After the Wild, Hurricanes, Sharks, and Sabres dropped new sweaters on us last year, the latest round of uniform updates have started to come out, just in time for the start of preseason games.
We'll begin with St. Louis, who updated both home and away sweaters:
Old:
Photo: AP
New:
Photos: St. Louis Blues
These should look pretty familiar to you. The Blues wore an almost identical set from 1998 until the Reebok Edge system took over. The main difference from 15 years ago is that the sleeve striping has gone from diagonal to horizontal. Gone are the horrid yellow apron stripes of the first Edge jersey, as well as a change to the backs of the shoulders: the original Edges had a little cutout that just incidentally framed the Reebok logo.
Overall, this is a definite upgrade, even if it is pretty much just a throwback to the not so distant past. The Blues are also sticking with last year's third jersey, a deep blue sweater with a roundel featuring the Gateway Arch. It seems to be popular with fans, and traditional enough to fit in with this new set.
Anaheim:
Old:
Photo: Reuters
New:
Photo: Anaheim Ducks
Anaheim actually released these at the NHL Draft over the summer. As expected, Ducks bumped their black and orange third jersey up to full-time home status, adding a similar white jersey with a black shoulder yoke. Truth be told, I don't like jerseys that don't have striping of some sort on the body, and those side panels aren't cutting it for me. At least the wordmark has been replaced on the front of the jersey by an actual crest.
The new lace-up collar thing though, that just confuses me. I LIKE a lace-up collar, visually. Ever since the panel with the NHL logo was added, they've been functionally useless, however, and this new style just seems to hammer that point home.
Pittsburgh (alternate):
Old:
Pittsburgh did not wear an alternate jersey last year. Who knew?
New:
Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins
There isn't much to say here. Pens fans were begging for this jersey to make a comeback. For younger readers and newer fans, this jersey was worn in the late 80s and early 90s, during the prime of Mario Lemieux's career.
While I loved the Pens' blue alts of the past few seasons, fans related them to star players getting hurt. The initial rumor was that there would be a gold jersey unveiled. Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate wore a similar style in Vegas Gold last season, and I wouldn't have minded at all if the big club had adopted it. That said, you can't go wrong with a classic look, especially when it's this good.
Philadelphia (alternate):
Old:
Actually they didn't wear an alternate jersey last season, either. Remember that weird chrome thing from a while back, though? Ew.
New:
Photo: Philadelphia Flyers
Not to be outdone by their instate rivals, the Flyers also unveiled their new alternate this week. While many were expecting a black jersey, they played it safe, bringing back their 2012 Winter Classic jersey.
I can't fault the Flyers for taking that route. Teams have been returning to a more traditional look lately, and this slots in perfectly. Plus, jersey-wise, I think the '12 Winter Classic was the best looking one of them all. Good jorb, Flyers.
Arizona:
Photos: Arizona Coyotes
This isn't much of a change. With the team changing its name to the Arizona Coyotes, the shoulder patch now reads AZ instead of PHX. When did the Goals For Kids patch disappear?
The Yotes also announced they'd be wearing throwbacks in March. The best of the crazy 90s designs, the Cubist Coyote is probably my favorite jersey in my collection. Remember these?
Awesome.
Islanders (alternate):
Old:
Photo: New York Islanders
New:
None.
The Isles have retired the single worst jersey in the history of the NHL. Worse than the Buffalo turdburger. Worse than the Thrashers wearing ATLANTA on one sleeve. Worse than that orange thing. Worse than the Gorton's Fisherman jersey. Worse than that jersey when they switched it to a normal Islanders logo. Good riddance. If you own one of those black monstrosities, burn it. No. Burn your closet. Burn down your whole house. Did you wear it to a game? Did you drive to the game? Set your car on fire. Sorry. It has to be done. Appease the gods of ice and fashion! Repent for your sins!
...anyway. Let's keep going.
Tampa Bay (alternate):
Old:
New:
Photos: Tampa Bay Lightning
That's all we've seen so far. We know it's black. The collar is probably blue, if I had to guess. Gone is the old blue jersey that read BOLTS diagonally. Nicknames on jerseys: stop it.
Washington (Winter Classic):
photo: SportsLogos.netI don't like it. Maybe that's not fair. I don't dislike it. But I don't really like it. It's just okay. There's nothing really too special about it, and those shoulder stripes are a joke. Anybody else?
The Caps winter classic jerseys are horrible. pic.twitter.com/5271FOzb4J
— Peter Evans (@Real_PeterEvans) September 23, 2014
Welp.
Here's one thing I like, though. Take a closer look at the W. Here, check out the pants:
Photo: SportsLogos.netThe middle of the W comes to a very Washington Monument looking point. Very subtle, very cool.
With the era or eras they're trying to reach out to with this jersey though, it'd look cooler as a whole uniform with tan pant shells instead of blue. That's just me, though. I'm definitely not the biggest fan of this thing, but it's hard to design a Winter Classic jersey when you don't have much in your history to throw back to, or haven't already thrown back to. I guess they could have gone blue and bronze.