2016-17 NHL Uniform and Logo Changes

[Sport]

To clarify, I don't want the Senators to look like this: 

 

That's taking it too far and is quite gaudy. 

 

My fascination with the barberpole stems from that throwback, though, and the fact that the NHL has way too many teams who use red and black. I want each team in the league to have their own unique identity and the Senators aren't going away from their colors anytime soon so the solution to separate themselves from the Blackhawks, Devils, Flames (to a lesser extent) is a scaled back version of that jersey because barberpole has unique historical significance within that city. It's the perfect identifier for that franchise to own. They've dipped a toe in, but I want them go all the way in. 

 

Think this, but use the roman senator logos and replace vintage white with 2016 white. 

 

THIS. 

[Still MIGHTY]

It manages to be unique, traditional, and good all at the same time. If you look at the history of hockey in Ottawa, whether it's the original Senators or the 67s, the barber pole has a place there.

 

And gets rid of the Roman Senator/Centurian confusion.

 

 

[Rollins Man]

3 hours ago, McCarthy said:

I don't know what you're saying. They have the shoulder patch that references barberpole so it makes sense then that it would appear somewhere else within the uniform. It actually makes more sense that it would appear somewhere else within the uniform than not. Why would they call it out in a logo as if to say "hey, this specific striping pattern is something Ottawa hockey is known for, " and then not use it anywhere else besides that logo? That would be like the Browns not having an orange helmet with brown and white stripes, yet continuing to use the orange helmet as their logo. 

 

I'm not going to get over it when that is so clearly the answer to how the team should dress. They have elements of it scattered throughout their identity, but refuse to fully commit, and instead use a click and fill template. 

 

They have no striaght stripes on their jersey except on the tiny shoulder patch which is barely noticeable. The stripes dont fit the the rest of the uni, use those pants with their third jersey. The pants before the edge takeover were always plain black and it worked with their roman themed look. Keep the barberpole with the barberpole. It ain't the 20's anymore man, this is the 90's senators and they should dress like it not the old ottawa senators. Use that vintage stuff for the vintage throwback jersey, keep it away from their more modern main look.   

[Sport]

Just now, Rollins Man said:

They have no striaght stripes on their jersey except on the tiny shoulder patch which is barely noticeable. The stripes dont fit the the rest of the uni, use those pants with their third jersey. The pants before the edge takeover were always plain black and it worked with their roman themed look. Keep the barberpole with the barberpole. It ain't the 20's anymore man, this is the 90's senators and they should dress like it not the old ottawa senators. Use that vintage stuff for the vintage throwback jersey, keep it away from their more modern main look.   

- I don't want them to use the 20's look. 

- See my post above

- Their modern click and fill template blows. Anything would be better. 

[Rollins Man]

TH

5 minutes ago, McCarthy said:

To clarify, I don't want the Senators to look like this: 

 

That's taking it too far and is quite gaudy. 

 

My fascination with the barberpole stems from that throwback, though, and the fact that the NHL has way too many teams who use red and black. I want each team in the league to have their own unique identity and the Senators aren't going away from their colors anytime soon so the solution to separate themselves from the Blackhawks, Devils, Flames (to a lesser extent) is a scaled back version of that jersey because barberpole has unique historical significance within that city. It's the perfect identifier for that franchise to own. They've dipped a toe in, but I want them go all the way in. 

 

Think this, but use the roman senator logos and replace vintage white with 2016 white. 

 

THIS. 

They already have themselves distinguished from the hawks, canes and devils, because they use gold. They're a red/black/white and gold team.  It prominently used in their logo. Use that vintage look for a third throwback. Use the current shoulder patch and the pants from the main set.   

[hockey week]

The barberpole is such a big piece of Ottawa history, and when I did my concept on if the Senators never folded, I tried to figure out when the city would lose faith in the barber pole and move on...I don't think it'll ever happen. Minor league teams, major junior teams, peewee teams, if it's Ottawa, there's a barber pole involved somewhere. They love it, and it's been around so long that it's unique, any copycats have long since changed.

 

I think the vintage look they've been using as a third would be ideal as a look now, maybe incorporate gold in the logo and the numbers (or even the 2D centurion for the logo).

 

Personally, I don't see why this is a problem:

 

[Rollins Man]

1 minute ago, McCarthy said:

- I don't want them to use the 20's look. 

- See my post above

- Their modern click and fill template blows. Anything would be better. 

I agree i dont like the current template much either, but just fix it up. They looked great before the edge takeover, just the like the avs. No need to start living in the past like colorado is when they have a perfectly good look a is, just fix the template. Even the modernized version of their 20's look is still to dated looking. It's not like montreal or toronto's look where it's a classic but still works today. You can tell it's a throwback style uni. Maybe it's the vintage white, i don't know but it looks outdated. 

[KittSmith_95]

The Sens could either go all in Roman on us, or all Baberpole. What they're trying to do is keep both sides happy right now, and it's not working.

 

All I care is that we see an update to the Peace Tower alternate and see it on the shoulder/pants.

[Sport]

Just now, Rollins Man said:

I agree i dont like the current template much either, but just fix it up. They looked great before the edge takeover, just the like the avs. No need to start living in the past like colorado is when they have a perfectly good look a is, just fix the template. Even the modernized version of their 20's look is still to dated looking. It's not like montreal or toronto's look where it's a classic but still works today. You can tell it's a throwback style uni. Maybe it's the vintage white, i don't know but it looks outdated. 

They could "fix it up" by dumping it in the trash and starting over. That's the only way to improve that template. If it's not modern enough for you (a ridiculous assertion) that's why I emphasized gold more in my concept and went with regular white. I also used their current font and didn't continue the stripe to the back of the jersey for a subtly modern touch. I don't want the 20's look either. Couldn't have made that more clear. 

 

Taking the pattern that is Ottawa hockey and applying it to the current NHL team is not "living in the past". That's why it appeared on the hems of the first jerseys in 1992, and why they've used it on the fauxbacks. It is quintessential Ottawa hockey, which is why it appears in the secondary logo released in 2007. I disagree that it doesn't work today. It works better than the Penguins template they're wearing. 

[IceCap]

Yeah, there's no fixing the current Edge sweaters. They're click-and-fill garbage from a Reebok catalogue. 

 

The barberpole look IS Ottawa hockey. @Rollins Man ? You're missing the point. The modern Senators have had a bit of an identity crisis. They went from fairly traditional uniforms to a half-and-half cluster:censored:, when they made their gaudy hip alternate the primary dark sweater. Then they added an alternate that neither matched the home or road look. The Reebok Edge changeover gave them some consistency, even if it was terrible. They went super modern with the SENS alternate, and then pulled a 180 with the Olde Tyme Iced Hockey fauxback look. That doesn't even get into the Roman vs =O= debate.

The current Sens have never had a proper barberpole uniform, but they've flirted with it enough. The current uniform's pant stripes and =O= alternate. The fauxback look invoking the barberpole even if it doesn't replicate it. Even the hem stripes of the team's original sweaters called back to the barberpole look. The modern Senators' identity has been an inconsistent mess, except when it comes to the barberpole. Which ties them in with a long and distinguished tradition of Ottawa hockey. One that includes the first true Stanley Cup dynasty.

 

Personally? I think there are three options for utilizing the barberpole look effectively on a modern hockey uniform. I would be fine if the team went with any one option.

 

The first is essentially the vintage fauxback set. The bold stripes along the chest calls back to the barberpole look without overdoing it. I would replace vintage white with white, but other than that? It's a great look.

The second is the Ottawa 67s look hockey week posted. Go barberpole at home for the Ottawa crowd, and go with a reserved but still mostly white barberpole look for the road.

Finally? The simplest solution. Red sweater at home. One thick black strip on top of a thick white stripe of equal width. Use that for the hem and arm striping. Reverse red and white for the road look. Done. Simple, but the bold stripes call back to the barberpole, but very subtly.

 

Any of those three options would propel the Senators into the upper tiers of NHL uniforms. Yeah, yeah, can't live in the past. Whatever. The team has tried to do its own thing, and we've gotten lopsided swoosh chest stripes, a piped and panelled mess that had SENS plastered across the front, and click-and-fill garbage. Just give it up Ottawa. Accept the barberpole and look respectable again.

 

Logos are a different story, really. I would prefer the =O=, the shield, and even the Peace Tower/maple leaf marks to any of the Roman logos. Though I could accept the Roman look if they keep it confined to the logos (no laurel striping, please) and only used the Centurion profile marks. The 3D Centurion logos though? Uggg.

[Sodboy13]

12 hours ago, Webhamster said:

 

The reason the red numbers only lasted the one season was because the red on black was very hard to read from the stands or the press box.  Mostly, I've heard from a very good source who worked in the press box back then, it was the play-by-play guys who really pushed them to change the numbers to white.

 

And then, a few seasons later, they put white sleeve numbers on a white background.

[Rollins Man]

im not saying tweak the template im saying redo it, like the blues did. and since when is having a red stripe touch a black stripe constitute the barberpole pattern? there was no barberpole in the original set, not until 2007. 

[hockey week]

21 minutes ago, Rollins Man said:

im not saying tweak the template im saying redo it, like the blues did. and since when is having a red stripe touch a black stripe constitute the barberpole pattern? there was no barberpole in the original set, not until 2007. 

 

If THIS is a shoutout to barber pole,

Then THIS is a shoutout to barber pole

 

Two stripes is two stripes...

[IceCap]

What hockey week said. The hem stripes of the pre-swoosh sweaters were all very subtle allusions to the barberpole, on par with the =O= logo, the fauxback chest stripes, and the current pants stripes.

[IceCap]

37 minutes ago, Rollins Man said:

im not saying tweak the template im saying redo it, like the blues did. 

See, this is where I'm confused. You seemed to be advocating for the current look (because it "wasn't living in the past" or something) but now you say "redo it." 

Well the Blues pretty much scrapped their Edge sweaters entirely and just brought back their pre-Edge designs tweaked ever so much. 

 

So I'm not sure what "redo[ing]" the current Senators' templates sweaters would entail. It seems to me like it would essentially be a redesign, which is what us pro-barberpole folks have been advocating. Yet you don't seem to want that. So I don't know. 

[Rollins Man]

3 hours ago, hockey week said:

 

If THIS is a shoutout to barber pole,

Then THIS is a shoutout to barber pole

 

Two stripes is two stripes...

yes but those stripes are with the vintage O, those are just two stripes. By that logic the capitals throwbacks and 1980's northstars are barberpoled too since they have two stripes.

[Rollins Man]

2 hours ago, Ice_Cap said:

See, this is where I'm confused. You seemed to be advocating for the current look (because it "wasn't living in the past" or something) but now you say "redo it." 

Well the Blues pretty much scrapped their Edge sweaters entirely and just brought back their pre-Edge designs tweaked ever so much. 

 

So I'm not sure what "redo[ing]" the current Senators' templates sweaters would entail. It seems to me like it would essentially be a redesign, which is what us pro-barberpole folks have been advocating. Yet you don't seem to want that. So I don't know. 

I never said i liked the template. I like their current branding, the roman theme. It's what they've used since the beginning. The new ottawa senators are the centurion wearing ones, not the barberpole. The sens need to go back either to pre-edge or clean up their current template like a lot of other teams have recently. Go for something more traditional in the vein of what carolina did with their white jerseys or even what the kings or dallas did. I have no problem with this team embracing their roots and having the barberpole third jersey. I personally really like that jersey, it looks good and does a great job of cleaning up an older look but it's still an older look, and it's not the current ottawa senators look. It's a great third, keep it as that, and clean up the main set, they looked great pre-edge, they can look great again as the roman themed senators. 

[wildwing64]

10 hours ago, Rollins Man said:

It ain't the 20's anymore man, this is the 90's senators and they should dress like it not the old ottawa senators.

 

If they're going to use the same name and colours as the original Senators, they may as well go all the way and have an identity more akin to the old team.

 

I agree that full-on barberpole isn't necessarily the way to go, going all out like that is a bit much. The vintage fauxback set does well enough in having something much like the barberpole, and paying tribute to the hockey history of the city, setting themselves apart from every other ed and black team, and without going overboard with the barberpole striping. Swap out the vintage white for white white and it's pretty much the perfect look for them. Having been to Ottawa, I feel like that uniform is also a better representation of the city itself.

 

As far as the logo is concerned, I think the Roman theme is the more visually interesting identity, but the more I think about it the less sense it makes. For one thing, it's depicting a Centurion rather than a Senator, who weren't exactly known for wearing helmets. Again, the =O= is a better reflection of the hockey history and the city of Ottawa itself, but it's also not the most striking mark. They could probably do better than that, but for what it is and what it represents, it's probably the better of the two. I'm sure I've said this already, but I greatly prefer the unused modern version of the profile Cen over the 3D one, and if they're not going to use that then I'd rather they scrap the Roman theme altogether.

[Sport]

5 hours ago, Rollins Man said:

yes but those stripes are with the vintage O, those are just two stripes. By that logic the capitals throwbacks and 1980's northstars are barberpoled too since they have two stripes.

Now you're being deliberately obtuse. Those two stripes in the =O= logo are there because the team famously used stripes like that in their original run. It's clearly a reference to their old barberpole sweaters. Arguing that it's not is just incorrect.  

 

 

It is not a coincidence then that a key part of the 92 sweaters used that same striping. The Capitals and North Stars used it because it's a cool way to stripe a jersey. The Senators used it very specifically to tie in with their city's hockey past. Were it not an EDGE template that two other teams use I'd argue even that their current sleeve treatment is a modern barberpole reference. That could be purposeful on the Senators' part because their original EDGE sock stripes also made a barberpole reference, but knowing the current Sens management that may have just been a happy coincidence that their new template accidentally ties in with their past. 

 

Again, why are you advocating for creative laziness?

[Webhamster]

10 hours ago, Sodboy13 said:

 

And then, a few seasons later, they put white sleeve numbers on a white background.

 

True, but you're also not often reading sleeve numbers from the stands (unless you're in the 100's or have bionic eyes) or the press box.  You're reading the big white numbers on the back and they stood out.