Rating the Olympic men's hockey jerseys

[winghaz]

Finland -- C. The logo within the pie may be a classic, but Finland could do better. Plus, it has both Finland and Suomi written on the jerseys -- not good. Decide what you are, Finland or Suomi.

Switzerland -- C-. The Swiss have a great flag. Why not use that instead of Suisse in script?

Canada -- Reds get a B, whites get a C. The reds just look better. But on both, Canada needs to get rid of that hockey player within the maple leaf.

Czech Republic -- B-. Colorful use of its coat of arms, but too cluttered.

Germany -- A. Very good use of the eagle logo. Uncluttered and the entire uniform stands out among others.

Italy -- F. The worst. Tiny lettering saying Italia is extremely unclever. We expect better from the nation that brought us Michelangelo and DaVinci.

Slovakia -- A-. Good use of its national logo. Would be an A if the logo was bigger.

Russia -- A. I hate lettering on the front of hockey uniforms, but here's an exception. The Russian lettering, along with the coat of arms, looks fantastic.

Sweden -- A+. The best of the best. This has everying you want in a logo. The three crowns, along with the use of the Swedish blue and yellow, make it extremely identifiable. No cluttering here -- nice and simple.

United States -- A. The logo is really fantastic, using the S as stripes. Uncluttered. Very solid. Too bad the hockey team isn't so solid.

Latvia -- D. Ugh. Lousiest use of color in the uniforms. The white uniforms almost look like they were printed in black and white. The crimson, or maroon, or whatever uniforms aren't much better.

Kazakhstan -- C. It's nice seeing the country's logo on the jerseys. Problem is, you can't tell what it is.

[Neon_Matrix]

Finland -- C. The logo within the pie may be a classic, but Finland could do better. Plus, it has both Finland and Suomi written on the jerseys -- not good. Decide what you are, Finland or Suomi.

Switzerland -- C-. The Swiss have a great flag. Why not use that instead of Suisse in script?

Canada -- Reds get a B, whites get a C. The reds just look better. But on both, Canada needs to get rid of that hockey player within the maple leaf.

Czech Republic -- B-. Colorful use of its coat of arms, but too cluttered.

Germany -- A. Very good use of the eagle logo. Uncluttered and the entire uniform stands out among others.

Italy -- F. The worst. Tiny lettering saying Italia is extremely unclever. We expect better from the nation that brought us Michelangelo and DaVinci.

Slovakia -- A-. Good use of its national logo. Would be an A if the logo was bigger.

Russia -- A. I hate lettering on the front of hockey uniforms, but here's an exception. The Russian lettering, along with the coat of arms, looks fantastic.

Sweden -- A+. The best of the best. This has everying you want in a logo. The three crowns, along with the use of the Swedish blue and yellow, make it extremely identifiable. No cluttering here -- nice and simple.

United States -- A. The logo is really fantastic, using the S as stripes. Uncluttered. Very solid. Too bad the hockey team isn't so solid.

Latvia -- D. Ugh. Lousiest use of color in the uniforms. The white uniforms almost look like they were printed in black and white. The crimson, or maroon, or whatever uniforms aren't much better.

Kazakhstan -- C. It's nice seeing the country's logo on the jerseys. Problem is, you can't tell what it is.

Canada removing Gretzky's silhoette would be sacreligous! If anything, I would take the alternate logo as a main one, but the current one would not work without the great one in it.

[NickNickNick]

Latvia has nice jerseys.

The USA does not.

[Frankie]

Italy -- F. The worst. Tiny lettering saying Italia is extremely unclever. We expect better from the nation that brought us Michelangelo and DaVinci.

Their crest is the same one that is used for ALL of their national teams I believe.

[VitaminD]

Taking several departures from winghaz here:

1. FINLAND: We call them "Finland". They call themselves "Suomi". They decided what they are... but no one chose to use what they prefer. Can't do much more with these... B.

2. SWITZERLAND: Great flag? It's the Red Cross flag reversed. A white cross in a red square would make a drab sweater. What they have now works for them IMO... A-. (and bonus points for not going the Nike Machine)

3. CANADA: The logo is great! For one, it's Gretzky, and having the man known universally as The Great One should be required if he's a native of your country. For two, it beats resorting to the national coat of arms like so many countries do. I'd like to see a little less black, only because some teams do well for themselves with just red and white (HINT: They play in Detroit.). I miss their Sharks-style number font... A-.

4. CZECH REP.: No beef here. They've had better sweaters in the past... B-.

5. GERMANY: Very well done. Not the best of the bunch (see below), but snazzy as hell. Further proof that the Canucks got rid of their best possible color combination when the Orca Bay folks moved in... A.

6. ITALY: They've had better. They could've done a Rangers' knock-off. Or used the letters better. Or something... else... D.

7. SLOVAKIA: One of the few national coats of arms that is simple enough for a hockey sweater. But a step backward from their prveious set with the piping the full lengths of the sleeves. Like US clones this time, which is not a compliment... C.

8. RUSSIA: Yecch. So much promise, forsaken to look like Rollerball drones. D.

9. SWEDEN: A++. 'Nuf said. What a sweater should look like. Pay attention, Beaverton...

10. USA: Huge step back from their better sweaters. Refusing to get rid of the vertical socks stripes (like Canada did) hurts worse than what they did to the sweaters. No imagination, nothing unique. I'd love to see a stars & stripes crest (like the Rochester Amerks)... C.

11. LATVIA: National colors: maroon, silver and white. Bonus points for spelling the country's name their way, not the English way. Could do better, but not that bad... B.

12. KAZAKHSTAN: Great colors, simple crest (from the flag). Didn't see enough of them, but they could've added something unique to the country the way Belarus used to do with the stripe pattern that's taken from their flag... B-.

EDIT: Read your explanation. Gotcha now, I see what you meant. Thanks.

[winghaz]

1. FINLAND: We call them "Finland". They call themselves "Suomi". They decided what they are... but no one chose to use what they prefer.

Just to clarify something here because I may have done a lousy job when I first wrote it:

1. I do know the Finnish word for Finland is Suomi. I know this because, when I was young, I attended a Lutheran church that was originally a Finnish Lutheran church, and most of the preachers came out of Suomi College in Hancock, Mich. (The college is now called Finlandia).

2. That said, it seems odd to see both "Finland" and "Suomi" on the jerseys. I'd rather not see any lettering, but if there is, it should just be Suomi.

Sorry for not being clear earlier.

[ebod39]

1. FINLAND: We call them "Finland". They call themselves "Suomi". They decided what they are... but no one chose to use what they prefer.

Just to clarify something here because I may have done a lousy job when I first wrote it:

1. I do know the Finnish word for Finland is Suomi. I know this because, when I was young, I attended a Lutheran church that was originally a Finnish Lutheran church, and most of the preachers came out of Suomi College in Hancock, Mich. (The college is now called Finlandia).

2. That said, it seems odd to see both "Finland" and "Suomi" on the jerseys. I'd rather not see any lettering, but if there is, it should just be Suomi.

Sorry for not being clear earlier.

the old Finnish jerseys from the 1970's said "SOUMI" and that's what they were up

until Salt Lake. All of a sudden Nike changes it to Finland and adds Soumi

to the hemline. Redundancy at it's finest.

[HatCityEnforcer]

IIRC, this isn't the first time the Finns busted out the "SUOMI/FINLAND" names on the same jersey...

1980...they had SUOMI on one sleeve (going vertically, much like the ATLANTA on the Thrashers 3rds) and FINLAND on the other (same as the SUOMI on the other side). I seem to remember that from when the US team beat them to secure the gold medal...

Just looking around Torino, here's my take on the 12...

Sweden--Can't beat the Tre Kronor

Germany--I think the Deutscher Eishockey Bund got it right with these...and they made a pretty nice conversion to the new swift jerseys.

Finland--We call 'em FINLAND, they call themselves SUOMI. Either way, they still look good.

Latvia--Liked when they went from just having a plain "LATVIJA" on the front to adding the national coat of arms a few years ago. Not too shabby on the new look jerseys.

Canada--Much like having Jerry West as the NBA's logo, it's kinda fitting to have a Gretzky sillouette on the leaf for Canada. The new jerseys started to grow on me a bit over time.

Switzerland--Not a whole lot you can do when your flag is a white "+" on a red field. What they got works.

USA--Too bad the new Torino jerseys killed what was the best looking US set they had since 1980.

Czech Republic--They've had better....and worse. Still, the coat of arms is pretty slick.

Slovakia--Love the national crest...not liking the new look unis tho.

Italy--Don't mind these too much...then again, Italy has always used the shield above a blue (or white) "ITALIA" for ages.

Kazakhstan--Once again, they have a pretty nice crest and they do rock a "KAZAKHSTAN" under it in Cyrillic, but gold on light blue is hard to read

Russia--From the old double-headed eagle to the "ROSSIYA" in Cyrillic under it, it had the potential to be great. The new Swift Jerseys kill it totally...they look like Red Power Rangers at best (and that's not a good thing at all)

[IronChefShark]

swift jersey abominations aside, I must say that when I see Russia decked out head to toe (helmet, jersey, pants, socks) in all red with just a hint or white and blue that dammit it just looks right.

[Shumway]

Finland -- A-, one of my favorites. I liked their old style better, but for swift jerseys, these are pretty solid.

Switzerland -- B+, decent. Also giving Nike the cold shoulder. I don't know what else they could do for a logo, so Suisse'll hafta do.

Canada -- A. I actually really like these. I wish they'd go to the old style leaf full time, using the silhouette as a shoulder logo. Plus, they use the horizontal striped socks.

Czech Republic -- B, I miss the flag at the bottom of their jerseys. They're kind of the middle of the road IMO for the swift jerseys. They're not horrible, but nothing that special.

Germany -- B-. A little too much going on here. Most of the swift jerseys are pretty simple(except for the stripes on the back), but these have a bit too much yellow for me.

Italy -- C, Very, very plain, but simplicity sometimes works.

Slovakia -- A, I actually like these a lot. Their logo's probably my favorite of the international teams. They have the crazy stripes on the back, but it's not completely out of hand.

Russia -- B+, if they got rid of the crazy stripes on the back, it'd be an A

Sweden -- A+++++, by far my favorite hockey jersey, period. I'm so glad they gave Nike a good ol' stiff rm to the face.

United States -- A-. I like mostly everything about the US set. However, the mismatched helmets and the vertical striped socks have got to go.

Latvia -- B+, I actually like these a lot too. They make 2 colors work well, and they look different than the other swift jerseys.

Kazakhstan -- B-, they're a bit too plain, but they're pretty decent. I don't know what else to use for a logo or striping technique, I've never been to kazakhstan, nor do I know whether it's in Europe or Asia.

[winghaz]

Confession time: I didn't know that was Wayne Gretzky in the logo. That changes my attitude about that logo. It definitely should stay. I was wrong.

I'm not, however, changing my attitudes about the overall look. For one thing, you don't need the word "Canada" underneath the logo. It's a redundancy. Nobody's going to mistake Canada for, say, Finland (or Suomi) if you don't have the word "Canada" on the jerseys.

Also, too much black. Somehow, the black looks better on the red jerseys than the white jerseys.

[StevieY19]

Confession time: I didn't know that was Wayne Gretzky in the logo. That changes my attitude about that logo. It definitely should stay. I was wrong.

Um, the logo has a right-handed shot. Gretzky was a lefty.

[Neon_Matrix]

Confession time: I didn't know that was Wayne Gretzky in the logo. That changes my attitude about that logo. It definitely should stay. I was wrong.

Um, the logo has a right-handed shot. Gretzky was a lefty.

Modified logo...Sundin is the new IIHF silhoette, and I've read many places Gretz was used, and modified, for the hockey canada one.