting a little smaller to fit cleanly on the back between the blue and burgundy lines.
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Colorado Avalanche's Claude Lemieux (22) kisses the helmet of Theoren Fleury (14) as Greg de Vries (7) skates off celebrating a 2-1 victory over the Dallas Stars during Game 1 of the Western Conference finals Saturday night, May 22, 1999, in Dallas. (AP Photo/Tim Sharp)
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Colorado Avalanche center Joe Sakic sets up for a faceoff against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dec. 15, 1997, in Denver's McNichols Sports Arena. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
1996-1997 In their second year and fresh off a Stanley Cup victory, the Avalanche logo got bigger and was tilted slightly to the left, and the nameplate font on the back of the sweaters changed slightly.
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Colorado Avalanche right winger Claude Lemieux, front, races up the ice with San Jose Sharks left winger Murray Craven in pursuit in the third period of the Avalanche's 3-2 victory in Denver's McNichols Sports Arena on Thursday, Oct. 9, 1997. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
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Colorado Avalanche left winger Rene Corbet looks back for the loose puck as team mate Keith Jones collides with Anaheim Mighty Ducks defenseman Bobby Dallas, back right, and Ducks goalie Guy Hebert, hidden during first-period action a the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim, Calif. on Sunday, Feb. 2, 1997. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)
1995-1996 The Avalanche moved to Denver from Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, where they were the Nordiques, where they were white, blue and red. The Avalanche end up picking burgundy, steel blue, black and silver and choose an “A” logo shaped like a mountain, with a puck sweeping down along with the snow. The choice turns out to be a winner, as the Avs win the Stanley Cup in their first season and eventually move back to this original design.
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FILE - In this Jan. 4, 1996, file photo, Colorado Avalanche's Peter Forsberg, left, of Sweden, and Philadelphia Flyers' Rod Brind'Amour vie for the puck during the first period of an NHL hockey game in Denver. Forsberg announced his retirement from the NHL on Monday, Feb. 14, 2011. A chronic foot ailment cut short the Swede's career. He made a brief return in 2008 and didn't play in the NHL again until this month. After a visa delay, he took the ice in just two road games, scoring no points, before deciding to end his career. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, File)
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Rene Corbet of the Colorado Avalanche hoists the Stanley Cup in the air after the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Florida Panthers 1-0 in triple overtime to sweep the finals 4-0 in Miami Monday, June 10, 1996. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)
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