This beautifully framed piece features an original piece of watercolor artwork glass-framed in an attractive two inch wide black resin frame with a double mat. The outer dimensions of the framed piece are approximately 17” wide x 24.5” high, although the exact size will vary according to the size of the original piece of art.

At the core of the framed piece is the actual piece of original artwork as painted by the artist on textured 100% rag, water-marked watercolor paper. In many cases the original artwork has handwritten notes in pencil from the artist (be sure to “See the actual artwork without the frame” elsewhere in this website). Simply put, this is beautiful, one-of-a-kind artwork.

The outer mat is a rich textured black acid-free mat with a decorative inset white v-groove, while the inner mat is a complimentary colored acid-free mat reflecting one of the team’s primary colors. The website image of this framed piece shows the mat color that we suggest (Medium Blue), but since each piece is custom framed, we are happy to use whatever color mat you wish (depending on availability) – our standard mat colors are:

Light Blue / Dark Blue / Brown / Maroon (close to brown) / White / Silver / Gold / Yellow (bright yellow) / Green (dark green) / Orange / Purple / Red (bright red, somewhat close to PMS 186)

Beneath the artwork is a silver plate with black text describing the original artwork. The text for this piece will read:

This original, one-of-a-kind watercolor painting of the 2000-01 Colorado Avalanche jersey is the original artwork that was used in the creation of this Colorado Avalanche uniform evolution print and tens of thousands of other Colorado Avalanche products that have been sold across North America. This original piece of art was painted by artist Tino Paolini for Maple Leaf Productions Ltd. 2000-01 was a Stanley Cup winning season for the Colorado Avalanche.

Beneath the silver plate is a 3” x 9” reproduction of a well known, best-selling print that celebrates the history of the team. The print beautifully illustrates the chronological evolution of the team’s uniform and shows you how the original art was used in the creation of this print. If you look closely, you will see that the print features the actual artwork being offered for sale. The 3” x 9” print looks like this:

The piece is framed with an extremely high quality framing glass. We have used this glass style for many years with excellent results. We package every piece very carefully in a double layer of bubble wrap and a rigid double-wall cardboard package to avoid breakage at any point during the shipping process, but if damage does occur, we will gladly repair, replace or refund. Please note that all of our products come with a 90 day 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Each framed piece also comes with a two page letter signed by Scott Sillcox describing the history behind the art. If there was an extra-special story about your piece of art, that story will be included in the letter. When you receive your framed piece, you should find the letter lightly attached to the front of the framed piece.

If you have any questions, at any time, about the actual artwork or about any of the artist’s handwritten notes on the artwork, I would love to tell you about them. Simply email me, Scott Sillcox, at scott@heritagesportsart.com and I will tell you everything I can about your original piece of art. The artists and I spent well over ten years of our lives creating these pieces of original artwork, and in many cases there are stories I can tell you about your actual piece of artwork that might add an extra element of interest in your one-of-a-kind purchase.

Please note that all reproduction rights for this original work are retained in perpetuity by the National Hockey League unless specifically stated otherwise in writing by the NHL. For further information, please contact Heritage Sports Art at questions@heritagesportsart.com .

 

History

2000-01At the start of the 2000-01 season the Avalanche dedicated their efforts to winning a Stanley Cup for their teammate Ray Bourque who was playing in, what many believed, was his final season in the NHL.  Good thing for Bourque the Avalanche certainly had the personnel to get the job done. Once again Peter Forsberg, Milan Hejduk and Alex Tanguay were among the leaders in scoring on the team tallying 89, 79, 77 points respectively, but the main man on offence was Joe Sakic.  The Avalanche captain finished the season with 118 points finishing three points shy of Pittsburgh's Jaromir Jagr for the NHL scoring title. Sakics fine play also earned a slew of year-end awards: the Lester B. Peason Award for top NHL player as voted by the players, the Hart Trophy for League MVP and the Lady Byng trophy for most gentlemanly player.  Goaltending legend Patrick Roy also made history as he broke Terry Sawchuck's record for career wins with 448.  GM Pierre Lacroix, known for making great trades at the deadline, pulled off another one by stacking his defence with all star Rob Blake who he acquired from the LA Kings with Steve Reinprect for Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller.As mentioned the Avalanche were committed to winning their second Stanley Cup for the veteran Raymond Bourque, a pursuit Bourque labeled Mission 16 W, (16W was short for 16 Wins, the number of wins needed in the playoffs to win the Stanley Cup.)They had a tremendous regular season going 52-10-16-4 (118 points), over the 82-game campaign. Their record easily won them the Northwest Division title and the top seed in the Western Conference for the playoffs.In the first round of the playoffs a determined Colorado team swept the Vancouver Canucks out of the playoffs in four games. The second round wasn't as easy as they met the Los Angeles Kings who were on a roll after upsetting the Detroit Red Wings in the first round. The Kings gave the Avalanche all they could handle as the Avs needed seven games, including three shutouts by Patrick Roy, to move past L.A. and into the Conference final. Their opponent in the Conference final was the St. Louis Blues. The Blues had just come off a four game sweep of Dallas and were feeling fairly confident. But they would soon realize they were in tough as the Avalanche buried them in five games to move on to the Cup Final. Twelve wins down, four to go.The Stanley Cup Finals opponents were the defending Champions the New Jersey Devils.  Appropriately the Finals were to be the Avs toughest test. The battle-tested Devils were no push over and it took the full seven games before Colorado could get their 16th playoff win, but they did taking the final game of the season 3-1 on home ice.The Colorado Avalanche made Bourque's dream a reality, after twenty-two seasons Raymond Bourque had finally achieved his lifelong hockey, goal he was a Stanley Cup champion.When Avalanche captain Joe Sakic accepted the Stanley Cup from NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman he was wearing the now familiar Colorado home white jersey. The jersey maintained all of its usual marks except for a Stanley Cup patch that was affixed to the right shoulder of the jersey. It is our belief that the custom of both teams wearing a year-specific Stanley Cup patch began in 1988-89 and has continued ever since. The NHL uses a similar patch each year on the Cup finalists uniforms. The patch features an image of the Stanley Cup, with the two conference names and a year reference.