2023-24 NHL Jersey Changes

[Mr. Krabs]

3 hours ago, PlayGloria said:

 

I wonder what the odds are that they eventually move to some version of these as their full time set? I'm not saying they should, but this is how it starts many times. 

Possible unpopular opinion: I hope they DO NOT MAKE THESE THEIR FULL-TIME UNIFORMS. The current color scheme and logo, which the Minnesota Wild have used since Day 1 of the franchise (October 6, 2000), beautifully fits the description of forests and wilderness. I like the newly-minted alternate uniforms and they're a nice and colorfully vibrant homage to the North Stars, but they belong in the regular season and up to 15 times a year. This is the Minnesota WILD, not North Stars, and as such, the abstract bear head/forest scenery logo should never be altered or changed on a full-time basis.

[tBBP]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Krabs said:

Possible unpopular opinion: I hope they DO NOT MAKE THESE THEIR FULL-TIME UNIFORMS. The current color scheme and logo, which the Minnesota Wild have used since Day 1 of the franchise (October 6, 2000), beautifully fits the description of forests and wilderness. I like the newly-minted alternate uniforms and they're a nice and colorfully vibrant homage to the North Stars, but they belong in the regular season and up to 15 times a year. This is the Minnesota WILD, not North Stars, and as such, the abstract bear head/forest scenery logo should never be altered or changed on a full-time basis.

 

I second this.

[SFGiants58]

The thing is, I get why people might find the Wild's main identity "tired" now. Dark green and red can read as a bit dreary-looking, especially when the home and road jersey don't take full advantage of the color scheme. The bright green and yellow look comparatively more inviting - "happy colors," if you will. North Stars nostalgia too plays a role, but much of the appeal is the aesthetic appeal of "happy colors."

 

Adding black to the scheme would just mess it up into an over-detailed mess, as it did for the North Stars.

[chcarlson23]

14 minutes ago, SFGiants58 said:

The thing is, I get why people might find the Wild's main identity "tired" now. Dark green and red can read as a bit dreary-looking, especially when the home and road jersey don't take full advantage of the color scheme. The bright green and yellow look comparatively more inviting - "happy colors," if you will. North Stars nostalgia too plays a role, but much of the appeal is the aesthetic appeal of "happy colors."

 

Adding black to the scheme would just mess it up into an over-detailed mess, as it did for the North Stars.

I can understand this as well. Brighter colors are definitely coming back full swing for sports, but I think it would be a shame if the Wild did make the North Stars look the full time look. I love the current forest green, red, and cream color scheme. 
 

They’ve had these colors all 23 years they’ve been around, and while the N-Stars look is a good alternate that honors Minnesota hockey history, I think it’s best kept as just that, an alternate. 

[ruttep]

4 minutes ago, chcarlson23 said:

I can understand this as well. Brighter colors are definitely coming back full swing for sports, but I think it would be a shame if the Wild did make the North Stars look the full time look. I love the current forest green, red, and cream color scheme. 
 

They’ve had these colors all 23 years they’ve been around, and while the N-Stars look is a good alternate that honors Minnesota hockey history, I think it’s best kept as just that, an alternate. 

 

I agree. My one nitpick is that the home and road jerseys could match a little better, but don't throw away the last two decades of branding.

[Ridleylash]

2 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

The thing is, I get why people might find the Wild's main identity "tired" now. Dark green and red can read as a bit dreary-looking, especially when the home and road jersey don't take full advantage of the color scheme. The bright green and yellow look comparatively more inviting - "happy colors," if you will. North Stars nostalgia too plays a role, but much of the appeal is the aesthetic appeal of "happy colors."

 

Adding black to the scheme would just mess it up into an over-detailed mess, as it did for the North Stars.

Eh, I'd disagree that it "messed up" the North Stars, myself; at least not until the twilight years in Minnesota. The jerseys they had before those were pretty solid and kept black and gold equal in the hierarchy;

 

There's something to be said about black as a color being a great supplement to an otherwise-bright color scheme to add just a little more punch. The problem, as with anything in sports aesthetics, is there'll inevitably be those who take a good idea and push it way too far for their own good (see: BFBS Mets, like every NHL third jersey from the initial batch, gradients and printed designs, etc).

[Morgan33]

I'm torn on the Wild going with those colours full-time...  Up close, they look fantastic.  Particularly in the leaked photo with the State of Hockey patch.

But sometimes, on the ice, they look downright awful...  Maybe it's lighting but this photo makes me think this scheme is in some desperate need of black.  Maybe not as much as what the late 80's to early 90's set had but just a small sliver for some contrast.  But then again, that would lead to unwanted "are they infringing on the Dallas Star's identity" discussions so I'm not sure what the solution would be.  Getting rid of that hideous clash advert would be a great start.

[The_Admiral]

5 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

It's the inevitable "North Stars in all but name" rebrand that was destined to happen the minute the team entertained the idea. This happens almost every time a team has a popular throwback/throwback-adjacent alternate - it overtakes the often-staid "modern" design.

 

Is the current hunter green/red/wheat all that stale?

 

No, not stale, but the Wild have been perpetually caught in that alt trap since their fourth season. They can't stop now!

 

  

3 hours ago, SFGiants58 said:

The thing is, I get why people might find the Wild's main identity "tired" now. Dark green and red can read as a bit dreary-looking, especially when the home and road jersey don't take full advantage of the color scheme. The bright green and yellow look comparatively more inviting - "happy colors," if you will. North Stars nostalgia too plays a role, but much of the appeal is the aesthetic appeal of "happy colors."

Looking at fashion cycles in general, I think there's a case for this. The Wild are still very much straight out of Y2K grimdark. I wore a lot of earth tones then. I notice myself wearing more pastels and jewel tones now. I wore a hot pink polo shirt to work the other day and I wasn't even going to the Barbie movie after. 

 

[SFGiants58]

1 hour ago, the admiral said:

The Wild are still very much straight out of Y2K grimdark.

 

They're in a similar boat to the Mariners - their identity is very much "of its time," but they got a lot right within the trends of the time. Some designs can be frozen in Y2K and that's ok, as long as the uniform and font front follows through.

 

Really, the Wild got it right the first time.

 

 

Very much of its time, but still classy - even the display font (grunge-ified Futura, IIRC) was tasteful enough.

[seasaltvanilla]

I think the main issue with the Wild's current scheme is the red. They clearly struggle with it since it's dark and doesn't contrast well with the dark green, as seen by its almost complete exclusion from the home uniform, because you are essentially always forced to have the cream separating them.  And people love the bright pop of color of the kelly green. So we have a dark color that's hard to use and a bright color that people like and connects to the history of hockey in the market. Two plus two equals...

 

 

Partially inspired by @Patchey13's concept, although I went with it more aggressively. The forest green is darkened from the original to aid with contrast and legibility, but bringing in the kelly green allows for much more flexibility with the color palette, as well as creating a more natural connection with the fauxbacks.  And you get away from Christmas colors.

 

Sorry to do the whole concept thing. It's frustrating that the Wild have the ingredients for a great identity but seem stuck in a creative rut of not fully utilizing them. 

[MinnyHockey]

2 hours ago, seasaltvanilla said:

I think the main issue with the Wild's current scheme is the red. They clearly struggle with it since it's dark and doesn't contrast well with the dark green, as seen by its almost complete exclusion from the home uniform, because you are essentially always forced to have the cream separating them.  And people love the bright pop of color of the kelly green. So we have a dark color that's hard to use and a bright color that people like and connects to the history of hockey in the market. Two plus two equals...

 

 

Partially inspired by @Patchey13's concept, although I went with it more aggressively. The forest green is darkened from the original to aid with contrast and legibility, but bringing in the kelly green allows for much more flexibility with the color palette, as well as creating a more natural connection with the fauxbacks.  And you get away from Christmas colors.

 

Sorry to do the whole concept thing. It's frustrating that the Wild have the ingredients for a great identity but seem stuck in a creative rut of not fully utilizing them. 

 

I agree with a concept like this. I'm waiting for a northern lights themed jersey. 

 

I hope for the breezers for the alternate that they add the shooting star on the side. Would be a nice touch.

 

[PrimalCookie]

6 hours ago, Ridleylash said:

Eh, I'd disagree that it "messed up" the North Stars, myself; at least not until the twilight years in Minnesota. The jerseys they had before those were pretty solid and kept black and gold equal in the hierarchy;

 

There's something to be said about black as a color being a great supplement to an otherwise-bright color scheme to add just a little more punch. The problem, as with anything in sports aesthetics, is there'll inevitably be those who take a good idea and push it way too far for their own good (see: BFBS Mets, like every NHL third jersey from the initial batch, gradients and printed designs, etc).

Also, this unused uniform was incredible:

I know it's BFBS, but something about it just works.

[The_Admiral]

No, that was way too much black. They lost the plot. Black should only be there to set off yellow from white, not a base color (and certainly not with kelly green breezers sticking out like a sore thumb).

 

The 2009-2017 alternate, albeit a watering down of the 2004 ASG classic, was probably the closest they came to figuring it all out. Forest green and vintage white, with a little touch of metallic gold, would have been the ideal progression for the North Stars -- it's a perfectly rustic and woodsy color scheme for Minnesota and tones down the garishness associated with incompetent Stars teams of old. I wish they had just mirrored it into a light uniform and left it alone.

[ruttep]

2 hours ago, seasaltvanilla said:

I think the main issue with the Wild's current scheme is the red. They clearly struggle with it since it's dark and doesn't contrast well with the dark green, as seen by its almost complete exclusion from the home uniform, because you are essentially always forced to have the cream separating them.  And people love the bright pop of color of the kelly green. So we have a dark color that's hard to use and a bright color that people like and connects to the history of hockey in the market. Two plus two equals...

 

 

Partially inspired by @Patchey13's concept, although I went with it more aggressively. The forest green is darkened from the original to aid with contrast and legibility, but bringing in the kelly green allows for much more flexibility with the color palette, as well as creating a more natural connection with the fauxbacks.  And you get away from Christmas colors.

 

Sorry to do the whole concept thing. It's frustrating that the Wild have the ingredients for a great identity but seem stuck in a creative rut of not fully utilizing them. 

 

I disagree honestly. I always thought that the red was a great contrasting color to the forest green, the Wild just took it too far by making their primary home jerseys red during the Reebok era. Never really been a fan of double colors, I would just keep the current identity mostly intact or go back to 

 

[VancouverFan69]

On 9/1/2023 at 8:04 AM, spartacat_12 said:

 

 

I will never ever approve of the "Wild" name but bringing back the iconic North Stars colours and sweater template will make the "Wild" name less dislikeable to those who feel the same way I do. The "State Of Hockey" secondary logo is a very nice touch. The "Wild" logo looks very natural in the North Stars colours. Should kelly green and yellow-gold return full-time, I hope Minnesota uses green font on the whites instead of yellow.

[Sec19Row53]

1 hour ago, VancouverFan69 said:

 

I will never ever approve of the "Wild" name but bringing back the iconic North Stars colours and sweater template will make the "Wild" name less dislikeable to those who feel the same way I do. The "State Of Hockey" secondary logo is a very nice touch. The "Wild" logo looks very natural in the North Stars colours . Should kelly green and yellow-gold return full-time, I hope Minnesota uses green font on the whites instead of yellow.

I'm sure they'll take that into account

[habsfan1]

3 hours ago, VancouverFan69 said:

 

I will never ever approve of the "Wild" name but bringing back the iconic North Stars colours and sweater template will make the "Wild" name less dislikeable to those who feel the same way I do. The "State Of Hockey" secondary logo is a very nice touch. The "Wild" logo looks very natural in the North Stars colours. Should kelly green and yellow-gold return full-time, I hope Minnesota uses green font on the whites instead of yellow.

 

Maybe the league thinks "North Stars" and "Stars" are too similar and they want distinct identities.

 

Replacing one of the league's top identities with a 2nd star crest that's already being used (sort of) is a step down logo-wise, imo. The D star is enough for me. Save the N star for throwback nights.

[VancouverFan69]

2 minutes ago, habsfan1 said:

 

Maybe the league thinks "North Stars" and "Stars" are too similar and they want distinct identities.

 

This is just me. But I think it's a great name and their brand has one of the best, most creative logos in the entire league. Replacing that with another star crest in some form is a step down logo-wise, imo.

 

What makes "Wild" a great name in your book? The Avalanche can be the "Avs" and the Lightning can be the "Bolts". The "Wild", despite its very creative crest, doesn't work, sorry.

A big mistake not to go with "Northern Lights" with the use of green and yellow-gold.

[Ridleylash]

2 minutes ago, VancouverFan69 said:

What makes "Wild" a great name in your book? The Avalanche can be the "Avs" and the Lightning can be the "Bolts". The "Wild", despite its very creative crest, doesn't work, sorry.

A big mistake not to go with "Northern Lights" with the use of green and yellow-gold.

Because "Minnesota Northern Lights" isn't a hilariously cumbersome name compared to "Minnesota Wild", right. 

 

"Minnesota North Stars" worked because of the fact that the words were short and thus easy for broadcasters to say, like "Red Wings"; that's also why "Wild" works.

"Northern Lights" is cumbersome and unless you want people calling your team "The Lights", then it's hard to truncate well.

[Chewbacca]

I think the best colour scheme compromise for the Wild would be forest green and gold. I think that would be a great bridge between the North Stars and the Wild.