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

[WSU151]

5 minutes ago, BBTV said:

 

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.

 

 

  

 

These are my favorite Flyers jerseys.

 

Sleeves are great. 

 

The black captain and alternate marks were way better on the white jersey than the current white letters. 

 

No silly contrasting nameplates. 

[BBTV]

The current orange is way too bright.  If they go back to the 80s but keep the current orange, it would be a disaster.

 

Baaaaaaaaaack to the Flames...

 

When I was a boy in elementary school, a kid in my class had a customized Flames jersey which was super strange because in those days, it was nealy impossible to find non-local jerseys for sale.  Outside of Flyers, there was one place that I knew of that sold Penguins jerseys, and one that had Rangers/Devils gear, but that was it.  I have no idea how the hell he got the Flames one.   We're talking late '80s.  I was jealous a f, not because I cared about the Flames, but it was a super cool sweater and he had something that nobody else did.  It's a great uniform, and while the '04 set is my favorite, it's nice to see it back.

[JayMac]

 

8 minutes ago, BBTV said:

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

 

Then, probably the worst move of all, they became the primary away uniform. A franchise that has been known as orange and black became more of a black and orange team.

[JayMac]

1 minute ago, BBTV said:

The current orange is way too bright.  If they go back to the 80s but keep the current orange, it would be a disaster.

 

Baaaaaaaaaack to the Flames...

 

When I was a boy in elementary school, a kid in my class had a customized Flames jersey which was super strange because in those days, it was nealy impossible to find non-local jerseys for sale.  Outside of Flyers, there was one place that I knew of that sold Penguins jerseys, and one that had Rangers/Devils gear, but that was it.  I have no idea how the hell he got the Flames one.   We're talking late '80s.

Probably because the Flames won the cup in the late 80s.

[BBTV]

1 minute ago, JayMac said:

 

Then, probably the worst move of all, they became the primary away uniform. A franchise that has been known as orange and black became more of a black and orange team.

 

You mean "black and white".

 

Just now, JayMac said:

Probably because the Flames won the cup in the late 80s.

 

The reason for it was because our intramural floor hockey teams were named for NHL teams (mine was the Jets and his was the Flames) but I made my mom go to every store in every mall in the area and we couldn't find it, and goddamit if I was going to ask.  I think the most "obscure" jersey I found was a Canadiens one.

 

This might have been before the Flames won the cup (or maybe same year, don't remember) but I don't think that would have any impact on anyone selling their jerseys.  Sports merch just wasn't that big a thing (though I'll admit that hockey jerseys were probably the most worn jersey of all the sports back then, maybe even more than football.)

[JayMac]

3 minutes ago, BBTV said:

The reason for it was because our intramural floor hockey teams were named for NHL teams (mine was the Jets and his was the Flames) but I made my mom go to every store in every mall in the area and we couldn't find it, and goddamit if I was going to ask.  I think the most "obscure" jersey I found was a Canadiens one.

 

This might have been before the Flames won the cup (or maybe same year, don't remember) but I don't think that would have any impact on anyone selling their jerseys.  Sports merch just wasn't that big a thing (though I'll admit that hockey jerseys were probably the most worn jersey of all the sports back then, maybe even more than football.)

Trying to find non-local team merchandise in the 80s into the early 90s was like a quest for the holy grail. We had a place in the Cherry Hill mall (which you may be familiar with) back then that carried football jerseys of non-local NFL teams. It was an amazing sight. Things have changed so much.

[Gothamite]

1 hour ago, BBTV said:

Sports merch just wasn't that big a thing (though I'll admit that hockey jerseys were probably the most worn jersey of all the sports back then, maybe even more than football.)

 

Really?  That's amazing to me.  Hockey jerseys were always among the most obscure, ahead only of basketball.  But that probably shouldn't count; among the actual shirts, hockey always lagged behind baseball and football.  Even when the Rangers were good and the Islanders were legendary, I don't recall seeing that many sweaters around town.

[Ridleylash]

16 hours ago, VancouverFan69 said:

Completely disagree with the '04-'07 set not holding a candle to the retros. 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.

I dunno, there's a loooooot of demand for Blasty to return, and I've seen a fair number of Flames fans clamouring for both the '04 red jerseys and the old black alts with Blasty on the front as alternate jerseys now. That doesn't seem like the retros have ownership of the brand.

 

Personally, I think that '04 set is the peak of the Flames aesthetic; give that a white C on the red jersey and I think it's a superb look, practically unmatched amongst the library of Flames jerseys. The retros are good, too, but to say there's no look that holds a candle to the retros is just wrong.

[Gothamite]

I'm always wary of extrapolating from "this opinion exists online" to "there is any significant number of people who actually think this".

[chcarlson23]

4 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

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.

 

 

  

These definitely could be the more classic look according to more people, I don’t actually know. And as for a black jersey well it would just be a better alternate jersey than the current black one that they have.

[VancouverFan69]

3 hours ago, Ridleylash said:

I dunno, there's a loooooot of demand for Blasty to return, and I've seen a fair number of Flames fans clamouring for both the '04 red jerseys and the old black alts with Blasty on the front as alternate jerseys now. That doesn't seem like the retros have ownership of the brand.

 

Personally, I think that '04 set is the peak of the Flames aesthetic; give that a white C on the red jersey and I think it's a superb look, practically unmatched amongst the library of Flames jerseys. The retros are good, too, but to say there's no look that holds a candle to the retros is just wrong.

 

If the Flames were 2000 franchise and not a 1972/1980 franchise, I would agree.

 

I never once dismissed Blasty the Flaming Horse. Matter of fact, if I were designing the Flames' future alternate, I would make Blasty the primary crest on the exact same red sweater with the '04-'07 template and add the white Flaming C from '94-2000 to the shoulders. It would be the Flames' version of the Rangers' Liberty sweaters.

[BBTV]

8 hours ago, Gothamite said:

 

Really?  That's amazing to me.  Hockey jerseys were always among the most obscure, ahead only of basketball.  But that probably shouldn't count; among the actual shirts, hockey always lagged behind baseball and football.  Even when the Rangers were good and the Islanders were legendary, I don't recall seeing that many sweaters around town.

 

Flyers jerseys were everywhere when I was in grade school.  Various brands... including store branded.  I remember when I got my first one (CCM solid-polyester) it bothered the hell out of 10-year-old me that the crest had a thin black outline around it when the gamers didn't, and I took scissors and tried to very carefully trim it, only to end up with a jersey with a very raggedy-looking crest that I was ashamed to wear.

 

Even once merch started to get much bigger, you'd see a lot more Eagles jerseys (mostly Russell, but back then anyone with a license could make them) but still lots of Flyers.  

 

It was kind of a "thing" to get a hockey jersey if you happened to come across one that wasn't Flyers (or their rival).  One dude showed up with a LA Kings (first silver/black one) and wouldn't tell anyone where he got it and it pissed lots of us off (not that our parents would ever have gotten it for us.) 

[Fitzy0220]

17 hours ago, EddieJ1984 said:

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

I agree, as much as I have to hate the Flyers (being a Pittsburgher and all) but I loved their 80s look

[Sec19Row53]

44 minutes ago, Fitzy0220 said:

I agree, as much as I have to hate the Flyers (being a Pittsburgher and all) but I loved their 80s look

You're from Pittsburgh?

[/sarcasm]

[dannykraft]

10 hours ago, BBTV said:

 

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.

 

 

  

As a flyers fan I think their current look is more "Their look"

[Kramerica Industries]

Maybe this is my own wanna-have nostalgia talking, but as an occasional throwback, I really wouldn't mind seeing these on the ice again at some point.

 

 

There's the uniqueness factor, which isn't always something to use as a selling point, but I low-key kinda like the "C on a pedestal" optic created by that.

[steve61]

17 minutes ago, Kramerica Industries said:

Maybe this is my own wanna-have nostalgia talking, but as an occasional throwback, I really wouldn't mind seeing these on the ice again at some point.

 

 

There's the uniqueness factor, which isn't always something to use as a selling point, but I low-key kinda like the "C on a pedestal" optic created by that.

 

Beats the hell out of "Blasty".  Which of course means they'll never do it

[Ridleylash]

22 minutes ago, steve61 said:

Beats the hell out of "Blasty".  Which of course means they'll never do it

They'll never do it because that set encapsulates the height of the franchise's lame years, and it wasn't long after Iginla came in that Blasty was introduced as the third and then quickly overtook the Pedestal set as the primary look of the Flames. Blasty, as both the team's dark jersey and their third, coincides with their rise back to prominence and Iginla's peak; a lot more fond memories to capture there as opposed to the memories of a seven-year playoff drought and financial turmoil the Pedestals tend to conjure.

 

You don't really see Boston throwing back to the Pooh Bear for similar reasons; teams generally don't throw back to looks they were wearing when they were terrible. You might get away with throwing back to the Fisherman because of how much of a meme it is within the Islanders fanbase and because the team is good right now, but I don't think the Pedestals are that kind of memetic "so bad, it's good" type of jersey.

[steve61]

1 hour ago, Ridleylash said:

They'll never do it because that set encapsulates the height of the franchise's lame years, and it wasn't long after Iginla came in that Blasty was introduced as the third and then quickly overtook the Pedestal set as the primary look of the Flames. Blasty, as both the team's dark jersey and their third, coincides with their rise back to prominence and Iginla's peak; a lot more fond memories to capture there as opposed to the memories of a seven-year playoff drought and financial turmoil the Pedestals tend to conjure.

 

You don't really see Boston throwing back to the Pooh Bear for similar reasons; teams generally don't throw back to looks they were wearing when they were terrible. You might get away with throwing back to the Fisherman because of how much of a meme it is within the Islanders fanbase and because the team is good right now, but I don't think the Pedestals are that kind of memetic "so bad, it's good" type of jersey.

 

I get that people like to associate taste with nostalgia but I prefer to keep it objective.  If a team wins a championship in a terrible jersey it doesn't make me any fonder of said design.  I remember "Blasty" when it first came out and thought it looked fresh and new at the time.  I might have even preferred it to the tradional C's back then I can't remember.  My tastes have definitely changed/evolved over the years so I can absolutely understand why others would wish for its return.  I just prefer clean, classic designs in hockey jerseys especially from pre-90s teams.  

[nash61]