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)
I Love them! Makes me wish I was a Nashville fan....ok not realy but there still very nice! Home jersey could use just a little less gold but what can you do...I alos like the "nashville" on the shoulders....good job!
I just have one thing to say: I like it, I love it, I want some more of it!
These are a major improvement! Bravo to Nashville for going with gold and making the league more colourful.
Get rid of the piping though. On all NHL uniforms.
I give this uni a solid 7 out of 10
Just awful. There is a reason no has a yellow jersey let alone abright yellow strip in their logo. If you want a yellow 3rd fine with me. But the black and blues from last yer are amazing. If you want to "stand out" from other teams just win!!!! I have gone to many away games wearing the black and blue and have gotten nothing but complements on them. They were the best looking jersey in all the NHL. Now you give us this "GIMMICKY" Nashville jersey with guitar strings, guitar picks, & piano keys....What a complete joke. And how dare you change the logo. No classy, traditional team changes their logo and if they do it's a small change. I hope and pray no one buys this awful jersey or anything with this awful logo. i want management to see the mistake they made with the banana jersey and snot nosed Gnash logo. EPIC FAIL by the PREDS!!!!
I've made my case on a couple of occasions on the aesthetic nightmare of the yellow on white match up, especially since it doesn't look professional, imo. That being said, I really don't know which of these to get. I really like yellow jerseys, but, the white one is especially sharp, and not epic fail like so many other Nashville white jerseys in the past. I'm in a rare toss up mode.
I might take it to a vote among my friends, or really bite the bullet, and get both.
Also, if Winnipeg and Florida are at least half as good as these, the League is looking to be in good shape again.
Also, apparently the "Nashville" on the left chest isn't on the final design, which I thought was interesting and helped the overall design, as it was very much different.
Looks like we may have a new contender for ugliest jerseys in hockey! Especially the yellow one. They shouldn't even let them on the ice with that on.