The Best Sweaters in the West

Back in February, we conducted a series of polls asking readers to rate the jerseys of all six Canadian NHL teams. We ended up with a complete ranking revealed just in time for Hockey Day in Canada. It was a popular post so now we're going to take it to the rest of the league.

We'll do them in groups of six, split up by geography. This set of polls will feature the teams out west: Anaheim, Colorado, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose. You can rate each jersey individually with a 10, 5 or 1. (You can either love it, hate it, or be on the fence.)

After all the votes have been cast, an average rating will be determined. These polls will remain open for two weeks, ending Thurs., June 23. When we've voted on all the teams, I'll assemble a complete league ranking of every uniform worn for the 2010-11 season. Happy voting!

Sorry, no comments on this post. Just vote!

Blog note: I am leaving for vacation on June 11. I'll be out at sea and likely without an internet connection for most of the time I'm away. I should be back on June 21 just in time for the NHL Board of Governors meeting — when everything in Winnipeg is expected to become official and final. However, if the team's name and logo are announced before that time, I'll probably be delayed in posting it here. Sorry.

But fret not, there will be other updates to the site in my absence. I'm currently preparing concept posts that will auto-publish on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday while I'm gone so keep checking back throughout the week.

Panthers See Red

The Florida Panthers have officially launched their new marketing campaign today: We See Red.

The campaign will culminate on June 24 with the unveiling of their new red home jersey at the NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul. The first player to wear it will be the Cats' first round pick, which currently sits at No. 3 overall. Here's a link to the Panthers' press release on the matter. And an excerpt:

“We See Red” signifies the Panthers’ passion, aggressiveness, new blood, attitude, desire and commitment to winning under the leadership of General Manager Dale Tallon and now, Head Coach Kevin Dineen. Coinciding with the campaign, the Panthers will also unveil a new home jersey at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft on June 24. The jersey will feature the Cats’ “true colors” and will be worn by the team’s first pick — currently No. 3 overall.

All right, I may have just said most of that in the previous paragraph, but now you have it from them too.

Personally, I like the idea of the Panthers returning to red. That's how I always think of them. The dark blue just never worked in south Florida. Now, whether this means they'll actually improve the jersey remains to be seen. What I mean by that is they only specifically mention unveiling a "new home jersey," making no reference to a new road sweater to match.

This makes me wonder if they'll simply take the template of the current jerseys and just make a red one. I'd much rather see them go with a design more like their third jersey — or even that original red one from the early '90s. As always, we'll just have to wait and see what happens.

So when the Stinkin' Panthers go back to red, they'll be the third team in the Southeast Division to wear that color (Carolina and Washington being the others, of course). The Lightning will now wear blue instead of black. And as we know, red and blue are by far the most common colors in the NHL.

We don't yet know what the Winnipeg team will be named, but if it's the Jets and they go with the blue-and-red color scheme, boy will that be original and will certainly stand out. I'm hoping they go with something in a nice green, honestly — or even purple to make up for Los Angeles dumping it. But that's just because I like variety. Ultimately, I hope whatever is chosen is liked by the fans in Winnipeg.

That's all for today. Coming later this week: Remember how we ranked the Canadian NHL team uniforms a few months ago? Yeah, we're about to start tackling the rest of the league. (Just in time for me to take a nice long vacation. More later.)