2016-17 NHL Uniform and Logo Changes

[Bayne]

I'm always in favour of thicker stripes all over a jersey. It's one of the reasons why I don't like the current Canucks home jersey. The white lines are too thin. Most people seem to have no problem with the jersey template though, but it's annoyed me for about 9 seasons now.

 

Speaking of which, why in the name of god do a lot of teams stick with the same jersey for so long, in an age of merchandise sales and constant upgrades and changes? Seriously? It seems crazy.

[dont care]

On May 12, 2016 at 1:55 AM, worcat said:

 

Idk why it's doing thusthis

[dont care]

1 hour ago, Bayne said:

I'm always in favour of thicker stripes all over a jersey. It's one of the reasons why I don't like the current Canucks home jersey. The white lines are too thin. Most people seem to have no problem with the jersey template though, but it's annoyed me for about 9 seasons now.

 

Speaking of which, why in the name of god do a lot of teams stick with the same jersey for so long, in an age of merchandise sales and constant upgrades and changes? Seriously? It seems crazy.

Because if you have a good brand and team you don't need to change your look to move merchandise. Sometimes changing from a good brand will yes give a nice little spike in sales of fans trying to get the new merch but once that over with the sales will drop off significantly as evident by such examples as the buffaslug. Now if a team has a good brand all they need to do to encourage sales is introduce an alternate as evidence by the Bruins introducing winter classic jerseys, and Vancouvers millionaires throwbacks. 

[worcat]

2 hours ago, dont care said:

Because if you have a good brand and team you don't need to change your look to move merchandise. Sometimes changing from a good brand will yes give a nice little spike in sales of fans trying to get the new merch but once that over with the sales will drop off significantly as evident by such examples as the buffaslug. Now if a team has a good brand all they need to do to encourage sales is introduce an alternate as evidence by the Bruins introducing winter classic jerseys, and Vancouvers millionaires throwbacks. 

I agree. I'd rather have a strong design that the fan base loves than change the uniform every 5 years to boost sales. I could see a solid uniform set that works instead every year fans may purchase a new jersey of a different player opposed to purchasing a different jersey from a reboot. 

[BigBubba]

8 hours ago, Bayne said:

I'm always in favour of thicker stripes all over a jersey. It's one of the reasons why I don't like the current Canucks home jersey. The white lines are too thin. Most people seem to have no problem with the jersey template though, but it's annoyed me for about 9 seasons now.

 

Which is why I continue to maintain that their 40th anniversary throwbacks were, template-wise, the best thing they've ever worn.

[Bayne]

6 hours ago, worcat said:

I agree. I'd rather have a strong design that the fan base loves than change the uniform every 5 years to boost sales. I could see a solid uniform set that works instead every year fans may purchase a new jersey of a different player opposed to purchasing a different jersey from a reboot. 

 

I never implied that I thought they should be making changes to boots merchandise sales, I'm just wondering why they don't. You see it all over in European football for example and other leagues around the world. Teams flogging off new kits and jerseys every couple of years just because that's what seems to be the norm.

[hockey week]

48 minutes ago, Bayne said:

 

I never implied that I thought they should be making changes to boots merchandise sales, I'm just wondering why they don't. You see it all over in European football for example and other leagues around the world. Teams flogging off new kits and jerseys every couple of years just because that's what seems to be the norm.

 

As a Pens fan, it feels like there's always a new uniform, something new for everyone to buy. Based on how they switched up jerseys right after back to back cups and wanted to go with four jerseys, the Penguins completely get what you're saying and try to do that. 

 

But I had a moment of realization when they first brought back those 91 throwbacks, watching the players and associating the modern numbers with the ones I knew when I was a kid, and I realized that this is what Canadiens fans must feel like, seeing the same jerseys as you saw when you were a kid, just different numbers, there's a real continuity and it was really cool.

 

I think, and I'm just spitballing, that keeping the same brand for a long long time encourages people to spend a little more and get the personalized jerseys with a player on the back. They know the jersey isn't going to change, so they should go the extra bit. Sure, the team doesn't bring in the bunches of fans buying new blank jerseys, but they're probably making that up through the customized sales. People who simply want something different start spilling into other things, practice jerseys and fashion jerseys and the like. It's a longer play of getting enough people to get premium products rather than encourage the bunches of people to buy the basic product

[Bayne]

I definitely think that in the long term, maintaining a consistent brand does result in stronger sales. Consistency and integrity, equals commitment and trust. 

 

However I'm not necessarily talking about major-scale changes. I just mean things like adjusting the template, or the striping pattern or the collar, etc. Nothing too drastic to the point where the brand identity has been compromised, but just enough to inject a small bit of freshness into the look. That's mainly what I'm talking about.

 

I don't think that teams doing this would be rewarded with a huge swath of fans buying the new, slightly different jersey (though, as I said, it happens in European football) but it would encourage a trickle-on effect where people are more justified with eventually purchasing a new jersey to replace their older one, and most likely be inclined to do it more often than they would if the jersey never changed.

 

Just thinking like a sports marketing person, not as a fan who would like to see this happen. I like consistency, which is why I don't like my team's history, however fair play to them sticking with a jersey for almost 10 years now (even though I'm not really a fan of it).

[hockey week]

I don't think a lot of people notice the smaller stuff. The Canadiens going to a lace-up collar is probably the lower threshold on change, and even then, I would guess at least half the fans have no idea there was a change. Anything below that, like changes to number styles or small striping issues (I remember talking about how I wanted the pre-edge Minnesota Wild red jersey, and a bunch of people had no idea there was a difference. Even side by side, some people thought it was really minor.) it would be little more than giving the die-hard fans a way to identify which "vintage" of jersey it was...and the costs to change things (everything from the patterns used to make the jersey to illustrations in promotional materials would be subject to changes, which all have costs) would probably be more than what was made.

 

Changes would have to be somewhat big, or else it's not worth it. If it's too big, you lose any long-term credibility. If it's too small, the audience you're trying to hit doesn't notice. I think the sweet spot is too small to be something done often. After all, how many people realize just how many versions of the Senators' black jerseys were used, and those changes aren't all that subtle.

[Chewbacca]

With the Panthers unveiling their new uniforms next week, is there anything else that is now known about the new uniforms? Also, any word on the Leafs? That is the one jersey change I am really looking forward to seeing.

[chcarlson23]

8 hours ago, Chewbacca said:

With the Panthers unveiling their new uniforms next week, is there anything else that is now known about the new uniforms? Also, any word on the Leafs? That is the one jersey change I am really looking forward to seeing.

I thought that the Leafs sweaters were going to be unveiled at the Draft. Maybe it'll be just like the Oilers with McDavid and the Orange Alt... But ya know with Matthews instead...

[Nordiks_19]

Any words on Pittsburgh? Will they unveil their edgified white version of their alternate jersey new away sweater at the draft or after ? (Hopefully before)

[Gold Pinstripes]

On 4/23/2016 at 3:50 PM, _RH_ said:

While I agree that the yellow is preferable to khaki, IMO Pittsburgh's uniforms are overrated.

I know not every striping pattern is going to match, but do these uniforms bother anyone else?  The sleeves, hem, pants, and socks are all different.  Even the numbers on the helmet and back of jersey don't match!

 

I miss these beauties:

Agree with you about the early 2000s Pens uniform, I wish they had kept that style. The current home jersey was based on a 1977 design, only with black and gold replacing dark and light blue in January of 1980. I think Pittsburgh was going for something distinctive, kind of reflecting the era. Success always plays a role in how popular a uniform is remembered, or in this case, brought back. During the first three seasons wearing the black and gold, the Pens were playoff teams, and unexpectedly pushed three huge favorites-Boston, St. Louis, and the Islanders to the brink of elimination. Later, Mario was drafted, and the Pens won back to back Cups in those uniforms, something even Boston hasn't been able to accomplish.

 

I do believe the white road jerseys will be unveiled later, unknown if the gold jersey will be coming back. The gold jersey was only worn for two or three seasons, so they don't have the traction of the others.     

[AstroCree]

Next season is the 90th Anniversary for the Rangers, any word on a special logo for the season?

[SoxSteeler]

On 4/23/2016 at 3:50 PM, _RH_ said:

While I agree that the yellow is preferable to khaki, IMO Pittsburgh's uniforms are overrated.

I know not every striping pattern is going to match, but do these uniforms bother anyone else?  The sleeves, hem, pants, and socks are all different.  Even the numbers on the helmet and back of jersey don't match!

 

I miss these beauties:

i really miss the early 2000 striping pattern. it's a shame the edge jerseys made them go away. I like the throwbacks they're using now and i will be fine if they go back to those full time. I think ideally i'd like to see the early 2000 jersey striping make a come back but with athletic gold. If i knew how i'd mock up a picture with photoshop to see how it'd work. I think it'd look pretty great.  The striping works perfectly with the triangular logo. If anyone has the time and wants to mock one up i'd be appreciative. Anyone else think it'd be a good way to go?

[T-ROY]

8 hours ago, insert name said:

Next season is the 90th Anniversary for the Rangers, any word on a special logo for the season?

 

They celebrate by the 5's so if they were to have done something, it would have been this year

[Kevin W.]

The Sharks' jerseys are far from perfect, but this is a pretty good-looking matchup.

 

It'd be better with the Sharks' previous jerseys, of course. Having yet another patch replace the front number works wonders for the look.

[Walter Sobchak]

3 hours ago, SoxSteeler said:

i really miss the early 2000 striping pattern. it's a shame the edge jerseys made them go away. I like the throwbacks they're using now and i will be fine if they go back to those full time. I think ideally i'd like to see the early 2000 jersey striping make a come back but with athletic gold. If i knew how i'd mock up a picture with photoshop to see how it'd work. I think it'd look pretty great.  The striping works perfectly with the triangular logo. If anyone has the time and wants to mock one up i'd be appreciative. Anyone else think it'd be a good way to go?

 

On March 22, 2015 at 5:54 PM, TorinK92 said:

I like it. The brighter yellow really brings out their identity.

 

[elliott]

^ This would be a great step in the right direction for the Penguins identity.

 

I think the real key for them: how do they use the black and yellow-gold (not khaki) without being too close to the Bruins.

 

 

The good thing about the throwback direction they are going: the yellow sleeves and black socks, compared to the Bruins' yellow shoulders and yellow socks, make them visually separated...

 

The bad thing: As you can see, the yellow-black-white-black-yellow stripes that the Bruins kind of "own" is the same exact stripe on the Penguins throwback socks.

 

Penguins should change the socks to match the waist stripe. However I really love that recolored sidney crosby image above. Looks nothing like the Bruins.

 

It's worth noting that the primarily yellow sleeves of the road uniform the Pens will most likely adopt next season are pretty different than the more black-heavy Bruins white sweaters.

 

 

[Thomas]

On 17/5/2016 at 9:04 PM, Morgo said:

The stripes look way better on the Messier Era whites.  Just needed to change the collar and they'd be perfect.

 

As for Carolina needing to simplify their "storm flag" striping, I simply ask why?  I've yet to see a single, original, concept that managed to improve upon the cup winning look.  Deleting a distinctive, winning look, that had been around for 20 plus years, simply because the owner only tolerates "classic" sweaters is asinine.  Almost as asinine as removing a perfectly good secondary logo to "instil timelessness."  Carolina had a modern classic, now they wear mismatched stock jerseys that wouldn't look out of place on a Wal-Mart discount rack.

For sure, 2006 was a great looking cup champion