Thirty years after the Quebec Nordiques moved to Denver, the Colorado Avalanche are turning back the clock to honor their predecessors.
On Tuesday, October 21, the Avalanche released their new special Nordiques jerseys, which they will wear seven times during the remainder of the 2025-26 National Hockey League regular season:
- October 23, 2025 vs. Carolina
- November 29, 2025 vs. Montreal
- January 3, 2026 vs. Carolina
- January 12, 2026 vs. Toronto
- March 16, 2026 vs. Pittsburgh
- April 1, 2026 vs. Vancouver
- April 11, 2026 vs. Las Vegas
The jerseys are a faithful recreation of the Nordiques road jerseys from 1980 to 1995. The blue base features a red Nordiques igloo crest on the front, along with a white collar, cuffs and hem stripe. Along the waist, above the hem fringe, are three white fleurs-de-lis. White lily flowers also appear on the shoulders.
The names on the back are solid white, while the numbers on the sleeves and back, as well as the captains’ letters on the front, are white with red outlines.
The shirts are combined with blue gloves and helmets. The blue pants have a red igloo shield on the right leg and the blue socks have two white stripes around the shins.
The story of the Colorado Avalanche cannot be told without mentioning their former home in Quebec or their several Quebec-born mainstays. From the Nordiques to the board and the players on the ice, the Quebec roots of this franchise are very clear. To honor their stay in Quebec, the Avalanche will don blue Quebec Nordiques uniforms seven times in their 30th anniversary season.
– Colorado Avalanche
The Nordiques’ first seven seasons were played in the World Hockey Association, where they won the Avco Cup in 1977, beating the Winnipeg Jets. They were one of four WHA teams to join the NHL when the two leagues merged in 1979, along with the Jets, Hartford Whalers and Edmonton Oilers. They played in the NHL until 1995, making nine playoff appearances, but only reached the Welsh Conference finals in 1982 and 1985.
Fearing substantial losses due to the small size of the Quebec City market and the weakness of the Canadian dollar at the time, Nordiques owner Marcel Aubut sold the team to a Denver group in 1995, who relocated them and renamed them the Colorado Avalanche. Since then, the Avs have won three Stanley Cups (1996, 2001, 2022).
