Nhl gone wild?

[RobRoberts]

I am a hockey nut.  I love collecting NHL jerseys.  I love seeing new concepts, new merchandise, and even sometimes new logos, however, I think in the past two years the NHL has gone too far.

Originally, the third jersey was meant to give the team a little more identity (read : cash).  Now it seems too be solely about cash.  That's fine.  They want to make money, and they do give fan's a choice.  My problem is that new or newer fans are going to have a tough time figuring out what the heck is going on.

Example.  A novice fan who is a friend of mine once asked me "How come Atlanta has two NHL teams?  Why, I asked him, would you think that?  Well, what had happened was he didn't realize that the Thrashers were one team with two vastly different jerseys.  OK, I like what Atlanta did.  It was fresh, hip, and new.  Now a days, however, it seems to be going too far.

I think some teams are putting out too many jerseys that are too different from eachother.  I think that the addition of some of these "vintage" jerseys only adds to that.

Well I have a lot more to say, but I am pressed for time.  This is my opinion and I'd like to hear all of yours.  One favor though.  I'd prefer people not BASHING on EACHOTHER.  It's one thing to hate the jersey, but let's not all act like Boston Red Sox fans, please.  

Rob

[jkrdevil]

I agree, I have no problems with third jersey's as long as you make them along the lines of your current look. I have no problem with new logos for thirds, as long as you still can see you the team is. The Bruins are a good example of this, they use a different logo but you can tell it's the Bruins. The Stars are an example of what not to do.

With all of these new crazy jersey's, it makes look at the teams that never had a third jersey, (Wings, Devils, I think Blues too) and smile.    

[CC97]

The Blues had a third jersey, they currently use it as their home

[jkrdevil]

Thanks, I wasn't for sure.

[hockeygator]

I agree with all of you. I love the Philadlephia black jerseys, and think they are one of the best out there.  And if you look at their other jerseys, they have kept the same logo, and only changed the color schemes.  Mind you I don't like some of the schemes, but at least you can always tell its the Flyers.  None of this bull crap like the Stars pulled.  The Leafs are another good example. Even though they used an older logo on a jersey, you can clearly see is Toronto.  A team like Buffalo used a different logo on their third, but at least they kept the same colors, and again, you can tell its Buffalo.  I don't want to clog the board with what I have to say about every teams jerseys, but I have to completyely agree with RobRoberts and say enough is enough.

[jlucas4092]

Thank God this thread isn't what I thought.  I nervously clicked on this expecting to see a picture of Mario Lemieux pulling his shirt up for a camera.

*shudder*

[STL FANATIC]

The Blues had a third jersey, they currently use it as their home

Yeah, they used it for under half the year I think, and they fully intended it to become the home the next year. Now it's the road   . It's a shame. It's the jersey in the entire NHL, and the dumb league demoted it to road...

[LogoCollector]

When the Alternate jersey came out they were a fashion stayment more like a look into the future of sorts.

The perfect example of this was the 1st ever Anahiem Jersey with the exploding duck coming out of the ice.  I'm still trying to find that jersey to this day, why the team got rid of it is beyond me.

But not jersey have gone back to the old days of hockey like the Wild with their 3rd jersey, what garbage that is.

The Great 3rd's belong to Chicago, Buffalo, Calgary, NYR, Ottawa, Edmonton, Dallas, Nashvile, Boston and LA.

While others like Minnesota, NYI, Colorado and Anahiem have no type of thought concept what so ever.

I have some defunked jersey I still love to this day & wish were still worn on the ice.

[Phil]

While I agree, this is one of the reasons I love the NHL. There is no end of things you can do with a hockey jerseys. It's easily the best type of jersey out there in terms of designing... football and basketball are close seconds, but with full length sleeves and large logo options, the sky's the limit. While the Thrashers do it, I would think their identical jersey cut should be enough to disspell any thoughts of two teams (apparently not in the case of Rob's friend, but for the most part...).

With third jerseys, I think they need to be worn so rarely that it's a special occasion when they get shown (ie. maybe holidays, Sundays). If your third jersey is so nice that it just can't be restricted to certain dates, then make it the full time cut (ie. what I think Ottawa's now done).

[goalieboy82]

I like some of the third jerseys but some of them make no sense.  I like the Maple Leafs third because retro style (wouldn't they going to go to a blue third jersey like the style they wore in the 1960's.) and I also like the Montreal going to the thirds jerseys.

[LogoCollector]

Montreal & Toronto are the exception cause they only use one logo anyway.

[CubsFanBudMan]

Yes, first the NHL went too nuts with expansion, trying to be a pro league on a level they just aren't at...sadly.

Now, these jerseys look more and more like desperate acts to increase revenue. Edmonton, Dallas... these things, while some may consider them cool on their own, don't fit with the teams' themes. Abandoning color schemes is a knock to tradition and that leads -- subconsciously or not -- to losing your fanbase. Fans can't identify as well. When you at least stay CLOSE to the color scheme, those that choose to wear the old stuff can and still feel like part of the family. Selling out to grab casual fans and kids will cost you the people that are filling the seats night in and night out. (Exception is consistent losing teams... i.e. Tampa Bay Bucs, who actually kept their core colors... barely.)

That's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

(As a side note, the Phoenix Suns, like it or not, did it right. They stayed true to the colors, but used the 3rd to go a little nuts... bright orange and a PHX instead of Phoenix. I wouldn't like the PHX except the purple already used the city name. Thirds are the place to take risks, but don't jump off a cliff.)

[uniformity]

I concur, this NHL jersey mess is getting ridiculous.

Besides showcasing some of the ugliest and most ridiculous concepts ever-see the stars new third- individual team identity has been severely compromised.

Is that a new kings jersey? No Anaheim just decided to steal their colours.

Dallas stars adding red?

Is that the buffalo sabres third or the carolina hurricanes home?

beyond those examples nearly half of the NHL-atleast 15 teams- wear black (or allmost black) jerseys.

With the amount of new looks every year in the NHL, it really makes me wonder if this is a sign of the leagues trouble on the sports landscape.

There is afterall a correlation between success and solid jersey design in sports. Teams that go through turmoil- financial or otherwise- tend to change their uniforms more often than those with a more solid footing. Likewise in economics and fashion a correlation between skirt length and how well the economy is doing exists.

[spyboy1]

I think the NHL took a look at what was happening in England with their "change strips" (alternate jerseys) and the wild success they were having financially and their was no way the teams were going to back off from that kind of income opportunity.

If you are not fully aware of how things work over there, each team basically has one jersey. Arsenal for instance has a red body with white sleeves. If they go on the road to play a team that wears primarily red, they used to wear yellow with dark blue sleeves - an entirely different set of colors that couldn't be more different. The third jersey last year was dark blue sleeves with a body that faded from blue to white if I remember right. When I was there last their third was solid black. Then, all these teams are sponsored with the corporate logo as the main crest and the team logo up in the corner like a captain's "c", and the sponsors frequently change every 3 years or so on some teams, maybe more often, outdating your jersey that much quicker.

The point I'm trying to make is, if you think this is bad in the NHL, it may get worse. There seems to be a rush of thirds the last few years, and it may continue unitl all teams have them because they just can't turn down the money. Perhaps Detroit will hold out due to thier desire to maintain tradition and because due to their on ice success comes popularity which pushes them to the top of merchandise sales, but if they someday suck again and only get 12,000 a night and no one is buying their stuff because the team is no good and their two-color scheme isn't very dynamic, you bet they will be running a third jersey out there and probably with black trim to keep the cash coming in.

At least right now many of the NHL thirds seem to have some thought put into them. I've liked many of them and can see what the teams were at least thinking in most cases with the themes and styles, unlike the UK where it all seems to be about change for the sake of change alone. They've never done a retro look with a 3rd as far as I know. Most are either some wild colors that don't relate to anything or some weird future look, most likey cooked up in the labs of Nike.

It is a bit much that some teams will wear 5 jerseys this year, but 3 per team is here to stay.

JeffB

[Saintsfan]

Spyboy has a point. However I don't see the NHL going as far as most european soccer leagues do (and the pandemic of soccer kits has spread right across the continent!) In fairness the original third kits were from temas like Man United who had a red home kit, white away kit and needed something to wear against teams who wore red and white stripes. now the third kit is more of a fashion thing.

Personally I don't really mind soccer teams changing there kits as often as they do. You, after all, have the choice not to buy something!

[Pat]

I 100% agree! this is getting out of hand, and i think its a real shame.

its just ridiculous what these teams come out with? dallas? edmonton? ugh. come on. keep it simple, and traditional.

a home uniform and an away uniform. and maybe some 33rds for special occasions to try out a new logo but dont go insane, creating 5 logos, changing them every year, different colours.

[Suigi]

And why did they flip-flop home and away again?!

It annoys the people at my school to no end.

Now all the people who bought white Leafs jerseys are pissed that they don't have the home jersey any more.

[zer0dotcom]

They probubly flipped for that simple reason, sell more uniforms. I want to believe that they want to go traditional, but that kinda tough to do.

My take on Alternate uniforms is that they were what the team's uniforms could posibly be, without having to ditch their current designs.

In this respect, alot of alternate uniforms are successes, the --Green Dallas uniforms (current home)

-Calgary's Black horsehead (became the road uniform, wasn't that awful)

-The Ottawa alternates (both the red and new black)

-The LA Kings crown ( old purple with the crown, not the current ones)

-The Sharks alternates (the teal design that became teh home uniform, not the black practice style)

-The Penguins 'retro' look (last few years for Mario's comeback)

-Buffalo's Sable sweaer (they are the SABERS after all, shoulda been blue tho)

All are examples of trying a new identity for the team that did workout. There are some more, but thats getting too detailed.

For everyone successful design, there are two or three that are too overboard. You have to keep some semblence of the team in the alternate design, or you just getting people shaking their heads saying WTF?

this season, personally, the Bluejackets are teh most successful in that, because you look at their unform, and it succeeds in giving the team a good look without abandoning the team's identity

[shiznit1083]

I personally like the idea of third jerseys being as ridiculous and original as possible, I just wish that some restrictions were made to the use of the thirds and restrictions on the home and roads.  Here are my ideas:

1. The home and road uniforms must have the same striping pattern, colors (meaning if your teams colors are black and gold and white, they must use black and gold and white), and crest.

2.  The alternates can only be used on sundays and league specified holidays.

I think these would go a huge way to improving this mess.  Ottawa is an example.  3 jerseys, very little in common.  Lets clean this crap up a bit.