The front looked pretty good.  No huge problems there.  The back of the jersey is a completely different story.

There is absolutely no doubt as to the authenticity of this jersey.  This is THE jersey that Rob Blake wore during the NHL All-Star Super Skills Competition the night of Saturday, February 1, 2003 at the Office Depot Center, in Sunrise, Florida.  There is tagging and paperwork to prove that this is true, but that paperwork and tagging are pretty much the only things that would lead me to believe that this was worn on the ice by Rob Blake.

One would assume that this jersey, since it was worn by an Avalanche player on the ice, would be accurately customized like an Avalanche jersey from that era.  That assumption would actually be very wrong.

Let’s begin with the number font.  It’s wrong.  Here are a few Blake jerseys that we can compare the jersey above to.

The first is a game worn Rob Blake burgundy jersey from the 2005-2006 season.  Different branding, but it’s the same jersey.  Stay focused on the number.  (This photo compliments of a past auction on gamewornauctions.net.)

Here’s a couple of fours from a Bates Battaglia game issued jersey, from my personal collection, from the 2002-2003 season.

Now compare the fours in the previous two pictures to the four on the competition worn jersey.  Without splitting hairs and breaking out a measuring tape, it’s easy to eyeball things and see that the font is definitely different.

The manner in which the numbers are cut are different as well.  The Avalanche, prior to the 2005-2006 season, wore numbers that were “stacked.”  The numbers, from the top and going down towards the jersey, were a white layer of glacier twill (with the criss-cross design on it), on a blue layer of twill, on a layer on silver material that sparkled.  My Blake jersey’s numbers are cut in what is known as “kiss-cut.”  It’s a thin, maybe quarter inch of blue, on white glacier twill, on silver.  This is a trick used by customizing companies to save fabric while taking a little weight off the jersey at the same time.

The alternate captain’s “A” on the Blake is also off.  The font is close, but not perfect.  The cut, like the numbers, is wrong for that era of Avalanche jersey.  It’s kiss cut when it should be stacked.  The “A” on the competition worn Blake is a little too large as well.  I’d say it’s a quarter to a half inch too big.  Here’s the “A” from the Blake.

And here’s an “A” from a game issued Steve Konowalchuk, from my personal collection, from the 2006-2007 season.

Many curves on the Konowalchuk “A” while there are way more straight lines on the Blake’s “A”.

Last, but definitely not least, is the nameplate on the back of the jersey.  I’ve never seen close to anything like it on an Avalanche sweater.  From the picture in the auction I could have sworn that it was twill (the same material that the blue layer on the burgundy jersey numbers is made of), but upon receiving the jersey I was totally surprised to see that the nameplate was actually made of Starter mesh material.  It should be the material that the rest of the jersey is made of, a material called Air Knit.  In other words, it should match.

Here’s an example of a Starter mesh nameplate on a Starter mesh jersey from my collection.

Looks good.  Looks like they belong together and, ya know, matches n’ stuff.  Now check out the Blake, burgundy Starter mesh on Air Knit.

Not only is the font on the letters (compare to the pics above) off by a long shot, the material doesn’t match.  Here’s a closer look.

Yikes.

Like I mentioned early in this post, I’ve seen twill nameplates on jerseys when they shouldn’t be there, but I’ve never seen mesh on Air Knit.  The Starter mesh has actually gotten so rare that collectors, including myself, have had Denver Athletic, or their favorite customizer, take the crest off an older Starter jersey and then cut up the rest for nameplates for other mesh jerseys.  The end result looks a little something like this.

It’s a practice affectionately known as “cannibalizing.”  Not to worry though, most everyone takes a jersey, like the one above, that was in bad enough shape that it wasn’t worth getting customized anyways and re-purposes/sacrifices it for a greater cause.  It’s new lease on life!  How do you think that Forsberg Pro Player jersey (pictured above) got such a fantastic nameplate?

Bottom line, it would take someone who knows absolutely anything about Avalanche jerseys and/or has an eye for small details approximately a fraction of a second to figure out the this Blake jersey failed to come within 500 miles of Denver Athletic’s warehouse here in The Mile High City.  In this case though, it’s the details that make the Blake wrong that actually makes it very right.  This jersey really doesn’t fit in with all of the other Avalanche jerseys in my collection, either game worn, issued, or customized authentic jerseys that have visited Denver Athletic at one time or another, and that’s definitely okay by me.  That fact just adds to the story behind the jersey that I love to share with the people that read my posts.

This is an Adam Foote game worn jersey from the 2003-2004 season.  It was the second white road jersey he wore on the ice that season.  This jersey was used for 19 road games between the dates of December 31, 2003 and March 12, 2004.  It represents, literally, what Foote was all about.  Take a closer look at the damage to this thing.

Adam Foote played a style all his own in the NHL, and that’s what makes this jersey special.  There are puck and stick marks, stains, holes, snot (probably from an Avalanche opponents who tried to drive towards the Avs’ crease), and who else knows all over this jersey.  The physical nature of Foote’s game is definitely on full display here.

Now, let’s play some match game, shall we?

Click here to view the embedded video.

No…not that Match Game you silly goose.

Since the jersey is trashed the way it is, it was time to think photo-matching.  It’s an entertaining “next-level” aspect of game worn jerseys.  Along with the jersey and the letter of authenticity from MeiGray, the seller sent along a 4×6 print of Foote wearing this actual jersey on the ice during a game.  Just by looking at the small picture, I was able to match at least four distinguishing marks on the jersey.  Check it out.

Mark one: Puck or stick mark in the gray area on the right sleeve.

Mark two: A hole punched in the gray area of the left sleeve.

Mark three: A hole/tear worn through a seam on the left sleeve.

Mark four: A blue mark just under the left side of the Avalanche crest.

There are game worn jerseys and then there are photo-matched game worn jerseys.  The former is cool, the latter is even cooler.

Needless to say, this style/brand of jersey is getting tougher and tougher to find.  The CCM (white away jerseys) and Koho (dark home and burgundy alternates) were worn by the Avs from the 2000-2001 season through the 2003-2004 season.  The Koho brand original alternates debuted during the 2001-2002 season and were worn through the 2003-2004 season as well.  In the grand scheme of things, and since it has almost been a decade since the team has worn these jersey brands and styles, they aren’t seen for sale that often at all anymore.  I was definitely fortunate to get this and I was also lucky to get it for the price that I did.  Either way, it’s one more unique game worn jersey for the collection and there can really never be enough of those.  Yep…famous last words.

Click here to view the embedded video.

And if you’re into remixes, you’ll LOVE this:

Click here to view the embedded video.

My collection includes three Colorado Avalanche practice jerseys, all of them are different colors and all have their own “personality.”  These jerseys are made of Ultrafil (which the Avs have never worn during game action in their history in Denver) and they all have fight straps.  When it comes to getting one of these jerseys, there are practice jerseys available through retail dealers, but they won’t be the same style as these jerseys.  The retail versions of the jerseys are more of a replica than they are an authentic jersey.  And just for the record, I have never seen an authentic practice jersey available through any retail seller.

The first practice jersey I added to my collection was gray.  Apologies for the glare in the images.  I guess Reebok wanted NHL hockey players to be able to be seen by drivers when they’re riding their bikes and running near busy roads late at night while wearing this jersey.  Mission accomplished.  *FLASH!*

The next two jerseys I acquired at the 2010-2011 Avalanche annual equipment sale at Pepsi Center.  This was the first sale that I knew was going to include player used jerseys of any kind so I made it a point to be there early and I wasn’t disappointed.  When I walked in I was greeted by a whole rack of practice worn jerseys, in sizes 56 and 58, with various numbers on the backs for $50 each.  That was an easy sale there.  I picked up a black jersey:

And a blue version, which people comment on in a positive way pretty often.  There’s something about the color of this jersey I guess.

As far as the numbers, don’t even ask.  I have no clue who wore these in action and there’s pretty much no way to confirm it even if I did have some kind of a clue.  One thing is for sure, they were used at one point or another by the team.  They don’t show a lot of wear, but there’s enough to know they were worn on the ice.

Speaking of the numbers, they distracted me so much that I missed a detail that I usually pick up on right away on any other jersey.  The NHL shields are different on the two jerseys I picked up at Pepsi Center.  The blue jersey has the “old” NHL emblem on the front of the neck, as shown here:

This shield debuted in the late 90s.  It has a sparkle that the newer version doesn’t.  The black jersey I purchased featured a “new” NHL shield with the letters in “NHL” going up.

The league changed to this emblem after the lockout of the 2004-2005 season and they’re still using it.  The lesson here, pay attention to your emblems.  They make it simpler to tell which era an NHL jersey is from.

Overall, I’m happy with these jerseys.  They’re a nice change from jerseys we see all of the time on the ice.  They are also perfect to wear to stick and puck sessions.  I don’t have to worry about damaging these jerseys if I happen to totally wipe out lose an edge.  An extra mark or two won’t make any difference at all.

So…Allen Iverson may not be able to make his teammates better by practice, but I can definitely make my collection better with practice…um…jerseys.

I guess this smile doesn’t hurt things either.  Here’s an image right after he scored his first NHL goal.

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images and avalanche.nhl.com

Here’s some video of the goal as well.  One of the many things that Avalanche fans loved about Mauldin during his stay with the big club was his speed.  Watch closely as Mauldin simply smokes Blue Jackets defenseman Kris Russell as Russell attempts to back check before this goal.  It’s a beautiful thing if you’re the type of person that prefers Avalanche goals.

And would you care for a little icing on your cake? Mauldin’s first NHL goal proved to be the game-winning goal in the Avalanche’s 5-1 victory against the Blue Jackets that night.

Breaking things down a little further, just because it’s fun, I guess a secondary assist could be given to Blue Jackets forward Jakub Voracek for missing his big drive on the short side of the Avalanche’s net and actually initiating the Avalanche’s two on one, but that would just be being plain picky right?

Mauldin continued to earn his spot on the Avalanche’s roster, even as players began to get healthy and return to the lineup.  The 28 year-old rookie had eight points in his first 14 games with the Avs which included a four point (two goals and two assists) effort against the Wild at Pepsi Center on November 27.  That performance earned him Puck Daddy’s first star of all 11 games played that night in the NHL.  The ten other NHL games even included a hat trick by Penguins star and league poster boy Sidney Crosby.  When someone chooses your performance over a Sidney Crosby hat trick, it’s safe to say you’ve done pretty well.

One detail I almost overlooked with this jersey was that I got to see it in action in person at the RBC Center in Raleigh, North Carolina on December 3, 2010 as the Avalanche took on the Hurricanes.  I didn’t have much to cheer about during the game as the Avs lost 2-1 in overtime, but when I did cheer it was actually documented.  Milan Hejduk scored the lone Avs goal 12:51 into the third period.  The fan they show clapping at the end of this clip is yours truly.

Good times!

Greg Mauldin’s hot streak inevitably cooled off.  He failed to record a point for 12 straight games between December 17, 2010 and January 12, 2011 and was sent back down to the Lake Erie Monsters in Cleveland.  Mauldin was not recalled for the remainder of the Avalanche’s season.  He is an unrestricted free agent and Avs fans will find out in the fairly near future whether he will remain with the Avalanche organization for the 2011-2012 season.  So Greg Mauldin may or may not be back with the Avalanche next season, we will see.  If he does return though I know it will make many, many Avs fans (including myself) very happy.

I think Mike Haynes, Avalanche television play-by-play man, put Adam Foote’s style of play in perspective for me best when he said that if a young player who is getting drafted is described as an “Adam Foote type player” that team knows exactly what kind of player they’re scouting.  Adam Foote had his own style, there is little doubt about that, and Colorado Avalanche fans will always love him for it.  There really isn’t a word or adjective that would accurately describe Adam Foote’s style of play, but Avs fans know it when we see it, and that’s plenty good enough for us.

I worked hard to get Adam Foote’s jersey from opening night of this season, but as I described in this past post that didn’t work out.  I continued to keep an eye Foote during the season and still felt that having one of his jerseys would be a great addition to my collection.

As the 2010-2011 season rolled on it became evident that this may be about it for Foote as well.  He still had the leadership skills, but it was obvious that physically he was having a rough time.  Those tough times got even rougher in Vancouver on March 16, 2011 when he was hit on the left ankle by a slap shot late in the third period.  Referee Stephen Walkom shouldn’t have blown the whistle to stop play because Foote wasn’t hit in the face with the puck or in a vulnerable position because of his injury, but Walkom did.  I truly believe that it was simply a sign of respect from Walkom to Foote.  I’ll always remember Foote thanking Walkom discreetly as he was assisted off the ice by linesman Thor Nelson.

Photo Courtesy of Getty Images and avalanche.nhl.com

Little did us Avs fans know at the time that that was the last time that we would see Adam Foote on the ice until the season finale on April 10, 2011.  It was later revealed that Foote played that final game on a fractured ankle that was still healing.  Foote is a hockey player and that’s what hockey players do.

Let’s back up a day or two though.  During an April 9, 2011 press conference at Pepsi Center, Adam Foote announced that he was going to retire and that, surprisingly, he would play in the last game of the season against the Oilers the next afternoon.  That’s when I went to work.  I called my friends at MeiGray Group that Friday afternoon and tried to reserve his burgundy set III jersey that Adam Foote would wear in his final NHL game.  MeiGray employees told me that he was going to keep that jersey and give it to his sons.  (I later found out that he wore two game jerseys during the game against the Oilers and gave one to each of his sons.)  Since the burgundy jersey he wore wasn’t available I chose to pre-order the jersey that he was wearing when he got hit on the ankle against the Canucks on March 16.  That fact made this Adam Foote’s final game worn jersey that was available to the public.  That makes it very special to my collection and to me.

Considering the type of game that Foote plays the jersey has very little wear on it.  I’ll definitely need to check MeiGray’s population report when it comes out.  It will indicate exactly when the Avs moved from their set II white jerseys to their set III jerseys.  I imagine this jersey wasn’t worn in more than just a few road games.  The only marks on it at all are a few stains near the end of each sleeve.

I had MeiGray work on a photomatch for the jersey to be positive that it was the jersey that Foote wore that night in Vancouver, but due to the lack of marks on it they said they couldn’t do that.  But that fact in itself was a photomatch because the set II white jersey that Adam Foote wore earlier in the season had identifying marks that worked perfectly for a photomatch.  So this jersey is actually photomatched due to the lack of marks on the jersey.  That was definitely a first for me.

Also, here is a picture of the neck tagging and the famous captain’s “C”.  This looks great next to my Joe Sakic game issued jersey.  The three marks above the Canadian flag on the neck tag indicate that this jersey was the third white jersey worn during the season.

So another game worn or game issued jersey of an Avalanche legend has found its way to my collection.  I, along with many Avalanche faithful, expect to see the number 52 hanging from the rafters of Pepsi Center within the end of next season.  I feel he’s definitely earned that honor.  And of course, and as I think you’d expect, I’ll be wearing this very jersey to the game where the Avalanche organization retires the number 52.  I’m definitely looking forward to that game already.

That plan has unfortunately changed.

In mid-December, this auction was showed up on NHL.com.  Initially, I thought it was cool that another Foote from this season was up for auction.  Then I read the description for the jersey and came across this.

This jersey was worn October 7, 2010.

Crap.  That was opening night.  It was also the only reason why I wanted the original game worn Foote in the first place.  I checked the date a few more times just to be sure that I wasn’t making a mistake.  Things weren’t looking too good. I called Meigray and after a few emails to the right people it was confirmed; the jersey I thought I was getting wasn’t worn in the game I wanted it to be worn in.  Oh well.

Meigray gave me the option to use the money I had already put down on the Foote and apply it to another Avalanche jersey being worn this season.  After looking over the roster I chose to go with one of the better stories from this season, Greg Mauldin.  The 28-year old rookie had quite the stretch during his time with the big club.  He scored a handful of goals, including his first in the NHL, a shorthanded goal in Columbus, against the Blue Jackets, on November 12, 2010.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I purchased Mauldin’s white jersey he is wearing in the video above and haven’t received it as of yet.  I’m assuming the team is hanging onto it just in case he’s called up again before the end of the season.

I’m a little disappointed that the story on the Foote changed, but I’m also happy I saw the auction.  It would have been bad to get that jersey thinking it was something that it wasn’t.  On the other hand, I’m looking forward to getting the Mauldin and creating a great post for it.  The Mauldin was obviously a little less expensive than the Foote as well.  More money for more jerseys.  That’s never a bad thing.

Stay tuned!

The Lake Erie Monsters are the Colorado Avalanche’s American Hockey League affiliate.  Their home city is in Cleveland, Ohio.  They ended their relationship with The Meigray Group a couple of seasons ago, so obtaining game worn jerseys of the Avalanche’s future stars can be a little bit tricky.  I believe the team now auctions game worn jerseys off to benefit local charities.  Good for the charities, bad for collectors outside of Cleveland.  There are many of the Monsters jerseys from previous seasons still available through Meigray.  As of their last sale though, there was only one jersey that was in a size that I could wear so naturally, I grabbed it.

This is defenseman Wes O’Neill’s jersey worn during the first half of the 2008-2009 AHL season.  There are some subtle and not so subtle differences between the NHL jerseys and the AHL jerseys, although they’re both manufactured by Reebok.  Here’s another Wes O’Neill jersey that I picked up in the same Meigray order as the jersey above.  We can use it, very conveniently, for reference.  This is the set one alternate jersey that was made for O’Neill to wear with the Avs during the 2009-2010 campaign.  This jersey is a game issue because he was never called up to play for the Avalanche during that particular part of the season.

Let’s begin with the RBK vectors.  In the NHL, Reebok would like you to pay attention to the name of the player found just below the RBK vector on the back of the neck.

In the AHL, Reebok would like you to focus on the back of the neck as well.

There’s an RBK vector found near the bottom of the back of the jersey as well.  It’s next to the AHL logo.

It’s obviously clear that the AHL wants fans to check out player’s butts.  “I (AHL fans) like big butts and I (they) cannot lie.” – Sir Mix-A-Lot, “Baby Got Back.”

Speaking of branding, let’s talk about NHL related changes in the recent past.  When the league decided to go with the new version of the RBK jerseys they moved the NHL crest from the bottom of the back right of the jersey, like on my 2005-2006 Andrew Brunette game worn jersey,

…to the front of the neck just below the chin of the player, like on my 2009-2010 David Koci game-issued alternate,

and my 2007-2008 Scott Parker preseason game worn white jersey.

I preferred the shield on the back hem of the jersey, but that’s just me.  Maybe I just like looking at the player’s butts.  I don’t know.  And yes, Joe Thornton, those pants make your butt look HUGE.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Another note, even though these jerseys are both a size 58+, they are cut pretty differently.  The Lake Erie version of the jersey is definitely smaller than the blueberry Avalanche alternate.  Interesting quirk there.

The Lake Erie patches and crest are unique as well.  It’s fun to have this jersey hanging with all of the rest of the Avs jerseys in my collection.  It’s similar enough to fit in, and different enough to definitely stick out.

And I think I have a feeling where the players go to get all stitched up after the games are over.  The Kaiser Permanente patch was found on the white and burgundy version of the 2008-2009 Lake Erie Monster jerseys.

The Monsters jersey is smaller than the Avs jersey and may be even too small for me to wear to a game at Pepsi Center, but that doesn’t mean that I regret picking it up.  Yep, there’s an actual monster in my closet now and it’s not near as scary as I thought it would be.

After the fans were reacquainted with the team that brought the first world championship ever to Denver, the newest Avs team was introduced.  The introductions were in numerical order, and there was one exception.  Adam Foote was left to be the last player, and for good reason, as he’s the only player left playing in the NHL from that 1995-1996 team.  Check it out.  (Thanks to YouTube user BroncoRamAvs26 for the video.)

Click here to view the embedded video.

The tribute and ovation was really cool to be a part of.  It’s very clear that Adam Foote is a fan favorite.  His style of play and longevity have led to that well-deserved admiration.  The pre-game ceremony was special and memorable.  I thought being there was as close as I was going to get to everything that went on.  Upon further review, I was wrong, and that’s a very good thing.

The jerseys that the 1995-1996 team wore were signed by the players and then auctioned off to benefit Kroenke Sports Charities.  As one can imagine, these jerseys went for a pretty good chunk of change.  The history behind these jerseys and the names associated with that team contributed to some of these ending prices.  Here’s the Sakic, the Forsberg, and the Roy.  Even the Adam Deadmarsh and the Claude Lemieux jerseys went for over $1,000.

I did a little research and found out that the company that sells all of the game worn jerseys for the Avalanche were conducting their pre-sales for the first set of jerseys that are currently being worn by this season’s team.  I went to the site, took a look at who was still available, and found out that Adam Foote’s jersey, the same jersey that Milan Hejduk handed to him in the above video, was still available.  But don’t worry about going there and trying to buy that jersey now because I already did just that about a month ago.

So that’s why I said, on my Twitter feed and my Facebook Fan Page for my podcast, that Adam Foote is simply borrowing that jersey from me until he’s done using it in early to mid-December.  That jersey will then be sent back to MeiGray, I’ll pay the rest of the balance I owe from pre-ordering it, and then they’ll send the jersey to me.

So obviously there are a few reasons that I can’t wait for Adam Foote to return from his recent head injury.  One, this team is better when he’s on the ice.  And two, I want him to use this jersey as much as possible before it’s sent to me.

I’ll post part two of this story, along with plenty of pictures, after I get the jersey sometime in December.  To be continued…

Ben Guite’s game issued jersey that was made for him to wear during a game against the Lightning on January 5, 2007.

The story behind this jersey was covered in a previous post on my blog found here.

Quick side note… I had a couple of authentics made into jerseys worn that night as well.  Here’s the Paul Stastny for reference:

There’s this patch as well, worn only on October 1, 2009 to honor the greatest Avalanche skater we’ve all known.

I have three of these patches just waiting for jerseys to go on, and for my next trick, I’m going to track down some blank Reebok Edge jerseys to put them on.  It may be a while before those jerseys end up in my collection, but believe me when I say that this is simply a matter of time.

This jersey though, is another type of one game wonder.

Charlie Stephens played in exactly six games in his Avalanche career and all of those games happened fairly early in the 2003-2004 season.  The most important of those six games, when it pertains to this particular jersey, was the game against the Minnesota Wild on November 4, 2003.  By process of elimination in my research, this is the only game this jersey was worn in.  As I searched my media guides and images sites, such as Getty Images, I came across this search which excited me as soon as I got there.  There is NOTHING like seeing the jersey you own in action on a website or in a YouTube video.  The only thing I can’t match is this stick mark on the front right side of the jersey.

I guess that mark must have been made a little later in the game.

The one thing that’s pretty pleasing about this jersey is the amount of game use it shows for only being worn in one NHL game.  There are the marks on the bottom front of the jersey.  Check those out on the image of the front of it earlier in the post.  And also notice the game use on the sleeves as well.  Here’s the right sleeve:

And here’s the left sleeve:

So in the grand scheme of things when it comes to all of the players that have worn an Avalanche jersey, Charlie Stephens is pretty much just a blip on the radar.  But when it comes to my collection, I was excited to add a different type of “one game wonder” to the old jersey closet.

This is a 2001-2002 Stephane Yelle game worn, set II, alternate jersey worn later in the 2001-2002 regular season.  It shows plenty of game use and represents Yelle’s style of play very well.  Some of the game use includes a nice burgundy board burn on the right sleeve.

There is also a very small hole on the left sleeve, along with a clean half-inch slice on the elbow.  The hole is just above the double elbow stitching on the black stripe on the left and the slice is on the right side of the thick burgundy stripe in the middle of the sleeve straight through that same double elbow stitching.  I think the only thing that could have caused a clean cut like that was a skate blade.

There is also more evidence of game use on the left side of the front of the jersey, with the mark that’s easiest to see being a stick mark on the white stripe.

An interesting thing about these jerseys is the way they’re tagged.  The Avs organization, at this time in history, tagged their own jerseys to prove they were game worn with tags that looked like this.

That tag can be found on the inside of the bottom hem on the back middle of the jersey.  If you look closely at the image of the front of this jersey (the very first picture in this post) you can see the set tag hanging out just a tiny bit on the middle of the bottom.  As far as I know, the first set of the 2001-2002 sets of jerseys were distributed by the Avs themselves.  The second set of the thirds, whites, and burgundy jerseys and third sets of the whites and burgundy jerseys were purchased by Meigray and that’s where the partnership with them began.  The paperwork I received with this jersey is all authenticated by Meigray.  That partnership, to the joy of one jersey collector in particular, still exists today.

Stephane Yelle is one Avalanche player that I’ve always liked and respected.  He’s never been one of my very favorites, but he is a big reason why fans have two seasons full of Stanley Cup memories.  He was one of the small handful of Avalanche players that was on both the 1996 and 2001 championship teams.  He was that solid guy on the penalty kill as well as that solid third or fourth liner that allowed the first and second lines to save enough energy so they could bury tons of pucks throughout the years.  On October 1, 2002, Yelle was part of the Chris Drury to Calgary deal.  On March 3, 2010 Yelle, who was then a member of the Carolina Hurricanes, was traded back to the Avs.   It was definitely exciting to see Yelle come back to Denver during last season’s trade deadline.  It kind of felt like old times.  It doesn’t look like Yelle will be back with the Avs for the 2010-2011 season, but that doesn’t mean that us Avs fans will forget about what he did for the organization during his two stays in Denver.

As far as the jersey goes, I’ve had a really tough time trying to find collectors and hockey fans that don’t like the design and look of the old Avalanche third jerseys.  Whoever was in charge of planning these jerseys and making them happen did an outstanding job.  The “throwback” feel is the main detail many people enjoyed about them.  The new third jerseys are okay, but they’ll never replace the look and feel of the original alternate jerseys, that’s for sure.