One Game Wonders

Internationally Known: Mark Barberio, Game Worn Global Series Jersey

February 25, 2018 by Jay Vean - The AHP

On November 10, 2017 the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club made history by playing their first regular season National Hockey League game outside of the United States and Canada. It was a 4-3 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators at Ericsson Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden. This jersey saw plenty of action in that contest.

Avalanche defenseman Mark Barberio played 29 shifts during the game and logged 21 minutes and 10 seconds of ice time. He recorded two shots on net and two hits wearing this jersey as well. There are virtually no signs of game use on the jersey so a photo match is not when it concerns damage or repairs, but the beauty of patched one game wonders is that all that’s needed is the patch for a match.

As with the Blake Comeau 2017 white set one jersey I recently posted, the features on this jersey are obviously the same.

The liquid plastic NHL shield on the front of the neck:

The Adidas logo and word mark on the back of the neck:

The NHL 100th anniversary patch just below the number on the right sleeve:

And the patch added by the team on the inside of the back left tail after the jerseys are worn. This makes things official:

Both the Avalanche and Senators wore this patch on the upper right part of the chest during both Global Series games in Sweden:

The Avalanche were the home team on November 10th and, accordingly, wore their home dark jerseys. On Saturday, November 11th, the Senators were the designated home team so the Avalanche wore their (Global Series patched) away white jerseys.

My goal for this season, knowing that the supply of Adidas jerseys was low from the beginning, was to add one Avalanche jersey of each color worn to my collection. Two auctions in and I have reached my goal. That feels good. There are still, if my calculations are correct, three or four jersey auctions left to go. There may be another jersey (or two) added to my collection or there may not. As always, stay tuned.

Either way though, Go Avs Go.

Outdoor History: Blake Comeau, Stadium Series Game Worn Jersey

December 13, 2016 by Jay Vean - The AHP

On February 27, 2016, in front of a crowd of 50,095 fans, the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club became the 22nd team to play in a regular season outdoor NHL game. The Avs lost to the Detroit Red Wings 5-3, but it was still a lot of fun to be a part of some hockey history. At no point in my hockey fan experience did I ever think that I would ever, at any time, watch a hockey at Coors Field. It was an experience I will always remember.

Along with all if the obvious fanfare was, of course, the jerseys. They were a special set of jerseys worn just for the game which included the traditional outdoor game extra large arm numbers (because the fans are seated so much further away from the action), a nice 5280 touch on the collars (a nod to Denver’s elevation, 5,280 feet, one mile above sea level (hence “The Mile High City”), and very cool patches.

The Red Wings and Avalanche wore three sets of jerseys during the game. The set worn during the third period was kept by the players. The second period set was eventually given to each team to do what they wanted to with them. And the set worn during the first period was auctioned off, not long after the game, by our friends at The MeiGray Group. At that moment though, no one was sure, including the Avalanche organization itself, whether the set from the second period was going to be auctioned off at any point. (They eventually were auctioned off after the season ended.) Due to the fact that this may have been the only set (at the time) that was going to be made available to the public, I had to go hard after a jersey. So that’s exactly what I did.

Rewind to when the jerseys were listed for auction. It was time to look for wear. Those of you who know me and my collection well, that’s what I do. I watched the first period of action in the game a handful of times looking for big collisions with the boards, rubs on the glass, slashes, and whatever else may lead to recognizable damage (also known as a photomatch.) The best photomatch happened on the right arm number of Jarome Iginla’s jersey after he rubbed against the boards on the near side of the ice. Unfortunately, his jersey was one of the five first period Avs jerseys which weren’t made available in the first auction. The other unavailable jerseys included Erik Johnson, Francois Beauchemin, Nick Holden, and Nathan MacKinnon. (Those five jerseys went to Upper Deck to make game used sports cards. Don’t yell at me. I don’t make the rules here.)

In a related note, Blake Comeau had the primary assist on Tyson Barrie’s first period goal. It was a good hockey goal.

I didn’t originally notice anything too interesting about the goal until I saw a slow motion replay NBC played on the way to the first period intermission well after the goal. Keep a close eye on the back of Comeau’s left shoulder just above the “C” on the name plate as he joins his teammates for hockey hugs. (I needed to slow it down to frame-by-frame but you can see a mark for sure.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Vf4lcInNRA&feature=youtu.be

It didn’t take me too long to figure out where that mark came from either. It was left from the tape on the blade of Detroit defenseman Mike Green’s stick. He clipped Comeau just prior to Comeau’s pass to Barrie. Watch the original video of the goal (above) to see that.

Now I had a video match to a mark on a jersey I didn’t own yet. Those are dangerous (for me) in auctions. Safe to say things turned out just fine.

Here’s a closer look at the mark on the jersey near the nameplate (just above the “C”.)

And an even closer look.

I love this stuff.

So on top of being extremely fortunate enough to be at Coors Field for the historic Stadium Series game, I now have a piece of history from the game in my collection. I wouldn’t say I have one particular favorite jersey in my collection, but this one is definitely part of a handful of jerseys which I will not consider parting with anytime soon.

Adam Foote Night Game Worn Jerseys

August 4, 2015 by Jay Vean - The AHP

November 2, 2013 was a special night in Avs history. It was the night the Colorado Avalanche Hockey Club retired its fifth jersey number, the number 52 of Adam Foote.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m0OvTnoKWrk[/youtube]

On nights like that teams have the opportunity to wear jerseys with unique patches. Thankfully, that night was no different. The Avalanche wore a one-game set of jerseys with commemorative patches on them. Here’s that good looking patch.

AdamFooteNightPatch

In the past, I had arrived at Pepsi Center early for Joe Sakic’s and Peter Forsberg’s retirement ceremonies in hopes of purchasing loose jersey patches that I could put on blank jerseys later. I had no such luck on Adam Foote night. The rumor was the patches sold out quickly and there were only about 60 patches available for purchase by the public at Altitude Authentics, the main retail store at Pepsi Center. It looked like the only way that I was going to acquire a patch was to get a game worn jersey from that night. I could do that.

The game worn jerseys were auctioned off soon after the game and, as expected, they went for a fair amount of money. I passed on getting into the auction action in hopes of finding a jersey (or two) down the road from a winning bidder. It took a while, but it finally happened as I had hoped it would. Here are the newest additions to my Avalanche jersey collection.

SarichAdamFooteNight

SarichAdamFooteNightback

GueninAdamFooteNight

GueninAdamFooteNightback

Cory Sarich and Nate Guenin have never been near the top of my favorite Avalanche players list, but when it comes to patched jerseys worn in one game I decided to not be too picky.

As with any game worn jersey I acquire, it was time to look for photo matches. Jerseys with patches worn in one game are a little simpler when it comes to the photo matching process; simply look for the patch. Here are the game highlights for your viewing pleasure. I wanted to give you the chance to see these exact jerseys in action.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44uTmX3BVpo[/youtube]

According to the official stat sheet from that night’s contest, Nate Guenin logged 19 minutes and 39 seconds of ice time. He had one shot on net and recorded two hits. Cory Sarich played 17 minutes and 44 seconds. He also had one shot and was credited with five hits. Those numbers aren’t too bad at all, but they still didn’t amount to much (if any) game wear on the jerseys. Upon close review all I could find is this faint mark on the crest of Sarich’s jersey:

SarichFooteNightCrestMark

And this small burn on the lower left sleeve of Guenin’s jersey.

GueninFooteNighLeftSleeve

Either way, no problem, these jerseys are well-documented one way or another.

As always, I went through Getty Images to find images of the players wearing these jerseys on the ice at Pepsi Center. That’s a fun part of the documentation (and storytelling) process. Here is the only picture captured of Guenin during the game.

DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 2: Nate Guenin #5 of the Colorado Avalanche controls the puck as Max Pacioretty #67 of the Montreal Canadiens reaches over his shoulder at the Pepsi Center on November 2, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images) — DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 2: Nate Guenin #5 of the Colorado Avalanche controls the puck as Max Pacioretty #67 of the Montreal Canadiens reaches over his shoulder at the Pepsi Center on November 2, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images)

It’s a REAL long shot, but maybe the burn on the left sleeve happened during this exact play. A guy can dream, right?

And after the Sarich was offered to me this image made it even tougher to turn down the offer I had to add it to my jersey collection.

DENVER, CO - NOVEMBER 02: Cory Sarich #16 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center on November 2, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images) — DENVER, CO – NOVEMBER 02: Cory Sarich #16 of the Colorado Avalanche skates against the Montreal Canadiens at Pepsi Center on November 2, 2013 in Denver, Colorado. The Avalanche defeated the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

I was even able to match the mark on the crest when I zoomed in on the image from Getty. Bonus! (It’s tough to see, but trust me, it’s there.)

Sarich_Photo_Match

The Avalanche made Adam Foote night a little more memorable by defeating the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. These jerseys got a chance to celebrate that evening and that’s a very good thing.

So until my next game worn post(s), which will be soon, take care and Let’s Go Avs.

***A very special shout out to Ben Ho for giving me the opportunity to add these jerseys to my collection. Thanks very much, Ben!

Gabriel Landeskog NHL Debut Jersey: At a Fraction of the Cost

March 7, 2013 by Jay Vean - The AHP

Game worn jerseys are generally expensive. This is definitely not breaking news or anything. I have my limit on what I’ll spend on them. I’m not one of those people that will ruin my credit or skip a mortgage payment to buy a jersey for my collection. This limits my options at times and that’s okay. More money for more jerseys is always a good thing.

With that said, I have spent pretty good amounts of money on some pretty sweet jerseys in the past (if I don’t say so myself.) For example, there’s this Joe Sakic game-issued jersey (with plenty more details here):

There’s these Peter Forsberg game-issued jerseys (with plenty more details here and here):

There’s this Peter Forsberg game worn and photomatched jersey which was worn in one game in 2004. Plenty more details here.

And last, but definitely not least because it’s most relevant to this post, Ryan O’Byrne’s game worn Peter Forsberg retirement night jersey. More details here.

The jerseys above were not cheap by any means. In order to have nice jerseys in the collection it’s essential that money is spent. On the other hand though, there are some ways around this. It involves some creativity, some patience, and some strategy, but it’s definitely possible to create a model of the same jersey that a player wore on the ice for a fraction of the cost. One of the newest jerseys in my collection is an example of this. Check it out:

The jersey above is modeled after the jersey that Gabriel Landeskog wore during his first game in the NHL. Landeskog began his Calder Trophy campaign on October 8, 2011 at Pepsi Center against the Detroit Red Wings. The The Ryan O’Byrne jersey pictured above was the actual jersey O’Byrne wore during the actual game (details to come.) The game worn Landeskog from that same game went for $3,521. That price was obviously a little much for me, but that doesn’t mean that I couldn’t create something just like the game worn Landeskog for my collection. Here are the steps I took in order to make that happen.

Step One: Get a Peter Forsberg night patch.

These patches were on sale at Altitude Authentics (the retail store at Pepsi Center) during and after Peter Forsberg night. No problem. I got three so I still have two that are waiting for jerseys to go on.

Step Two: Get a jersey to put the patch on. Blank 2011-2012 jerseys in the same style the players wear on the ice are no easy find. They aren’t sold at retail and don’t show up on eBay really ever. The game-style jerseys on NHL.com aren’t very close to what the players actually wear on the ice. I like the real thing, so I have to work a little harder to make jerseys happen.

Small aside, and as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the neck tagging on the 2010-2011 jerseys was different than on the 2011-2012 (and current) jerseys.

The back of the neck on the 2010-2011 jerseys looked like this:

While the back of the neck on the 2011-2012 (and current) jerseys look like this:

I pay attention to the small details on jerseys and I want every detail on the jerseys in my collection to be correct. This is one of those small details.

In late spring of 2012 my friends at The MeiGray Group began listing a game issued jerseys from earlier in the season. Included in these game-issues were a couple of Patrick Rissmiller jerseys. (The other Rissmiller jersey I purchased was a blue alternate that I also had made into a Landeskog.) To my advantage, Rissmiller is a big guy. He wore a size 58+ jersey. That’s the size jersey I like to wear to games. Rissmiller wasn’t signed to a contract in Lake Erie during the 2012-2013 lockout so I went ahead and made the decision to purchase the jerseys and have their nameplates and numbers stripped off of them. If Rissmiller was still in Lake Erie, in other words, if he ever had any chance of ever playing for the Colorado Avalanche, stripping the jerseys would not have been an option.

Step Three: Get the patch and the blank jersey to Denver Athletic so they can put the patch, “Landeskog”, and “92” on the jersey. Denver Athletic letters the jerseys the Avalanche wear on the ice so that’s obviously a no-brainer.

Those three steps took a while from start to finish, but the finished product is beautiful and is definitely ready to be worn to a game at Pepsi Center. And after doing all the math, I paid less than 5% of what the game worn jersey went for at auction to make the jersey myself. Not bad at all.

Sometimes the jersey game is about having money available at the right time. Sometimes it’s seeing an auction that others have overlooked. Sometimes it’s about being patient and taking your time for the entire process to run its course. The patience and time it took to get through the process of making my Landeskog rookie debut jersey is one of the things that helps me feel really good about having this jersey hanging in my closet.