Reebok Replacing New Jerseys With Old?

Interesting development coming out of Boston today. According to the Boston Herald the Bruins may be getting new jerseys — the same cut but the old material. Here's an excerpt from the article that talks about this.

According to sources in the B’s dressing room, Reebok has been unable to correct problems with the new jerseys introduced this season across the NHL and will replace them at the company’s expense with new uniforms made of the old materials.

Players have complained since training camp that the new jerseys, which are supposed to be lighter and allow sweat to evaporate out through the shirts, have instead trapped water inside and gotten heavier.

We'll see what happens. I'm intrigued. Will the EDGE go down in history as one of the NHL's biggest flubs?

Thanks to Jeff for the tip.

Couple Of Quick Concepts

Hmm. That may be misleading. I don't know how "quick" the concepts are, necessarily, but you should get through this post quickly. I'm keeping it short.

First, a New York Islanders logo I think is awesome!

I may stand alone in loving it, but so be it. My only suggestion for improvement would be to rid it of the text. Maybe save that for a secondary mark or something. But I like the lighthouse tack. I know certain "Islanders fans" are opposed to it, and being a Lightning fan, I'm sure I don't have the proper standing to say, but I just can't help myself.

And speaking of the Lightning...

You had to see that coming. First off, wow! That is an amazing looking sweater. That's how you make blue work as a Bolts jersey color. Save this and make it a third jersey. Don't want to wear it out by wearing it every night! I'd buy this one too.

That's all for today. Short and sweet. I'll attempt to have some more up tomorrow.

Rbk EDGE Review: Senators

Part 30 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

Ottawa Senators

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Wednesday, August 22. The Senators unveiled their jerseys at a fan event in Ottawa. Chris Neil, Brian McGrattan, Jason Spezza and Chris Kelly were on hand to model the sweaters.

Home vs. Road
Home: Red. Road: White. The two sweaters are essentially mirror images of each other with secondary logo patches on each shoulder.

The red home jerseys have a white panel on the elbows. The underside of the sleeves are black extending the length. There is white side paneling toward the back of the sweater. The collar is black and the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys have a red panel on the elbows. The underside of the sleeves are black extending the length. There is red side paneling toward the back of the sweater. The collar is black and red and the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
A new numbering and lettering style has been introduced.

New & Old
With the introduction of new logos, the uniforms have changed drastically. The swooping stripes on the old red jersey are gone and the overall striping patterns on both jerseys have been changed. There is really not to compare between the old and new sweaters.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? No.
Laces at the collar? No.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
Many have pointed out the similarities in style of the Senators' jerseys to those of the Penguins. That being said, these are quite plain as well. Not that it necessarily hurts this uniform set. But it could be much better. The red is very sharp. I'm glad they went with that over black for the home sweaters. The road jerseys, however, could use a shoulder yoke or something. There's too much white and not enough color. The logo doesn't work in favor of the white one. Looks great on red! In any case, it's still a solid effort, if not slightly boring. My favorite Sens' sweater, if you were wondering, was last year's black third jersey. 3/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Senators jersey!

Rangers Alter Sweaters?

Apparently a handful of New York Rangers players have altered the back of the sweaters. Pictures taken at last night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins indicate that the "tail" seems to have been cropped on a handful of jerseys.

It seems too straight to be a fold caught in the moment by the camera. That's why I'm assuming it's been cut. That, and the Rangers are our rebel-without-a-cause for the moment. (No, NHL, we don't like your web sites. Lawsuit. No, Reebok, we don't like your jerseys. Scissors.) Don't mind me, I'm easily amused.

The interesting thing is that this alteration wasn't made on all of the jerseys. So that leads me to believe it was a decision made by individual players and not the club as a whole.

What do you guys think about this? I know a lot of you were opposed to the curved hem at the bottom. Is this an improvement or does it just make the jersey look awkward?

Rbk EDGE Review... Not Quite Yet

Ha! Just thought I'd have a little fun with you guys. The final Rbk EDGE Review post will, in fact, not be posted tonight, but rather tomorrow. If your powers of deduction haven't failed you, by now you know the final review will the new Ottawa Senators jerseys. Hope you guys can wait one more day. Then expect to see some really cool stuff posted this weekend once the reviews have had time to settle in. We'll have a full ranking of all 30 uniforms as well as a special desktop wallpaper I'm trying to put together. Enjoy your night!

Rbk EDGE Review: Thrashers

Part 29 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

Atlanta Thrashers

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Friday, September 14. The Thrashers unveiled their jerseys at a press conference in Atlanta.

Home vs. Road
Home: Blue. Road: White. The two sweaters are very different from each other in overall design.

The sky blue home jerseys feature a thick dark blue stripe, trimmed in white and red, down the left sleeve. Vertical text down the sleeve spells out "ATLANTA" in yellow letters with a white stroke and red and sky blue drop shadow. The side panels are dark blue with red and white trim. White and red piping wraps around the wrists. A secondary logo patch is featured on the right shoulder. The collar is dark blue and the the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature blue sleeves, with triangular white panels just above the elbows. Red piping borders the blue at the shoulders. Blue piping runs from the collar to the base of the sweater. Yellow piping wraps around the wrists and secondary logo patches don each shoulder. The collar is blue with a specialty design and red trim while the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
There is no jersey number on the left sleeve of the home jersey where the city name runs down the arm. The same numbering and lettering style has been retained.

New & Old
While the overall design of the jerseys are relatively similar to the old ones, there are plenty of differences. The most noticeable is the lack of horizontal striping around the waist. A rather small but noteworthy change is the addition of the secondary logo to the shoulder of the home jersey. Overall, while similar, these jerseys are certainly different.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? No.
Laces at the collar? Yes.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
The Thrashers hit it pretty damn close with this. My favorite jersey last year was Atlanta's home sweater — adopted from a third jersey. The sky blue color is stunning. The city name down the sleeve is a unique and very cool-looking element. The numbering and lettering style is very sharp. The secondary logo is amazing! Now what I don't like. The primary logo isn't great but it's not bad. The side panels of the home jersey are weird. The blue piping on the front of the road sweater seems a little out of place, as well. But I definitely feel like the pros outweigh the cons here. It's not perfect, but it's approaching that mark. 4/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Thrashers jersey!

Double Up!

We're doubling up on the concept art tonight. Check it out! We begin in Buffalo with the Sabres.

On the left appears to be a recolored Canucks jersey. Not sure why the artists decided to put upside down buffaloes on the shoulders. But I'm sure the traditionalists will enjoy seeing the '70s logo element on this jersey. Unfortunately, the "slug" is still there.

On the right is an element we've seen before. I posted the crest you see here in a Freak Out post from a few weeks ago. I wondered what it would look like on a jersey. Wonder no more. Unfortunately, this concept is based on the new Oilers jersey. And a yellow collar? That's pretty nutty. This might've been worthy of the Freak Out series itself!

Speaking of freaky Sabres artwork, check out this Maple Leafs concept.

That's just weird, isn't it? Although the splash of color for the Leafs isn't completely unwelcome if my opinion counts for anything (and it doesn't). A simpler solution to the Toronto simplicity problem could be below.

I kind of like that outlined leaf. Not sure about the collar here or the shoulder piping.

But going back to New York now, I've got a pair of Islanders designs.

Pretty cool logo. Anyone think this jersey could work as an alternate at some point in the future? It does have a very distinct Oilers feel to it, but that could be fixed by swapping the orange and blue.

And finally, a little something out of the ordinary.

For as much as folks hated the "fish sticks," this is a much better-looking jersey than the current one — at least so says I. However I did like the old lighthouse logo more for the shoulder patch. I just really like that color combination more than anything. In fact, while we're at it, why not go with the lighthouse logo across the chest?

Anyway, what do you guys think of all these? Let me know below with your comments.

Rbk EDGE Review: Maple Leafs

Part 28 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

Toronto Maple Leafs

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Wednesday, September 12. The Maple Leafs unveiled their jerseys at a fan event in Toronto. The event was also broadcast live on the web at Leafs TV.

Home vs. Road
Home: Blue. Road: White. The two sweaters are essentially mirror images of each other.

The blue home jerseys feature two white stripes around the elbows and white piping around the wrists. The white version of the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature two blue stripes around the elbows and blue piping around the wrists. The collar is blue and the blue version of the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
The same numbering and lettering style has been retained.

New & Old
The biggest differences between the new and old sweaters is the lack of horizontal striping across the bottom and the the secondary "TML" logo. Also, the silver in the old jersey is now gone as well. The piping at the wrists is also new.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? No.
Laces at the collar? No.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
Did somebody order a plain jersey? Oh, yes that would be the Maple Leafs. It's like going to McDonald's and ordering the hamburger without lettuce, cheese, onions, mustard or even ketchup. (Wait, that's what my brother gets.) Off subject. While not saying I dislike this uniform, I have to say it is very plain. What doesn't help is the nine stripes found on each sock, heavily weighing down the overall design of the uniform. Still, I've been trying to stick to jersey commentary here. Thing is, there really isn't anything to say about it. Except that some people call them pajamas. Not me. Can something be "very" average? Because I think this would be. At least before it had a little personality. 3/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Maple Leafs jersey!

Photographic Tinkering

Amidst all the artwork I get on a daily basis, I occasionally get digitally retouched photos that I would consider to be cool concept art. So that's what this post is about.

We all know the Vancouver Canucks made an odd move by not including the dark blue of the logo in the jersey. Just as the green from the jersey isn't included in the logo. Here's something I hadn't noticed.

Despite there being black in the Coyotes logo, there's no black in the jersey. This concept was designed, I'm guessing, to give us an idea of what Phoenix would look like with a little black in their sweaters.

If you ask me, there's a third jersey right there. The dark one, at least. It's weird on the sleeves, though. Doesn't really work with the striping. But I don't mind it at the bottom of the jersey. Same as how it looks pretty sharp on the shoulders as well.

Overall, a winner. Nice work by the artist.

Uh-oh. I'm about to talk about the Canucks. Somebody's gonna have something to say about that. Anyway, this one here simply suggests a higher contrast shoulder logo for the home sweaters. The original '70s logo did have a white rink on the dark jersey, but the new one seems to come in only one form.

A little unusual but it doesn't really bother me. I could live with it either way. Though it sure stands out more in white. Just an observation.

And this one isn't so much about redesigning jerseys or logos as much as somebody spent a lot of time on it and I can't see denying them.

Of course we know Vesa Toskala minds the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But what if he did so for the New Jersey Devils?

Thing is almost flawless. We can play that Sunday comics game with it. Can you spot the differences. Or more appropriately, can you spot the missed changes. I have to tell you, there aren't many. And I've been staring at it for a while.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed that. Kudos go out to the artists. It's one thing to draw elements on a blank jersey template. It's another to doctor up photographs like this.

Remember, if you've got anything you think might be worthy of posting, please email it to me. I'd love to take a look.

Out West!

We're heading out west for some concept art this morning. I figure we'll start at the coast and work our way east.

The Anaheim Ducks concept suggests workinng green back into the color scheme. I think that would be a wise move, but maybe something a little brighter would be in order. I do like the "D" logo on the chest as well. Definitely an improvement.

Another designer has also suggested that the Sharks try out black sweaters — be it on a full-time or part-time basis. This isn't half bad. The orange works very nice in this concept. Pretty sharp.

Here's a new design created for the Dallas Stars.

It's so weird looking. You really have to stare at it a minute. The stripes around the bottom are odd. Looks like they're going to eat me. Anyway, we'll finish things off in Tennessee with the Nashville Predators.

Also weird, but not quite enough to freak me out. I sort of hope that thing in the bottom left corner isn't meant to be a logo of any sort. That would freak me out. Anyway, not a terrible jersey, but also not one I'd be a fan of.

If you've got thoughts on any of these, feel free to leave them below.