Three NHL Seasons of the RBK Edge Uniform System

[Morgan33]

When the Stanley Cup is decided this June it will have been three full seasons since the NHL switched the RBK Edge Uniform System. When the switched occurred in the 2007/08 season, many hockey fans and jersey enthusiasts were put off by the following design elements.

-Templated jerseys where the only thing distinguishing them is the colour of the panels (Ottawa, Pittsburgh, Tampa Bay)

-Piping without reason (Edmonton, Calgary, Nashville, Florida, Colorado, etc..)

-The loss of hem stripes resulting in plain jerseys resembling pajama tops (Specifically Phoenix and Toronto though most teams got downgrades in this regard)

-The "Ree-Box" on the back that makes the already large Reebok Vector logo stand out even more (Nashville, Atlanta, Colorado, Florida and St Louis).

Many of the initial designs were so bad that the NHL has gone headfirst into the throwback trend and from what we've seen of the third jerseys (or new primaries), it looks as though Reebok is learning from its mistakes. The Toronto Maple Leafs, Nashville Predators, New York Islanders, Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres and (Hopefully) the Edmonton Oilers will be the first teams to abandon their original Edge Jerseys in favour of more traditional designs. Now that this process has begun its time to decide which other Edge designs of the initial batch need to be mothballed. To start the discussion I will offer three.

01) Dallas Stars

Seriously, the long sleeved Basketball jerseys you're wearing now look ridiculous. Go back to Green as your primary colour and use your logo! Its been around since the North Stars and is iconic & classy. Not to mention you won your only cup with it plastered on your chest's.

02) Calgary Flames

Everytime I read a list of "Worst Hockey Jerseys" im surprised this set never makes it. If the five different striping patterns and the intersecting horizontal & verticle stripes on the hem weren't bad enough, the Blue Alberta patch has to bring this to "Wildwing" status. What Flames jersey ever had Blue on it? Your not Canada's or Alberta's team either, bad design Flames.

03) Colorado Avalanche

Where to begin. These are simply an eyesore, especially the Home's where the Bergundy and Blue bleed into eachother. While were at it, any design using that "Bib Template" should be disgarded immediatly.

Thoughts?

[Morgan33]

While I agree with you that Calgary and Colorado are in need of a change. Dallas on the other hand, i don't think they need to. They have a unique uniform as a result of the Edge era. Going back to green as a primary dark color, I prefer the original black primary dark color. (That's just me though)

But to add one more to your list. . .

4.) Minnesota Wild: Entering the Edge era, the Wild had a standard complimentary home and away set. They used the red alternate uniform and became pretty popular. As a result the alternate became the primary and the old away uniform stayed, creating a uniformity issue. Furthermore, the Wild introduced a new alternate jersey creating, now, three different looks for the Minnesota Wild. I believe the Wild should do away with the "2000-07 Ottawa Senators look" and choose a complimentary home and away set.

I kind of see your point about Dallas seeing as how Black was the their original colour but I cant get past that wordmark or the lack of real striping (sorry but the narrow pipes on the sleeves dont cut it). If it was more like Dallas' original uniforms I wouldnt mind the switch. I'll always be partial to their green Cup Uniforms though, those looked stellar.

Excellent point about Minnesota though. The Wild got their uniforms right the first time and every change they've made has been a step in the wrong direction IMHO. The Red made a great Alt and they should have kept it that way. I really hope they dont make a uni set based on it cause that would mean one of the best logos in all of hockey would be stuck in that pointless circle full time.

[tBBP]

Might I submit the Pittsburgh Penguins...never liked the new style jersey (even though I own one). The triangles must come back. (It'd be nice if they brought back Pittsburgh Gold too...but I know that one's a reach.)

And the Thrashers. They just need to figure out something.

[Corvus]

Three years down the road, I don't think many opinions have changed. They jerseys we recognized right away as awful, are still awful. I think the truly amazing thing about the Edge transition wasn't just how wrong many of the jerseys went, but the many different ways they went wrong. They managed to screw up both doing too much, and too little. Now that takes some serious talent.

As you said, there's the no-hem stripe brigade, perhaps a design legacy of the idea that jerseys would be tucked in. TO, Edmonton, and Phx all got hit here, with the Oilers getting hit by the piping brush too.

Then there's the "complete mess" group, with Calgary firmly in the lead there. Ottawa and St. Louis are both victims as well. The Blues just need to go back to their pre-edge jerseys and keep their current 3rd and they'd be fine.

Then there's the "Pick a freaking colour scheme and stick with it" Atlanta, Florida, and now Nashville, this means you. Trust me, as a Canucks fan, you do not want to have a jersey history like ours. I think its a real shame that Nashville may be abandoning their original colour scheme.

About the only good things to come out of the Edge system have been Washington's current set, Vancouver's full time move back to the Blue, White and Green, and uh, I guess maybe Tampa's new set. Everything else has pretty much been a lateral or downward move.

[charger77]

I think the Sharks move toward a more traditional set, the removal of the purple hem stripe on the Kings and the current Blue Jackets set is a step forward

-Dan

[Corvus]

I think the Sharks move toward a more traditional set, the removal of the purple hem stripe on the Kings and the current Blue Jackets set is a step forward

-Dan

Personally, I think the the shark's new colour scheme is a downgrade.

[Morgan33]

I think the Sharks move toward a more traditional set, the removal of the purple hem stripe on the Kings and the current Blue Jackets set is a step forward

-Dan

Personally, I think the the shark's new colour scheme is a downgrade.

Agreed but give the Sharks some credit for doing a few things right. They didnt adapt any wacky Edge template and they kept their hem stripes. The teal jerseys look spectacular, the roads not so much. I think this is due to the appearance of orange. On the homes the orange seems more subtle because its overpowered by the generous amount of teal and black. On the road whites however the orange seems way too prominent. If they replaced orange with silver and did away with the front numbers, they'd have on of the nicest, classiest sets in the league.

[Puck]

02) Calgary Flames

Everytime I read a list of "Worst Hockey Jerseys" im surprised this set never makes it. If the five different striping patterns and the intersecting horizontal & verticle stripes on the hem weren't bad enough, the Blue Alberta patch has to bring this to "Wildwing" status. What Flames jersey ever had Blue on it? Your not Canada's or Alberta's team either, bad design Flames.

Honestly, I just hate the Black C and the hidden German flag on the uniforms. Eliminate that and I'd be content.

[Hat Boy]

The use of numbers on the front of the jersey is also a bad trend. As if the Islanders' jersey wasn't busy enough....

[The_Admiral]

You forgot to mention the ugly collars and ducktails.

[_RH_]

I think I agree with everything in the original post.

As for the Sharks, it's not so much the color scheme that bugs me, it's the template. Their logo is aggressive and their colors are bright, then they tone down their look with a traditional template. Their previous template was way better.

What do you mean by ugly collars? I definitely agree that the backs of the jerseys need to be straightened.

[GMW79]

What do you mean by ugly collars? I definitely agree that the backs of the jerseys need to be straightened.

I think he means the NHL shield all the collars have. I can't stand that little silver eye-sore. I want to see the wheeled wing and no other logos on the front of my jersey.

[capn89]

Top two are easily Calgary and Colorado.

There are quite a few others, but none as putrid as those two.

I saw someone mention the Wild a few posts back (in regard to three different styles.) My easily solution to this (if the NHL would be kick ass enough to allow it) is to make the 3rd the home and make a beige/cream version (just reversed colors) for the road and use the red as the alternate. It'd be a pretty classy set.

EDIT:

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

there were only 4 teams that came out of this with upgrades: Columbus, Boston, Vancouver and San Jose everyone else falls in to these three category:

lateral move - Buffalo, Montreal, Chicago, Anaheim, Detroit, NYR, New jersey

downgrade - Carolina, Dallas, LA, Minnesota, Phoenix, Toronto, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis

massive fail - Atlanta, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Florida, Nashville, New York Islanders, Ottawa, Tampa, Washington

[Sport]

upgrades: Columbus, Boston, Washington, Carolina, LA, Ottawa

lateral move: Montreal, Chicago, Detroit, Rangers, New Jersey, Tampa Bay

downgrade: San Jose, Dallas, Minnesota, Phoenix, Toronto Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, St. Louis, Islanders, Vancouver

massive fail: Atlanta, Calgary, Colorado, Edmonton, Florida, Nashville

Horrible designs made with the edge in mind that aren't as good as their previous uniforms (read: massive fail): Buffalo, Anaheim

[uniformity]

The NHL logo is fine by me. The V neck collars are really ugly though. The way they are elongated looks really unnatural. They don't accentuate the form and I loathe them. The collar used by Anaheim etc is ok.

The lace up collars looks really good on most jerseys, but you cant put a lace up on every jersey. There's too many in the league now as it is. I have to say they don't look good on every jersey either. Calgary's uniforms look really stupid with all the gimmicks and the lace up. The MTL, and Boston fauxbacks would look better without them.

If Reebok would just fix the V collars and the ducktail it would be a nice template. Or at least come out with a second template for teams that have traditional hem stripes.

[Korbyn]

I don't hate the Stars jerseys as much as when they first came out. The home jersey has really grown on me.

I still believe the perfect set would be using that jersey as an alternate, then use the away jerseys template and make it green for a new home jersey.

Green really needs to make its way back into the Stars jerseys., if it did that I would be such a happy guy.

[Morgan33]

The use of numbers on the front of the jersey is also a bad trend. As if the Islanders' jersey wasn't busy enough....

We can blame the Buffalo Sabres for that. Hopefully they ditch the front numbers when their third becomes the full time home. The Islanders wont have them anymore so the only teams left will be Tampa Bay, Dallas, and San Jose. San Jose and Tampa could easily fix this, Dallas would need a new uniform set which is exactly what im advocating.

Top two are easily Calgary and Colorado.

There are quite a few others, but none as putrid as those two.

I saw someone mention the Wild a few posts back (in regard to three different styles.) My easily solution to this (if the NHL would be kick ass enough to allow it) is to make the 3rd the home and make a beige/cream version (just reversed colors) for the road and use the red as the alternate. It'd be a pretty classy set.

EDIT:

If you replaced the wordmark with the Bear logo (not in the circle) you would have perfection here. I`d buy a cream one in a heartbeat.

[OnWis97]

Edmonton is the first team I think of. They traded in a great set for some practice jerseys. I just don't get it.

[The_Admiral]

The lace up collars looks really good on most jerseys, but you cant put a lace up on every jersey. There's too many in the league now as it is. I have to say they don't look good on every jersey either. Calgary's uniforms look really stupid with all the gimmicks and the lace up. The MTL, and Boston fauxbacks would look better without them.

The Canadiens could do well with a plain white lace-up collar:

Had this style for about 30 years or so. Makes me think of Rocket Richard.