Lightning Unveil Third Jersey!
The Tampa Bay Lightning joined the third jersey ranks this afternoon when they unveiled their new sweater on their web site and debuted it against the Devils.
A picture featured on the front page of the site shows defenseman Mike Lundin in the new blue jersey. I think it looks good on a player. Now I'd like to see how it looks in action. I'll post pictures tonight when they're available.
In a video posted on the team's web site and narrated by radio play-by-play announcer Dave Mishkin, it's explained that the use of BOLTS across the front is a shoutout to fans who popularized the team nickname.
The video also features Marty St. Louis and goalie Mike Smith talking about the new threads. Smith is psyched about the fact that it'll match his gear. You can watch it right here.
As you can see in the video, the new socks to go with this sweater are more classic with horizontal stripes, but are broken at the calf similar to the New York Islanders' alternate socks. Little things don't usually bug me that much, but this is just strange. I'm curious as to the explanation behind it.
This unveiling confirms the previous leaks posted on Icethetics, right down to the TAMPA BAY text on the back at the base of the jersey. Not sure why it's there, but it's different and I'm a fan of that. The only difference is the number style — which is barely noticeable unless you really pay attention to that sort of thing. The new style makes the numbers appear bolder.
As a Lightning fan, I'm satisfied with this jersey. I like the striping pattern. I like the use of silver and I especially like that it's a blue jersey. My favorite thing is the underarm stripes (described in the video). I still think it's odd to have BOLTS across the front, but that's what I've always called them. The Bolts. I'll be buying one right away, that's for sure.
And again, I'll add pictures to this post when they're available.
Chris
I was going to grab some photos from the game to post here, but I've got something even better. Lightning photographer Scott Audette puts together these amazing photo collages every so often and did so tonight for the unveiling of the new jersey.
I highly recommend checking out the original version of the photo presentation available on the Bolts' web site. You can't deny this club looks good in blue.
By the way, my thanks to the Devils for ruining the debut of this sweater with a 7-3 rout. I won't forget this.
Third jerseys are now at 14-14 on the season. So as it turns out, they don't help you win and they don't help you lose. They just change the way you look.
Reader Comments (38)
Good video. LOVE the blue! What does Usain Bolt have to do with...well...anything? I laughed though.
What? No tribute to Melrose?
I like the detail on the lettering and their color scheme.
I love the jersey! I'm just glad to see that Smith is happy for once since that trade. He really was upset at the time of it. We could sure use him back again, and now I wish we would have traded Turco! Way to go Mike Smith, I'm always a fan! (And of your crazy pads and helmets)
Uni looks great on-ice as well. I really think I'll be buying one of these sometime once I get the money.
what they didn't show you was the hockey players saying "what's with this butt logo? is this to make my ass look good? thanks guys, those puck bunnies will really eat that up"
...if you know hockey players, you know at least half of them said that.
the socks blow. the whole thing looks pretty bad from behind. the wordmark is lame, the jersey is pretty darn good, but the entire thing just downright sucks from the rear view
I like it.
I actually think these look better than their regular jerseys.
The "Bolts" is kind of growing on me. I don't really like singular team names (Lightning, Thunder, Cardinal), so this nickname doesn't bug me at all like "Sens" does.
My guess as to why the sock striping stops like the NYI thirds is ease of manufacturability. I bet something in the process allows reebok to save a buck per sock, they pitched the socks to the teams and they don't know any better to say no.
I like that a team went with blue instead of navy. Good colors overall. good number font
I criticize the following points of this uni:
The sock stripes are kinda curvy and don't connect?
The waist striping should be the same thickness as the arm striping.
Vertical piping is superfluous and unnecessary, it just clutters things up.
They would look much better with blue helmets and perhaps blue pants.
I think they should go with Bolts as the team name. Tampa Bay Bolts!!
sounds better i think! how would Lightning fans feel about that?
Besides the "Tampa Bay" at the bottom back of the jersey, looks good. The "Bolts" doesn't bother me that much, actually.
But, they still lost 7-3 to the Devils tonight.
Great Jersey. This is one of my favorite thirds. The "Bolts" across the front seems to have grown on me as well. At first I thought it was crazy, but by now I think it's awesome.
What'd I tell ya Chris?
I like the jersey though, much better than I thought it would look originally. If I was gonna buy one of the third jerseys, this one might be it.
It's too bad Smith is out. Does anyone know why? Chris? i looked online and saw that they called up Ramo but nothing was said about Smith. I am definitely getting a smith 3rd jersey for Christmas. I was really looking forward to a new desktop background of Smith and all his royal blue set-up, but i guess that will have to wait.
Looks ugly, the "BOLTS" just ruins it for me just like the "SENS" jeresy.
Nicknames have no place on a jersey. That is actually a really nice jersey. Great colors, great striping pattern. Too bad they completely flush the whole thing down the toilet with the BOLTS nonsense, and the Tampa Bay booty script. Are they taking inspiration from Baby Phat or something?
i gotta say...i really like it...the whole nickname thing seems kinda cool now that we got the whole story behind it...i mean it being a tribute to the fans and what-not...looks pretty sweet in my opinion...i love seeing the lighting in that blue color...
p.s. - i just watched the highlights on NHL.com...they look great on tv...also, the sabres should have wrapped the piping all the way around like TB did...at least buffalo isnt the only team with unnecessary piping...
i love these jerseys! one of my favorite thirds, at least the best of the "originals", obviously not including edmonton...the wings need to get a third!
Pretty nice threats, gotta say. Too bad they got beatdown by my Devs! Other than that five minute outbreak, of course.
lol I watched the tampa game today to see the jersey ... seems all 8 of the fans in attendance liked them as well ...
Now that all of these Jerseys have been unveiled can we get back to the tournament of classic logos? then jersey voting?
those are sooo sick!! id say top three with the bruins and sharks or flyers for me :]
Jersey could be alright, again the Bolts thing has been beaten to death but it along with abbreviations (see Los Angeles Kings) don't belong as the primary logo on a jersey. Another train wreck having to do with this jersey was the fact they kept the same breezers they wear with their home jersey. To me the lightning bolt down the side doesn't mesh well with this uniform. Finally the part that aggravated me the most about the uniform was the black socks with a blue jersey. I felt like I was watching a mite team out there. Tampa along with countless other franchises need to go back to the drawing board.
i quite like these jerseys, but would have rather seen the logo with the lightning strike and the florida state backdrop instead
i must say the entire uniform is slick
love it
I like it. Of all the Text logos in the Recent NHL Years This One is Arguably the Best.
Besides going with a team nickname, the end result turned out to be a very sharp look.
The Highlights:
-Bolts (The font and colours fits with the royal blue colour of the Jersey very well. Kind of like my Green Shirt with the Canucks logo on it that I'm wearing right now)
-Striping (I like the uniqueness of it, and they used a bottom stripe, Yay!)
The Lowlights
-The Socks (I really don't like the stripes that go 75% around the Socks)
I'm impressed for what could have been a very ugly jersey. If I was a Bolts Fan, I'd Buy One.
Overall
4/5
Great jersey, but the wordmarks ruin it completely. Seriously, that s*cks.., but of all the wordmark jerseys, this is the best. With a logo it would be 10x better.
WHat Drew Celestino said. And they should stick with blue, full time.
Agreed Joel. That blue is sharp.
I really like this new jersey... except the BOLTS wordmark. Just imagine Vancouver wearing a jersey with NUCKS across the chest
.I've got to say, Tampa Bay may have the nicest third in the NHL. I also love the silver piping in this jersey, it's pulled off great.
I really like the blue!
They've come closer to having decent socks, but still can't get all the way there. I don't get that at all. Does anyone think that looks better than if the stripes connected?
The piping adds nothing but distraction and clutter. I'm getting tired of saying that but it's true.
Not sure about "TAMPA BAY" across the ass. I don't mind it too much as you wouldn't notice it unless you're looking for it or really close to it. Another thing that I just don't see the point of.
Take away the piping and swap the primary logo for the wordmark and you've got a pretty nice jersey.
i like the lightning (BOLTS) as blue jersey team but just slapping a few words across the chest doesnt do it for me . like whats been writen it has been a cool nick name over the years. i woulda have at least incorportated some type of logo .......and in my opinion this reminds me of the avs alternate in this decde so if your gonna make a jesey dont try to copy the rangers cause ur never gonna be a player thats home arena is msg so get off it please now use an actual logo and sory tampa BOLTS the team in my city / area ( OTTAWA ONTARIO CANADA) gloucester rangers has a better looking jersey and one more thing i dont really think we would see the bolts wearing that jersey right now if the new owner ship would have not have come in ..........or maybe but im not themthnks bye
Aside from the Sabres, this is probably my favorite third jersey from the new batch this season.
There are two ways to look at these things- From a design perspective, and from a personal taste point of view. There seems to be a tendency toward favoring traditional elements from the commenters here. From a design point of view, (I'm not a graphic artist, bus an architect) The jerseys seem to use traditional striping as a kind of default to the wordmark as the main logo. I would disagree with the thinking behind this- the jersey is a third jersey, and should be different, more daring perhaps than a design for a standard jersey. It also fails to tie into the existing breezers with the bolt side stripe, and the socks with the black top are terrible, almost making it appear that the players are in knickers. At the minimum, the blue and black on the socks should have been inverted, and I'd argue that unless you go 'retro' and along with the wordmark, use a laced collar along with the traditional stripes, do something different- perhaps tie in the breezers lightning bolt to stripes in the traditional locations, or even some other pattern. The medium blue is a good, bold, color choice.
As for the dislike of the back hem logo- why the gripes? Doesn't anyone remember where the CCM logo used to be prior to it (or RBK or whatever) being moved to the upper center back?
The Tampa Bay thing on the back is kinda girly, it would work for a girl's fashion jersey but on a guy that's just gay.
Douglas -- comparing the placement of "Tampa Bay" to the that of the mfr (CCM) doesn't make sense. CCM was the mfr (one of many over a period of time) of the jerseys. For years, the mfr was placed next to the NHL shield at the edge of the sweater. It wasn't until a few years ago that the current NHL regime placed the mfr logo at the nape of the neck (obviously for more exposure) and then placed the shield at the front with the current Edge jerseys . . . how I long for those old days . . .
And you're right -- the third jerseys should be a bit more daring -- which is why most (not all) of the league's regular sweaters should be scrapped to third jersey status and replaced with more traditional designs.
And as Joseph said, Tampa Bay on the back does look girly . . .
Jason, I totally agree with your comments. When the league switched from CCM to Reebok Edge,I knew we were in for it! It's one thing to change the hem at the bottom(which looks so girly) but when I saw all the teams adding that clutter of piping and colors under the arms,I knew the game was making a huge mistake. I really don't get it. Having a team name stitched to the bottom of the hem is weird as well. The manufacturers name/logo should be there,not at the neck.Copied the NFL on that one!
And lastly,the Lightning should use the logo on the front.Wordmarks looks funny on hockey jerseys.The logos on the shirtfronts are what made hockey so unique. Although,I think my Rangers diagonal wordmark is SO traditional.....that is ok! The overall styling and colors are nice. Hopefully, more teams will delge back to the past....it seems that's what most diehards(like me!) want.
The blue is freaking AWESOME! So is the BOLTS printed across the front! Hate the Tampa Bay on the bottom, but a minor detail that doesn't effect the jersey to much. Great jersey all around.
as a devils fan ur welcome for the ruined debut of the jersey. lol