My Thoughts: Outdoor Jerseys

Speaking as a Canucks fan, this last week was a bit of a crazy week.  First of all I attended the Heritage Classic, then a few days later Luongo was traded, and the next day on trade deadline day the Canucks were rumoured to being making some big trades but ended up not doing much.  But for today's post I'm going to focus on the Heritage Classic, as well as all the other NHL outdoor games this year, as I'm reviewing the jerseys worn for those outdoor games.

Before I get to the jerseys I'll briefly talk about the experience of the Heritage Classic.  I went to the game with my dad, and while it was snowing at our house, it was raining in Vancouver which as you know meant the roof was closed at BC Place.  That was a bit disappointing, but I wasn't really expecting the roof to be open.  The result of the game was also disappointing, but the rest of the day was great.  Watching a hockey game with over 50,000 people is a really cool experience, we were doing the wave and chanting "WE WANT LUO!", it was a lot of fun.  We had decent seats about halfway up the lower bowl, and while the sight lines obviously aren't the best for hockey, BC Place has a giant big screen you could look at if the puck disappeared behind the boards.  Overall it was really fun, I'd recommend going to one of these games if you ever get the chance.

Heritage Classic:

(Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Enough about the game though, what really matters are the jerseys.  If you've been reading this blog for a while (and you have a good memory) you might remember that this wasn't the first time I attended a Canucks game when they were wearing their Millionaire jerseys.  After that first game I said that the jerseys looked great, and my opinion hasn't changed since then.  The colours look so good, and I love how historically accurate the jerseys are.  It would have been easy to go with a lace-up collar and maroon pants, but the Canucks did the right thing by keeping it accurate.  Ottawa went in a different direction by not using a direct throwback, but I also think that was the right thing for them to do.  I don't think they would be allowed to use a full barber-pole jersey against the dark Millionaires jersey anyways.  What they ended up using still honoured history nicely, while creating something that people nowadays would like.  I heard a few complaints that it was hard to distinguish the two teams with them both using a lot of vintage white, personally I didn't have that problem when I was at the game but I noticed it later when I was watching highlights on TV.

Winter Classic:

(Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

Moving on to the other Classic game, which was much more classic weather wise than the Heritage Classic.  I've already briefly touched on my thoughts of these two jerseys back when I did a "fix it" concept for the Winter Classic, so I'll just quickly reiterate my thoughts here.  I'm a big fan of Toronto's jersey, there are just a few minor things I would have done differently to be more historically accurate (three sets of stripes on the socks, tan/brown pants and gloves, and no laces).  I wasn't really a fan of the Detroit's jersey, it was too much of a faux-back jersey, and it really didn't look like Red Wings to me.  I also wasn't a fan of the vintage white.  I did love that the game was colour vs colour (although I don't want colour vs colour to become a regular thing).

Stadium Series:

 (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

Lastly we get to the Stadium Series games, and the NHL went in another direction by going with modern jerseys for these games.  I think that's a good move, it keeps the two Classics more special.  I was a fan of the jerseys in general, including the chrome crests and funky numbers, but only as one-off jerseys.  I kind of thought of these jerseys like All-Star game jerseys, they're for a special event and you only see them once so you might as well try some new things.  Now we all know there was one team, the Devils, who didn't want to do anything new.  Part of me wishes they would have gone with modern jersey to fit in with the rest of the teams, but the other part of me likes how traditional they are with their jerseys.  In the end I like the Devils decision, they haven't had a new jersey since 1992, and I would hate to have seen that streak ended by the Stadium Series.

Now you know my thoughts on the NHL's outdoor game jerseys, feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments.  Thanks for visiting!

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!

New York Rangers De-Edge

I got on a bit of a roll making concepts the last few days, so expect a new concept about every three days for the next little while.

New York Rangers:

Even though the Rangers have "untouchable" jerseys, I'm making something new for each team in this series so they get changed here.  The striping is different, but still inspired by their classic jerseys, and their shield logo is used on the front of the jersey.

Thanks for visiting.

Red Blue-Shirts, Wait What?

New York Rangers:  I know it would never happen, but I wanted to see what a red Rangers jersey would look like.  The striping is influenced by their home jersey, and I used the Shield logo as the main logo.  I had to use navy instead of royal blue, and I also used navy equipment.

Thanks for visiting.

NHL Redesign Updates

Here are some updates suggested by the folks at CCSLC.

Dallas Stars:  I changed the inside of the star to white on the green jersey.  Here is the original concept.

Nashville Predators:  I changed the collar on the home and roads to what they have now.  Original concept.



New York Islanders:  I brightened the orange and changed up the striping on the road jersey.  Original concept.



New York Rangers:  I thickened the white space between the stripes on the road jersey.  Original concept.

Phoenix Coyotes:  I switched the shoulder patches.  The logo that was on the third is now on the primary jerseys, and vice-versa.  Original concept.

Tampa Bay Lightning:  I added a blue outline to the numbers on the home and road.  Original concept.

Vancouver Canucks:  I switched the third jersey to the jersey that was on my "We Need More GREEN!!! " post.  Original concept.

So now all the teams are final.  I will post some bonus jerseys in the next day or two.

New Teams (New York and New Jersey)

I'm almost done this series!!!  I only have to make concepts for Tampa Bay and Washington. If you have any ideas for those teams, leave a comment.

New Jersey Devils:  I didn't make any changes to the home and road because I really like those jerseys.  The third jersey is black, with arm and waist stripes inspired by 1982-92 white jersey.

New York Islanders:  I hope you like stripes, because the home and road have lots.  The four arm stripes are meant to represent their four Stanley Cup victories.  I also changed up the colours a bit to give it a more marine-like look.  The third jersey is orange and uses the word-mark from their current third jersey as the crest.

New York Rangers:  Only slight changes to the primary jerseys.  The biggest difference is that the road jersey now says "NEW YORK".  I brought back the Lady-Liberty jersey, but I curved the arm stripes and added hem stripes, along with a few other changes.

The next teams are Ohio (renamed from Columbus), Ottawa, and Philadelphia.