"FBI director having great taste": Hockey fans react as Kash Patel gives his nod of approval to Nordiques & Whalers hockey sweaters

The Colorado Avalanche and the Carolina Hurricanes turned back the clock as both teams paid homage to their original franchises on Heritage Night in Denver on Thursday. The Avs donned the Quebec Nordiques sweaters while the Canes wore the traditional colors of the Hartford Whalers.

FBI director Kash Patel supported the initiative, calling the two teams' sweaters the best in NHL history. His X account's post garnered support from fans.

Here are a few reactions:

"The FBI director having great taste," a fan wrote.

"The FBI tweeting about the best two sweaters and actually being correct was not on my 2025 bingo card," a fan said.

"Love to see a member in the current administration who is generally a hockey fan," another fan said.

"Some classics never age, they remind us that history, when honored, still inspires the present," a fan added.

"I love how Kash Patel is getting in on this," another fan added.

The Colorado Avalanche are set to play six more games this season in the Quebec Nordiques colors. The Nordiques came to the NHL in the 1979-80 season. Their blue, red, and white colors proudly represented the province's connection to France.

Their logo showcased an igloo in the shape of an 'N' with a hockey stick beside it. The team relocated to Denver in 1995 after the group that owned the NBA's Denver Nuggets, the COMSAT Entertainment Group, purchased the team and renamed it to the Colorado Avalanche.

As for the Hurricanes, they have been holding the "Whalers Night" in Raleigh since the 2018-19 season. Thursday's game was just the second time that the Canes wore the Whalers uniform on the road. The Hartford Whalers switched to Carolina in the 1997-98 season.

The Nordiques and the Whalers were opponents in the Adams Division of the Prince of Wales Conference from 1981 to 1995. The two teams last played on May 3, 1995, the final regular-season game for the Nordiques at home.

Hurricanes edge Avalanche in shootout thriller at Ball Arena

The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Colorado Avalanche in a shootout on Thursday, winning 5-4. They had raced to a 4-1 lead in the first period, which resulted inthe Avs needing to replace Scott Wedgewood in goal.

Colorado came back with a goal in the second period and two more in the third to force overtime. In the shootout, Seth Jarvis was the only one to score, while Carolina's goaltender made 47 saves, regulation, overtime, and shootout combined.

Carolina is off to a 6-0-1 start, while the Avalanche remained unbeaten in regular time and currently has a 5-3-0 record.

About the author

Nikhil Parshy is a baseball and ice hockey journalist at Sportskeeda, and after starting out as a cricket reporter, he has been an analyst with SK since November 2022. His interest in the sports were piqued a few years back after watching highlights on YouTube and he has followed the game ever since.

The Chicago Cubs breaking the 108-year curse in 2016 to lift the World Series remains Nikhil's favorite baseball moment. Two-way phenom Shohei Ohtani has been his favorite player ever since he started following the game, while the LA Dodgers are his favorite team.

As a writer, Nikhil maintains a strong attention to detail and rigorously cross-checks information. He seeks to strike a balance in his writing such that the regular reader gains an insight into player profiles, while also keeping in mind that the non-regular reader is not put off by jargon and shallow analysis.

Nikhil is an avid public speaker, and when not writing about baseball, he regularly participates in debates and quizzes.

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Edited by R. Nikhil Parshy