Predators New Jerseys Leaked?
It may turn out we didn't have to wait for the new Nashville Predators jerseys after all. Some new photos were posted by On The Forecheck today, which seem to show the team's unreleased sweaters.
Are these the Predators' new home and road jerseys? / On The Forecheck
The blog is now saying that a contact with the team says these are not the final jerseys. Perhaps a prototype then? We'll find out for certain — at least as far as the road sweater — this weekend when it's officially unveiled by the team. Until then, we have this to speculate on.
To quote my tweet from earlier in the day, these are astonishingly good. I'm serious. I've never liked the "space-suit" silver used on the sleeves and this is miles away from that. I like almost everything about these jerseys except for the piping on the back. I think it's used brilliantly on the front.
And kudos to the Preds for stepping outside the box and going with a primary color that no one else has. Gold may not be a common color for a hockey sweater, but it looks great here.
I'll have more to say on the subject when I have some time to write later. For now, what do you think? Are you hoping they're the real deal or real fake?
Chris
I have some new independent information regarding the legitimacy of the above jerseys. While it's true these are not the final versions of the new design, I'm told spotting the differences would require a close look. Most important is that the colors are accurate. The home jersey will indeed be gold!
What the Predators almost looked likeA uniform overhaul has been in the works a few years, but gold wasn't always the plan. Like the rumors suggested, the original redesign would've been what you see here (right).
The blue and black third jersey was launched during the 2009-10 season. The expectation was that it would become the home sweater the following year and a white version would be added for the road.
Late in the season, that plan was scrapped. The team's brand would go in an entirely new direction. I'm told a number of the white jerseys had been produced by Reebok by the time that call was made. But rather than discard the unused sweaters, they were worn by players to a special event and auctioned off to fans.
So why the decision to go with gold? It's the reason a lot of us marketing-types suspected. The Predators' took a look around the league and noticed that every team was starting to look the same. They wanted to stand out — to "own" a color. And blue was already taken by a number of teams.
The last time an NHL team wore a gold sweater full time was the 1980s when the Penguins and Canucks did. In more recent years, the Bruins had a yellow third jersey and wore the same color at the 2010 Winter Classic. But the Predators saw an opening here and went for it. Good job on them!
And as previously mentioned, the navy blue alternate sweater will not be returning next season.
The official unveiling of the Predators' road jersey happens tonight at the draft. The home jersey will come next month at Nashville's Skate of the Union event.
Reader Comments (106)
@James S.: nice catch on the keyboard inside the collar!
LOVE the guitar strings across the numbers on the back.......and the "Nashville" across the front near the top is awesome.....great design
interesting new look. The color reminds me of the U of Michigan jerseys.....not that that's a bad thing. I especially like the white jersey. Simplifying the logo was definitely the right move for the Preds
God these are awful. I thought the couldn't do worse than their last jersey, but they did. Shame how some NHL teams just can't seem to get it right.
VERTICAL PIPING IS DISGUSTING.
I actually like the white jersey a lot better, the yellow jersey not so much. If there were one thing to get rid of is the piping. I wish all teams would get rid of the piping it is so unnecessary and ugly. Also not really a big fan on the numbering on the back of the jersey (the horizontal lines running through the numbers looks like guitar strings, unique, but still I do not like it). Whats with the yellow stripe in the middle of the predator logo? Also the small print of Nashville is unnecessary too get rid of that.
The white jersey get a 7.8 out of 10
The yellow jersey gets a 6.7 out of 10
This is such a refreshing set of unis! I'm glad they went with the gold (not the mustard yellow) as their primary home. I love this so much on so many levels, the vibrant yellow, the guitar pick patches, and the guitar strings on the back numbers. And this is coming from a Canucks fan.
If they did away with the vertical piping, these jerseys would be a solid 9.
These scream St. Louis Blues to me...
1) colour scheme (aside from gold being the primary on the home)
2) piping... very St. Louis-esque
3) fine details... I bet the blues are kicking themselves for not using the music motif better... In the end I think the preds will end up kicking themselves for moving to the music motif and away from the preds/skull motif which was really cool.
Good- USE OF GOLD ON THE HOME SWEATER.
-fang-like neck line... (it resembles teeth to me, very neat)
- simplified logo = great
- incorporation of "nashville" wordmark, without beating you over the head with it (eg Vancouver, Dallas, Atlanta's home sweater)
Bad- piping... Can't we just get rid of it by now... the whole idea is a debacle.
-what I mentioned earlier about the preds moving to much towards a music motif... they aren't the blues, they are the preds.
With all this being said, I a not sure if these are the real deal. As much as these are a step up from the current sweaters, I surely hope these are fake, because the preds could have done so much better.
These would be OK...for a recreational soccer team.
well if these are real, then thats a very bright yellow, Pred's fans will need to wear shades inside their arena!!!
the jerseys are both ok, certainly not going to rush out & buy either of them & can someone PLEASE tell RBK that hockey jerseys dont need VERTICAL PIPING!!!!! its the only thing that spoils the look of the jerseys........
and Pred's really need to keep that lovely 3rd jersey as well!!
Now THESE are SICK!!!!!! :O It feels old school and modern at the same time, and its original looking too!
Nashville Predators fans should be VERY HAPPY, I know if i was one I would be!
I hope the Winnipeg Jets/Facons/Rebels/Whatevers have sick jerseys too!
Love Them!
i just don't get the "nashville" wordmark under the shoulder, and i do believe that the official jersey will also have the guitar pick logo on the shoulders
I'm finding myself really drawn to that little "Nashville" under the collar. It looks really, really good. Like they saw what Dallas and Vancouver did and said "No, like this".
The Music City nods don't do anything for me, but there are some elements here that are really, really good.
First off, I love the new logo, its a lot more simpler and clean....
I love everything about the yellow jersey, but not on the white one. I think that the back of the white one is squished with the two lines running down the back. If they didn't have those two lines and the bottom two thicker lines just continued across, it would be alot more neater and clearer.
I really like these. The aways especially.
And on a side note, I don't understand why everyone hates piping so much. I understand not wanting it on classic jerseys, but it doesn't look that bad and it adds something new to newer teams jerseys. I want more originality, not the same boring template with different colors. And wow, is this original. (Other than looking quite a bit like the Blues. Who should turn their 3rd into their home and make a white version of that.)
The only thing I don't like is getting rid of the skull shoulder patch. That was such an awesome logo.
Those yellow can't be home jerseys: no way the league lets them wear those against visitor's whites. May as an occasional third with the road team wearing their homes.
Overall they are good, for some reason the kinda remind me of a soccer jersey though
My first thought was, looks like the WVU football uniforms were modified to be hockey uniforms, with the color inserts near the shoulders and the numbers. That being said though, I do enjoy these jerseys. I'm a fan of the 1980's yellow Penguins Sunday jersey as well, but not many are.
PLEASE tell me those are fakes. They look terrible. Not what I had in mind at all.
Man I hope these are for real....so nice to get some bright color back into the NHL. This combined w/ the Lightning and Panthers reduces the number of black or navy jerseys by 3...that's a step in the right direction. I'm so sick of black and navy blue.
I hate the stupid color patch around the reebok logo and in the chest. The Blues have it to and they look terrible. I wish we could get rid of all the piping and random color patches for the sake of adding an extra color.
I do like the simplified colour palate and the guitar strings on the numbers. They got those elements right. However, I really hope that these are just prototypes, and the actual jerseys have a much more classic look, consistent with the navy third jersey. The silly Reebok piping on both sides, the awful shoulder stripe pattern, and the silly "Nashville" word mark on the upper left chest make these look seriously minor league. Also, yellow is not dark enough to be considered a dark (home) jersey. It should be used as a substitute for white only. That's the way it has been in the NHL since the Kings introduced yellow jerseys back in 1967. I think Reebok's lack of respect and understanding of what a real hockey sweater looks like is a disgrace. I just wish teams in non-hockey markets like Nashville would stop allowing Reebok to be "innovative" with their uniforms. Real hockey fans want real hockey jerseys, and fans of the greatest league in the world, regardless of what city they live in, should be offered nothing less.
Sorry Nashville, looks like you are stuck with a lemon for at least a few years.
I have one word. Yuck!!
pretty nice. a refreshing look. my only problem is with the number font on the back. looks way too anaheim ducks-y
I quite like them. The yellow looks bright in the picture, but it remains to be seen what it looks like on the ice. I'd still be happier seeing a true yellow than some kind of beigey mustard. Classic mustard wins vs. dijon? Anyway...very nice job. The yellow to the left and right of the collar, and on the back above the player name, on the white jerseys is a nice touch, adding a bit of balance with the good stripes at the bottom and on the arms. If I were to change anything on the yellow jersey, honestly, it would be to make the piping blue instead of white, make the two equivalent bits by the collar white (the parts that are yellow on the white jersey), and see what that looks like - not sure if the white would stand out enough, but I think the piping should stand out more than the white piping currently does. Hope I explained that well enough.
My favorite "nice little touch", actually, is the "Nashville" across the top left.
Love almost everything about these except the vertical stripes that seem to cut through the waist stripes... That ruins it for me. Don't get why there is "Nashville" written over the shoulder like that either... And to think, they were SO CLOSE to having one of the best jerseys in the league with this. If this is infact real (which Im willing to bet that it is.)
these are brutal...although I commend them for being bold on color. The piping is overdone, the lettering will be almost illegible when players are in motion. And why did the team feel it needed to highlight the RBK logo...are they getting a kickback.
My review of these sweaters is simple: I LOVE them.
While I really did like their old uniforms it did need some modernizing to bring it into "now". Maybe when they celebrate a milestone (such as 20th or 25th anniversary) you may see the old unis return. This isn't 1997-98 anymore so a overhaul was needed to bring it up to pace.
I loved how they simplified the logo but kept the blue and yellow. I didn't think it was too overdone at all.
It goes to show that even with the RBK EDGE jersey shell YOU CAN get a little more creative and go outside the box. It looks like to me that they weren't affraid to be daring or different. I always like sweaters/jerseys that aren't affraid to be unique or different. It has a clean and bold look to them.
The thing that I LOVE most of all is the lettering and especially the numbers. Like others have posted already the "stripping" or the "guitar strings" is a great nod to the Music City (and didn't notice the keyboard in the neck until it was pointed out!) and sets it apart in terms of what other fonts/styles other teams are using currently. It's good to see that they are not affraid to show how proud they are to be from Nashville.
Hopefully this is the real deal. Very unique.
Well done Nashville!
Overall I like them, definitely unique compared to some of the other copycat jerseys. I'm just not a fan of team printing their city name on the jersey; Los Angeles, Vancouver, Atlanta....One of the great and special things about hockey jerseys is they have a huge logo on them to symbolize the team, you see the winged wheel and know it's the Detroit Red Wings, or the spoked B and know it's the Boston Bruins, the name doesn't have to spelled out, let the logo come to symbolize the city and team, not words.
I really like these jerseys. The only thing is that I would remove all of the pipping... not only in the back... I was really hoping for a gold home jersey
What's with the music, they're called the Predators, not the Blues. I know Tennessee is the Capital of country music , but their team name has nothing to do with it. At least St. Louis has the right idea.
Eh, they're better than their current ones, but I would've preferred the "third jersey becomes home jersey" plan they originally had. Speaking of which, you can see the third jersey from last season sitting in the background of the second photo there. Maybe it's being retained?
i believe that if this really is the new preds sweaters than it wont be that shade of yellow. if you scroll down to the article below this one a nd compare the shade of yellow, the yellow they are using in the logo it is alot darker than the one shown above.
Yeah... I pretty much hate these. I do like the "Nashville" on the back of the collar though. I'm pretty disappointed in the Predators.
PLEASE TELL ME ITS A JOKE ..... RIGHT!!! .... RIGHT!!!!
Bright yellow!?! And it looks OK!?! Nashville might have something here, but it could be better. After all, the Preds aren't from St. Louis. Also, being the old-school NHL fan that I am, the mis-matched striping between the two jerseys and the overlapping piping doesn't really work for me. The Bolts did a much better job at coordinating their unis this year. I did like their armpit-to-waist (think Caps or Avs) patch of coloring on their 2007-2011 jerseys, though. We'll just see what happens at the draft.
I hope they keep their previous number font, sans being italicized. The aggresive look screamed Predators just as much as 3-D red & white numbers scream Rangers. Those numbers were the coolest in the NHL.
OK I love the yellow one! The white one looks good too. The numbers look great as well.
That's how you take blue and gold/yellow and make something new that identifies with the Nashville Predators and nobody else. Awesome.
It's amusing, if you go to the NHL online store, they have featured the Draft Day Hats. But if you look through them all, there isn't a single one for Nashville! Interesting if I might say so.
Yellow = Chicken. Sweden got the name "Chicken Swedes" largely because of their uniforms. Horrible when its the main colour of the jersey.
These are an improvement from the prior ones, but Piping is NEVER A GOOD IDEA. Just for that alone I don't like them. I really wished they would of stuck with the alternate Jersey and it's White counterpart.Those looked classy!
Give me a break. How can you like the gawdy yellow? They make me want to throw up. I hate the yellow. I've had season tickets since 1998 and have at least ten Predators jerseys in my closet and I will not be buyin one of the new ones any time soon.
Breathtakingly beautiful!!!
I am a huge fan of any team who isn't afraid to use color. And one that isn't used by anyone else either. I was a huge supporter of the Flyers when they decided to go with their retro orange jerseys and I'm a huge fan of the Preds' decision to go with gold. They will stand out!!!
And to add to that, judging from their home crowd during the playoffs, they will look even more amazing when they wear the gold home jerseys and the crowd is sporting their gold t-shirts and gold towels!!!
ABSOLUTELY AWFULL! How can anyone like the yellow? My guess is the focus group included a lot of non-season ticket holders and management is trying to appeal to them. Broaden the base and all. But nobody asked a long time season ticket holder like me. What’s wrong with keeping an identity that the team has developed? Why the need to change? Especially something this drastic! A home crowd will look like crap with all the various versions of jerseys in the stands.
PS – my wife likes the yellow jerseys. She says they are pretty. But then again, she pulled for Penguins in the Stanley Cup finals a few years ago because she liked their cute logo. There you go!
The set itself is original and eye-catching. The white jerseys are still MUCH better than the yellows. And what's with the little Nashville wordmark on the left side of the jersey?
Ditch the damn piping! Can Reebok stop using templates to come up with an orginial design? The basic design is so over used in this league. I much prefer the what-would-have-been sweaters that the Nashville marketing guru decided wasn't up to snuff. Sure the blue has been redundant recently,and they wanted to go with something outside the box. I can get that, but why not then just swap out the blue & black for yellow & blue? Atleast that sweater design looks more traditional compare to this new design. Look at all the iconic sweaters in the NHL, the Bruins, Blackhawks, Redwings, Rangers, Canadiens, Flames, and Flyers all have one thing in common. None of them tell you where they are from. Come on if you need to let people know what city you are from then your logo sucks.
Not a huge fan of the yellow, I feel like the jersey would be perfect if the blue and yellow were swapped on the home jerseys. Yellow as a primary color can be really dangerous but that said the Bruins did a great job on their winter classic, and it is nice to see the pallet of the hockey world expand a little bit.
For the love of god no more piping!!!!! I dont like the colour scheme but it would be a lot better if they got rid of that awful piping and those St Louis Blues characteristics. meh, I guess it's better than the old jerseys with the silver but they could be so much better. I would take the current third and the "special casino" white jersey over these any day of the week.
I don't know how ANYONE can hate on that, those Jerseys Nashville has been using are just Meh... this makes them stand out, this was a radical change like the Canucks did.
Remember how we all hated the Canucks Jerseys? and now we all like them?
Same as this. These jerseys to me are 10/10 :D
Do not like these at all. I am far more partial to the Mike Majeski Concept posted elsewhere on this site. As others have said, they look too similar in style to the St. Louis Blues jerseys (which aren't that hot, IMHO).
the nashville website has a draft photo gallery and you could see a kid at their table in the road sweater. it's different. at least they'll be unique.