2021-2022 NHL Jersey Changes

[RyanMcD29]

It's the run of the mill stealth style jersey that's been used by a few teams, but it seems to work with that red. I wouldn't promote it to alternate status but it's fine for the Stadium Series

[spartacat_12]

On 6/5/2021 at 8:28 PM, Ridleylash said:

Also, I think this is the first time the Canes have ever had an alternate jersey without any white on it at all? Which is pretty neat, given how long they've been around in the NHL.

 

They've been around a while, but they've only had 2 different alternate jerseys (not counting the Whaler looks), so it isn't too crazy.

 

I definitely like this font, and wouldn't mind seeing it on the rest of the set. I have always thought the Canes could pull off a grey alternate jersey.

[habsfan1]

The Avs switching the black pants to blue was the right call. The new look has grown on me for a few reasons that I noticed.

 

The original jerseys had thick dual outlines around the arm stripes. Black pants combined with burgundy jersey base, blue arms, and white numbers balanced out all the colors:

 

 

The whites had color balance too:

 

 

The new ones have singular outlines:

 

 

 

The blue on the homes might be a bit excessive and not quite perfect, depending on the amount of lighting in the photograph. But with a light enough burgundy and a slightly darker steel blue, it works quite well. The whites look much better cause with the black shells, they looked like a burgundy and black team with almost no blue whatsever.

[GFB]

The problem with the Avs elimination of black is that the shades of blue and red have very similar levels of brightness; there's almost no contrast between the two.

 

To illustrate this, I'll use these desaturated photos. When you had black in the color scheme, the white and silver were the light-tones, the red and blue acted as mid-tones, and the black acted as your dark tones. While unconventional, black equipment balanced the uniforms out because there's almost no dark tones on the sweater outside of the hockey pucks in the logos.

 

 

Once you remove black from the color scheme, the entire uniform is solely midtones and highlights. Other teams pull off "no dark colors" looks well enough, so that isn't entirely the problem, but because there's almost zero contrast between the brightness levels of the blue and the red, there's something jarring and a bit off about it.

 

 

I'll be honest that the black equipment never bothered me and I much prefer it to the current blue equipment, but if the team was going to eliminate black, the better course of action  would have been meeting in the middle of the black and current blue by using the navy the team had been using as an alternate...

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

[SCL]

53 minutes ago, habsfan1 said:

The Avs switching the black pants to blue was the right call. The new look has grown on me for a few reasons that I noticed.

 

The original jerseys had thick dual outlines around the arm stripes. Black pants combined with burgundy jersey base, blue arms, and white numbers balanced out all the colors:

 

 

The whites had color balance too:

 

 

The new ones have singular outlines:

 

 

 

The blue on the homes might be a bit excessive and not quite perfect, depending on the amount of lighting in the photograph. But with a light enough burgundy and a slightly darker steel blue, it works quite well. The whites look much better cause with the black shells, they looked like a burgundy and black team with almost no blue whatsever.

The white with blue is one of the single worst looks in the NHL, just atrocious.

[Ridleylash]

24 minutes ago, GFB said:

The problem with the Avs elimination of black is that the shades of blue and red have very similar levels of brightness; there's almost no contrast between the two.

 

To illustrate this, I'll use these desaturated photos. When you had black in the color scheme, the white and silver were the light-tones, the red and blue acted as mid-tones, and the black acted as your dark tones. While unconventional, black equipment balanced the uniforms out because there's almost no dark tones on the sweater outside of the hockey pucks in the logos.

 

 

Once you remove black from the color scheme, the entire uniform is solely midtones and highlights. Other teams pull off "no dark colors" looks well enough, so that isn't entirely the problem, but because there's almost zero contrast between the brightness levels of the blue and the red, there's something jarring and a bit off about it.

 

 

I'll be honest that the black equipment never bothered me and I much prefer it to the current blue equipment, but if the team was going to eliminate black, the better course of action  would have been meeting in the middle of the black and current blue by using the navy the team had been using as an alternate...

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

I mean, there's other uniforms that have a similar thing going on that people love;

The black and purple here don't contrast very much in a B+W image, but the Coyotes' RR is considered one of the best of the entire program.

 

Heck, you want a really egregious case of having nothing but midtones and highlights in a primary jersey, look at the Rangers' home set;

If you showed this to someone with no knowledge of the Rangers' uniform, would they even be able to guess that this was a team wearing red pants over a blue jersey and blue socks?

[habsfan1]

1 hour ago, GFB said:

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

 

Maybe it's all the bright lights over the ice from regular hockey games. The Avs colors do look slightly off, when that steel blue sometimes is too close to royal and it somehow darkens the burgundy.

 

Either that or the Avs colors are just a tad bit off. Colorado doesn't look horrible. Maybe not straight up navy. But they might be a few shade adjustments away from getting it just right.

[GFB]

@Ridleylash

 

My post was specifically about the conflict of the Avs colors and not establishing a rule™ that you had to have all three tones to have a good uniform (in fact, I noted the opposite).  I really like both the uniforms you shared, but those two color schemes have a few different dynamics going on.

 

First, here's the HSB scale that I'm using (in case you're unfamiliar with it):

 

Arizona's purple might not contrast with black on the brightness scale, but it certainly does on the saturation scale (the purple being heavily saturated and the black, not at all). The Rangers are a closer comparison, but the rich saturation of the royal blue and bright red helps push the two shades further away from one another. With Colorado, both red and blue shades are a "closer" distance from another because neither shade is close to fully saturated (I'm using Pantone values via TruColor here):

 

 

(black line is Colorado, white line is New York)

 

Perhaps the closest comparison I could make for Avs would be Minnesota, but that's another franchise that has struggled to balance their dark green and red colors over the course of their history.  

 

However I will say that the area where both the Rangers and Wild pass the Avalanche is that both teams use the less-bright color in their palette for the helmets (Colorado's burgundy is about 15% darker than the blue).

 

If New York or Minnesota used red helmets, I think most people would agree that would look really off.

[andrewharrington]

7 hours ago, GFB said:

The problem with the Avs elimination of black is that the shades of blue and red have very similar levels of brightness; there's almost no contrast between the two.

 

To illustrate this, I'll use these desaturated photos. When you had black in the color scheme, the white and silver were the light-tones, the red and blue acted as mid-tones, and the black acted as your dark tones. While unconventional, black equipment balanced the uniforms out because there's almost no dark tones on the sweater outside of the hockey pucks in the logos.

 

 

Once you remove black from the color scheme, the entire uniform is solely midtones and highlights. Other teams pull off "no dark colors" looks well enough, so that isn't entirely the problem, but because there's almost zero contrast between the brightness levels of the blue and the red, there's something jarring and a bit off about it.

 

 

I'll be honest that the black equipment never bothered me and I much prefer it to the current blue equipment, but if the team was going to eliminate black, the better course of action  would have been meeting in the middle of the black and current blue by using the navy the team had been using as an alternate...

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

I came to a similar conclusion once their alternate uniform came out; pairing it down to burgundy, navy, and white is my favorite path. There’s something so fresh, crisp, and cold about this color scheme, and I totally think it would translate well to the home/road and logos. It evokes the concept of high altitude and snow much better than the medium blue and silver, in my opinion.

 

[CreamSoda]

1 hour ago, andrewharrington said:

I came to a similar conclusion once their alternate uniform came out; pairing it down to burgundy, navy, and white is my favorite path. There’s something so fresh, crisp, and cold about this color scheme, and I totally think it would translate well to the home/road and logos. It evokes the concept of high altitude and snow much better than the medium blue and silver, in my opinion.

 

 

that uniform is too dark for me.  I personally think it looks better with the slate blue. 

[CreamSoda]

8 hours ago, GFB said:

The problem with the Avs elimination of black is that the shades of blue and red have very similar levels of brightness; there's almost no contrast between the two.

 

To illustrate this, I'll use these desaturated photos. When you had black in the color scheme, the white and silver were the light-tones, the red and blue acted as mid-tones, and the black acted as your dark tones. While unconventional, black equipment balanced the uniforms out because there's almost no dark tones on the sweater outside of the hockey pucks in the logos.

 

 

Once you remove black from the color scheme, the entire uniform is solely midtones and highlights. Other teams pull off "no dark colors" looks well enough, so that isn't entirely the problem, but because there's almost zero contrast between the brightness levels of the blue and the red, there's something jarring and a bit off about it.

 

 

I'll be honest that the black equipment never bothered me and I much prefer it to the current blue equipment, but if the team was going to eliminate black, the better course of action  would have been meeting in the middle of the black and current blue by using the navy the team had been using as an alternate...

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

I always hated how dark Colorado looked with the black equipment.  On the road they just had no color.  
 

The lighter blue equipment really livens the whole look up.   The Navy is just too dark and would have the same colorless feel as black did on TV. 

[Bruins]

I hated the Avs' pants change on both the home and road uniforms when they were rolled out and while the home uniforms have grown on me purely aesthetically speaking, I feel guilty about liking them.

 

There are just so many reasons to dislike the steel blue pants, even if they are/were technically sound.

Firstly, the roads are just a mess optically now, and it feels like the pants and jersey are fighting for primary point of focus. That's for sure due to @GFB's point about saturation. Additionally, the Rangers and Blue Jackets, two teams with rather flashy road pants akin to these steel blues, sidestep Colorado's point of focus issues because New York limits the amount of similarly-saturated blue on their jerseys, and Columbus uses navy yes, but more importantly keeps their blue off of the waist. The Av's road unis do pretty much nothing right when it comes to color balance basically.

 

As far as the homes go, I hate how the steel blue pants completely change the attitude of the uniforms. They went from a very dark, serious mood to a bright and almost friendly one. A totally unnecessary change, and a shame too because their uniforms had aged rarely well. 

 

 @GFB's navy mockup is actually a shockingly good solution, where do I sign on those.

 

[Morgan33]

On 6/1/2021 at 7:47 AM, speedy said:

My only gripe with the current set (other than the blasphemous black socks) is the white jersey's striping pattern. If they stuck with with the classic yellow/black/white/black/yellow this current set would be perfection.

I think what the Bruins released in 2007 was perfection...  They took the basic look of the 'Bobby Orr' set and refined it into a modern classic with a much-improved iteration of the Spoked-B, and the best shoulder patches in the history of the franchise.  The jerseys took a slight hit during the conversion to Adidas but they're still just some yellow-socks away from greatness.  

I'm surprised they're moving away from this look, especially since it has a cup behind it and the proposed replacement doesn't.

[andrewharrington]

2 hours ago, CreamSoda said:

 

that uniform is too dark for me.  I personally think it looks better with the slate blue. 

Sure, but flipping the balance so the burgundy is dominant brightens it up a whole lot, as @GFB demonstrated on the home uni up there.

[Bayne]

17 hours ago, GFB said:

The problem with the Avs elimination of black is that the shades of blue and red have very similar levels of brightness; there's almost no contrast between the two.

 

To illustrate this, I'll use these desaturated photos. When you had black in the color scheme, the white and silver were the light-tones, the red and blue acted as mid-tones, and the black acted as your dark tones. While unconventional, black equipment balanced the uniforms out because there's almost no dark tones on the sweater outside of the hockey pucks in the logos.

 

 

Once you remove black from the color scheme, the entire uniform is solely midtones and highlights. Other teams pull off "no dark colors" looks well enough, so that isn't entirely the problem, but because there's almost zero contrast between the brightness levels of the blue and the red, there's something jarring and a bit off about it.

 

 

I'll be honest that the black equipment never bothered me and I much prefer it to the current blue equipment, but if the team was going to eliminate black, the better course of action  would have been meeting in the middle of the black and current blue by using the navy the team had been using as an alternate...

 

 

The contrast is much easier on the eyes here in my opinion, others might disagree. Personally, I'd hate to lose the Avs current shade of blue for another generic navy team, but I do think it's a better solution to accomplish what the Avs were attempting to do.

 That last pic looks more like the Avs to me. Would be a nice solution to the whole black thing. The jerseys they have this year (and their whites for the last few years) have always looked to me like they're unfinished. 

[Digby]

On 6/1/2021 at 9:47 AM, speedy said:

 

My only gripe with the current set (other than the blasphemous black socks) is the white jersey's striping pattern. If they stuck with with the classic yellow/black/white/black/yellow this current set would be perfection. Especially after they went to a single color outline on the names/numbers.

 

Those jerseys above are far and way my favorite set the Bruins ever wore, but those were Ray Bourque's Bruins. The current sent has such a strong tie to this generation of players and success I'd like to see them kept around for as long as this core remains intact, however long that may be.

This is kinda how I feel — the Bruins have really done a great job over the years of regularly tweaking their look without ever screwing it up completely. (Short-lived alts don’t count, lucky for Pooh Bear.) They’ve never really gone full throwback as a full brand and I like that. The 70s/80s logo and uniforms are easily my personal favorites, but the new yellow retro scratches that itch enough for me without having to change the whole brand — would rather that be a permanent fauxback alt than any of the parade of useless extra black sweaters they’ve used.

 

Feels like any change would be just to juice merch sales, especially with the current roster of broadly popular players still around. Plus the current look has a cup but the retro look has Happy Gilmore, so a wash there.

[WSU151]

I touched on this a few pages ago; I think going back to the more simplified wheel-and-spokes with the modern B would look great. NBCSN kind of hints at what it would look like in the studio graphics, when their digital effects "wash" over the current logo.  Going back to the yellow wheel and B on the black jerseys and black wheel and B on the home jerseys would be a good move, IMO, as teams embrace retro looks.  

 

There are a lot of outlines on the current spokes. It's not a bad logo by any means, but it could definitely be cleaned up a bit.  

 

And @andrewharringtonor @ebod39 haven't really confirmed the changes, so I'm still thinking it's only a rumor until the team unveils it. 

[JW83]

I just wish the Leafs would go back to their classic three-stripe socks and double stripe pattern at the bottom of their jerseys. Then the current set would be "set". 

 

Perhaps throw in the blue shoulder yoke on the road whites too. 

[pepis21]

More Canes Stadium Series jersey photos via Icethetics:

https://www.icethetics.com/news/leak-reveals-stadium-series-jersey-for-hurricanes

 

I'm not sure but numbers are very similar to these from Whalers retro so it might be a modification of them.

[VancouverFan69]

3 hours ago, JW83 said:

I just wish the Leafs would go back to their classic three-stripe socks and double stripe pattern at the bottom of their jerseys. Then the current set would be "set". 

 

Definitely throw in the blue shoulder yoke on the road whites too. 

 

110%.