NHL "RBK EDGE" Jerseys-> opinions?

[MacWage]

Hey, now...there are some of us down here who really want hockey! :mrgreen:

T.

PS-> I typed my long post above WEARING the old maroon and navy Thrashers "dark" jersey. I am SO ready for this season to START already.
This hockey off-season is a KILLER!

[arrScott]

Minnesota came out OK, though I will miss the green sweater and the new red one isn't nearly as charming as the old red one.

But Washington, the other city whose sports teams I mostly root for, got completely hosed. Ugly new logo, ugly new sweaters. Not that I thought the old Caps uniforms were any great shakes -- loved the blue sweater, hated the black, and the numbers were way to hard to read -- but the new ones are really bad. We've gone all the way back to the days of the "Capilals." Nice little W-eagle-Capitol patch on the shoulder though; maybe in a few years the Caps will put that on their shirt fronts and they'll look OK again.

[MacWage]

Here's a bit of fun for you John http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

Good article. I happen to largely agree.
He is "swinging" at the WRONG PROBLEMS!


This is being typed by a man whose FATHER, a graphic designer, created the Flames "A" logo in 1971 and had SEASON TICKETS to Flames games. Thanks to the move, I only got to LOVE hockey in the few season the Atlanta Knights existed in the IHL, when I was in HIGH SCHOOL! In fact, I was THERE (AT THE GAME) when the Knights won the Turner Cup in 1994! It was the ONLY championship won in that building (also home of the Atlanta Hawks). Though Philips Arena sits on the SAME SITE, there is NO acknowledgment that the Knights EVER existed, except for the FAN continuation of yelling the word "KNIGHTS" during the America National Anthem (something NEVER seen on TV), a hold over from the Knights games. There is NO recognition or official acknowledgment of what the FANS do. Even the Omni's old scoreboard, (hanging in the entrance atrium, bears NO recognition of the Knights.

THAT should NEVER have HAPPENED! I should have been raised LIVING AND BREATHING hockey. I have had to FORCE people to see the games, then they LOVE it. The first game I got my wife to, she brought a BOOK to read. Let's say it was NEVER opened. It was HER idea to go to the play off games last year! I blame the NHL leadership for screwing up what could have been MUCH better! The "lock-out" almost killed the sport.

Now, back to topic . . .

The jerseys are a REAL mix. Most of the "classic" teams have reinterpretations of their classic threads. Most, got the shaft and their's are UGLY with random lines and colour areas that begin and end and no where in particular, ex. the Lightning's "arm pit stripes." Now WHY is the underarm gusset STRIPED (with NOTHING relating to the REST of the uniform)?

The choices are simply ODD. Most of the "modern" ones are just jarring in design and not "streamlined" at all.

Now, the REASON I posted this thread is the Thrashers announced their design TODAY! I was pleasantly surprised it wasn't awful, as I expected it to be based on other designs.

I was curious as to what others thought, and remembered from past threads that A LOT of the folks on here are fans.

(Off soapbox now)

[MacWage]

Nice little W-eagle-Capitol patch on the shoulder though; maybe in a few years the Caps will put that on their shirt fronts and they'll look OK again.

THAT should have been on the FRONT!

[Rampant Lion]

Calgary "STOLE"/"acquired" them, and adopted a horse theme (that spouts flames).

The horse was really only featured on the thrid jersey and nobody here in Calgary liked it because you couldn't tell what it was supposed to be.

Seriously, we have a team in Arizona, 2 in Florida, 3 in California, and talk of a Vegas team (I can picture a hockey team called the Vegas Showgirls now), yet we have no teams left in the Canadian prairies or Maritimes where people can still play on outdoor ice for 5 months a year and they live and breathe hockey.

Last time I checked Alberta was considered a prairie province and we have two hockey teams here.

The problem is that 30 teams just isn't ENOUGH to cover this large of a geographic expanse.
Teams are NEEDED, if the sport wants to cover a US market and a Canadian one. My issue with the move of the Flames was that it abandoned a GENERATION of potential fans. Many in the South have NO idea WHAT hockey even is. When I wear my NHL jerseys, people ask me if I am ON THE TEAM. In another decade there WILL be more Southern fans.
The problem with the Southern market is over saturation in a short period. With my apologies to Calgary, they SHOULD have gotten an expansion franchise to model on their own unique town.
The NHL should have "aided" Glen Ford and the rest of the group that sought to keep the Flames in Atlanta and worked a deal with Turner to broadcast games on TBS. People could have gotten "used to" the sport, THEN expand slower into the US, while keeping teams IN Canada. As it is now, there are many teams and not enough fans to adequately support them. EACH is FIGHTING for recognition in their own market.
The Atlanta and Southern news organizations SUDDENLY realized this year that Atlanta HAD an NHL team.

So, I blame the decisions made in 1980 and many between then and now for the problems the NHL is facing. They tried to resolve problems of their own creation in an all-out effort that alienated MANY of their own base fans, leaving many without teams.

In MY opinion, there SHOULD be 40-50 teams in 2 larger conferences (more along the Baseball model) with MORE teams in Canada and a more "even" distribution in the US. Now, I can't say which cities should lose their teams, but some cities have high PR and low attendance, while other have GREAT attendance and almost NO PR (like Atlanta, which has very high attendance with little to no local media support).

Just my own, half-informed opinion.

I'm sorry, but I have to disagree. There are too many teams in the NHL right now. Look how long the season lasts. The playoffs run well into June. Adding more teams would means a greater percentage of the teams wouldn't make the playoffs. Who wants to support a team when there would be less than a 50% chance of your team making the playoffs.

Also, the more teams, the more games, and the more tired the athletes get, which leads to more injuries.

Now, I don't know much about the situation when the Flames moved to Calgary, but what I do know is that it created one of the best rivalries in professional sports: The Battle of Alberta. Although with the number of inter-division games that are played now, the rivalry is becoming less and less special.

[Colin]

Last time I checked Alberta was considered a prairie province and we have two hockey teams here..

You are right of course. Being from Manitoba I tend to think of the prairies as Manitoba and Saskatchewan. We never counted Alberta because it had hills but it is of course par tof the prairies.

[Barclay]

...yet we have no teams left in the Canadian prairies or Maritimes where people can still play on outdoor ice for 5 months a year and they live and breathe hockey.

It ain't the big-time pros, but there's still some kickin' QMJHL hockey in the Maritimes...PEI Rocket, Cape Breton Screaming Eagles, St. John Sea Dogs, and of course, last but not least, da' Mooseheads.

And talk about it NOT being about money...the b'ys get paid in stew fish and screech.

Speaking of...where's the new jersey for the Halifax Mooseheads, huh??

[kallen]

Being a non-hockey person, really...I don't understand the game at all (I'm not Canadian so I guess thats it)...hit a puck...fight...hit a puck...fight...however I did check out the jerseys. (had a Vulcan moment)

Being an observer of the jerseys I can say that Dallas' home jersey really sux!!! My best friend is a huge Stars fan so I checked it out...it sux.

Panthers looked like a Jeff Gordon pit crew shirt. Penquins looked kind of "old school" but the dropped the "Pittsburgh" colors that a fellow Louisianaian made famous (Terry Bradshaw).

Now, for a question...why is there an H in the Montreal Canadians logo? Inside the big "C" there is an H...or is it something else?

[Erisianmonkey]

I LOVE the new Avalanche jerseys. I am disappointed however that the third jerseys were dropped. The Avs third jersey was my favorite from the time it was introduced.

As far as the season being too long...no. I would be happy if the off season was only about a month or two long.

Regarding the article Colin posted a link to: Hell yes Bettman is the problem!

[MacWage]

After looking at them, again, I can say this:

MOST of them will look GREAT tucked into a kilt!
(Quite unlike most of the older style ones, which looked a bit "off" in or out.)

I WILL be getting one of the blue Thrashers ones and wear it with my X Marks kilt!