2013-2014 NHL Uniform & Logo Changes

[Morgan33]

I really don't understand why the Phoenix Coyote's current identity get's almost universal acclaim on these boards... The inaugural set was never going to be considered a classic but at least it was a good visual representation of a hockey team playing in the desert... The colour palette was perfect and the logo can not be called "dated" because it was completely original. It doesn't represent the trends of the 90's, the 2000's or today... The current identity on the other hand is as dull and unoriginal as it gets. The aggressive logo is more "90's" than the "Picasso Coyote" and in a feat of truly bad design, is matched up with an uninspired striping pattern that looks about as far removed from the logo's as humanly possible... Hem-stripes or not, it's a bad identity

You know, I'm going to take a stab at this, not because I'm a Coyotes fan (I'm not), want the team to stay particularly long (Move 'em!), or because I love either look that much (I don't), but because I remember being in Junior High and hating the rebrand because it was so boring. This was also the time I thought the Flames' horsehead was the best look in the league and missed the Lightning's thunderstorm thirds, so I've grown up A LOT since then, and this is me rectifying those thoughts.

That logo and look might not be "dated", per se, but it is still representative of the wrong thing: that hockey in Phoenix is a gimmick. The crazy designs, the weird lines, the black and green and red and tan, the picasso coyote, purple in that logo, and so on...it just screamed that hockey was new and cool and not something to be taken seriously in the desert. Hell, they had cacti on their third jersey, with lizards climbing on the shoulders! How can anybody take that seriously? It's a joke!

But then came this classic sweater, brick red, darker than usual. Vintage white didn't exist then, rather, this was "vintage red", and it fit the desert. And the logo, brick red and tan. Simple. Coyote head howling. Looked realistic, looked classy. looked like it had been around for a while. You combine those two, and you have something that looks legitimately like a hockey team. A good hockey team. Not a gimmick. Serious, real, National Hockey League hockey. No lizards crawling around, no cartoon mascots with sticks, this was a team that was supposed to be taken seriously.

And why wouldn't you love that?

Think about it, the team switched when the vintage series was introduced and Minnesota had the most classic-looking all-star game ever. The Yotes took it the most serious and made their whole look vintage, rather than a few games here and there like others, and still so many teams were stuck with overly modern looks (Mooterus, Pooh Bear, Mustard, Nucks Fade). They were ahead of the curve. They were the first "fauxback" team in the NHL, and that deserves some recognition.

Maybe now it looks boring. We're in a sea of vintage looks and now it looks stale, it blends in, it doesn't pop. But for what it was, when it was...it deserves some love.

For starters I was in no way defending that awful third jersey with the cacti and lizards. That was an abomination that no professional hockey player should have ever had to wear & the essence of "gimmicky." The main set on the other hand was pretty restrained. Aside from the southwestern striping, that I thought was a brilliant way the represent the region, the jerseys don't differ much from most designs. Sleeve stripes, hem stripes, yoke. What really tips the scale in favor of that look for me though, is that colour scheme. Sure there are 6 of them if you include black but they work well together and represent the region perfectly.

As for the 2004 jerseys (we'll just leave the bastardized edge versions out of this) I can appreciate that people see them as "classy" but to me, they are yawn inducing. Especially the colours which honestly look worse every year. Having one shoulder patch is pointless and as I stated earlier, the logos are as far removed from the simple striping as possible. A team originating in 1997 should not going to fauxback route either. If any team should think outside the box, it's one playing in Phoenix.

[hockey week]

I really don't understand why the Phoenix Coyote's current identity get's almost universal acclaim on these boards... The inaugural set was never going to be considered a classic but at least it was a good visual representation of a hockey team playing in the desert... The colour palette was perfect and the logo can not be called "dated" because it was completely original. It doesn't represent the trends of the 90's, the 2000's or today... The current identity on the other hand is as dull and unoriginal as it gets. The aggressive logo is more "90's" than the "Picasso Coyote" and in a feat of truly bad design, is matched up with an uninspired striping pattern that looks about as far removed from the logo's as humanly possible... Hem-stripes or not, it's a bad identity

You know, I'm going to take a stab at this, not because I'm a Coyotes fan (I'm not), want the team to stay particularly long (Move 'em!), or because I love either look that much (I don't), but because I remember being in Junior High and hating the rebrand because it was so boring. This was also the time I thought the Flames' horsehead was the best look in the league and missed the Lightning's thunderstorm thirds, so I've grown up A LOT since then, and this is me rectifying those thoughts.

That logo and look might not be "dated", per se, but it is still representative of the wrong thing: that hockey in Phoenix is a gimmick. The crazy designs, the weird lines, the black and green and red and tan, the picasso coyote, purple in that logo, and so on...it just screamed that hockey was new and cool and not something to be taken seriously in the desert. Hell, they had cacti on their third jersey, with lizards climbing on the shoulders! How can anybody take that seriously? It's a joke!

But then came this classic sweater, brick red, darker than usual. Vintage white didn't exist then, rather, this was "vintage red", and it fit the desert. And the logo, brick red and tan. Simple. Coyote head howling. Looked realistic, looked classy. looked like it had been around for a while. You combine those two, and you have something that looks legitimately like a hockey team. A good hockey team. Not a gimmick. Serious, real, National Hockey League hockey. No lizards crawling around, no cartoon mascots with sticks, this was a team that was supposed to be taken seriously.

And why wouldn't you love that?

Think about it, the team switched when the vintage series was introduced and Minnesota had the most classic-looking all-star game ever. The Yotes took it the most serious and made their whole look vintage, rather than a few games here and there like others, and still so many teams were stuck with overly modern looks (Mooterus, Pooh Bear, Mustard, Nucks Fade). They were ahead of the curve. They were the first "fauxback" team in the NHL, and that deserves some recognition.

Maybe now it looks boring. We're in a sea of vintage looks and now it looks stale, it blends in, it doesn't pop. But for what it was, when it was...it deserves some love.

For starters I was in no way defending that awful third jersey with the cacti and lizards. That was an abomination that no professional hockey player should have ever had to wear & the essence of "gimmicky." The main set on the other hand was pretty restrained. Aside from the southwestern striping, that I thought was a brilliant way the represent the region, the jerseys don't differ much from most designs. Sleeve stripes, hem stripes, yoke. What really tips the scale in favor of that look for me though, is that colour scheme. Sure there are 6 of them if you include black but they work well together and represent the region perfectly.

As for the 2004 jerseys (we'll just leave the bastardized edge versions out of this) I can appreciate that people see them as "classy" but to me, they are yawn inducing. Especially the colours which honestly look worse every year. Having one shoulder patch is pointless and as I stated earlier, the logos are as far removed from the simple striping as possible. A team originating in 1997 should not going to fauxback route either. If any team should think outside the box, it's one playing in Phoenix.

I didn't say you were defending that third...frankly, I don't know how anybody could lol. It's just awful. In every way. But it IS the perfect example of the gimmick idea I'm talking about. Cacti, lizards, mountains...and phantom of the opera coyote in full force...just bad.

And their home and roads were awfully busy, too. Granted, it was the 90s, busy was in. Granted, the stripe design was typical enough, sleeve-sleeve-hemline...but the angles and the sharp shoulders are something pure 90s.

There are too many colors, too. Good colors, maybe, but in the end, too many. Even though that logo is truly unique, the jerseys are truly representative of their era and needed to go.

That said, look at the 2002-03 season. The futuristic modern stripes were all over the place, and the only teams even thinking retro/traditional were the Leafs and Avalanche. The next year, the year of the Coyotes' change, saw all sorts of throwbacks being worn for certain games. The Flames introduced the Sea of Red jersey, the Ducks had their Anaheim script jersey, Minnesota introduced their red third, and the All-Star Game was the classiest it's ever been. However, nobody was daring enough to build a whole new traditional identity.

Really, Phoenix beat everybody to the punch. They are the FIRST fauxback team. That's pretty cool. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to look like you're serious, and that's what this current look achieved. It was at the forefront of the retro trend, really being slightly ahead of the curve, if anything.

In context, it is a daring look that worked perfectly at the time.

Now, I agree, it's stale. It needs an update, and something that pays homage to the original would be a good thing. However, they should never go fully back to that original look, or even a simple recolor of that look, because it only worked in its original context. It would be awful today. Worse than their current look by far. Times change, and looks outlast their usefulness, and I think this is exactly what is happening here. Not dated, not bad...just...needs refreshed.

[Still MIGHTY]

At the Rangers/Isles/Devils presser at Yankee Stadium today, the official Stadium Series logo was unveiled:

[TorinK92]

Reminds me more of a beer can than a stadium to me.

[chriscj83]

The mountains turn blue on game day.

[Funky Bunky]

I'm curious, when did wearing jerseys and team gear become popular? I'm watching game 4 of the 88 SCF, and only about 5-10% of the crowd is wearing any sort of Oilers gear.

[hockey week]

Watching the 92 SCF, there were a handful of Penguins jerseys in the crowd. probably 95% of the crowd was simply in black and gold, 4% in Pens tshirts, 1% in jerseys, and that might be generous.

I have a team catalog from 1993 and it has options to buy the new 1993 jerseys and the old 1992 jerseys, both were around $130 if I remember correctly. Consider that price, at that time, and that's an awful lot of money. Kinda like when we see authentics out and about today.

I know the stuff existed before this, though. I have a Mikita Blackhawks jersey that's clearly from the early 80s based on materials. For some reason, the sleeves don't taper at all, it's awful. Of course, Roch Carrier's The Hockey Sweater certainly shows that it existed in some manner as early as 1946, even if just for kids.

If anyone has any more information, I'd love to find out when the modern fan-jersey era really began.

[BrianLion]

I'm curious, when did wearing jerseys and team gear become popular? I'm watching game 4 of the 88 SCF, and only about 5-10% of the crowd is wearing any sort of Oilers gear.

Sports gear sort of exploded in popularity in the early to mid 90's. Before that outside of some t-shirts and jerseys there wasnt a whole lot.

[Ark]

I saw this on HFBoards. Sens fans are apparently trying to petition the team into changing their jerseys.

http://twitter.com/sensinblack

http://twitter.com/sensinblack/status/364138685874200576

[kiwi_canadian]

Personally I do not mind that at all... Gets rid of that standard Sens/Pens/ Lightning template.

[hockey week]

I saw this on HFBoards. Sens fans are apparently trying to petition the team into changing their jerseys.

http://twitter.com/sensinblack

http://twitter.com/sensinblack/status/364138685874200576

I'm against this on one principle: How is that different from these?

Not that I'm truly against any of it, but after the riots on this board, I don't understand how one is so not-ok and the other would be ok, especially since both teams entered the league on the same season.

[IceCap]

The Senators wouldn't be ripping off another team's exact colour scheme.

[The_Admiral]

The original Senators sweaters are okay, but the laurel-leaf alternate is a grand slam. I agree with the Sens in black, at any rate. Something about the red just looks cheap to me. Too loud, maybe? Senators should be dignified.

[IceCap]

The laurel-leaf design was sharp on its own, but I don't particularly care for it because it just furthers the Roman theme, which has always been tenuous. Yes, ancient Rome had a Senate, but the logo the Sens use depicts a Roman Centurion. Not a Roman Senator. Aside from Rome having both Centurions and Senators what's the connection? You might as well use a Mountie for the logo because Canada has both Mounties and a Senate.

I'd rather the Sens just embrace the =O= and shield throwback look.

[NYYNYR]

Personally I do not mind that at all... Gets rid of that standard Sens/Pens/ Lightning template.

Speaking of ugly templates, did anyone see this article? I just stumbled upon it on my "visit" to Creamer today (don't have it bookmarked).

http://news.sportslogos.net/2013/08/09/nfl-teams-abandoning-terrible-nike-collar-treatment-in-2013/

It's amazing how in the NFL, Nike totally butchered elements of the new jerseys, especially these ugly "business-shirt collars." They were gross --> a la how the initial RBK piping looked.

However, within one year, they were almost all wiped out. Teams took action; the league didn't stand in the way because it was pushing some ridiculous "wicking uniform system" or a multi-year wait period for changes.

I wish the NHL were quicker to act when the sport was become a (visual) train wreck.

[Kevin W.]

I saw this on HFBoards. Sens fans are apparently trying to petition the team into changing their jerseys.

http://twitter.com/sensinblack

http://twitter.com/sensinblack/status/364138685874200576

Switch to the 3D centurion logo and you're golden.

[TorinK92]

I saw this on HFBoards. Sens fans are apparently trying to petition the team into changing their jerseys.

http://twitter.com/sensinblack

http://twitter.com/sensinblack/status/364138685874200576

Switch to the 3D centurion logo and you're golden.

how about no?

And I personally think that that'd be great. The original sens sweaters with no white are my favourite of all time.

[spartacat_12]

I really don't understand why the Phoenix Coyote's current identity get's almost universal acclaim on these boards... The inaugural set was never going to be considered a classic but at least it was a good visual representation of a hockey team playing in the desert... The colour palette was perfect and the logo can not be called "dated" because it was completely original. It doesn't represent the trends of the 90's, the 2000's or today... The current identity on the other hand is as dull and unoriginal as it gets. The aggressive logo is more "90's" than the "Picasso Coyote" and in a feat of truly bad design, is matched up with an uninspired striping pattern that looks about as far removed from the logo's as humanly possible... Hem-stripes or not, it's a bad identity

You know, I'm going to take a stab at this, not because I'm a Coyotes fan (I'm not), want the team to stay particularly long (Move 'em!), or because I love either look that much (I don't), but because I remember being in Junior High and hating the rebrand because it was so boring. This was also the time I thought the Flames' horsehead was the best look in the league and missed the Lightning's thunderstorm thirds, so I've grown up A LOT since then, and this is me rectifying those thoughts.

That logo and look might not be "dated", per se, but it is still representative of the wrong thing: that hockey in Phoenix is a gimmick. The crazy designs, the weird lines, the black and green and red and tan, the picasso coyote, purple in that logo, and so on...it just screamed that hockey was new and cool and not something to be taken seriously in the desert. Hell, they had cacti on their third jersey, with lizards climbing on the shoulders! How can anybody take that seriously? It's a joke!

But then came this classic sweater, brick red, darker than usual. Vintage white didn't exist then, rather, this was "vintage red", and it fit the desert. And the logo, brick red and tan. Simple. Coyote head howling. Looked realistic, looked classy. looked like it had been around for a while. You combine those two, and you have something that looks legitimately like a hockey team. A good hockey team. Not a gimmick. Serious, real, National Hockey League hockey. No lizards crawling around, no cartoon mascots with sticks, this was a team that was supposed to be taken seriously.

And why wouldn't you love that?

Think about it, the team switched when the vintage series was introduced and Minnesota had the most classic-looking all-star game ever. The Yotes took it the most serious and made their whole look vintage, rather than a few games here and there like others, and still so many teams were stuck with overly modern looks (Mooterus, Pooh Bear, Mustard, Nucks Fade). They were ahead of the curve. They were the first "fauxback" team in the NHL, and that deserves some recognition.

Maybe now it looks boring. We're in a sea of vintage looks and now it looks stale, it blends in, it doesn't pop. But for what it was, when it was...it deserves some love.

For starters I was in no way defending that awful third jersey with the cacti and lizards. That was an abomination that no professional hockey player should have ever had to wear & the essence of "gimmicky." The main set on the other hand was pretty restrained. Aside from the southwestern striping, that I thought was a brilliant way the represent the region, the jerseys don't differ much from most designs. Sleeve stripes, hem stripes, yoke. What really tips the scale in favor of that look for me though, is that colour scheme. Sure there are 6 of them if you include black but they work well together and represent the region perfectly.

As for the 2004 jerseys (we'll just leave the bastardized edge versions out of this) I can appreciate that people see them as "classy" but to me, they are yawn inducing. Especially the colours which honestly look worse every year. Having one shoulder patch is pointless and as I stated earlier, the logos are as far removed from the simple striping as possible. A team originating in 1997 should not going to fauxback route either. If any team should think outside the box, it's one playing in Phoenix.

I didn't say you were defending that third...frankly, I don't know how anybody could lol. It's just awful. In every way. But it IS the perfect example of the gimmick idea I'm talking about. Cacti, lizards, mountains...and phantom of the opera coyote in full force...just bad.

And their home and roads were awfully busy, too. Granted, it was the 90s, busy was in. Granted, the stripe design was typical enough, sleeve-sleeve-hemline...but the angles and the sharp shoulders are something pure 90s.

There are too many colors, too. Good colors, maybe, but in the end, too many. Even though that logo is truly unique, the jerseys are truly representative of their era and needed to go.

That said, look at the 2002-03 season. The futuristic modern stripes were all over the place, and the only teams even thinking retro/traditional were the Leafs and Avalanche. The next year, the year of the Coyotes' change, saw all sorts of throwbacks being worn for certain games. The Flames introduced the Sea of Red jersey, the Ducks had their Anaheim script jersey, Minnesota introduced their red third, and the All-Star Game was the classiest it's ever been. However, nobody was daring enough to build a whole new traditional identity.

Really, Phoenix beat everybody to the punch. They are the FIRST fauxback team. That's pretty cool. If you want to be taken seriously, you have to look like you're serious, and that's what this current look achieved. It was at the forefront of the retro trend, really being slightly ahead of the curve, if anything.

In context, it is a daring look that worked perfectly at the time.

Now, I agree, it's stale. It needs an update, and something that pays homage to the original would be a good thing. However, they should never go fully back to that original look, or even a simple recolor of that look, because it only worked in its original context. It would be awful today. Worse than their current look by far. Times change, and looks outlast their usefulness, and I think this is exactly what is happening here. Not dated, not bad...just...needs refreshed.

I'm a fan of the whole fauxback movement but I don't think Phoenix should've been the team to get it started. Fauxbacks are only appropriate for teams that play in hockey-rich markets but might not have a long enough history (or a diverse uniform history) for a true throwback (Minnesota, Ottawa, Colorado, Rangers, etc.). Teams like Phoenix or Carolina need to embrace their status as "non-traditional" hockey markets and put some originality back into their designs. That doesn't necessarily mean a return to the desert jerseys, but building a unique, distinctive brand is something that the new owners should consider at some point. The Sharks are the perfect example of this. While their original (and current) uniforms feature fairly traditional striping, the use of teal and a dynamic logo make them stand out while also avoiding the fauxback tag.

[Chromatic]

I saw this on HFBoards. Sens fans are apparently trying to petition the team into changing their jerseys.

http://twitter.com/sensinblack

http://twitter.com/sensinblack/status/364138685874200576

Ugh. Why not just make a white version of the current alt and call it a day?

[ColeJ]

I'm growing to hate the term "traditional market." Hockey is the only sport where people seem to care.