Nhl switching jerseys in 2003/04

[CC97]

NHL Wants Home Teams to Go to the Dark Side

By MIKE ZEISBERGER -- Toronto Sun

Will the Maple Leafs transform into the Blue Crew when they step on to the ice at the Air Canada Centre next season?

That's a very real possibility, Leafs sources said yesterday.

While stressing that nothing is official as of yet, team officials confirmed the NHL is leaning towards a system in which home teams will wear their dark jerseys during the 2003-04 campaign.

Should such a concept be adopted, the Leafs would be decked out in their blue uniforms for most games at the Air Canada Centre, not the white ones as is the case now.

During the pre-expansion era, before the league swelled from six to 12 teams in 1967, home teams predominantly wore their dark jerseys.

[Snowcap30]

thats rediculous, why be like the NFL? white should be home and dark should be away, its jus ment to be

[CC97]

I'm very happy to hear this, and I really hope it happens!  I've been waiting for a switch back to this for a few seasons now, and it seems very much like a possibility.

Now if only the Leafs would switch to their 50s style uniforms full-time (i don't mind seeing the current set as an alternate set)

[CJR]

I think the teams should be able to decide which jersey is their home jersey.  I bet this only came about because of the number of teams with dark third jerseys they want to wear at home.

[STL FANATIC]

White jerseys look so much better in all the leagues though. Gives a contrast to the dark team colors that look great.

[MonkeyWrench32]

I'd rather keep it the way it is, but if the NHL really wants to have dark uniforms at home, maybe they can do it the same way the OHL does:  dark at home for the first half of the season and white at home the second half.

[CJR]

I seem to remember the NHL doing that in 1991-1992, along with the throwback jerseys for the Surviving (not really Original) Six.

[JQK]

I've been WAITING for this. THe Darks should be the home jerseys. They look better, they aren't plain. They have a brightness, and pizzaz (did i just say that?), that should be for home teams. THey had it pre-'67, they should have never changed it....

Color Home - White Away

[STL FANATIC]

We seem pretty split on this matter. I strongly think white's look better though. I also like the change of colors at the home games. Instead of blue vs white every game you get white vs red, white vs blue, white vs green, etc. As I said earlier, I like whites because they are bright and contrast well, but still include the team colors.

[random]

just adding my vote for darks at home.

[jamesjduncan]

People seem to be dredging up these old posts. This one intrigued me, I guess cause I just miss hockey that much.....

[deked73]

Well, the AHL is going back to white at home, from what I understand it's starting next season. NHL soon to follow?

[rmackman]

My whole thought is it should be either white at home or your team's choice. Basketball is white at home, Basebal is usually white at home minus the alts, and Football gets it's choice, so I think the NHL should be in those categories.

[BBTV]

White at home. That way if you are a season ticket holder every home game doesn't look exactly the same (black vs. white in my case.)

[Blue Falcon]

It makes sense why the NHl switched. So many teams were wearing alternates for home games that the road team had to bring two sets of uniforms, which includes the jersey, socks, and helmets. Especially with airline security today.

Personally I like darks at home in every sport, but especially in the NFL. But at least in the NFL it makes some sense to wear white at home early in the season due to heat...NHL and NBA it doesn't make sense, but I know that it is a tradition in those leagues.

I've always advocated forcing NFL teams at gunpoint to wear dark jerseys at home, or at least come up with a light alternate for early-season games, like the Chargers' candyass-blue throwbacks.

[IceCap]

i say adopt a system simular to european soccer. that is the dark jerseys would be a team's primary jersey, and white would only be worn if the visiting team's jersey was of a simular colour to the home team.

for example, if the canadiens came to town to play the maple leafs, then the canadiens would wear red, and the leafs blue. however if the rangers came to town then they would wear white because their blue jerseys would be to simular to the leafs blue jerseys.

[Gothamite]

I like it. Changing the "home/road" combination to "primary/change" makes sense to me.

[CC97]

i say adopt a system simular to european soccer. that is the dark jerseys would be a team's primary jersey, and white would only be worn if the visiting team's jersey was of a simular colour to the home team.

for example, if the canadiens came to town to play the maple leafs, then the canadiens would wear red, and the leafs blue. however if the rangers came to town then they would wear white because their blue jerseys would be to simular to the leafs blue jerseys.

I like that idea... they used to do this back in the early days of hockey... Leafs vs Red Wings... all blue vs. all red.

Although, they did this at the all-star game a few years back... I remember it being hard to tell the teams apart on television.

[IceCap]

Although, they did this at the all-star game a few years back... I remember it being hard to tell the teams apart on television.

yeah, i remeber that. it was the last year of the n.america vs world format. n.america had navy jerseys with heavy black trim (thick stripes and black mesh inserts) and the world team had burgandy jerseys with the same heavy black trim. in that case you had two jerseys with dark shaded colours (navy=dark blue, burgandy=dark red). on top of that both teams had the heavy black accents. that was what caused the problems of not being ablt to tell the teams apart.

now back when they did the n. america vs world format for the toronto/colorado all star games they used a regular shade of red for the world team, and a lighter navy for the n.america team. that was much better.

the closest match up that i can find that would simulate the problem mentioned atthe beggining of this post would be vancouver/colorado. even then the canucks are pordomently navy and the avs are burgandy with blue shoulders.

[ReginaCanuck]

IMO the dark jersey should be for home games, because for most teams it better represents their identity.