Colorado Avalanche Jersey

(In case you missed the first part of this two-part series please check out the original post here.)

Let’s begin this post with this image. I think it sets the mood quite well.

It look just a little longer than Denver Athletic had originally promised, but that’s okay, their work is always worth the wait. The jerseys are in and they look beautiful. The delay was from a few Colorado Avalanche and Denver Cutthroat roster moves that led to some rush orders for jerseys for the teams. When it comes to customers I know the pros are always going to have priority. It’s just one of the realities of dealing with a big-time lettering company who deals with big-time customers.

So without further ado here are the pictures and a little information behind each jersey I had made in this order. Let’s begin with the two jerseys that needed the most attention to become what that are now.

2012 Gabriel Landeskog NHL debut jersey. First, the blank version of the jersey that’s currently worn on the ice by the players is pretty much impossible to get on eBay, NHL.com, MeiGray or anywhere else. Next, the “21” patch was worn in one game only, opening night of the 2012-2013 season. I purchased three of the Peter Forsberg night patches close to opening night last season. One sure fire way to know that a jersey sickness exists is to buy the patches for jerseys that haven’t been acquired yet. Those of you that know my collection well will be beyond shocked to know that I have put the patch before the jersey many, many times. My solution? I bought two Patrick Rissmiller game issued jerseys from MeiGray a few months ago, had the name plates and numbers stripped off the jerseys, and had Denver Athletic make the newly blank jerseys into the Landeskogs you see below. I swore, at one time, that I would never do this to game worn or game issued jerseys, but when it’s time to get a Landeskog (like when he’s named captain of your favorite NHL team) or two in the collection it’s time to get a Landeskog or two in the collection by any means necessary. We’ll just call this mission accomplished.

2013 Gabriel Landeskog Blue Alternate. Don’t mind the spots on the image of the front of this jersey. That’s just my brilliant photography skills. He’ll debut this jersey (wearing the Captain’s “C”) at some point when he returns from his recent injuries.

2005-2006 Rob Blake Burgundy Alternate. This finishes off the players in my collection that wore the Captain’s “C” and the Alternate Captain’s “A”s for that season. (The other players, in case you were wondering, were Joe Sakic and Ian Laperriere.) I love the way the two details look next to each other on the upper left chest.

2006-2007 Paul Stastny Burgundy Alternate. He wore this number on the alternate in one game (October 14, 2006) before he switched to his current 26. If I have a reason to make a jersey I make a jersey. I love jerseys with stories. This jersey has a great story behind it.

2001 Milan Hejduk Stanley Cup Jersey. Hejduk represents one of the two players from that championship team that are still playing in the NHL. (The other is Calgary’s Alex Tanguay.) 1000+ games with the Avalanche and one of my favorite Avalanche players of all time. This will look great hanging next to the many other Hejduk jerseys I already have in my collection.

2000-2001 Rob Blake White. I purchased the blank jersey with the 2001 All-Star patch already applied. The patch is about an inch or two too close to the piping in the right side of the chest. I’m still trying to decide whether that patch placement bothers me enough to have it removed and replaced in its proper position. In the jersey game, as in sports and in life as well, inches count. We’ll see. I’m leaving it where it is for now.

2000-2001 Chris Drury Burgundy. Chris Drury was clutch. He scored some huge goals wearing this style jersey during the 2001 Stanley Cup run. You can never go wrong with Chris Drury jerseys. Just ask any veteran Avs fan.

And last, but definitely not least, a 2001 Shjon Podein Burgundy Stanley Cup Jersey. I have a white version of this jersey in my collection already and it was lonely. What can I say? I strive to keep my jerseys happy and satisfied.

So there you have it from beginning to end. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it in the end when your jerseys look like this. If you have any questions or I can help you in any way just be in touch: Leave a comment here, send me a message or create a post on The AHP Facebook page, or contact me on Twitter at @AvsHkyPodcast.

Joe Sakic’s retirement night, on October 1, 2009, was definitely memorable. Avs fans had the opportunity to send him out in style with speeches, a banner in the rafters, the whole thing. The team also wore a special patch on their jerseys just to commemorate the night. Those jerseys, worn for only that night, were then auctioned off on NHL.com.

As far as the game goes, here are your highlights. Do what I like to do whenever I get the chance and look for the patch.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2eVDS4_P-LY[/youtube]

I kept my eye on a few of the Sakic night jerseys that I thought would be affordable and that didn’t work out too well. Even the game issued jerseys ended up being pretty pricey. Maybe next time.

That next time came as we fast forward a few seasons to October 8, 2011. It was time for Avs fans to say goodbye to Peter Forsberg. Same procedure: banner, patches worn for one night, and those jerseys auctioned off on NHL.com.

Here are the highlights. Again, the patch, look for it.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tt0f3szcsRI[/youtube]

Here’s some video from my seats that night too.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-_Pghq-FS24[/youtube]

I was NOT going to miss the chance to get one of these jerseys and I ended up living up to my word.

Here’s a close up of the Forsberg night patch.

Normally with a jersey worn for just one night there may be a mark or two, but nothing too distinguishing. This jersey wasn’t normal. Check out the damage. This is a close up of the back of the right shoulder just above the “E” in O’Byrne.

And the big foot patch on the right shoulder has some scuffing/burning along the toes.

The next step for a jersey collector when it comes to damage is to try and photo-match it. That process usually begins on Getty Images. I was hoping to get lucky and maybe get a close up shot of the back of the jersey. That didn’t work out well. There were only two images on Getty featuring O’Byrne wearing this jersey opening night: here and here. The Forsberg patch isn’t visible in the second image, but the “21” on the boards is the other clue.

Next, it was time to check the highlight videos for a hit that O’Byrne might have been involved in. That didn’t work out either. The NHL, Avalanche, or whoever decides what gets posted in the highlights only saw two hits the entire game that were worth sharing with the fans. Thanks so much for the help guys. Try not to wear yourselves out.

I’m not one to give up easily so I went back to the game on my DVR hoping I could see something, anything, that might clue me in as to how the damage on the shoulder of the jersey happened. Not wanting to watch the whole thing (I don’t really prefer watching the Avs get shutout over and over) I fast-forwarded between O’Byrne shifts and watched him very closely while he was on the ice. He scraped the boards along the far side of the ice late in the first period, but these jerseys are made to last so that couldn’t have done it. Then, as the second period horn sounded, Johan Franzen did what hockey players do and stuck up for his linemate Jiri Hudler, who had been knocked down by Ryan O’Byrne in the near corner. That’s when the magic happened. Franzen’s hit caused O’Byrne to slam into the boards in a seam between two panes of glass. That had to be it. It all made sense now.

I never thought I would ever thank Johan Franzen for anything. He’s been a huge Avalanche killer over the years and I obviously don’t care for that. But, Johan Franzen, thank you very much for coming to the aid of Jiri Hudler after big mean old Ryan O’Byrne knocked him down. You did the right thing in regards to the jersey I now own.

As far as an official photo match through Getty and MeiGray, that will be easy. The jersey and patch were only worn for a single game. Blow up one of the images above and call it good. But with a little persistence, and some investigative skills, I was able to video match this jersey as well. It’s stuff like this that gets jersey collectors ~~called the sickos they actually are~~ really excited.

It took me two tries to get a retirement night jersey, and I’m still beyond satisfied that I was able to set a goal and achieve it. Because of that fact, this Avalanche jersey is undoubtedly one of the big highlights of my collection. Seeing it live in action made adding it to my jersey closet that much sweeter.

MeiGray creates a letter of authenticity that accompanies every game worn jersey they sell. This letter was a little different than the others that I have. Here are the sentences that made the letter extra special, “On October 8, 2011, the Colorado Avalanche wore a commemorative set of jerseys in honor of Peter Forsberg’s retirement. The actual jersey worn on “Peter Forsberg Night” by #3 Ryan O’Byrne is now yours.” I love the sound of that and I think I’ll hang onto this jersey for a while. And by a while I actually mean forever.

The Method Behind the Jersey Madness — UPDATE

Ryan O’Byrne Peter Forsberg Retirement Night Game Worn Jersey: Upon Further Review