Eddie's Jersey Room

Identification The 2000-2001 jerseys are identified by the NHL All-Star patch on the chest.

All Star Patch As the host team for the 2001 All Star game, this year's jerseys sport the All Star patch on the right chest on jersey sets 1-4. The patch measures approximately 4" high and 5.5" wide. It is a fully embroidered patch sewn to the jersey.

Stanley Cup Finals Patch As a participant in the 2001 Finals, the fifth set of jerseys was adorned with the Finals patch. To my knowledge these jerseys, both home and road, are in the possession of the players.

Crest/Sewn-on items These items have not changed from the previous year.

Manufacturer As with all NHL teams this season, the home jerseys are made by CCM, and the roads are made by Koho (same company).

Nameplates The letters measure 4" and are sewn to a nameplate. The nameplate itself is the same fabric as the jersey.

Numbers The numbers remain the same from the previous year. The back numbers measure 12", while the sleeve numbers measure about 4.5".

Outer logos The CCM and Koho logos appear on the back of the collar, immediately below the neck trim. They are a patch sewn to the jersey, and overlap the center point of the shoulder piping. The CCM logo measures 4" by 1.25", while the Koho logo is slightly larger, measuring 5.5" by 1.5". Both are embroidered on a twill backing. the NHL shield appears on the right outer hem, is black with silver, and is embroidered through the jersey.

Sets (numbers) Officially, four sets were released by the team. Sets 1 and 2 were pieced out sporadically by the team. Sets 3 and 4 were sold as complete sets to the Detroit Hockey Company, as well as the remainder of the set 2's. The SCF jerseys represent a fifth set, and both home and away from that set were given to the players.

A number of legitimate jerseys from a couple of higher-profile players have surfaced that do not have set tags. This indicates some undocumented gameworn jerseys went out the side door. A few players had multiple jerseys within the set, and those are tagged accordingly.

The team has said that Set 3 was worn after the All Star break until the end of the season, and Set 4 was worn for the first three rounds of the playoffs. However, Set 3 contained jerseys for Forsberg, but set 4 did not, and Forsberg played in the first two rounds, so it is possible set 3 was used into the first two rounds of the playoffs, while set 4 may have been used for the conference finals only. This is only speculation, however.

My personal theory is that the set 3's and 4's were not well documented while in use and were used interchangeably by the players throughout the playoffs. I have come to this opinion based on the following: 1) The jerseys were not tagged and distributed until after they had been collected following the season. 2) The team would most assuredly have needed to have backup jerseys available. The Finals jerseys were a new set, meaning the set 3's would have been retained by the team to have available while the set 4's were in use. 3) The wear is inconsistent among the jerseys I have seen--some have light wear and some heavy. 4) Peter Forsberg only had set 3 jerseys, and he played the first two rounds of the playoffs. 5) Adam Foote was seen to be wearing a jersey with the All-Star patch during one period of the Finals, again indicating jerseys were retained and available for use by the players after they were theoretically retired from use. 6) The jerseys were not tagged until after they were collected by Greg Sherman and were bagged and shipped offsite to do so--whose to say which jersey of any given player was to be tagged set 3 and which was to be tagged set 4?

Set Markings For the first time, the jerseys carried an official set tag in the rear hem. The tag reads "Official Issue, Colorado Avalanche, 00/01 Set #-#". The embroidered tag measures 3.25 inches by 1.5 inches (but is not precisely cut so size may vary) and is heat pressed to the jersey. The first number is a Roman numeral and reads I, II, III, or IV. The second number is a normal digit and is either a "1" or a "2", although it is possible higher numbers could exist for Set 1 jerseys (see next paragraph). A jersey may also have only the Roman numeral with no digit following.

In all sets the Roman numeral indicates the set number. The digit, however represents something different depending on which set it belongs to. In Set 1, the number designates multiple jerseys of the same color for a given player within the same set. So, for example, if a player had two home jerseys from Set 1, one jersey would be "I-1", and the other would be "I-2". In the second set, the number represents home or road, with "1" indicating road and "2" indicating home. In Sets 3 and 4, the opposite is true, with "1" indicating home, and "2" indicating road. This is how it has been explained to me by the team.

Structural differences For the first time, the Avalanche jerseys are not made of the shiny mesh from previous years. This season's jerseys are the standard Airknit used by other teams.

• Trim. The trim piping (blue/gray on the home, black/white on the road) is no longer a separate sewn-on piece of trim, but a sublimated panel of airknit material incorporated into the jersey. The upper trim contains the stripe only, while the lower panel incorporates the neighboring jersey color on the top and bottom of the stripe. The collar piping has not changed.
• Cuffs. The sleeves now have a separate panel attached at the end to create the cuff. The seam for this panel occurs where the piping makes its angled break.

Tagging The tags are located in two places:

• Washing Tag. The wash tag is located inside the jersey, stitched into the left side seam. It is a soft cloth tag with manufacturer's information and washing instructions printed on.
• Size tag. The size tag is located in the collar. There are two versions of the size tag. The first is attached as a small flyout tag (black on white) to the bottom of the larger manufacturer's tag, which is, in turn, sewn to the jersey by its top edge. On the home jerseys, the manufacturer's tag carries the CCM logo, while on the road jersey, the tag has been cut and sports no logo.
• The second version (home jersey) is a single white tag with the Canadian flag at the top, and the size in black digits on the bottom.