A couple of interesting photos began making the rounds online late Tuesday. They appear to show a bold new jersey for the Colorado Avalanche. Tonight, Icethetics sources have confirmed the design is what we will see at the 2020 NHL Stadium Series in February at the Air Force Academy.

Here are the two images that have come my way as of this evening.

Both jerseys feature the hallmarks of a youth replica—the NHL shield at the collar and other labeling, to be specific. In fact, this is the same way the Flyers’ Stadium Series jersey leaked last year. Perhaps youth replicas are distributed to retailers early, allowing for these leaks. Or maybe it’s just a coincidence.

Looking into the images further, each appears to have been taken with a different camera—though I’m no forensics expert, so I can’t say for sure. Maybe the lens was smudged between shots? However, both seem to share similar lighting conditions and backgrounds.

That leads me to believe the photos come from the same source—probably a retailer with employees who couldn’t wait to sneak a peek.

So now that we’ve seen it, let’s talk about that striking design.

Immediate reaction on Twitter has been mixed. (I feel like I say that a lot.) The traditionalists will not like this one bit. No, sir. ... Too bad. The rest of us are being treated to a truly cool hockey sweater.

If I were to compare it to a past jersey, I’d have to recall the famous “Flying V” of the 1980s Vancouver Canucks. I guess A’s and V’s really lend themselves to this type of jersey design. If anyone who loves that jersey doesn’t love this one, there’s a word for that.

Anyway, the first thing I noticed was the shape of the inside of the “A”—which is quite familiar.

The new design borrows elements from the Avs’ third jersey crest. The center of the “A” is a triangle that matches the the overall shape of the crest. The negative space at the bottom matches the rocky mountaintop above the “C” in that mark, which itself is a reference to the old Colorado Rockies logo from the 1970s.

The ends of the “A” angle off to the sides—perhaps wrapping around the back of the jersey? Funny enough, the design creates a couple of hockey sticks. Wonder if that was intentional.

I really like the idea of the oversized crest. In fact, it’s not really a crest as much as minimalist logo design built into the structure of the jersey. Very clever.

It’s exciting to see a team really going for it in with such a bold Stadium Series jersey. It’s not at all traditional nor is it supposed to be. I think they really nailed this and it makes me eager to see what the Los Angeles Kings have in store for their fifth jersey of the 2019-20 season.

For now we’ll await an official announcement from the Avs. Last season, the crests were announced in December while the jerseys didn’t come until February. However, if the crest is basically the whole jersey, it’ll be tough to separate the two reveals. So we’ll wait and see what happens.

Until then, what do you think of this design?