DENVER — Brendan McNicholas wanted to limit who was in the know. Players didn’t get to see, and neither did coaches. Even Chris MacFarland, the general manager, was able to see a draft of the design.
The Stanley Cup rings remained a secret up until Monday night when Avalanche players were presented with them in a private ceremony at The Country Club of Castle Pines, Colo.
“Our goal was to keep it to as few people as possible,” said McNicholas, who manages the Avalanche’s player relations.
The process started in early July, when Chris Poitras — an executive for Jostens, the company that manufactured the rings — started having regular calls with McNicholas and longtime Avalanche administrator Charlotte Graham. Poitras flew from Chicago to Denver with a sample of the ring after having discussed various concepts, colors, logos, and designs with Graham.
Poitras, McNicholas, Graham and Josh Kroenke from the Avalanche’s ownership group met in a Ball Arena conference room. Poitras brought 25 of the previous championship rings Jostens had made, which was a source of inspiration during the brainstorming session.
“We had a lot to look at and draw from,” McNicholas said.
“They did not leave any stone unturned,” Poitras added.
McNicholas inspected the Atlanta Braves World Series rings and Los Angeles Dodgers World Series rings as well as Stanley Cup rings of the Blackhawks Blues Penguins and Lightning. Poitras also showed them a Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl and a Packers ring from 1967, which Jostens designed.
McNicholas was particularly impressed by one aspect of the Braves Ring. It featured 44 emerald-cut diamonds in honor of Hall of Famer Henry Aaron, who died the January before Atlanta’s World Series win. That got McNicholas’ mind churning with ideas.
