Rochester Americans Concept

[js °]

For trivia buffs, the teams first parent club was the Montreal Canadiens, which is why the NY team was named Americans, and may be one reason for the overall similarity to the Montreal design...

That is an interesting bit of trivia that i did happen to come across in my research. Which is why i decided to go with this ... because this is the Americans history now, and they are strong enough as a club to harken back to their own personal history, rather than allude to Sabres jerseys of the Blue and Gold era.

[bulldogbarks55]

Gentlemen, I am one of those old fossils who remember the Amerks almost from the beginning. I began following them in 1958, the third season. A brief history lesson. The Amerks' first two parent teams were the Montreal Canadiens AND the Toronto Maple Leafs. The name is a subject for debate. One account has Sam Pollock, the Montreal GM naming it after the old NHL New York Americans. This could have creedence because the original parents were both Canadian. The official team logo has ALWAYS BEEN THE ONE THEY STILL ARE USING TODAY!

As for the team's uniform history, they wore two versions of the "flag" jersey. The original in '56-'57 and then a slightly different one for the next two years. The first white jersey had the Montreal stripe across the chest and no sleeve striping. The second version had no stripes and had the word "AMERICANS" across the front in two-color plain-block letters. In 1959-60 the Amerks switched to the uniforms you show in your pictures. The logo used was the official one MINUS the script lettering overlay. Dick Gamble (the REAL number 9-who's Gage?) is wearing the '59-'60 version of white jersey, royal pants and red socks (Gamble didn't come to Rochester until '61-'62-this is probably a practice session photo). That was the home uniform. In '60-'61 the white socks first appeared as like Darryl "Slip" Sly (number 4) is wearing. The all-red uniforms were first worn at home in '62-'63, as on Gerry "Cheesy" Cheevers (greatest Amerk goalie, with apologies to Bobby "Bo" or "Miche" Perreault). Red was always worn at home except for '65-'66 when they wore white. Always with blue pants. They switched to white at home for '67-'68 and also wore red pants, red jerseys, red socks and red gloves on the road. This was the brainchild of GM/Coach Joe "The Crow" Crozier.

I think I know a little about the Amerks' uniform history. I was working for the sporting goods store that outfitted the Amerks in those days. We got the vertically-striped "flag" jerseys from Hardin Knitwear in New York City. They were made out of real wool like most old-time hockey sweaters. In 1959 my boss got the new jerseys from General Athletic Co. of Greenville, Ohio. They were made from a plaited fabric of Nylon and Durene Cotton. The Nylon was all on the outside of the jersey for color brightness. The cotton was all on the inside of the jersey for sweat absorption. Kind of a rudimentary moisture-wicking fabric.

The Amerks wore the first mesh jerseys in hockey in 1971. They were made by Champion Products in Rochester. The first mesh didn't hold up and was replaced by Champion's 74 tricot nylon (roughly same as today's ProBrite fabric). They wore the '59 logo (san lettering) until the GD Vancouver Canucks ("parent" team from '68-'69 'til '71-'72- Vancouver almost killed the franchise) made them switch in 1970-71 to a circular version of Van's "rink" logo that made up an "A" for Americans. God awful ugly and really made the team look as lousy as they played. Four years with Van, four years dead rotten last-place in the AHL.

When some local people bought the team back in 1972 the first thing they did was to restore the current version of the logo to the jerseys. Those were the Don Cherry-led teams of 1973 and 1974. He made the playoffs in '73 and won the regular season championship in 1974 with no affiliation and a team made up of has-beens, never-weres and castoffs. They ran into a hot New Haven goalie in the playoffs of '74 and dropped the first round.

The Amerks wore red from 1959 until they changed to the blue in the early '80s because of the Buffalo affiliation. The all-time best Amerk teams wore red jerseys. The 1965, 1966 and 1968 Calder Cup Champions (Toronto Maple Leaf affiliate- the Habs left after '61) proudly wore the uniforms (and the guys you show played for them, Gamble and Sly were on all three).

Let me say that I have always liked the Amerks in red. And the uniforms worn in the pictures of Sly, Gamble and Cheevers are what the team would be wearing if I owned the team (RED numbers trimmed in ROYAL should be worn with the white jersey). Those uniforms are classics. Those uniforms don't need any "modernization." And if the red jersey reminds you of Montreal, tough maracas. So what. To me it's the Amerks REAL uniform, not the Habs. So back off, you youngsters. Hey, you don't screw with Yankee pinstripes, eh?

Maybe because the Amerks uniforms are so very personal with me is why I don't want their look messed with at all. Forgive me, I'm an old fart who's VERY, VERY, VERY set in his ways. The Amerks are one team that still looks like a REAL hockey team. I commend you on your talent all all of the hard work you put in on this project. But the Amerks don't need a re-do. They are, after all the ROCHESTER AMERICANS who've been around since 1956. Please, LEAVE THEM ALONE!

[winters in buffalo]

I think the crest is fantastic. It's a nice modernization, while keeping with the very traditional look of the current and originals.

The unis are solid. A pretty safe design. I can't say they'd win high marks for design, but they couldn't draw much legitimate criticism, either. You've got a nice, classic look there.

What's on the shoulders? Is it the three star pattern from the top of the crest?

[js °]

And the uniforms worn in the pictures of Sly, Gamble and Cheevers are what the team would be wearing if I owned the team (RED numbers trimmed in ROYAL should be worn with the white jersey). Those uniforms are classics. Those uniforms don't need any "modernization." And if the red jersey reminds you of Montreal, tough maracas. So what. To me it's the Amerks REAL uniform, not the Habs. So back off, you youngsters. Hey, you don't screw with Yankee pinstripes, eh?

exactly how i feel .. when i was doing research for the Amerks site design (I redesigned amerks.com about 2 or 3 years ago to what it looks like now), I stumbled across these photos and immediately had a very candid discussion with the Americans Management about the realistics of switching back to THIS EXACT LOOK for the 50th anniversary season coming up. They loved the idea, but were hesitant at how much work and cost it would mean the team, and if they'd be able to get that back or not ... something along those lines.

This was merely my attempt at bridging a gap between one of the most gorgeous looks in sports in a classic style with something a touch more modern.

What's on the shoulders? Is it the three star pattern from the top of the crest?

Yeah, the original unis had this really beautiful three stars around the neck on top ... i decided to tone it down a bit but use the same idea .. the three stars on the shoulders now.

[IceCap]

Simply brilliant. The jersey design remains traditional, and the crest & shoulder logos are great updates on classic designs.

[bulldogbarks55]

A few clarifications on the stars adorning the Amerks' jerseys. The picture of Darryl Sly (#4) shows the placement on the front of the jersey. What you can't see is a line of four stars placed horizontally across the back about 1/4" below the yoke seam. On the white jerseys the stars were royal blue. All lettering and the crest was done in tackle twill. BTW-The sleeve striping on the white jerseys was royal-wide red-royal.

When Champion began making the jerseys in 1970-71 all decoration (numbers, crest, stars) was screen-printed in Champion's "Lastone" (plastisol) ink. The star pattern was a five star pattern with one star at the outside point of the yoke and then two lines of two stars behind it.

Also, if you look closely at the picture of Sly you'll notice a light-colored stitching on the inside od the numbers. These are the 1967-68 set. This stitching is white and was an inexpensive way to create a three-color look. We had the jerseys lettered at Holley-Messmer in Rochester and all the operator did was to sew the area three times to give the third-color look. It was Joe Crozier's idea, and only appeared on the white jerseys. The number font that H-M used was Stahls Varsity Block (a font I can't stand).

Champion also made the stars red on the white jerseys. The red shirts always used white stars. Beginning in 1972-73 three small (1/2") stars were put in a horizontal arrangement just below the point of the v-neck on the jerseys. In 1973-74 the stars were incorporated into the sleeve and sock striping. The socks by Champion were heavy doubleknit nylon, had no stretch and the stars and stripes were printed. The socks had a big, coverstitched seam up the back. The players HATED these socks. The trainer (Nate Agnello) always came to me at the store and bought regular cable-knit hockey socks for the goaltenders. The goalies did not have to wear those ill-fitting abortions.

Nate and I also added last names on the home whites in mid-season of 1973-74. We sewed the names onto a plaque and then sewed the plaque on the jersey.

The Amerks stayed with this style of jersey until the mid-1970s when Nate and I re-designed the jerseys. We got them from Stall & Dean in Brockton, Mass. They were made of Pro-Mesh, had the classic Bruins-style striping (Amerks were briefly a Bruins farm team) and all lettering, cresting was again tackle twill. Nate and I were trying to figure out a star pattern and I suggested that we use the single star that the WHA Houston Aeros made famous. Nate liked the idea, ran it by Director of Operations John DenHamer and Coach/GM Dick Mattiussi, received their blessing, and it was done. They still use that look today.

When the Amerks became a Buffalo affiliate the striping was changed to the pattern the Sabres were using. That's the way it is today. When the change was made to the blue jerseys (I was NOT in favor of the change) they at first had red numbers outlined in white. But that combination is hard to see, so it was changed to white numbers with red outline.

Once the AHL teams started going directly through CCM, Bauer, SP, Rbk, etc., all involvement of local dealers ceased. But I enjoyed my years working for Ruby's Sporting Goods and still take pride in the fact that the Amerks are the best-dressed team in the AHL. Always have been and always will be. You don't mess around with the tradition of a franchise that has six Calder Cups and 10 runners-up in 50 full seasons. That means the Stars & Spangles have been been in the Calder Cup finals 16 times or in about one-third of their total years. Pretty freakin' amazing record and even more reason why the Amerks DON'T NEED A RE-DESIGN. Thanks for reading my meanderings, but as you can see, I'm very passionate about this.

[VC//]

It's a classy logo that US used, almost puts it up there with the Team Canada jerseys...it just looks real sharp and makes me wonder why the hell the US hockey teams don't use this rather than the lame USA one that is used primarily in all tournaments. The shield just looks sick, i'm a canadian, big fan of american teams as well and i'd buy that jersey. Of course, a Modano or something.

Reminds me of this...which btw i can't find a clear image of (the logo i mean)

[andrewharrington]

I like the update. I do not agree with ballwonk about the horizontal termination of the blue field. I understand it needs to be that way to stay true to the shield and I assume the curve of the banner meeting the horizontal line is necessary to create those blue gashes and define the separation of the banner and the shield. The one thing I think could be improved here is the size of the text. It could be a bit larger and fill out the banner a touch more, I believe.

[Guest darkpiranha]

I love the new classic design. I understand everyone's loyalty to tradition, but the American's is one that I have always found mostly unappealing.

I love everything about the new design, but agree that the horizontal line is a bit distracting and would go with the suggestion of making the banner the dividing point.