After much fanfare, all teams that planned to debut new third jerseys this year have done so. Therefore, what better time than now to give a report card of the wasted man-hours in developing some real beauties? Special thanks to Icethetics.info for the help.
Grade: A+
- Flyers: 1970’s retro orange jerseys. Love these jerseys, especially with the retro style white namebar on the back. Next step: bring back the Cooperalls.
- Oilers: Retro Gretzky-era jerseys. Definitely one of the best 3rd’s out there. Even better are the retro style gear that the Oiler goalies wear while donning these jerseys.
Grade: A
- Sabres: Dark blue retro jersey, with the old Buffalo logo. Glad to see that the Sabres moved away from the Donald Trump hair swoosh from their current jerseys, but I would have liked to see them use the original lighter blue version, without the current yellow piping.
- Blackhawks: Usual Blackhawk logo on black. Although we have seen this jersey a few years back, it still looks pretty “Sharp”.
- Canadiens: The Habs will be wearing various retro jerseys through the year to commemorate their 100th anniversary. If anyone has any problems with this, I’ll meet you at Schwartz’s and we can settle it over some smoked meat.
Grade: B+
- Penguins: Retro powder blue with circular Pens logo. Same jersey we all saw at last year’s Winter Classic.
- Islanders: Retro 1980s jersey with minor modifications. If retro is cool, then consider me Miles Davis. Looks great, but I’m still holding out for the High Liner Fishsticks creative of yesteryear.
- Leafs: Retro jerseys that we have all seen before. Terrible team, great jerseys. 4th jerseys soon to be unveiled feature Brian Burke’s face chewing on some Skoal.
Grade: B
- Bruins: Black jersey with a Bruin on the front. Kind of cool looking, but nothing outrageous. Definitely beats the Winnie the Poo jerseys from the much heralded Dmitri Khristich era.
- Senators: Arced “Sens” copy on front, on black with hints of red and white. Love the colour scheme, hate the slang on the front.
- Sharks: Full body Shark on black. Not bad, but the “SJ” on the shoulders looks like it says “SK” from a distance. Hmmm, did Saskatoon native Drew Remenda have a say in that minor addition?
- Canucks: Retro blue “stick and rink logo”. Cool idea to put the “Johnny Canuck” on the shoulder, but having another jersey the exact same colour as the current home jersey was a questionable decision.
Grade: C
- Hurricanes: Black jersey with normal secondary “hurricane warning” flag that appears on the shoulder now appearing on the chest. Apparently it’s cool now to just slap a logo on a black background. Similar colour to the Sens makes it look awkward.
- Stars: The word Dallas appearing on a white jersey. Looks ok, but I’m pretty sure Brett Hull and Darryl Reaugh drew this basic design together on a cocktail napkin after a few shots of JD and a couple of smokies.
- Kings: A new shield logo appearing on Gretzky-era Kings colours. Shield kind of blows, but cool colour scheme.
- Blues: Circular St. Louis arch logo on dark blue. Pretty simple, but nothing too exciting. At least they didn’t go back to the weird looking musical note design from the mid 90s.
Grade: D
- Thrashers: Maroon jersey with arced “Thrashers” copy on the front. Looks like they are wearing maroon pinnies a la grade 8 gym class.
- Lightning: Bolts copy on front on blue. Both this team and its jerseys are a joke.
Grade: F
- Coyotes: Full-body coyote on front on black. Coyote on the front looks like a shaved-rat. This team needs to move away.
Agree or disagree with anything? Comments below please.