Comments on: Wither the White-Out?

By: Zach Goldberg

Zach Goldberg — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 18:17:00 +0000

I fully agree with Zak and Dave, Home teams should definitely get the choice, I think it would be great because teams like Calgary or Philadelphia who basically Red/Orange out their arenas could continue to do that, and teams that like the White out could do it at their discretion.

However, for the time being when the home team is forced to wear dark it looks stupid if you are wearing the same colour as the visiting team.

By: Luke Miguez

Luke Miguez — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 17:12:00 +0000

Would make more sense to go with how soccer’s done things, where each team has a “primary” jersey that they can wear so long as the colours don’t clash with the home team’s “primary”. Thus the Red Wings could wear their red primaries against the Leafs’ blues for example, or the Jets could have their whites as a primary.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 14:44:00 +0000

I’m all for the white out! It’s an exciting thing to see and be apart of, doesn’t matter if our team wears white or dark jerseys.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Sep 2011 05:44:00 +0000

I don’t think the whiteout will ever die in Winnipeg. The C of Red was created back when the home teams still wore white, in fact the whiteout was created in response to it.

The reason the league made the change to dark jerseys at home was in response to teams wanting to wear their third jerseys at home. This caused conflicts with the road team who would have to travel with both sets of jerseys, something that is not as easy at it seems. They decided to make the change to give the home team that ability and felt fans wanted to see the colored jerseys.

While I would like to go back to white at home that’s not likely going to happen anytime soon, nor is the choice for the home team to wear whatever color they want. If any change were to come up it would make sense to push for the home play off team to choose what colour they wished to wear as the visiting team would not be on any road trip and would still only need to bring one set.

I doubt even that will happen so o suggest we get used to the idea of wearing white in the crowd and blue on the ice, it’s more about creating the atmosphere then it is matching with the players. They know who we are cheering for even if we wore pink!

By: Jeff Roy

Jeff Roy — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:13:00 +0000

The entire tradition of white jerseys at home and dark on the road started with Baseball. Back before the turn of the century laundry facilities were not as readily available when travelling, so road teams would wear grey uniforms to conceal dirt accumulated on road trips.

This likely became the norm for all sports.

That being said, I like Zak’s idea of the home team choosing what uni to wear. I thin in the past some teams alternate jerseys have been white, meaning that the road team would end up wearing dark.

By: Zak Katz

Zak Katz — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 19:31:00 +0000

They don’t do so exclusively, however they have done so several times since 2008 to beat the heat

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 18:44:00 +0000

Good points, but the Raiders don’t wear white at home.

By: Zak Katz

Zak Katz — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:35:00 +0000

In my opinion, the NHL should just go back to wearing white at home.

My reasoning:
a) Another cash grab for ownership! Hooray!
b) White on the white ice just look better.
c) Fans in each city will see a different set of dark color uniforms every night, as opposed to the status quo where fans see the same dark jerseys every night and pretty similar white jerseys from the away teams (short of different color details/stripes that don’t make too much different).

At the very least, home teams should have the option much like the NFL. The choice to wear white or dark could represent a very small addition to home ice advantage. In the NFL, many teams choose to wear white at home during afternoon games early in the season simply to avoid wearing dark colors in extreme heat (the Oakland Raiders employ this tactic frequently). While such an environmental advantage might not exist in the NHL, let’s say the Jets upcoming opponent has a poor record playing in dark jerseys; wouldn’t the Jets want the psychological edge of forcing that team to wear the dark jerseys?

Who knows if it actually makes a difference or not, but if the fans believe it does I feel like that is a positive for the game day experience.

By: ICdave

ICdave — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:08:00 +0000

The only thing I would say is it seems odd when the home team is wearing a dark jersey, while the fans are wearing the same colours as the visiting team.

By: Timothy Bonnar

Timothy Bonnar — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 17:02:00 +0000

Yep.

I hope they make the practice jersey available to fans some time soon. The white practice jersey look great (IMO better than the official away jerseys) and they are more affordable (80 or 90 bucks) than the Authentic and Premier lines.

This is Winnipeg. People will buy these, or they will wear white T Shirts. And it will look epic!

By: davidborzykowski

davidborzykowski — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:34:00 +0000

The NFL allows their teams to wear whichever jersey they want. its not just the cowboys that do that. seemingly the NFL teams have a ton of gear also so hauling a different jersey doesn’t seem to be a big deal (granted they don’t have extended road trips). it would really be a shame if jets fans didn’t where white. white outs makes sense in winnipeg, what with all the snow and all. that is one of the things i’m most excited for when the jets eventually do make it to the playoffs. great article drew!

By: Mark

Mark — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:29:00 +0000

Why does it matter if we have a whiteout while the jets wear dark? the whiteout still looks awesome no matter what colour the players are wearing, its not a big deal

By: Donovan Yaciuk

Donovan Yaciuk — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 16:22:00 +0000

I love this site.
More on this after the jump.
But those “More after the jump” lines need to go. :)