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Calgary Flames Go “Full Retro” with New Uniforms for 2021


Iron Lion

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The article officeglen posted is fascinating.  Here a few snippets that jumped out:
 

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When asked about the 2004-era jersey set the Flames wore during the Cinderella season, featuring red, black, and white jerseys all based on the same uniform template, Popowich agreed that those three uniforms form the “apex” of Flames jersey design. He noted that one of the aims of the marketing team since his arrival in 2016 has been to de-clutter the Flames’ piping-laden Reebok Edge design introduced after the transition away from the 2004 CCM/Koho cut.


So why didn't they?  You'd think the introduction of the Adidas template would have been the perfect opportunity to bring back the 2004 template.  The Avalanche proved that diagonal stripes were possible so it's perplexing why they kept vertical side panels.  On a positive note, this snippet gives me hope that the 2004 red can eventually return as an alternate.  I'm glad the retros have (more or less) sent the clownsuits to the trashbin but they can't hold a candle to what was worn from 2004 to 2007.
 

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Ken obviously wanted the Alberta flag to sort of stick it to Edmonton a little bit, he thought that was funny,” said Popowich. “The other part of the story is, the league actually really pushed back on us putting flags on the jersey, right up to Gary Bettman, himself. He actually phoned Ken and said, ‘that’s not going to happen.’

 

Interesting that Bettman and the league pushed back against the use of the flags.  As bad as their RBK template was, the Alberta clash-flag was what really sent the Flames to bottom of the league aesthetically.  Using such a half-assed excuse for a secondary logo just to stick it to divisional rival was beyond moronic.  Respect for Bettman has definitely gone up.
 

Quote

 

Popowich reiterated that the move to retro branding is totally intended to be permanent for the foreseeable future. But, with the team boasting a large catalogue of retired designs prominently featuring black as both an accent and a primary colour, he noted that a return to the now-shelved shade in future jersey releases is very likely.

“Obviously, right now, clean, simplistic, sort of going back to the past, retro, vintage — all that stuff is very, very popular, and everybody wants that,” Popowich said. “In ten years from now, everyone’s going to be talking about bringing back the black “C.” It’s cyclical, that’s just the way it is.”

 


They're already talking about going back to black C. :lol: 
 

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1 hour ago, Morgan33 said:

Interesting that Bettman and the league pushed back against the use of the flags.  As bad as their RBK template was, the Alberta clash-flag was what really sent the Flames to bottom of the league aesthetically.  Using such a half-assed excuse for a secondary logo just to stick it to divisional rival was beyond moronic.  Respect for Bettman has definitely gone up.

 

Agreed.  

 

Much as I hate to admit it.

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21 hours ago, Morgan33 said:

I'm glad the retros have (more or less) sent the clownsuits to the trashbin but they can't hold a candle to what was worn from 2004 to 2007.

 

 

Interesting that Bettman and the league pushed back against the use of the flags.  As bad as their RBK template was, the Alberta clash-flag was what really sent the Flames to bottom of the league aesthetically.  Using such a half-assed excuse for a secondary logo just to stick it to divisional rival was beyond moronic.  Respect for Bettman has definitely gone up.

 

Completely disagree with the retros not holding a candle to the '04-'07 set. The retros, rightfully, own the Flames brand. The Flames are a '72 franchise, '80 franchise as the Calgary Flames. Their true classic look is based on that era...tri-coloured and the striping template. The Original Six influenced the designs that came out in the '67 expansion, going into the 70's and early 80's before overzealous marketing took over in the 90's.

 

Completely agree with you on the ridiculous idea of using the Alberta flag just to stick it to the Oilers. Bettman definitely deserves full kudos for pushing back on the flags. 

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20 hours ago, monkeypower said:

I don't think I've seen this anywhere else yet, but the mothership has the Flames also bringing back the old wordmark. I always liked that wordmark for whatever reason.

 

Should be italicized with the primary functioning as the C in Calgary, and probably the same flames coming off the F as well. Otherwise it's just Helvetica Black, wgaf.

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On 10/6/2020 at 7:05 AM, Ricky_Roby said:

Hurray - though they should drop the black C as their third jersey, it's so out of place now and never made any sense to begin with.

 

The C is on fire, fire isn't black. This shouldn't be that difficult.

 

And a leaf isn't blue.  It's not necessary to be so exact every time.

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2 hours ago, Morgan33 said:

When asked about the 2004-era jersey set the Flames wore during the Cinderella season, featuring red, black, and white jerseys all based on the same uniform template, Popowich agreed that those three uniforms form the “apex” of Flames jersey design.


Someone who agrees with me on this.  You could drop the black on that set and still have some terrific looks.

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On 7/14/2012 at 2:20 AM, tajmccall said:

When it comes to style, ya'll really should listen to Kev.

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23 minutes ago, -kj said:


Someone who agrees with me on this.  You could drop the black on that set and still have some terrific looks.

 

Actually I think most people tend to agree with you on that being one of the Flames' best looks.  It's one of those things that makes me feel like I'm in a bizarro world especially on this site where for the most part people seem to have pretty good taste in design.  I think I hate that triangle/chevron jersey more than any other in Calgary's pre-Edge history.  The chevron pushing up against their round C logo seems awkward and takes up far too much room.  As well, this was the debut of the black C which I think I hate even more.  The removal of the classic hockey stripes for a random and awkward oversized chevron taking up a third of the jersey looked just awful.  I get that there's nostalgia on their mid-2000s cup run but aside from that I can't find a single redeemable thing about this look.  

 

That said, people across the board seem to almost universally love it so I'll be the first to admit I could be missing something.  I'm just glad that they didn't revert to it in the latest update and that for the time being they're back to a clean, classic hockey look.

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I don't mind the originals; I just think the chevrons were better.  But at least they tweaked the colors so that the red and yellow better contrast, making the black unnecessary.  (I do find myself wondering what a double red with yellow would look like, though.)

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On 7/14/2012 at 2:20 AM, tajmccall said:

When it comes to style, ya'll really should listen to Kev.

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I think had the Flames not screwed up the Reebok set so badly, they wouldn't be switching back to the originals.  Same thing with the Coyotes and the Oilers before that.

 

I like the black and thought the pre-edge were superb.  It's been part of their colour scheme for as long as it hasn't.  

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Growing up watching the Flames only play in the red and black, that feels the most right to me. The 04 Cup run set is one of my favorite sets, and the red jersey is one of my favorites in the league. 
 

They definitely should have changed to the 04’ look for the alternate, rather than keeping the Reebok edge home jersey...

"And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10

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19 minutes ago, M4One said:

I think had the Flames not screwed up the Reebok set so badly, they wouldn't be switching back to the originals.  Same thing with the Coyotes and the Oilers before that.

 

I like the black and thought the pre-edge were superb.  It's been part of their colour scheme for as long as it hasn't.  

But why was Black added in the first other than being Black for Black sake? I'm loving this whole what's Old ('80s) is New again trend. It's 2020, the Flames retro (bright colors) uniforms POP on my HDTV screen.

My Pens ditched Black / Yellow Gold for that god awful Vegas Khaki (my St Johns Bay Khaki work pants are the same color "Gold" as my wifes '08 Fleury jersey, which was bought from the Civic Arena Team Store) Beige Gold and it looked Horrible on my HDTV. The Black / Yellow Gold POPS. I just don't get the dark drab colors. Oilers Royal Blue / Orange POPS, the Navy / Orange is just meh

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1 hour ago, Fitzy0220 said:

But why was Black added in the first other than being Black for Black sake? I'm loving this whole what's Old ('80s) is New again trend. It's 2020, the Flames retro (bright colors) uniforms POP on my HDTV screen.

My Pens ditched Black / Yellow Gold for that god awful Vegas Khaki (my St Johns Bay Khaki work pants are the same color "Gold" as my wifes '08 Fleury jersey, which was bought from the Civic Arena Team Store) Beige Gold and it looked Horrible on my HDTV. The Black / Yellow Gold POPS. I just don't get the dark drab colors. Oilers Royal Blue / Orange POPS, the Navy / Orange is just meh

 

Because that was what all the cool teams were doing.  I don't really care that it was added in as long as it looks good.

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I just think that most of this league is doing what all leagues should do. GO BACK TO THEIR IDENTITIES. Most of them are better than the BS when changes were made(and money grabs). I think with the Flames going back to their original identity and the Senators close along with the Penguins(I know they started ice blue), The Original 6, Sharks, Blues, Islanders etc. That being said, the expansion explosion that started in the late to early 90's have had a tough time or succeeded in creating an identity, have changed their uniforms a few times. I'm just glad the NHL is not like the NBA having 50 different uniforms for one year, then changing uniforms again the next year.

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49 minutes ago, EddieJ1984 said:

Ok, time for the flyers to go back to their 80s/90s set and all will be right.

Nah the Flyers are just about perfect, barring a little collar change on the road jersey. They’re in “their look”. An alternate for the black 90’s jersey would be nice though. 
 

3 hours ago, Fitzy0220 said:

But why was Black added in the first other than being Black for Black sake? I'm loving this whole what's Old ('80s) is New again trend. It's 2020, the Flames retro (bright colors) uniforms POP on my HDTV screen.

I think the beauty in the set from ‘03 to ‘07 is that the yellow, especially on the red home jerseys just popped in contrast to the black. The yellow needed a darker base to be able to shine a little more. I think that’s why the Flames are one of the only teams that got the BFBS right. It really did look good, and had at least some thought out intentionality. While the retro/current look is fantastic and classic hockey for sure, the black really grounded the color scheme, and it complemented it really well. 
 

I am also glad at least something from the black era is sticking around. The black “C” is a fantastic logo. While they picked the wrong jersey, it was a good decision to keep some of the black around. 

"And those who know Your Name put their trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You." Psalms 9:10

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7 hours ago, steve61 said:

Actually I think most people tend to agree with you on that being one of the Flames' best looks.  It's one of those things that makes me feel like I'm in a bizarro world especially on this site where for the most part people seem to have pretty good taste in design.  I think I hate that triangle/chevron jersey more than any other in Calgary's pre-Edge history. 


I don't agree with this take but I'm glad you posted it because I feel like I'm living in bizarro world anytime I see people on here praising the retro's.  To me, they just seem like a dated holdover from the Atlanta Flames that give little consideration to contrast & consistency.  A good uniform set should have a striping configuration that works seamlessly on both the coloured and white versions.  This set can't manage that due to contrast issues from a colour scheme that is simply too bright.  I also don't understand why the hem stripes are significantly larger on the home jersey and not on the road, nor do I understand why one jersey has a shoulder yoke and the other doesn't.
 

34 minutes ago, chcarlson23 said:

I think the beauty in the set from ‘03 to ‘07 is that the yellow, especially on the red home jerseys just popped in contrast to the black. The yellow needed a darker base to be able to shine a little more. I think that’s why the Flames are one of the only teams that got the BFBS right.

 

This.

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6 hours ago, chcarlson23 said:

Nah the Flyers are just about perfect, barring a little collar change on the road jersey. They’re in “their look”. An alternate for the black 90’s jersey would be nice though. 

 

I'd wager that the majority of fans would say that "their look" is what they wore for 20+ years in the 80s/90s.

 

The black jerseys were the worst ever.  Too much black, too little orange.  Looked like you were watching black and white TV.

 

 

91l55hjLmbL._AC_SX425_.jpg  spt_flyerspic11_05-11-2004_JS1HK93.jpg

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7 hours ago, EddieJ1984 said:

Ok, time for the flyers to go back to their 80s/90s set and all will be right.

I actually like the current set more. I grew up loving those late-80s teams but strangely, I don't have a lot of nostalgia for them.

 

If they went back to them, I wouldn't hate it but I think it would be a lateral move, at best.

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