My Thoughts: September Jerseys

Hello again, I'm back with another "My Thoughts" post.  This time I'm reviewing all the NHL jerseys that were unveiled in late September.

Pittsburgh Penguins Third Jersey

Images from penguins.nhl.com

For their new third jersey, the Penguins brought back a fan favourite design which they won two Stanley Cups in (1991 and 1992).  It's also their first jersey to feature athletic-gold since they switched to vegas-gold 2002.  I love this jersey, it's a classic look that immediately makes me think of Mario Lemieux, Jaromír Jágr, and those two Stanley Cups.  That being said, I wouldn't want this jersey to become the Penguins' new home jersey, I'd much rather it stay a third jersey and something like this concept by Scott be used for the primary jerseys.
Grade: A

Philadelphia Flyers Third Jersey

Images from twitter.com/NHLFlyers and instagram.com/philadelphiaflyers

The Philadelphia Flyers also brought back a previous jersey, albeit one with less history behind it.  They decided to bring back their 2012 Winter Classic jersey as they new third jersey.  I think this jersey is "just okay", I'm not a big fan of it but I don't hate it either.  The striping doesn't say Flyers to me, since it's their first jersey which uses traditional arm and hem stripes and a yolk.  Although there is a bit of history behind the striping, the arm stripes are from their 1984-2001 orange socks, and the black shoulder yoke is reminiscent of the yoke on the old Philadelphia Quakers jersey.  One thing I really don't like is the use of vintage white, I just think normal white would look much better.
Grade: C+

Washington Capitals Winter Classic Jersey

Images from monumentalnetwork.com

Unlike the Penguins and Flyers who just brought back previous jerseys, the Capitals actually introduced something new, going with a fauxback design for their Winter Classic jersey.  I'm not always a fan of fauxback jerseys, but I think the Capitals got it right.  The jersey is inspired by past hockey teams in the Washington area, and the end result really captures the feel of jerseys from the 1920's and 30's.  There is also some cool symbolism in the uniform, the middle of the W in the logo is a silhouette of the Washington Monument (same with the top of the A's), the three white stars in the logo are a nod to the DC flag, and the white and red stripes on the shoulder yoke appear to be inspired by the American flag.  There are a couple elements that I'm not yet sure if I like or not.  I kind of think the W in the logo needs a white outline, but that might make it seem less retro.  I have the same concern about the darker shade of red, part of me thinks the Capitals normal red would look better, but the other part of me thinks the darker shade of red adds to the vintage feel of the jersey.  The one change I'd definitely make would be to move the hem stripes closer together, as the gap currently looks to big when compared to the spacing on the yoke and sock stripes.  Those concerns are very minor though, overall I think this is a great jersey for a Winter Classic.  And there's no vintage white!
Grade: A

Tampa Bay Lightning Third Jersey

Images from lightning.nhl.com

The Lightning were the latest NHL team to unveil a new jersey, introducing a black third jersey with their "BOLTS" wordmark on the front.  I've never been a fan of that wordmark simply for the fact that it uses a nickname, it would be like if the Canadiens wore a jersey that said "HABS" on the front.  Besides the logo I actually think the rest of the jersey is decent, not great but decent.  I think the striping looks good, it may not be a very interesting design but I don't need to be excited by a jerseys striping pattern (for example I like the Blue Jackets home jersey and the Ducks 2006-14 home jersey, two jerseys other people call boring).  One negative many people have pointed out about the striping pattern is that it's similar to the Kings home jersey, and while I do see the similarities, there are enough differences that I'm not immediately reminded of the Kings when I look at the Lightning's new jersey.  Moving on to the equipment, I think there is to much blue on the pants and socks.  Simply switching the blue and white on those two elements would look much better in my opinion.  Looking at the uniform as a whole, I think it's a slight improvement over their previous third jersey (which I wasn't a fan of, I ranked it as the league's fifth worst jersey in 2012).
Grade:  C+

So those are my thoughts on the new NHL jerseys that were introduced in September.  If you have any thoughts on these jerseys, don't hesitate to leave a comment below.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Metropolitan Division De-Edge Vintage Jerseys

The Metropolitan Division part of the vintage jersey program for my De-Edge is here!

Carolina Hurricanes Vintage Set:

The Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup in these jerseys in 2006.

Columbus Blue Jackets Vintage Set:

This is the Blue Jackets original jersey set.

New Jersey Devils Vintage Set:

I also went with the Devils original jersey set, which they wore from 1982-92.

New York Islanders Vintage Set:

The Islanders won four cups in a row (from 1980-83) wearing these jerseys.

New York Rangers Vintage Set:

The Rangers wore this set from 1951-63.

Philadelphia Flyers Vintage Set:

Two Cups were won by the Flyers (1974, 1975) while wearing this set.

Pittsburgh Penguins Vintage Set:

The Penguins also won two Stanley Cups (1991, 1992) wearing this set.

Washington Capitals Vintage Set:

These are the basically the jerseys the Capitals entered the league wearing, but this exact set was worn from 1987-90.

Do you like my choices of jerseys?  Do you hate my choices of jerseys?  Feel free to let me know.

Have a good day!

Capitals De-Edge Third

Washington Capitals Third:

This concept is basically a blue version of the home and road jerseys, but with hem stripes instead of side panels, and the Capitals wordmark logo instead of the Weagle.  The pants and gloves are the same as with the home and roads, but the helmet is new.

Full Set:

Here is a look at the full set.

I'm not doing a third jersey for the Jets, so this is the final third jersey of this series.  But this is NOT the end of the series.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Washington Capitals De-Edge

Washington Capitals:

I really like the Capitals current modern looking jerseys, so for this concept I wanted to keep a modern feel.  I started off with the side-panels from the front of the Sharks 1998-2007 uniforms, and then built the rest of the jersey based off of that.  I used the Weagle logo as the main logo, and kept their current name and number fonts.  I also added stars to the sleeves and pants, like the Capitals had on their original uniforms.

Only one more team left.

Final Three Teams

Here are the last three teams in the NHL Redesign.  There is one more NHL Redesign post left with a few bonus concepts.

Vancouver Canucks:  The Canucks are my favourite team, and these home and road concepts are my ideal jerseys for them.  They're an update of their 1972-78 jerseys, with a updated logo too (the logo is basically halfway between their old and new stick-in-the-rink logos).  The third jersey is green, with johnny as the logo, and a V-pattern on the sleeves.

Washington Capitals:  I changed up their home and road a bit, getting rid of the side-panels.  I then included a throwback red third jersey.  I was considering a blue jersey with the weagle logo, but I couldn't get it to look right.

Winnipeg Jets:  I went with a military theme for the home and road, with the chevrons on the sleeve and the stencil name and numbers.  The home jersey is also the lighter blue, because I thought it provided better contrast with the logo.  The third jersey is inspired by the WHA Jets 1975-77 blue jersey.

So that's all 30 teams completed.  Anyone have a favourite concept?  Anyone think I messed up a team?  Let me know.