IceCap

So it's probably worth asking why it's something we as a society are haven't done much to combat.

Yeah like... most AHL teams have better facilities. I guess a locker room that's worse then some local rink communal locker rooms is acceptable if it means Quebec can't have a team though.

Let's go 'Ders!

The Barons are around in the NHL. They're the Sharks!

I don't even know what NBA team identities are anymore...

There's something fun about Paul Brown getting muscled out of the Browns and just getting another team and making them as close to the Browns as he legally could.

The Bucs had the same thing going on. It took them a bit longer to win a Super Bowl but the franchise's first real rise out of irrelevances happened when they first unveiled the pewter and crimson look. The idea that uniforms affect play is silly... but to some small degree, even if it's only perception, a struggling team with the right pieces in place to turn it around can really use a rebrand like that to change the whole feel of the team. I love the orange crush Broncos look. I love the old D logo. I'm not sure I want it all back though. Yeah the Broncos' look is incredibly dated now but it was a trendsetter. And it's associated with them turning around from being the Diet Bills to a model franchise. I feel like the set is everything I should hate now, but the ten year old in me that was blown away by them and saw them win back to back Super Bowls would be sad to see them go. With that said wearing the white jerseys with blue pants is incredibly moronic and exactly what I'd expect out of Mr. Broncos Country Let's Ride and Coach Moron.

Get down off the cross, we need the wood.

NFL season always brings out the bad takes

Nope. Just look at the NBA. They run through at least two new alternates per team a year. And they're scraping the bottom of the barrel. Used to be a team would get an alternate and that would be their alternate for at least a few seasons. And if they replaced it then whatever they replaced it with would be the alternate for a few seasons. Now teams have home and road looks, an alternate, and then often one or two speciality uniforms that get changed annually. More in the NBA's case. They burn through ideas. They burn through throwbacks to homage. And it just ends up with uniform make-work. "What if we took the most famous sweater in hockey but made it powder blue because Expos?" doesn't help the Canadiens or the league. It just looks stupid.

I'm reminded of people thinking the Islanders needed to homage the New York/Brooklyn Americans in some form while they were playing in Brooklyn. And sure to uni fans like us that seems cool but... the Islanders won four Cups and defined an era of the league. The Americans were a footnote that never amounted to much outside of being the answer to the trivia night question "what was New York's first NHL team?" I guess what I'm getting at is that not every old team is worth homaging. Though they probably all will be at some point just because the current business model trends towards it. Not every team is as bad as the NBA with four alternates per season but we're getting there in other leagues. And you can only run through so many new uniforms before you run out of things to homage or even just ideas in general.

Got that backwards

Are the Barons worth referencing? I mean I guess it doesn't matter. The Rockies aren't worth referencing, but two teams did...

I'm of the opposite opinion. The Devils are the Rockies after all.

The Nordiques RR was awesome. I suppose there's nothing wrong with a Rockies homage, but it's just funny to me. The Rockies are so inconsequential to NHL history yet TWO teams want to homage them in this promotion. Depends. For a limited run promotion? Sure... you accurately replicate the pedestal stripes. But that quirk always held back what would have been a great primary look.

Anaheim- Love it, love how it reminds me of the Eden Hall Ducks logo from the end of D3. This should be the basis of a full-time look. Arizona- This has reached the point where the original has been tweaked so often it's lost all value. The original was 90s cheese. The first RR was a clever switch up. This just doesn't work and highlights the problem of the katchina Coyotes look- what is their colour scheme anyway? Boston- Looks alright. This look is perfect for RR. Nothing the team would ever entertain bringing back full time but very fun as a limited time promotion. Buffalo- It's whatever. Straight outta the CCSLC Concepts section circa 2007. The goat head was never my favourite. Calgary- Very sharp, I love it. Like with the originals though, the look is held back by the pedestal stripes. Carolina- whatever... the Redneck Rangers look is just so uninspired. Chicago- gah... I get it. They want to move on from the Native imagery and I guess this is a Beta test for a Chief-less future but... you need something to replace it with. A "CHICAGO" wordmark won't do it. Colorado- A Rockies homage?!?! Columbus- The black sleeves were an odd choice at the time, but it's cool they leaned into it here. Dallas- It's a love letter to my favourite era of Dallas Stars uniform history so I'm all for it. Detroit- The Red Wings have history with red and gold as the Falcons. Maybe something there? No? Black? Sure that's just as good I guess. Total trash. Edmonton- ROBO SPERM! Like Boston I love this. It's a look you're never going to bring back full time but it's a fun for a limited time promotion. I had one of the originals back in the day. May have to get a new one. Florida- I get where the powder blue comes from... it just seems odd? I'd like this a hell of a lot better if the primary logo was shrunk a bit. It's gigantic. Los Angles- It's a neat concept but something about this look in white doesn't work for me. It seems lacking. Minnesota- This look is always bangin' Montreal- I don't care about homaging the Expos. The. Habs. Should. Not. Wear. Blue. Nashville- I love the idea of bringing back this ugly as sin look, but it should be navy. New Jersey- ANOTHER ROCKIES HOMAGE?!?! New York Islanders- I love the idea but they didn't go far enough. I get that the original was VERY out there with the wavy striping and numbers and they didn't have to go all in on that here. But some aqua stripes and lighthouse alternate logos are desperately missed. New York Rangers- Lady Liberty alts in royal blue? Eh why not... it works. Ottawa Senators- These are hilariously bad. Philadelphia Flyers- A jersey design so uninspiring they had to bring the long pants back to make it worthwhile. Pittsburgh Penguins- It's cool that over the course of the RR series we've gotten a "complete set" of the original scrapped 90s Penguins redesign. San Jose- I'm 100% on board with the idea that the Sharks are the Seals/Golden Seals/Barons, so I love this. Seattle- They didn't give us a Seattle Metros-inspired sweater? Yawn. St. Louis- Points for creativity. It's pretty solid for what it is. Tampa Bay- Ahaha! Totally missed the point of the original. What an ugly sweater. Toronto- This is such a nice jersey. And a unique one in Leafs history. The Leafs have had white sweaters with blue yokes but never a blue sweater with white yokes. So it's unique without being dumb like the last RR blue and silver monstrosity. I dig this a lot and really want one. Vancouver- A solid design ruined with dumb front numbers. Vegas- Probably the first Golden Knights sweater I've been tempted by. Thank G-d they did a dumb glow in the dark gimmick to keep me honest. Washington- SO MUCH BETTER than the actual black sweater from that era. Winnipeg- Classic Jets looks in the modern Jets double blue look just seem lacking in some way?

I have no idea why the NHL shield was orange and black. But dang it, that's what it was! The silver is nice too, but I miss the old orange shield.

Sure once they manage to win something maybe

The Clippers pretending like they own the Compton look will never not be funny. I'm one of the whitest guys you'll ever meet and even I can tell "nah that doesn't fit."

This is far too generous. The only thing they've managed that hasn't been a mistake is the W primary. It's perfectly fine. But even stuff that seems like a home run, like the helmet or burgundy jersey has something wrong. The jersey has that collegiate wordmark that just ruins it. And the helmet botches thins with a dumb satin finish and a single stripe that matches nothing else.

TIL there are people old enough to use the internet who don't know white tigers are a thing.

Oh get over yourself. This thread spent pages going back and forth over whether or not a manufacturer mark was an advertisement. Me disagreeing with you over an assertion you made is not a derailment. If you can't handle that I'd suggest you start a blog so you can delete any comments you don't like. Otherwise get over yourself. You want to play the "above it all" card? Go right ahead, but you look foolish.

And let me spell it out for you. I find this desire/mentality/whatever to be misguided and limiting. If a direct throwback is the way to go, it's the way to go and teams shouldn't shy away from that because of whatever "honour the past, look forward" philosophy you and others want to put out there. Since you're insisting on this... I think you're wrong. That's it. I'm not misunderstanding or misinterpreting you. I. Think. You. Are. Wrong. You, like a lot of other people on the internet, need to understand that people who disagree with you just disagree with you. It's not that we "don't get it," or "misunderstand." No. We just think you're wrong. And that should be ok, because you posted your opinion publicly. If you do that you sign up for feedback, asked for or otherwise.

Because you just regurgitated every hack designer's ethos. "We moved forward while honouring the past." Yeah, whatever. That's the dumb take that gets you gradient on a Rams uniform that doesn't need gradient. Come on, man. Sometimes a straight throwback is the way to go. Sorry, that's how it is.

This is such a misguided take. "Never look backwards" is the equivalent of limiting yourself. A team should consider everything. From the current look to the past to potential future designs. Everything should be on the table. Refusing to consider past identities, when they might be the best option, in the name of some self-limiting design ideology is dumb to me.