2013-2014 NHL Uniform & Logo Changes

[Lights Out]

I don't know where this idea that the current trend is to go boring and "dress up like O6" came from. One team did it. One team. The Lightning, and they're deservedly panned.

It's not just one team.

[TheOldRoman]

Hem stripes are a staple element of any hockey sweater modern, or retro. Not sure where you derived that that feature alone qualified as "O6 dressup" and I don't recall anyone implying that either.

The main issue I see people having with the Canes' new look is that, like LO said, it appears they're throwing away a look that was true to their brand and current market for something generic. Traditional doesn't look bad for anyone, but now we have even more hockey teams in the NHL looking like each other with less originality. I believe that for every Crimson Tide there must be a Duck and the Hurricanes had something good going for them, aside from the phantom yokes. They only needed a quick cleanup and now it's only going to be a matter of years before they realize it.

I was with you until this. I wouldn't go that far. Although Oregon's current uniforms (or at least last year's) aren't nearly as bad as previous sets, they still "push the envelope" just for the sake of pushing it, promote their shoe company above their own brand, and absolutely worst of all, compromised their school colors and therefore identity. THAT should never happen. Oregon's set would be pretty good in the right colors, but it still stands for "bad", as do the two-dozen-or-so schools which have tried to out-clown them the past few years.

I would amend your statement to "For every (two or three) Chicago Bears, there has to be a Cincinnati Bengal or a San Diego Charger." Those two teams (up until a decade ago) had unorthodox elements fit into tradtional football templates. That's the way to do it, and that's the way to avoid looking dated in three years. If you do outlandish just to be outlandish, you end up making crap. I think the Hurricanes set was more along the lines of the Bengals or Chargers classics. Using the flag as trim was a great idea. It was their identity. I wasn't a big fan of the logo and I hated the numbers, but the main part of the jerseys were done right. Unorthodox elements fit into a traditional pattern. It's wrong for them to throw that away for a run-of-the-mill striping pattern that could very well represent any one of a half-dozen teams.

[Midway]

Ha I shouldve used a better analogy. But well said

[BigBubba]

i never really saw much wrong with the burger king jersey. tweak here or there Drench it in gasoline and it would have made a fine alternate sweater a great addition to a dumpster fire.

[NYYNYR]

I don't know where this idea that the current trend is to go boring and "dress up like O6" came from. One team did it. One team. The Lightning, and they're deservedly panned.

It's not just one team.

1. How are these "O6 rip-offs?" The Coyotes dropped their "traditional striping," and the Panthers ditched the double-blue... so....Also : Just because you have NORMAL horizontal striping, your logo / fonts etc. can be loud and modern.

That Coyote logo is MODERN; it would never be seen on a jersey from the WW1 or WW2 era...

2. No Original 6 team used double-blue. Could you remind me if I'm mistaken...?

3. No Original 6 team used green (not counting the green Leafs).

4. What Original 6 teams used the Wild script? If anything they stole from baseball designs, no?

5. What team uses a white shoulder yoke like the Jackets? What team uses double-blue/grey/white?

I think people are really stretching here...

But let's say you're all right, and I'm woefully wrong ....

Does having "traditional" elements make a jersey weak?

[Sport]

I don't know where this idea that the current trend is to go boring and "dress up like O6" came from. One team did it. One team. The Lightning, and they're deservedly panned.

It's not just one team.

*4 hockey jerseys*

Well three of those are alternates (ie an identity wasn't built around them), one of which isn't in use anymore. The Coyotes current jersey doesn't have hem stripes - another modern feature. The primary uniforms of the two teams who use the other two alternates (Min, CBJ) are also fairly modern. They aren't entire identities based on a boring "O6 look". Besides, all of those jerseys you posted feature elements that were never worn back in the day.

If we go by the "alternates count" standard then the Lightning don't wear a boring throwback look at all.

It's entirely possible that in a week's time the Hurricanes and Stars will debut boring O6 looking uniforms and we'll all agree they suck. Until then, there's only been one team that's aped another's tradtion to dress boringly as their entire identity and that was the Tampa Bay Lightning. Not exactly enough to constitute a trend.

[The_Admiral]

I think people are hypersensitive to the simplification of the Hurricanes' uniform because the owner has a known terminal case of Red Wings envy. One is enough, thank you.

Good point. I see what you're saying, but at this point, aren't we used to the Canes in this color scheme, etc.? People are acting like he is turning the Whalers into the Red Wings...

Well, he kinda did, and now might be turning the Kinda Red Wings into the...Really Kinda Red Wings? I wonder if he would have tried it if he had been able to move the Whalers to Auburn Hills like he reportedly wanted to (but then we're getting into how-many-angels-on-the-head-of-a-pin territory, because it never would have been allowed).

I don't think the Hurricanes' current uniform is a modern classic, mind you. The Hawks and Devils do red and black better, the italic numbers are too NASCAR, the primary sucks, and the much-lauded flag patch is infamously inaccurate and thus GETS THE TEAM'S NAME WRONG. It would be like if the Panthers had a bobcat for a secondary but everyone still loved it because bobcats are like panthers, just less so. They're inherently doomed. Anything they could possibly do is only making the best of the bad situation that is an NHL team wasted on a mid-sized southern glorified boomburb. They'll never do anything but take up space -- that and scour the world for more eyebrowless Aryans to hoard.

[Morgan33]

Yes, a new set is desperately needed, but "zero redeeming qualities"?! Calgary has the best logo in the NHL and a great colour scheme. The tributes to Canada and Alberta are poorly executed but are still redeeming qualities.

Yes the logo is fantastic but the addition of blue and green on the alberta flag completely ruins the previously great colour scheme. The logo is the only redeeming feature, everything else should have been trashed as soon as they were able to make a change. In 2004 the Flames jerseys were arguably in the top 5. Why this management hasn't woken up & realized that these Piping infused, bib looking monstrosities are the biggest blight on hockey aesthetics since Cooperalls, I will never know.

[The_Admiral]

How would we feel about a yellow C (and names/NOBs) on red? Too much color?

[Kramerica Industries]

Yes. I'm having a hard time picturing that looking good, because the contrast won't be good enough from a distance.

[Howie_16]

Yes, a new set is desperately needed, but "zero redeeming qualities"?! Calgary has the best logo in the NHL and a great colour scheme. The tributes to Canada and Alberta are poorly executed but are still redeeming qualities.

Yes the logo is fantastic but the addition of blue and green on the alberta flag completely ruins the previously great colour scheme. The logo is the only redeeming feature, everything else should have been trashed as soon as they were able to make a change. In 2004 the Flames jerseys were arguably in the top 5. Why this management hasn't woken up & realized that these Piping infused, bib looking monstrosities are the biggest blight on hockey aesthetics since Cooperalls, I will never know.

Here is what I would do if I was put in charge of the Flames uniforms.

1. Return to the 2004 jerseys as the main home and away set.

2. Reclassify the current 3rd as as "retro jersey" that is mainly worn against teams such as Edmonton and Montreal. Introduce a corresponding white jersey.

3. Bring back the black jersey with the same striping, but replace the horsehead logo with this:

Done!

[Midway]

Sigh. This all goes into the Stars/North Stars debate. I'm more of a "stay on your current side of the fence" when it comes to two brands in one franchise.

I think their brand is enhanced by pushing their current look, not abandoning it. Going back to Whalers striping only comes off as copping out of something truly unique and aestheticaesthetically pleasing to something "safe"

Or is that the mantra these days? To play it safe like the Lightning did? There used to be a time when their was good, honest design that was also innovative. Your Rangers got their diagonal script from that type of brand enhancing mentality, as did the Ducks and their diagonal hem stripes, the Lightning and their victory stripes and lightning bolt pants stripe. It work for some teams to bail and go throwback, but it doesn't work for others. The Hurricanes are in Raleigh now not Hartford and for good designs' sake they should avoid abandoning ship for something that they're not. Inb4 "but they are the Whalers and have every right to throwback." I know.

NYYNYR: Just gonna add that I'm not expecting a train wreck. I'm sure it'll look just fine in the end. You make some sound points and I respect your opinions. I'm just merely defending their unique look atm.

So would your argument be that the aforementioned Flames are not in Atlanta anymore and should ditch their "Atlanta A" logo to denote their alternate captains?

We haven't even seen the Hurricanes new look yet. Let's wait until we get a full picture and then if it's a derivative piece of crap then we can jump all over it. As of right now, you're freaking out over something you might not need to freak out over.

I don't know where this idea that the current trend is to go boring and "dress up like O6" came from. One team did it. One team. The Lightning, and they're deservedly panned.

Now that, my friends, is a good post.

No. A small homage is just fine because it is just that. I'm talking in whole uniform sets. The late 90's/early 00's Stars and Avalanche both brought in some original and beautiful designs without harkening back to the North Stars or the Nordiques. The Hurricanes were well on their way to achieving something great but none of these teasers imply that such is the case. If they do in fact mimic the Whalers like many suspect I'll be disappointed but I won't be distraught. Of course know one knows exactly what they're going to look like but if they had any semblance of originality, it looks to be gone in this redesign.

[The_Admiral]

The Hurricanes weirdly pick their spots when it comes to respecting their Hartford lineage. They brought the play-by-play guys down and have had them ever since, but the identity has no visual link whatsoever to the Whalers. Same general manager, a lot of the same office staff, but they reinstated the Whalers' retired numbers. They dumped Brass Bonanza, but kept, of all things, the Civic Center's fart-of-the-gods goal horn.

[spartacat_12]

Yes, a new set is desperately needed, but "zero redeeming qualities"?! Calgary has the best logo in the NHL and a great colour scheme. The tributes to Canada and Alberta are poorly executed but are still redeeming qualities.

Yes the logo is fantastic but the addition of blue and green on the alberta flag completely ruins the previously great colour scheme. The logo is the only redeeming feature, everything else should have been trashed as soon as they were able to make a change. In 2004 the Flames jerseys were arguably in the top 5. Why this management hasn't woken up & realized that these Piping infused, bib looking monstrosities are the biggest blight on hockey aesthetics since Cooperalls, I will never know.

Here is what I would do if I was put in charge of the Flames uniforms.

1. Return to the 2004 jerseys as the main home and away set.

2. Reclassify the current 3rd as as "retro jersey" that is mainly worn against teams such as Edmonton and Montreal. Introduce a corresponding white jersey.

3. Bring back the black jersey with the same striping, but replace the horsehead logo with this:

Done!

So you're suggesting that they use 5 uniforms? Calgary should really only wear one white and one red jersey. They should only use black as trim (or just get rid of it all together) and keep the helmet and pants red. Red and yellow is a very nice, unique colour scheme. I don't know why Calgary insists on looking more and more like the Sens/Hawks/Devils/Hurricanes.

[BigBubba]

Just because Lights Out's examples don't directly copy Original Six team's looks like the Lightning doesn't take away from his point that they're crappy, generic, trend-bandwagoning, fauxbacks.

Florida: WAY too similar to the Penguins' early jerseys, which is about as close as you can get to the Original Six. Add the generic roundel and trendy double-blue, and this thing just gets worse.

Columbus: Vintage white, a roundel, and double-blue. Three unnecessary, trendy, fauxback elements that have nothing to do with what the Beej have ever worn (much like Florida).

Minnesota: Vintage white? Am I sensing a pattern? I mean, you could say it's "wheat", but come on. Add that to the two-colour scheme and the lack of their unique colours, logo, or font anywhere, and this falls into the same trap.

Phoenix: OK, this one isn't as bad, but ditching a great, unique colour scheme for all-burgundy? C'mon...

These teams have/had fine modern, primary identities, yet they scrapped them in favour of pretending they're an old-school club with a conservative look. Yawn. I'm not sure where some people got the notion that having (straight) hem stripes made a team wannabe vintage - before RBK reeked havoc on the league, hockey jerseys had always had hem stripes. There's nothing about them that's exclusive to old-school design.

The primary uniforms of the two teams who use the other two alternates (Min, CBJ) are also fairly modern.

That's what I'm/we're getting at - with solid, modern identities, why go the faux-vintage route with a third that doesn't match your set? I know you're saying that the "Original Six dress-up" isn't as bad as far as popularity and that really only one team has gone all-out with it, and I'll agree with you there. Still though, I'm not a fan of it even in a small capacity.

[Patchey13]

I always thought the Canes could pull off a Phantom yoke.

[Morgan33]

So you're suggesting that they use 5 uniforms? Calgary should really only wear one white and one red jersey. They should only use black as trim (or just get rid of it all together) and keep the helmet and pants red. Red and yellow is a very nice, unique colour scheme. I don't know why Calgary insists on looking more and more like the Sens/Hawks/Devils/Hurricanes.

Because Black trim provides some much needed contrast to those bright shades of yellow and red. The inaugural jerseys are fine once in a while but the 2004 cup run jerseys blow them right out of the water.

I always thought the Canes could pull off a Phantom yoke.

I'm starting to agree. Nothing wrong with Hurricanes current set and I have a feeling it will be appreciated a lot more after next Tuesday...

[JayMac]

I am completely in the minority I know but I do not really care for the Canes uniforms and I am glad they are making changes. Will I like the changes? I'm still unsure but I welcome the change. I'm also glad they are getting rid of the flags. It was unique but I never really took a liking to them.

[VancouverFan69]

So you're suggesting that they use 5 uniforms? Calgary should really only wear one white and one red jersey. They should only use black as trim (or just get rid of it all together) and keep the helmet and pants red. Red and yellow is a very nice, unique colour scheme. I don't know why Calgary insists on looking more and more like the Sens/Hawks/Devils/Hurricanes.

Because Black trim provides some much needed contrast to those bright shades of yellow and red. The inaugural jerseys are fine once in a while but the 2004 cup run jerseys blow them right out of the water.

I always thought the Canes could pull off a Phantom yoke.

I'm starting to agree. Nothing wrong with Hurricanes current set and I have a feeling it will be appreciated a lot more after next Tuesday...

I totally agree with spartacat_12 regarding Calgary's red and athletic gold. They are unique, much just like the Kansas City Chiefs' uniforms. I've said exactly the same thing in past posts.

The only black I would accept in the Flames' dark set besides the crest and numbers is the pants. The helmet should remain red to keep the uniform from looking like other teams such as the 'Hawks, Sens, and Devils and still have a "true" Flames look. The overall look would be horizontal stripes and non-italic block font. Remember when Montreal and Washington had very identical uniforms? Except the Habs wear blue helmets and the Caps wore red helmets to distinguish those two teams.

I do have a couple of compromises for those like you, Morgo, who don't like red and yellow alone. How's about going with a deeper shade of red, like Montreal's? Or sticking with the lighter shade of red and changing the gold to a darker tone of Vegas gold and using the vintage templete for both the reds and whites?

[dbadefense1990]

And to think the goal graphics are actually worse than whats on the ice. Ugh, Fox...

At this point, they were better at times back then than how NBC covers games now. And who can forget the masterful job ABC did when they had hockey coverage.

I wonder how CBS would have handled covering the NHL if they got those rights...

I'm sorry? Did you not stay long enough for the ING FIGHTING SCOREBOARD ROBOTS!?!?!

-----

Also, some points from sodboy's video:

- Fox really oscillated between good quality when it came to actual on-air talent and what they were saying, and just flat out WHHAAAAAAAAA, which was basically everything else.

- Folks, James Brown doing hockey is really really weird, folks.

- It is really strange to think about right now that Detroit went 42 years between Cups. (40 at the time of that broadcast) And Toronto's drought was only 28 years then. The other teams on that list they had, Chicago and Boston, have also won their Cups. And stranger that the four longest droughts at that time were all Original 6 teams. Go back a year earlier, and the Rangers are in there to make it the Top 5. All those other teams coming into the league really actually did do a number them, huh?

Why do you think I put on my post "...they were better at times...?" I would rather trust them in terms of their overall NHL coverage over how NBC siphons Canadian feeds and just ask local Comcast broadcasters to cover their national games during the playoffs. I really enjoy their NHL on FSN regional coverages, and would only think that national FOX's coverage, had the NHL not locked in another decade-long contract last year, would be similar to it.

But the glowing puck and animated robots? Yeah, those deserve to go straight to television hell.

And by the way, the James Brown reference was from a recording of the NHL on FOX in 1995. The whole sports division they had was just starting; hell, they only had the NFL for less than a year prior to the afformed date of the video.

FOX yanked NFC football rights from CBS in late 1993, and thus, many of their personalities (J.B., Bradshaw, Summerall, Madden) fled to the newly created FOX Sports. They handled the NFL in the fall of 1994 with a "FOX attitude." Then they got the NHL for the 1995 season, then MLB for 1996.

And with that, FOX Sports only grew and grew. The whole "J.B. being there is awkward and weird" thing was for their whole sports division at the time.