The Coming NHL Uniform Apocolypse

[Minstrel]

We will all get a glimpse of the full horror that will be next year's "form fitting" jerseys at the other sign of the coming Apocolypse, The Cold-FX/NHL All-Star Game brough to you by 2k Sports. Luckily they decided to test them fully first and not rush them for this season but the "design issues" that will be brought about by a stretchy form-fitting jersey means the death knell for the tradional NHL sweater

Following up on that Terry Frei's column at ESPN has more about the new jerseys as well as a ranking of current jerseys too, a topic we've covered quite a bit here on the forums. It's an entertaining read:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/columns/s ... id=2720009

[B. Stinson]

hoping that they catch the attention of a younger demographic group and further draw them in, on television or at the sporting goods and souvenir shops.

Yes, NHL, I'm sure this is exactly how these new jerseys will work. Kids all over the world are gonna see these professional hockey players skating around in women's style jerseys, and just crave more of it.... Because if there's one thing this league is severely lacking in - it's form-fitting jerseys that frown upon all traditional design ideas that the league grew up with.

Anyway... This is the complete and utter opposite direction I was hoping the league would start going. I've always wanted to see them start going back to what they were. But instead, it looks like they've set the dial for the year 2500, and are ready to hit the big red button.

And to be honest, I really don't think I can continue to follow this league if they keep doing this stuff. The lockout was enough of a "storm" to "ride out" for me. They've had their storm; they've made their changes, now just let the league grow and be free.

[inSTAALed]

Back in the day the jerseys were more form fitting than they are now.

They've slowly grown looser over the years.


Just saying...

[bruins72]

Yeah, back in the day they were more form fitting but then again, they were also actual sweaters. I really don't like this idea. I really wish they'd change their mind. If they're so set on selling a form fitting jersey, why not just offer it as an option at the fan shops. They're already offering a pink and white based one for the ladies. Go ahead and offer one of these in the team's traditional colors too. Don't have the players wear these abominations.

As for the kids, hockey jerseys were popular in the mainstream for a bit back in the 90's. The rappers were all wearing them and that got all the kids wearing them. Maybe if they could do some sort of endorsement deal with some musician or something and get them to wear them, they'll get the kids wearing them again?

[B. Stinson]

Back in the day the jerseys were more form fitting than they are now.

They've slowly grown looser over the years.


Just saying...

Yeah but that's because clothes back then were naturally made to fit, with no excess - so it was only natural that hockey jerseys were the same. In this case, it's an intentional and unnecessary change/gimmick.

Question: If these new jerseys are going to disagree with horizontal stripes and stuff... what's going to happen with all the teams who have that stuff as a part of their uniform right now? Is this gonna lead to major jersey genocide?

[Minstrel]

Question: If these new jerseys are going to disagree with horizontal stripes and stuff... what's going to happen with all the teams who have that stuff as a part of their uniform right now? Is this gonna lead to major jersey genocide?

I fear the answer is that the league will encourage all teams to use this "opportunity" to "freshen" their jerseys to best take advantage of the new look So that is why I agree with Frei when he terms it the coming Apocolypse of jerseys.

I also love his point about seeing one of these stretchy from fitting jerseys on a 48 year old lawyer who hasn't worked out since he was a teenager *shudder*

I'm also really looking forward to being able to see exactly how much players are sweating too That's another "feature" of the new material is that it doesn't hold "moisture" like the current ones, so look forward to seeing 'dark' jerseys prevalently darkened in areas with sweat run off... yeah that will look MUCH better.

I guess I wasn't far off though when I jokingly posted the pics of the new ladies jerseys saying that they were the new Reebok NHL jerseys...

[noctambulist]

And we all know that "tight and form-fitting" is all the rage in hip-hop men's fashion. Maybe next they'll change the shorts to mimic the 1970's era basketball short-shorts - I hear they are all the rage again too.

I think this is all a ploy to allow EA sports to highlight "sweat dripping off the bodies of the NHL players" in the new EA Sports NHL 2008 for the Xbox 360 and PS3 brought to you by ColdFX and Right Guard.

[B. Stinson]

Well... apparently here they are:

Miracle Workers

...In fact, I think I can hear people flocking to the NHL already.

[Minstrel]

Heh... well not quite as 'painted on' looking as I'd feared but we'll see I guess. And yeah people are running to the phone booth and tipping it over ala Airplane to get them I'm sure!

[bruins72]

They're not horrible like I thought they'd be. I'm curious to see what they look like with pads though. Will they be roomy enough? I guess the important thing is if the players like them. I guess if they can skate faster, have better flexibility, and not be weighed down with a heavy wet shirt it's not that bad.

[batdad]

It is funny. I am hearing all sorts of people say how they hate the uniform on the internet, yet...they really are not that much different looking than the old ones. And certainly better than purple A-S jerseys. Also ... the radio call in shows in Vancouver are commenting on how they like the uniforms.

I will wait for full judgement until I see the full slate of uni's for the teams. An all star jersey does not tell the full story.

[Minstrel]

I will wait for full judgement until I see the full slate of uni's for the teams. An all star jersey does not tell the full story.

Exactly. Notice that one of the biggest things mentioned about the new jerseys is that they will make horizontallly lined designs like for example the Canadians jerseys look terrible. Then notice that the AS jersey is very much crafted to not point out that potential flaw. Probably to win over public opinion a bit before they see how badly some uniform styles will take to the new jersey forms.

[batdad]

I have heard though, that there is some sort of Original 6 exemption from something, so they can keep their traditional look. I hope this is true, I would hate to see Chicago, Boston, Montreal, Detroit and Ranger jerseys have dramatic change. I could care less about the laff uni. I have always thought it looked boring and dumb anyway.

One of the issues in Vancouver is that there is speculation that the league will do away with third jerseys for awhile. This means the Canucks will have to change their uni for sure. No way anyone wants to lose the color scheme of our "Vintage" jersey, which is now considered Van's third jersey.

[Minstrel]

Anything new on ditching the orca now that the team's not Orca Bay owned?

And if there is an Orig Six exemption you can thank Wirtz who I'm sure lobbied that he wasn't going to buy the team all new uniforms

[batdad]

Heh on Wirtz. Probably Jacobs too.

And no nothing new...just the usual speculation of maybe having the colors back to the old blue/green...or maybe the stick in the rink logo on these colors, or maybe the downhill skate on the old blue/green...Heh yeah right. Or the flying V in blue-green. Not.

[Minstrel]

Well the flying V is awesome no matter what color they make it