With hockey fans already nervous about what the Reebok-to-Adidas changeover will mean for NHL uniforms next season, a Minnesota Wild article in yesterday’s Minneapolis Star Tribune (helpfully brought to my attention by reader Luke H.) included the following news:
Multiple sources tell the Star Tribune that all NHL teams will be permitted to have only home and road jerseys next season as Adidas takes over for Reebok as the official outfitter of NHL uniforms.
There will be no third jerseys, in order to make the initial implementation of new sweaters easier.
The Wild is in the midst of deciding whether to go with red or green home sweaters. If the Wild chooses green, which sounds probable, the jersey likely will be slightly redesigned from the current third jersey.
The report was quickly confirmed by SportsLogos.net poobah Chris Creamer (among others), who then reported that the Oilers will promote their orange alternates to primary home uni status next season and that the Devils will have new uniforms.
That’s a lot of info to process, and it has led to lots of questions, some of which are only tangentially related to the “no alternates” policy. Let’s shift into FAQ mode:
Is this “no alternates” policy permanent?
No. It should last only one season.
How many teams are affected?
According to NHLuniforms.com, 17 of the 30 NHL teams currently have alternate uniforms. So this no-alts policy will affect a little more than half of the league. If you’re a fan of, say, the Canadiens or Stars, it won’t make much difference, except as it pertains to your favorite team’s opponents.
Has the NHL ever done anything like this before?
Yes. When the Reebok Edge template was introduced for the 2007-08 season, teams only had home and road uniforms — no alternates. By the following year, however, alternates were being used by 18 of the league’s 30 teams (and the year after that, the number was up to 22 out of 30). I’m sure the same thing will happen this time around.
What about the Winter Classic and other outdoor games?
It’s a safe bet that they’ll still have special uniforms for those games. For the 2008 Winter Classic, which was played in the middle of that 2007-08 “no alternates” season, the Penguins and Sabres still wore throwbacks. “No alternates” doesn’t necessarily mean “no one-offs.”
What does it mean when then say they’re doing this to make “the initial implementation of new sweaters easier”? Reebok and Adidas have the same corporate ownership ”” isn’t that easy enough?
You’d think so, right? I’d love to know more about which issues are at work here — like, are they talking about gameday logistics? Retail/merch concerns? Something else? Not sure. Trying to find out.
For those 17 teams that currently have alternate uniforms, will they simply scrap those alternates and stick with their current homes and roads?
Some teams probably will. The Rangers, for example, will no doubt just mothball their retro alts for a season. But other teams may have choices to make. As noted in the Star Tribune article, for example, the Wild are pondering whether to go with their home reds or alternate greens as next season’s home jersey, and the Oilers have already made a similar choice by redesignating this season’s alternate as next season’s home uni. What about, say, the Capitals — might they redesignate their throwback alternates as their home primaries? And people are already speculating about what the Hurricanes will do. Which other teams might be pondering their options? All good food for thought and fodder for discussion.
This is stupid ”” Adidas is losing out on lots of alternate jersey sales!
Maybe, maybe not. But why should any of us care about Adidas’s balance sheet? That’s not our concern. Instead of calling them stupid, let’s give them credit for doing something that doesn’t follow the usual depressing pattern of cranking out extra product just for merch/retail purposes.
How many teams will be getting new uniform designs as part of the Adidas changeover?
I don’t know. As noted above, the Devils reportedly have a new look in the works, and I imagine we’ll see a few other teams with new designs as well, just as we would in any other year. Just as the NFL’s shift from Reebok to Nike in 2012 didn’t result in a larger-than-usual number of uniform design changes, I don’t necessarily expect the new NHL’s new deal with Adidas to result in large-scale changes. (By contrast, I do expect the NBA’s new deal with Nike to result in a lot of changes, but that’s another subject for another day.)
Will teams all wear the three Adidas stripes on their game jerseys?
I don’t know. But if I had to bet, I’d say no.
Okay, but the NHL is moving ahead with ad patches, right?
Actually, no, there’s no indication of that.
I wouldn’t mind losing the alternates if they went back to wearing white at home. Are they gonna do that?
I don’t think so, unfortunately.
Any thoughts of your own? Discuss.
Screen shot by @SportsFunhouse; click to enlarge
College football goes out with a bang: Jeez, you think Clemson quarterback DeShaun Watson was wearing enough bling for last night’s national championship game against Alabama?
Aside from that, it wasn’t a particularly uni-notable game, except for ’Bama linebacker Reuben Foster have a glitch with his striping tape:
Collector’s Corner
By Brinke Guthrie
The NFL playoffs are in full swing, with the participating teams taking their best shot to reach the Super Bowl. One of those teams is the Steelers, who represented here on a classic-looking NFL helmet buggy. And if you look at the auction listing, you can see that they accurately omitted the logo on the other side of the helmet. Good job!
Now for the rest of this week’s picks:
• Here’s a press pin/tie clasp commemorating the Joe Willie Super Bowl from 1969 in Miami.
• Most excellent-looking Montreal Expos toque here, eh?
• Another week, another look the Eagles font on this 1970s pin. What’s interesting here are the helmet wings — they’re almost right, but not quite detailed enough. Does that ever bother you, when they’re not precise with the design?
• Seahawks fans toted around this late-1970s-1980s team umbrella. Didn’t need it during home games back then, of course, since the team played in the Kingdome, but Seattle is a rainy place, so an umbrella is still handy.
• I bet this Bobby Orr action figure sold like hotcakes in New England way back when.
• This 1970s New York Football Giants helmet lamp would look good at Uni Watch HQ, no doubt.
• Now why would this 6″ display pin say “Islanders New York” rather than, uh, “New York Islanders”?
• When I spotted this 1970s Dolphins belt buckle, I thought it had a DIY vibe to it, but no — flip it over and there’s your Officially Licensed Product logo right there.
• Here’s a patch for the Atlanta Falcons cheerleaders, of all people. Note how they imaginatively they worked the team logo into the lower part of the “F.”
• Don’t see too many items that say “Phoenix Cardinals,” but that’s what it says on this pennant.
Raffle results: The winner of the Pillbox Bat Company raffle is Peter Piroso. He has chosen navy pinstripes as his bat design. Congrats to him and thanks to all who entered. More raffles coming soon.
KRC update: The latest installment of Key Ring Chronicles is about a somewhat tattered cloth lanyard. Check it out here.
The Ticker
By Paul
Baseball News: Here’s a promo clip that shows several glimpses of the Indians wearing navy jerseys with red pants (and also, unfortunately, shows lots of fan-made Wahoo signs). … Here’s some rare color footage of the Giants’ last game at the Polo Grounds (from Chris Flinn). … New uniforms for the Kia Tigers, a Korean team (from Dan Kurtz).
NFL News: Steelers DE L.T. Walton wears No. 96, but check out his helmet number from Sunday’s playoff game. The bottom of the 9 and top of the 6 both tore off, leaving him with something that looked like double-zero, or maybe a percent symbol (from Jason Pratt). … Anthony Bowyer was traveling for business in Tbilisi, capital of the former Soviet republic of Georgia, and was surprised to see that one of the local political parties had adopted a variation on the Texans’ logo. “I was able to track down some rank-and-file party members, but none had heard of the Houston Texans or had a particular interest in the NFL or American football,” he says, so it’s a bit of a mystery. … Speaking of politicians making use of NFL logos, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave a state of the state speech yesterday in Buffalo and used a graphic based on the Bills’ old “standing buffalo” logo. I initially thought, “Eh, that could be any buffalo,” but then I compared it, and it really does seem to be the team logo. … For the 1979 AFC Championship Game, the TV intros for the Steelers’ players show them wearing Pittsburgh Pirates caps (from Marc Viquez).
College Football News: If you’ve been looking for a ranking of Syracuse’s 12 best football uniforms, today’s your lucky day (from Bryan Prouse). … Here’s a faaaaascinating article — disturbing, too — about what happened to a Stanford player’s brain after he took a big hit. He was wearing a sensor-equipped mouthguard, which provided researchers with a wealth of data. Recommended.
Hockey News: 1990s throwbacks upcoming next weekend for the Missouri Mavericks of the ECHL (from @RockChalkDisc). … The Jets wore some very nice throwbacks last night. Lots of additional photos here.
Basketball News: Deadspin has written an article on Bucks G Jabari Parker’s shorts, which expose, in the writer’s words, “miles of leg just hanging out.” They mean that in a good way (from Jeff Ash). … Want your shorts to be shorter? Roll short shorts legs and roll your waistband. That’s St. John’s F Tariq Owens (from @bryanwdc).
Soccer News: New NWSL team: the North Carolina Courage. No word on whether they’ll be getting a celebrity endorsement from Dan Rather.
Grab Bag: Unfortunate logo for the Vermont maple syrup industry, which looks like a guy taking a leak. … The Georgia Swarm — that’s a box lacrosse team — have three flags on their helmets, for their American, Native American, and Canadian players (from Noah Muszall). … New lacrosse uniforms for Missouri Valley College (from @BobE_22lax).
The Railhawks are going to be NCFC. North Carolina Courage is their NWSL counterpart, which used to be the Western New York Flash.
Fixed.
Tagging issues with the Collector’s Corner “press pin/tie clasp” and “Syracuse’s 12 best football uniforms”.
Fixed.
It’s too bad that the NHL won’t use this opportunity to do white at home, even if it’s just for the one alternateless year.
After all these years, I still see white sweaters on guys skating around and immediately think they’re playing a home game.
Why do people like white at home, except for it’s what they grew up with/what they’re used to? Like, I’m not trying to be dismissive but is there a reason beyond an instinctual dislike of change?
That’s all it is: what people are used to. The other reason cited — that if the home team wears white, the fans will be treated to a visual variety of matchups as the various visiting teams venture into your home arena — is rather silly. If I, a Blackhawk fan, want to see Nashville’s gold, St. Louis’s blue, etc., I can watch them play at home on cable or satellite HD television, or via streaming video on my phone.
(I apologize for the excess alliteration. It was like eating peanuts — once I started I couldn’t stop)
It’s rather silly… to you.
Some of us enjoy the visual variety of seeing different matchup colors come through town, especially in sports/leagues where there is more creativity or complexity to uniforms. It’s every bit as “silly” to prefer the opposite. In reality, it’s just personal preference, and no more or less valid than the other viewpoint.
Speaking only for myself, there’s another reason: For most NHL teams (including the two I follow most closely), I think the white uniforms are vastly superior to the colored uniforms. So I prefer the better uniforms to be worn at home.
No “sillier” than treating home games the same way as road games. For those of us who actually go, there’s an obvious difference. To me, when the road team always wears white, it seems much more generic than when you get the variety of colored uniforms.
If you’re watching on TV, it’s pretty much the same experience whichever way they do it. But for those who attend a lot of games in person (wish I could afford that!), it does make a difference. Seeing the different color combinations on TV isn’t the same as experiencing them in person.
Paul, that is interesting to me because that is the exact reason I prefer colour at home; with a few exceptions, I generally prefer the coloured uniform over the whites for each team, and in particular the team I follow (New York Rangers)
Ha! The Rangers were one of the teams I was referring to as well. I loooooooove the white design and have always found the blue set to be blah by comparison. Different strokes and all that.
Paul, I’m a NYR season ticket holder, and I’m with you. 1) The white jersey with the shoulder yolk and stripes has always felt more formal, and 2) it gives a visual anchor to the diagonal “RANGERS lettering. Especially on fans, I feel like the word starts waaay too far down on people when they’re wearing the “blueshirt”.
Keep up the great work.
Something reminds me that the STL football Cardinals moved to Phoenix in 1988, then changed to Arizona Cardinals a couple years later, at the pressure of the state which was giving them $$$
Plus, they wanted to be first in something for a change. They succeeded alphabetically.
Yeah, not really sure what makes it “vintage 1970s.”
I used to have this Phoenix sweatshirt
link
There is a typo in the season reference in the Winter Classic section of the NHL uniform discussion. Looks as if it should be 2007-08 as opposed to 2008-08.
Fixed.
The St Johns shorts item looks like it was misplaced in the soccer news section.
Yup. Thanks. Now fixed.
I liked today’s key chain chronicles, I have a small lanyard with my keys I got 2 years ago for doing a 5k for my old high school, I hope it lasts 30 years mysel.
Devastated by the news about the Devils uniform re-design. Fired off this email to the team last night (before I knew there would be no third jerseys). I encourage others to do the same.
Just read this:
link
Lifelong Devils fan, and I am appalled that ownership would consider ditching a uniform set that, notwithstanding the relative youth of the franchise, has taken its place among the NHL “classics.” No short-term boost in merchandise sales can justify turning your back on the proud history of this team. This is short-sighted and altogether out of step with your most loyal fans. Please reconsider. Introduce a third jersey if you must, but do not make a terrible decision by forsaking the uniform ranks of the Blackhawks, Habs and Wings in favor of the soulless “modern” looks of the Sabres, Avalanche and Sharks — all franchises that threw away iconic looks and are still lost in the uniform wilderness. Take a lesson from the Penguins, who FINALLY reinstated the uniforms they never should have abandoned.
I have to agree and I am a lifelong Flyers fan. With. I love for the Devils. Even though I preferred the red/green, switching to red/black was not a bad move. The Devils built an iconic look in half the time it takes most teams. I would rather see them keep it as it is and I would bet that if they change, they’ll do what the Pens (and Capitals, hopefully) did and bring back the iconic look.
How is the best way to contact ownership for the Devils? I couldn’t find a link quickly. Thanks. yes, agreed – the Devils look is one of the timeless ones, even though they aren’t one of the older franchises.
There’s a “Contact Us” tab on the website, which is how I submitted my objection:
link
You can also type your letter, take a screen shot of it, and then tweet the screen shot at them (a handy way to get around the 140-character limit).
thanks to both!
A comment from the weekend bears repeating particularly as to DeShaun Watson. Football jerseys have become too Nascar-ish. It wouldn’t be so bad if some of the clutter could be moved to the elbow, but the elimination of sleeves puts the kibosh on that.
Having the “football” black on the patch with white letters and white on the patch with black letters just looked odd, especially on the Clemson jerseys where the white blended in so much with the background that it looked like it just said “2-17” rather than the supposed “2017”.
Maybe come up with a better patch and don’t try to incorporate a logo as a digit instead?
I can understand the CFP’s desire to create a brand, including the black and metallic gold colors. I wonder if it would be better if the jersey patch was rendered in team colors (similar to the way that the ACC has team-specific football and basketball patches).
Seeing the year as a logo just took me back to New Year’s Eve celebrations, a night most people would like to forget (or try to remember). And seeing the ball as part of the logo made me wish they would drop it. What are they going to do in 2020, for instance?
Anyone else catch Chris Fowler describing the Clemson student section Orange and Blue last night?
yep. I was already ticked that the announcer-free feed wasn’t available in HD video, but that made me even more ticked off.
Fowler and Herbstreit made me pine for Lundquist and Danielson. Listening to the former was like hearing an air filter drone on. No presence. No resonance. Just noise.
I am sure that the NHL no alternate policy is to make retailing easier, especially with Fanatics taking over as retail supplier. Less styles to produce while gauging fan interest in the product. There will also be increased interest by some fans for any of the New Jersey’s next season, and then the following year when the alts come back fans will want those. This has nothing to do with the actual on ice product and everything to do with marketing, in my opinion.
It also gives them less colors to work with. That way they avoid the issues Nike had in the NFL with both Jets and Eagles.
Although, like it was pointed out, Reebok and Adidas are part of the same company which should make everything easier.
Maybe the fabric Adidas uses is different and therefore, matching the current colors will take more time?
I imagine the main challenge will be in just making each team’s design fit in with whatever template Adidas uses. Remember the switchover to Reebok Edge when they took over however many years ago? Each template has a different cut to it that you need to fit the existing designs to (Reebok edge having those seams that curve down from the collar and the curved bottom hem). The adidas template might not be radically different from reebok but I bet it’s at least a bit different and so even if all the uniforms stay the same from an aesthetic standpoint, making all of those logos and striping patterns etc fit on the new template will still require work.
From the photos I have seen it looks like the Jets throwbacks they wore last night did not include the 100 Anniversary NHL patch. Can anyone confirm this?
Thank you so much Pillbox Bat Company and Paul!
You’ve certainly made my day.
Can’t wait to display that pinstriped beauty.
Peter
Congrats, Peter. Nice choice!
On the Georgia Swarm’s helmets…the flags are those of the US, Canada, and the Iroquois Nation. To say that the latter represents “Native Americans” is wrong for a couple of reasons:
1) It’s too broad. It’s analogous to displaying an Italian flag, and saying that it represents “European players.”
2) In the case of the Iroquois Nation — who compete as a separate team in international competition — their citizens live on both sides of the Canadian-American border. And as we know, Canada uses the elegant term “First Nations” to describe their native peoples.
And as we know, Canada uses the elegant term “First Nations” to describe their native peoples.
I agree. It’s an elegant term. Descriptive, accurate and without judgment. Don’t see why the US doesn’t adopt it, unless there’s a sentiment that acknowledging their nationhood makes our displacing them somehow more wrong than if they were just “native”.
An interesting tidbit involving the NLL Swarm. They have 3 Thompson brothers playing for them from Onondaga Nation in New York. The Onondaga people are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois Confederacy in Northeast North America – per my limited research.
Their other brother plays for the Saskatchewan Rush. When Saskatchewan played at Georgia on January 7, all 4 brothers were in the game. The story is linked below:
link
Yes…the Iroquois are more accurately termed a confederation.
Yesterday’s NHL uniform news gave my an uneasy feeling. However, I am going to take a glass half full approach. Change is difficult for people who love certain uniforms but I am hopeful some positive will come out of this.
-I think it is a mistake to change the Devils uniform. It has become a classic NHL uniform. Great logo and nothing wrong with the design. Please do not change the logo. Hopeful we all love the new design.
-A big mistake to mothball the blue Oilers uniforms in favour of the orange. I do hope this is not true and may only be a one-year arrangement until third jerseys come back. Are the Oilers introducing the white version of that uniform similar to what they wore in the WHA?
-Big concerns over possibility of losing some third uniforms that we loved. However, optimistic as this could lead to some excitement for next year as more teams may change their primary uniforms due to this. This could prompt a better looking redesign for a team like the Wild.
I would terribly miss the longstanding thirds of the Senators and the Canucks, which are better uniforms than their dark primaries to me. I am hopeful from this news that this is the push that will finally prompt the Canucks to adopt the third uniform as the primary. Bring in the new white version to compliment and finally a reason to put the orca logo in the closet.
I’ll give you that the logo is a hockey icon, but when you really look at the thing, there are major proportion/balance issues, and the execution is very sloppy. That one is ripe for a clean up if you ask me.
If the Devils change the logo / uniform drastically, is there the possibility of backlash as great as the Gordon’s Fisherman fiasco for the Islanders?
What’s with Arby’s taking over the page today? The page keeps directing me toward the ad and I can’t stop it or adjust the volume.
I am having the same problem on the site today with video ads for Chuze Fitness. The video can’t be turned off or paused and the audio volume cannot be adjusted. It’s so bad that I’m signing off for the day without having finished reading today’s content. Here’s hoping that the ads aren’t as obnoxious tomorrow.
As Paul pointed out, the majority of the NHL’s third jerseys were introduced after the Edge switch, so most of them are built on that template. adidas is probably introducing a new template, so they’ll have to work on adjusting the current third jerseys to fit that template or designing new third jerseys. As a Blue Jackets fan, I hope they fall in the latter category. Vintage white has no place on a team that has only existed in the 2000’s.
I don’t understand this analysis. All the home and road jerseys are also built on the Edge template — if they can change those to whatever Adidas has in mind, why not the alternates?
Very true. Maybe they’ll try to use the third jerseys to maximize the new template?
If every jersey was exactly the same format, it would be pretty simple, but you have teams with sleeve stripes, teams with shoulder stripes, teams with yokes, teams without, teams with striped yokes, teams with hem stripes, you get the idea. “On the same template” may make it sound easy, but each jersey is still a unique garment and has to be built and adapted to each team’s design and then patterned out to every size.
A typical season might see a half dozen jerseys that need to be designed and built. Next season will see over 30 of them, plus each one’s matching home/road variation that may or may not be exactly the same in construction. Adding 15-20 more on top of that is a lot of work. Even if the same factory produces a given jersey, it still has to set itself up to produce an entirely new design and construction.
The thing is, this is not a huge move like when the NFL switched over to Nike, or the other upcoming moves with the NBA and MLB. REEBOK IS OWNED BY ADIDAS. Wouldn’t surprise me that the new jerseys come out of the very same factories the current ones do.
Good point about Reebok being a subsidiary of Adidas. One of those things I knew, but kind of forgot.
I’m not sure, however, if they don’t operate separately.
I mean, GEICO, Dairy Queen, and Fruit of the Loom are all technically part of the same corporation (Berkshire Hathaway) but I’m thinking they operate as totally independent units.
The Reebok brand is being phased out of hockey and becoming mostly a cross-fit brand. This is less about a new company “acquiring” rights than it is about a reshuffling within an house of brands.
There is really no excuse for there to be issues with templates as a part of this change.
“Vintage white has no place
on a team that has only existed in the 2000’sin the NHL, period.”Fixed. :P
Viewing the Cleveland baseball promo with the blue/red combo changed my opinion about it. Hated it. I used to like it. Now, it would be insulting to softball to refer it as. I have seen the light. Can’t unseen it.
Of the current third jerseys, the biggest losses to me would be the Flames’ and Capitals’ throwbacks. One can only hope these teams decide to follow the Penguins’ example and go full-time throwback.
The one third jersey I’m hoping dies for good, though, is the Blue Jackets’. It’s the combination of the artifical-aging “vintage white” mixed with the decidedly-not-vintage fonts, all for a team that started in the year 2000, that continues to make this particular jersey piss me off every time I see it.
There is something to be said for the Jackets thirds — the cannon logo is all right, and the navy/light blue combination suggests the uniforms of the Union soldiers that are the inspiration of the team’s name.
Perhaps switch the “vintage white” to regular white. Better still, no white at all, but an accent color of metallic gold or bronze, to suggest the buttons, rank insignia, etc. of those Union uniforms.
I’m more than fine with reducing the use of alternates.
I sometimes wonder where the point is where alternates aren’t cost-effective. I think fan uniform demand has become fairly consistent. There will be a small segment of the fanbase that will want every sweater in every color the team wears, sure. But most fans will probably buy one or two sweaters and top out at that, regardless of the color, as long as it’s not ugly (another reason why the Edmonton decision is silly). So why produce three or four sweaters for the fan to buy one or two when you make more profit just producing two sweaters?
I also think having a clear brand is more important nowadays than it used to be. Most people see their information scrolling through their Twitter or Facebook feeds now, for better or worse. When you’re wearing an alternate that doesn’t even look like it fits your team’s brand at first, the casual fan might not even understand that’s the team it is and just scroll on by. You’ll always know when a Yankees player is depicted in a picture; you might not know what team it is if it’s a player in an obscure throwback from a minor league team from 80 years ago.
Many thoughts today:
1. Just when I’ve gotten used to Reebok’s NHL treatment and think that most teams’ 3rds/throwbacks are in a good place they go and do this. Just don’t put 3 stripes on everything.
2. The Nike swoosh on last night’s football uniforms were distractingly shiny. I know the webmasters here hate that $hit, surprised it wasn’t mentioned.
3. Unfortunate logo for Vermont syrup or GREAT logo for Vermont syrup?
The Nike swoosh on last night’s football uniforms were distractingly shiny. I know the webmasters here hate that $hit, surprised it wasn’t mentioned.
It’s the third year in a row that this has been used for CFP games. Not exactly new. Nothing new to say about it.
Proofreading in Collector’s Corner, re: Dolphins belt buckle, a “DIY yibe”… vibe?
The Winnipeg Jets throwbacks are the same as they wore in their outdoor game earlier this season vs Oilers.
Fixed.
That Vermont Maple Syrup logo… How did that slip by?! Hilarious!
Looked into the Georgian Republican Party “Texans” logo. I was actually curious if Texans owner poached their logo. The party did not even exist until 2012 and the logo on the wikipedia site was uploaded in 2012. So the Texans did indeed come first.
The link to link.
Actually, it appears that the party has been using that logo since at least 2007:
link
Uhh… that would be a 1980s New York Football Giants helmet lamp. The single red center stripe wasn’t re-adopted until 1980, and that facemask style wasn’t invented until 1983 or so and only used for a few years in the mid-’80s.
(Yes, yes, I know, take it up with the seller…..)
Perhaps Adidas can turn the clock back ten years and restore the old-style sweater jerseys. They are so much neater looking than the untucked shirts you see today.
Considering the team was founded in 2009, I find it hard to believe the Missouri Mavericks are wearing 90s throwbacks.
They’re having a 90s night and put their logo on a design that mimics the Mighty Ducks Disney movie uniform.
One thing I like about the Devils pants is that they minimize the exposure of the makers mark by forcing the wordmark to be placed vertically up the side of the hip, as opposed to horizontally mid-thigh, as with most teams. Looks like Lou Lamorello brought this uniform element with him to the Leafs, with their new uniforms.
The Devils were remarkably resistant to uniform changes under Lou. They’ve have two home & away uniform sets their entire history – don’t think any other team can claim that. Even with the introduction of the Rbk edge, they just made their 15-year old uniform set (at the time) fit the new template. So you could make the case they’re iconic by now and should never change… or that they are overdue!
I like green on hockey jerseys (as in their original set), but prefer the simplified striping pattern of the current set. Would never happen, but that would be a change I could get behind.
Glad someone else caught that too!
I was scanning the comments before I wrote the same. It’s a “District 5” tribute from the first Mighty Ducks movie, NOT an actual Mavs “throwback”
It’s not happening but I wouldn’t mind if the Devils updated their looks but reverted to red and green. I like it when teams take chances like that. The NHL has the Black Hawks, Hurricanes, and Senators in red and black. And the logo is fine. I just hope with the new design they (and you know what’s coming) stripe the pants, or breezers, whatever you call them.
Oops, replied to the wrong comment above, re: Devils uniforms – pants, green & all.
I remember watching the giants last game at the PG on TV. There weren’t many people there. They broadcast some of their road games in NY for a few years after they moved to SF.
I don’t mind no third jerseys next year. Typically a third jersey is just more of a chance to look stupid. Other than making the secondary the primary ( Bulls, Carolina Panthers,) I usually hater them. When the Stars did it, they gave me red, which is NOT one of our colors and a Mooterus.
The Devils have almost perfect uniforms. It’s like a woman that just keeps putting makeup on. Just stop! It looks fine!
I’m really hoping the Columbus Blue Jackets adopt their alternate and their full time primary. Their alt is so damn gorgeous
I won’t miss the Blues 3rd jersey. It was fine for a few years, but not an enduring look for the team. The circle crest with the Arch and Blue Note crammed in it is just okay and the Notes look awkward on the shoulders.
The regular home and away sweaters look great, so I’ll be happy as long as adidas doesn’t try something dumb like the apron-string Reebok Edge look.
The navy Blues jersey with the circular / archway logo was actually retired after the end of last season (haven’t worn it 2015-2016).
They’re treating their outdoor game throwbacks as thirds the rest of this season.
Sorry, 2015-16 was the last season for it – haven’t seen it in 2016-17 was what I meant.
I’d like to see what Adidas retail versions of the jerseys are like. I hope they are better than Reebok’s which are terrible. They use the worse fabric in the world and their stitching sucks. Numbers half the time are just ironed on and I’ve seen them fall off on the racks. The World Cup jerseys from Adidas seemed to be decent.
Makes me miss Starter and CCM making them (even though they are owned by Adidas/Reebok)…
Re: NHL jerseys.
Pointless that some of the arguments include the retail aspect. Adidas isn’t contracted for the retail side, Fanatics is. I’m sure it’s still a logistics of printing and marking jerseys same day for players (call ups, last minute decisions, etc). I wouldn’t be surprised if Adidas is playing with new fabrics which will have to be figured out as well.
I lived in Cleveland during the time they debuted the all red Caveman sets, which was done on April 9, 1975 during Frank Robinson’s first game as player-manager.
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The wings on that philadelphia eagles pin dont bother me because i am so glad to,see KELLY GREEN AS THE GOOD LORD INTENDED i could care less if the wings were shaped like penises or swatsikas.
#GodBlessKellyGreen!!!
I guess I’m in the minority here, but I’m pretty excited about the prospect of new jerseys (heh) for the Devils. I didn’t like these jerseys when they first came out in 1992, and I still don’t like them. I just find them generic and uninspiring. Personally, I’d love to see a new, fresh take on the red & green… but I’ll be happy with anything, as long as it has more character than what they’re currently wearing.
So no more bfbs Islanders jeresy?
Just because Reebok and Adidas share ownership does not mean they share cloth suppliers and other vendors.
My company was bought out a few years ago but we still have “our” suppliers and “their” suppliers even though we make very similar products.
White at home is the dumbest thing in sports. We buy everything in team color, so why would I buy a whole bunch of orange flyers stuff just to go to a game and the team is wearing white.
That will come as news to, say, Dallas Cowboys fans.
Also: Astonishingly enough, some fans don’t buy this stuff, in *any* color. Amazing but true.