2013-2014 NHL Uniform & Logo Changes

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

or even a modernized version of this:

That was always my favourite Blues uniform. I just think they look better in a light blue shade as opposed to dark.

ABSOLUTELY

And these are the colors the Blues wore on their Stanley cup final 68, 69, 70.

I'm hoping that St. Louis is involved in the WInter Classic in the next couple years, just for the purpose of seeing this, and the possibility of making it a full time 3rd the following season. I have a strong feeling that the 2015 Classic may be St. Louis-L.A. at Busch Stadium. We could have a matchup of the blue uniform above against the gold uni below:

[Sport]

"he said he wants the stars to do it right this time, and never have to do it again."

This should be every team's attitude when redesigning uniforms. The ultimate goal should be the create a look that's so perfect that it doesn't need to be touched.

Of course there's always going to be teams that decide to jump on the most recent trend and they'll end up looking dated very quickly, but it's refreshing to hear that viewpoint from someone running a major professional sports franchise.

[Bayne]

The navy blue in their current jerseys make them look like they're still in the 90's/early 2000's somewhere.

[OnWis97]

"he said he wants the stars to do it right this time, and never have to do it again."

This should be every team's attitude when redesigning uniforms. The ultimate goal should be the create a look that's so perfect that it doesn't need to be touched.

Of course there's always going to be teams that decide to jump on the most recent trend and they'll end up looking dated very quickly, but it's refreshing to hear that viewpoint from someone running a major professional sports franchise.

I agree with this. "Does it have staying power?" should be asked every time. That's part of my beef with the Wild (though my main complaint is they continue to marginalize their great logo). Almost every time they make a change, it's for a trend: Laces, circle logo, wordmark. And the green third may even become the primary some day. But it won't last. And neither will having three jerseys that don't look alike in the least. Similarly, does anyone really believe that the Lighning or the Ducks are really wearing the uniforms they'll be wearing 20 years from now?

Of course, as we have learned, there's a lot of money in uniform changes and I would not be surprised if some designs actually plan for a short shelf life, particularly in the current era of uniforms really being about the manufacturer.

[Morgan33]

Really though, the Stars will never be able to top these uniforms:

Those are hard to top but it will all depend on the colour scheme...

all i know for sure is that it's going to be kelly green primarily.

and that they toyed with adding silver to the green/gold combo, so it might be there now.

gaglardi has said that he's "listened to the fans" on this one, so i'd be shocked if it wasn't kelly green and gold (either athletic or metallic). i'd expect black too, but wouldn't be ENTIRELY shocked if it wasn't there.

he said that the stars are a second-six franchise and they should look like one. he wants a sweater that looks nice NOW, and wouldn't have looked out of place in the 50's either. he also said there's an outside chance that they won't be changed until the year after next, but only if he's not absolutely in love with the final prototype that he should have looked at this week.

he said he wants the stars to do it right this time, and never have to do it again.

Interesting they are going with Kelly Green as that colour was only used for one season since the team relocated. If they match it with athletic gold, white (no vintage white please!) and black, they'll have a great look that honours their history. The thought of matching it with metallic gold and/or silver has me worried though. Same with Black disappearing

[habsfan1]

See the thing is that they are the Dallas Stars, but from the look of things, they're trying to revive the Minnesota North Stars.

And it looks like they are going all TB Lightning on the new look. They are distancing themselves from the actual Stars francise, and will probably go with something ultra bland, just to be on the retro bandwagon. There will be throwback laces, old colors, and imo, a stupid D that points up to a fricken star as the new primary logo. I have a feeling that the current Star logo will be toast...

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

"he said he wants the stars to do it right this time, and never have to do it again."

This should be every team's attitude when redesigning uniforms. The ultimate goal should be the create a look that's so perfect that it doesn't need to be touched.

Of course there's always going to be teams that decide to jump on the most recent trend and they'll end up looking dated very quickly, but it's refreshing to hear that viewpoint from someone running a major professional sports franchise.

I agree with this. "Does it have staying power?" should be asked every time. That's part of my beef with the Wild (though my main complaint is they continue to marginalize their great logo). Almost every time they make a change, it's for a trend: Laces, circle logo, wordmark. And the green third may even become the primary some day. But it won't last. And neither will having three jerseys that don't look alike in the least. Similarly, does anyone really believe that the Lighning or the Ducks are really wearing the uniforms they'll be wearing 20 years from now?

Of course, as we have learned, there's a lot of money in uniform changes and I would not be surprised if some designs actually plan for a short shelf life, particularly in the current era of uniforms really being about the manufacturer.

There's no team younger than the original 6 that hasn't changed their uniforms atleast once. When I say change I mean a noticeable alteration or complete re-design, not adding a stripe or relocating. Think about it. While most of the original six have kept the same foundation, almost every team after the 67 expansion have changed atleast once (also, please don't over examine my list, I'm just trying to make a point)

Pittsburgh (6?)

Phillie (2ish)

St. Louis (4)

Minnesota/Dallas (2)

LA. (3)

Vancouver (4)

Anaheim (1)

Buffalo (3)

Calgary (2ish)

Not sure if you could count Colorado, but for argument's sake, lets count the edge switch removing the mountains as once.

Columbus (1)

Edmonton (2)

Florida (1)

Minnesota (1or2)

Nashville (2)

New Jersey (1)

NY Islanders (4)

Ottawa (2or3)

Phoenix (1)

San Jose (2)

Tampa Bay (2)

Washington (2)

Realistically, the only team that hasn't completely redone themselves atleast once is Carolina.

It seems no uniform has staying power anymore.

[BigBubba]

See the thing is that they are the Dallas Stars, but from the look of things, they're trying to revive the Minnesota North Stars.

And it looks like they are going all TB Lightning on the new look. They are distancing themselves from the actual Stars francise, and will probably go with something ultra bland, just to be on the retro bandwagon. There will be throwback laces, old colors, and imo, a stupid D that points up to a fricken star as the new primary logo. I have a feeling that the current Star logo will be toast...

No. The Lightning are a 1993 expansion team playing Original Six dress up. The Stars are a nearly 50-year-old Original Expansion team. It makes every bit of sense for them to dress as such. Jumping on the faux-retro bandwagon doesn't apply if you're a true retro team.

[Lights Out]

The Dallas Stars playing Minnesota North Stars dress-up isn't any better than the Lightning playing Original Six dress-up.

What's next: the Hurricanes pretending to be the Hartford Whalers? The Avs changing to Nordiques ripoffs? When does the boring faux-retro trend finally go away?

[IceCap]

I rarely respond to another poster's opinion like this, but honestly this was my initial reaction to this post.

The Dallas Stars playing Minnesota North Stars dress-up isn't any better than the Lightning playing Original Six dress-up.

Bulls h i t.

The Tampa Bay Lightning decided to design uniforms that evoked a time period in hockey history they were never a part of. The Dallas Stars, on the other hand, were a hockey team during the 60s up through the present day.

Are the Lightning playing dress-up? Yeah, they are. What the Lightning are doing, however, is in no way the same thing as the Dallas Stars adopting North Stars-inspired uniforms. That's not a case of the Stars playing dress-up. That's a case of the Stars embracing their own damn history. What's next? The Rangers shouldn't be wearing diagonal script because it's "boring"?

Really though, the Stars will never be able to top these uniforms:

For as much you go one and on about celebrating creative design you sure do seem attached to a design that, at the end of the day, ripped off an All Star Game template.

Also the numbers on both the sleeves and the back would sometimes overlap with the stripes. That, in and of itself, makes it a poor uniform choice.

Finally the star on the chest does not line up with the star pattern at the waist. It's a small thing but once you see it you cannot unsee it. It makes the whole thing look slapped together.

[KrazyHorse]

The Stars have always embraced their Minnesota roots. Only minor changes were made to the uniform when they made the move to Dallas. The same cannot be said about Colorado, Carolina, or Phoenix. The Stars are similar to Calgary in that they kept the same team name (more or less since NORTH Stars would not fit with a team from the South) when the move was made.

[IceCap]

i like those jerseys for sentimental purposes only...

if we're talking about stars uniforms that "Can't be topped" then this is where it's at:

luckily, it sounds like the new sweaters are going to be taking great strides in this direction.

Now THAT'S a Stars sweater.

[Sodboy13]

What's next? The Rangers shouldn't be wearing diagonal script because it's "boring"?

Given that this is a conversation with Lights Out, I'm guessing the answer is "Yes".

And you're spot-on with your analysis of the "star" sweaters. Dallas really hasn't had a great look since they moved south, but their initial go at it, with kelly green and "DALLAS" down the pants stripe, was probably their best.

[29texan]

What's next? The Rangers shouldn't be wearing diagonal script because it's "boring"?

Given that this is a conversation with Lights Out, I'm guessing the answer is "Yes".

And you're spot-on with your analysis of the "star" sweaters. Dallas really hasn't had a great look since they moved south, but their initial go at it, with kelly green and "DALLAS" down the pants stripe, was probably their best.

As far as the Stars and their time here in North Texas goes, I'll take the Cup sweaters over anything else they had, which wasn't much.

Maybe I'll change my mind when the new look comes next year. Until then....

I'll stick with these.

[Roger Clemente]

What I presume the Canadiens changes might look like:

[ksupilot]

Gahh another team jumping on the laceup fauxretro bandwagon! The Habs are just trying to jump on the same bandwagon as the Lightning and Stars. I mean really, what do they think they are? An Original Six team?

PS, I think the proper example of a team playing dressup would be if the Wild suddenly adopted retro uniforms that look like the Northstars.

[Midway]

Am I the only one who thinks people are defending the Stars reverting to their North Stars look because they're attached to that look and afraid to see it die? Truth is the North Stars had probably the best uniforms ever to grace NHL ice but as Lights Out pointed out, certain franchises rooting from historic ones have taken on a newer appropriate look for the fans in their current city. I'm not gonna pretend like its okay to give exceptions

[sportstar1212]

I just noticed this, but it looks like the Sabres use the Buffaslug font for the numbers on their helmets.

[The Giant Pacific Octopus]

What's next? The Rangers shouldn't be wearing diagonal script because it's "boring"?

Given that this is a conversation with Lights Out, I'm guessing the answer is "Yes".

And you're spot-on with your analysis of the "star" sweaters. Dallas really hasn't had a great look since they moved south, but their initial go at it, with kelly green and "DALLAS" down the pants stripe, was probably their best.

As far as the Stars and their time here in North Texas goes, I'll take the Cup sweaters over anything else they had, which wasn't much.

Maybe I'll change my mind when the new look comes next year. Until then....

I'll stick with these.

I've been a Stars fan since 79' and I tell you that is my favourite uniform since the "N" uniforms that the North Stars wore. Why they changed it is beyond me. How in the Hell do you go from a great design like that to a bland basketball jersey wannabe look like they have now?

Saying all that these are by far my favourite North Star jerseys. I love that early 80s look. Thats the North Stars that I was the most close too.

[Morgan33]

Really though, the Stars will never be able to top these uniforms:

For as much you go one and on about celebrating creative design you sure do seem attached to a design that, at the end of the day, ripped off an All Star Game template.

Also the numbers on both the sleeves and the back would sometimes overlap with the stripes. That, in and of itself, makes it a poor uniform choice.

Finally the star on the chest does not line up with the star pattern at the waist. It's a small thing but once you see it you cannot unsee it. It makes the whole thing look slapped together.

Those are great jerseys. I don't see why it's so important that the star striping aligns perfectly with the primary logo. They are both seperate design elements and how disjointed would the striping look if they italized it to match the logo... I also don't see why having the same design as a previous all star jersey is important either. They toke a creative, unused template that was appropriate for the team namesake and gave it a far superior colour scheme. The result was one of the best looking jerseys of the 90's.