2021-2022 NHL Jersey Changes

[FinsUp1214]

The Avs are a very weird case for me this year: I think I got so used to them in the black helmets and shorts that blue looks terribly weird to me, even though I’ll fully admit the black was, in theory, the more mismatched color. I think I’d have rather them worn burgundy helmets and shorts instead, something darker like that may have looked closer to “right” in my head. 
 

I guess it comes down to this: they waited far too long to get rid of the black and should’ve made that change years ago (that, or redesigned the uniforms altogether this go-around). The black got to be too “normal” over the course of time and now my brain can’t calibrate when I see the blue helmets and shorts. 

[adsarebad]

Avs need the black, and bigfoot back on the shoulders.

 

they look really bad now,  like a baby pajamas.

With a curling team logo on the shoulder.

 

They nailed their look on the first try in 1996!

[Survival79]

51 minutes ago, FinsUp1214 said:

The Avs are a very weird case for me this year: I think I got so used to them in the black helmets and shorts that blue looks terribly weird to me, even though I’ll fully admit the black was, in theory, the more mismatched color.

 

This.

 

51 minutes ago, FinsUp1214 said:

I guess it comes down to this: they waited far too long to get rid of the black and should’ve made that change years ago (that, or redesigned the uniforms altogether this go-around). The black got to be too “normal” over the course of time and now my brain can’t calibrate when I see the blue helmets and shorts. 

 

And this.

[gosioux76]

1 hour ago, FinsUp1214 said:

The Avs are a very weird case for me this year: I think I got so used to them in the black helmets and shorts that blue looks terribly weird to me, even though I’ll fully admit the black was, in theory, the more mismatched color. I think I’d have rather them worn burgundy helmets and shorts instead, something darker like that may have looked closer to “right” in my head. 
 

I guess it comes down to this: they waited far too long to get rid of the black and should’ve made that change years ago (that, or redesigned the uniforms altogether this go-around). The black got to be too “normal” over the course of time and now my brain can’t calibrate when I see the blue helmets and shorts. 

Yes, I came to a similar conclusion. Perhaps it’s not that the black looks better, but that it came to look normal. The tough part of this is that it makes me think the light blue and burgundy simply don’t work together, which clearly shouldn’t be the case.

[DEAD!]

2 hours ago, FinsUp1214 said:

The Avs are a very weird case for me this year: I think I got so used to them in the black helmets and shorts that blue looks terribly weird to me, even though I’ll fully admit the black was, in theory, the more mismatched color. I think I’d have rather them worn burgundy helmets and shorts instead, something darker like that may have looked closer to “right” in my head. 
 

I guess it comes down to this: they waited far too long to get rid of the black and should’ve made that change years ago (that, or redesigned the uniforms altogether this go-around). The black got to be too “normal” over the course of time and now my brain can’t calibrate when I see the blue helmets and shorts. 

The black helmets and shorts were OK in the early years. I think it made the jersey stand out more  (At least black is one of their colours) But it got lost when the "edge" template came around. 

The current home/burgundy/blue shorts set up is great now, but they need to work on the roads. 

[gsn93]

I didn't like the Avalanche downplaying black in the first place. It was one of those color quirks that worked. The use of black on the uniform was like the glue that hold all the colors together and it complemented the burgundy, blue, and silver well from head to toe. Never really felt out of place with me.

[chcarlson23]

The home sweaters look really nice with the added blue breezers, gloves, and helmet. But the breezers and gloves look really out of place on the road uniform that has almost no blue. The striping really just needs to be fixed and it will look a lot better. If you look at the Avs waist down on the road, the blue breezers work well with the socks, which have blue. But it doesn’t match the rest of the sweater. They should have fixed that first, along with changing the numbers. 
 

The classic striping patter would have been enough to fix everything… Even with blue gear and numbers. 

[ManillaToad]

Avs look pretty good I'd say it was a lateral move

[Cujo]

Flames-Oilers would look so much better..

 

[flyersfan]

The claret and light blue scheme is an elite color combo, but I think the Avs problem is their blue is way too dark. Its normally a sky blue type, and the balance is just off since its almost 2 clashing dark colors. THeyre a weird case, but the Name % logo are elite, and the color is unique to the major 4 in the USA (sans throwbacks from my phillies)

[Cujo]

2 minutes ago, flyersfan said:

the Avs problem is their blue is way too dark. Its normally a sky blue type

 

Avs problem reminds me of Buffalo's dilemma

 

[JTernup]

14 hours ago, Cujo said:

Flames-Oilers would look so much better..

 

I'm sure the bigger hockey fans and traditionalists have different thoughts but for my money that Flames uniform is one of the best in all of sports. Really gorgeous!

 

Totally agree on the Avs, growing up in Colorado but not really following hockey closely I see those blue helmets and breezers and it somehow feels like a different franchise. I never would have guessed how important the black was to the look and feel of the Roy Avalanche teams until it was gone. Even worse, the blue numbers look so out of place on the back of the white sweater.

[wildwing64]

Watching the Flames-Oilers highlights, I feel like I'm seeing more Flames fans in the black C jersey (yet the white C jerseys in the crowd are more noticable) and more Oilers fans in orange.

 

Don't know what the general consensus is between them, but the Oilers going with the navy alternates especially come off as being out of touch with their own fans.

[Ridleylash]

3 hours ago, wildwing64 said:

Don't know what the general consensus is between them, but the Oilers going with the navy alternates especially come off as being out of touch with their own fans.

The Oilers seem poised for a return to royal next year; that's why they're wearing their alts in the playoffs when at home, like how Pittsburgh used their alts to transition into a return to black and athletic gold, or how the Coyotes wore their black Kachina in the playoffs before rebranding.

 

As for Calgary, I'd expect a black C alternate sooner rather than later, with how the organization likes that logo.

[gosioux76]

22 minutes ago, Ridleylash said:

The Oilers seem poised for a return to royal next year; that's why they're wearing their alts in the playoffs when at home, like how Pittsburgh used their alts to transition into a return to black and athletic gold, or how the Coyotes wore their black Kachina in the playoffs before rebranding.

 

I'm not sure I get the logic of this. Not saying it's wrong, I'm just not sure I get the strategy. Like, why would wearing something now — in the most-watched portion of the season — have any bearing on what they will or will not wear next year? Is the idea that they'd squeeze a little more revenue out of something before they drop it next year? 

 

 

[Ridleylash]

20 minutes ago, gosioux76 said:

I'm not sure I get the logic of this. Not saying it's wrong, I'm just not sure I get the strategy. Like, why would wearing something now — in the most-watched portion of the season — have any bearing on what they will or will not wear next year? Is the idea that they'd squeeze a little more revenue out of something before they drop it next year? 

It's because teams can choose the jerseys they wear in the playoffs, so teams who are planning on a rebrand will often use their alt as their home jersey there; especially if their alt's the design they're rebranding to anyways.

 

The Oilers don't have a royal blue jersey in their active rotation, so the navy alternate is as close as they can get to it for this season.

[gosioux76]

3 minutes ago, Ridleylash said:

It's because teams can choose the jerseys they wear in the playoffs, so teams who are planning on a rebrand will often use their alt as their home jersey there; especially if their alt's the design they're rebranding to anyways.

 

The Oilers don't have a royal blue jersey in their active rotation, so the navy alternate is as close as they can get to it for this season.

 

OK, I guess I get it if the plan is to wear an alt that you plan on promoting to a full-time regular the next season. The Oilers one still seems odd to me unless the issue here is a sudden aversion to orange. 

[Sec19Row53]

7 hours ago, JTernup said:

 

Totally agree on the Avs, growing up in Colorado but not really following hockey closely I see those blue helmets and breezers and it somehow feels like a different franchise. I never would have guessed how important the black was to the look and feel of the Roy Avalanche teams until it was gone. Even worse, the blue numbers look so out of place on the back of the white sweater.

I think it's less how important the black is, and more how used to it we are.

 

If we flip it around and the Avs changed to black following 20 years of blue, I think the general consensus here would be of OMG BFBS.

[habsfan1]

The Oilers should have went with the orange jerseys because it would match the Sea of Orange inside and out of Rogers Place.

[spartacat_12]

17 hours ago, gosioux76 said:

I'm not sure I get the logic of this. Not saying it's wrong, I'm just not sure I get the strategy. Like, why would wearing something now — in the most-watched portion of the season — have any bearing on what they will or will not wear next year? Is the idea that they'd squeeze a little more revenue out of something before they drop it next year? 

 

Teams knowing a uniform change is coming might want to look as close to that as possible for the playoffs, even if they can't wear the exact jersey. The Oilers can't wear royal blue in the playoffs, but I guess they think navy is closer to how they plan on looking than orange.

 

The Ducks wore these uniforms at home during the '06 playoffs, right before they dropped the 'Mighty' and switched to different black jerseys with a wordmark on them: