The Avs Hockey Podcast

Two Fan's Perspectives on Colorado Avalanche Hockey...and jerseys too.

You’re thinking jersey foul, but think again…

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Every Avalanche retirement makes people happy and makes people sad.  Joe Sakic’s retirement made me as well as every Avs fans sad, but it also made me happy that he hurt his back and lost his fight with a snowblower because it led to this jersey being in my collection.

This is the jersey that Joe Sakic would have worn during the end of the 2008-2009 season, his last in the National Hockey League.  It is hanging in my jersey closet.  There are plenty more details about this jersey in this blog post from a while back.

Now, back to the title of this post.  Jersey Fouls, as defined by our good friends at Puck Daddy, are “the rules and etiquette for proper hockey jersey creation and exhibition.”  Not every Jersey Foul is agreed upon, there is some gray area every once in a while, but for the most part, you know them when you see them.  Click on the Puck Daddy link above for more examples of fouls than you’ll ever need.  As a friend of mine likes to say, Jersey Fouls are funny, and sad, all at the same time.

One foul that many people agree with is wearing a style of jersey that particular player never wore on the ice.  Take the Ray Bourque blueberry alternate in this Puck Daddy Jersey Foul post.  Bourque had actually retired before even the burgundy alternates were debuted by the Avalanche at the beginning of the 2001-2002 season.  Almost a decade had elapsed before this particular style of Avs jersey was put into play and Bourque had played his final game for the Avs.  Definite jersey foul.  No doubt about that.

Now take a look at this.  What’s your first thought?

You can’t help but think jersey foul, right?  I don’t blame you, and I have news for you, you’re wrong.  This is the one and only Forsberg blueberry alternate that cannot be considered a jersey foul.

This is the alternate jersey that Peter Forsberg would have worn if he had been healthy enough to play in more than two road games with the Avs during the 2010-2011 season.  It’s a jersey foul because he never wore this style, but this would have been THE jersey he would have worn at Pepsi Center on February 16, 2011, against the Penguins.

Here is some comeback history that will help fill in any gaps.

During his final comeback Forsberg played in two road games.  One was in Columbus against the Blue Jackets on Friday, February 11, 2011.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_R3DxAbtaVY[/youtube]

He also played the next night, Saturday, February 12, 2011, in Nashville against the Predators.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zV0f01ZmixQ[/youtube]

…And he was still the same old Peter Forsberg, or so we all thought.

Excitement grew in The Mile High City as we all prepared to watch Peter Forsberg take the ice again sporting the burgundy and blue that Avs fans always thought he looked best in. Then, on the morning of Monday, February 14, 2011, it was over.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34PR8zn_JqM[/youtube]

My initial feeling was shock.  Forsberg was a combined minus four in the two games he played in, but he didn’t look that bad at all.  It was clear from the beginning of this comeback that it was going to take a week or two to get his game legs underneath him, but it was his right foot that let him down in the end…again.

The Avs still had a game that night though.  They went out and made the fans, as well as Peter Forsberg, proud by trashing the Flames in an epic victory were promptly handed the worst loss in franchise history.  The Calgary Flames destroyed the Forsberg-less Avs, 9-1.

After the shock from the retirement and the game wore off I started thinking jerseys.  You’re probably more than surprised by that. I thought there had to be at least a burgundy jersey as well as the jersey I posted pictures of above made for Forsberg to wear on the ice.  An email was sent to my friends at MeiGray group, I got myself on the waiting list for an eventual Peter Forsberg game issued home burgundy and/or alternate and then played the waiting game.  About a month later I received an encouraging email.  I made a phone call and found out that both the alternate and the burgundy were available for purchase.  I did what any honorable jersey collector and die-hard Avalanche fan would have done and reserved the pair.  Here’s the jersey every Avalanche fan wishes Forsberg would have worn on February 14, 2011, at Pepsi Center against the Flames.

And, by the way, this isn’t a jersey foul either.  Forsberg’s comeback late in the 2007-2008 season and into the playoffs is when he wore this style jersey on the ice.  The two goals he scored during that comeback are here:

And here.  This goal is great because about 90% of the Wild fans are watching where Jeff Finger’s stick ended up in the crowd rather than watching Peter Forsberg bury one in the back of the net.  Beautiful!

One interesting detail on both of these jerseys is the stamp on each of the fight straps.  This is some very expensive ink.

It’s a little tougher to read it on the burgundy jersey, but they both read, “Game-Issued Not Worn.”  This is huge for resale purposes.  The difference in pricing between a game worn and a game issued jersey is over $2,000.  Like I said, that’s some expensive ink.  Both of the images above also feature the Meigray Group tag that proves that this jersey is a legitimate game worn or game issued jersey and not just a retail authentic that someone had made into a Peter Forsberg.

So, as stated above, I guess every retirement makes people sad and every retirement makes people happy.  Forsberg’s opposition was pleased that they didn’t have to deal with this junk any more.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRtrQ1YrCzw[/youtube]

Avalanche fans were very disappointed for the reasons demonstrated quite clearly in the video above.

Me?  I’m somewhere in the middle.  I sure wish I would have seen Forsberg play in the jerseys above, but that doesn’t mean that I’m sad to have them in my collection.  Another game issued jersey (or two) from a true Avalanche great, and future Hall of Famer, can never be a bad thing.

Thanks for everything Peter Forsberg, including the many memories and the fantastic jerseys.  We will miss you.

Some Blueberry Love…

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A great friend of mine, who I grew up with, now lives in Wilmington, North Carolina.  We’ve tried our best to make it a tradition to get together whenever we have the chance.  As part of a new tradition, we made our way to Raleigh, North Carolina a few seasons ago to see this great comeback by our favorite NHL team.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bMeVbCQolE[/youtube]

I can definitely vouch for the fact that The RBC Center is one of the loudest buildings in the NHL, but it can also get pretty quiet when the visiting team comes back from two goals down to steal the game in the third period.  Thanks for the memories Marek Svatos.

When the schedule for the 2010-2011 season came out my attention went immediately to when the Avalanche would be back in Raleigh.  Flight reservations were made and tickets were acquired.  Steps one and two, done.  That was easy.

Step three (and for those of you that know me at all this is a very important step) it was time to decide what jersey to wear.  For most people, that’s a simple task.  Just open the closet door, grab your Avalanche jersey, and head out the door to the game.  For me, it’s obviously not quite that simple.  If I went with a white jersey, I may have blended in with the home town crowd.  I didn’t want that at all.  I brought a jersey for my friend to wear because he has a lot of Martin Brodeur jerseys and no Avs jerseys.  I’m cool with that.  He’s a true hockey fan so I don’t give him too much stuff.  Here’s what he wore to the game:

Since I brought the burgundy jersey for him, I was going to go with one of the two alternate jerseys the Avs have worn through the years.  The burgundy alternate might have been lost in the sea of red and white in Carolina, so I went with my game issued blueberry David Koci jersey.  It was made for him to wear during the 2009-2010 season.

As marked on the collar tag,

…this jersey was a backup (“B.U.”) alternate jersey for the 2009-2010 season as Koci’s jerseys can take a beating (pun very much intended) at times.  Here are a few examples of why a backup jersey is needed.

December 13, 2009.  Fight against Calgary’s Brian McGrattan.  Check out the neck of the jersey at the end of this one.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPrIJ-D55yM[/youtube]

And something similar happens to his jersey during Joe Sakic night on October 1, 2009 during a scrap with San Jose’s Jody Shelley.  And for those of you that are into that type of thing, check out the Meigray tag towards the end of the fight as well.  It’s the white tag with blue stitching that’s sewn into the inside of the back tail of the jersey.  Here’s the Meigray tag on my alternate.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OTDoLTwpl4[/youtube]

As far as the jersey goes, I’ve received more heat concerning it than any other jersey in my collection.   People sometimes don’t think much of David Koci because of his limited role and limited skating ability as well, but, honestly, he’s never really given me any reason to not like him.  I purchased the jersey for two main reasons.  One, I wanted that style represented in my jersey collection.  And two, it fits me just in case I ever decide to wear it to a game.

Fast forward to December 3, 2010 in Raleigh, North Carolina.  My buddy and I were excited about our seats knowing that they were three rows from the ice, but we became even more excited when we saw exactly where they were located.  The RBC Center is one of those buildings where the opposing team has to skate from one of the corners of the rink to their respective bench.  Our seats were exactly four seats away from where the team entered and exited the ice.  We got there plenty early so we could watch pre-game skate as well.  That’s when the magic began.

A couple of the Avalanche equipment managers and trainers noticed my jersey right away.  They called me over and asked me a few questions about it.  They even took a picture of the back of it.  I’m assuming they were going to show it to Koci himself.  It was unexpected and exciting to draw some attention from the people with the team.

Then, after the Avalanche tied the game at one in the third period with a Milan Hejduk goal, my jersey made its network television debut.

For those of you that haven’t met me in person, that was me cheering on my team at the end of that highlight.  For those that had met me in person, the tweets and Facebook posts began to show up.  I caught a little bit of flack from fans complaining that I didn’t stand up though.  First, we were packed in like sardines down there.  I didn’t have the time to squeeze myself out of the seat.  Second, I didn’t want to be “that opposing fan.”  We’ve all been at a game with that fan there, and we all know how difficult that can be.  I did my best to choose the classy and laid back route.

So the jersey in my collection that hasn’t gotten much love from anyone in the past definitely came through for me.  In the end though, it didn’t come through for my team as they lost 2-1 in overtime.  Here are your highlights.

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

I’ve begged my buddy to stay in touch with the guy he got the tickets from because seats don’t get much better than that.  I’ll never forget the experience I had that night, and that was actually before I knew I had been on television.

And being as David Koci was a healthy scratch for the game and didn’t even participate in the pre-game skate, the jersey that was made for him to wear last season got more air time than the jersey the team brought with them for Koci to wear that night.  That’s a type of thing that doesn’t happen very often at all.

Something Borrowed, Something Burgundy (and Blue)

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The magic that was the Avalanche’s 2010-2011 opening night had its impact on me.  The 15 year reunion of the 1995-1996 team had the crowd excited.  The introduction of the team that was going to battle this season was great as well, but it was the link between the two that had me sold…literally.

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.)

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atemxOq6SlU[/youtube]

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…