Rbk EDGE Review: Wild

Part 2 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

Minnesota Wild

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Friday, September 7. The Wild unveiled their new uniforms via their web site.

Home vs. Road
Home: Red. Road: White. The sweaters feature different crests and completely different designs. The standard primary logo serves as the crest on the white sweater while last year's third jersey crest is seen on the red jersey.

The red home jerseys feature thin, wheat-colored piping around the shoulders. The upper-arms are green extending to the shoulder at the top and bordered by a wheat stripe beneath. The collar is wheat and laced at the front. There are no stripes at the waist.

The white road jerseys feature a thick green stripe along the tops of the sleeves, outlined in wheat and red stripes. The secondary logo is on the shoulders. Thick red and green stripes go around the waist, padded by a thin what stripe. The collar is double-striped with wheat on the inside and red on the outside.

In The Details
The shoulder patches featuring the secondary logo are found on both shoulders of the road sweater while the shoulders of the home sweater are blank.

New & Old
The major change is that last year's green jersey is gone. While it may return in the future as an alternate, last year's third jersey design paved the way for this year's new home sweater — right down to the same crest with the bear head logo inside a circle with the team name and two stars within it. The white sweater, however, remains largely the same, adapted to the new Rbk EDGE cut.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? No.
Laces at the collar? Yes, only on the home jersey.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
The order of these reviews is random but like the Bruins, this is another uniform I really love. When the Wild first introduced their third jersey, I was an instant fan. I thought, if every team looked that good, the NHL would really be on to something. But then we all know that story, don't we. I like this combination, though. It retains an old-fashioned feel at home with a unique, updated look on the road. However, I don't care much for the collar on the white jersey or the shoulder patches — elements which prevent me from giving the uniform a perfect score. 4/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Wild jersey!

Thrashers, Here's How You Fix It

The new Fix It series has contemplated jersey repairs for the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche. It continues today with some suggestions for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Prior to switching to the light blue jersey full time, the Thrashers actually had a completely different logo for their dark jerseys. In fact, it was this one.

Not bad, but liked the dark blue jerseys better with that logo.

In going through comments about the new uniforms, I got the idea that a lot of folks (mostly those who are not Thrashers fans) don't like the light blue or ATLANTA written down the sleeve. So on a completely different tangent comes this design.

This isn't in the Rbk EDGE cut, but still worth a look, I felt. I like the thrasher head for the logo. In fact, I think that's essentially the logo worn on the pants of the current uniform. I also really like the maroon sweater. Overall, a nice effort. I bet this would make for a very sharp-looking sweater.

Have you guys got any other suggestions for the Thrashers or any other team? Email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Next up: Anaheim Ducks.

Mailbag: Cats, Devils, Blues Concept Art

I have a bunch of concept designs to share with you all today. We'll start with the Florida Panthers.

This concept keeps the same uniform design while simplifying the primary logo to feature only the panther's head. I'm not a fan of the rounded elements, though. I think the sharp edges offered a fierceness that this logo lacks.

I was also emailed a couple of New Jersey Devils designs.

These concepts borrow from the AHL's Lowell Devils logo, relegating the current primary to the shoulder. Personally, I couldn't see the Devils converting to a minor league logo. That would just be strange.

And finally, someone emailed me some St. Louis Blues art. I've always wanted to see the Liberty Bell in a secondary logo for the Philadelphia Flyers. Along the same lines, I've also been curious to see the Gateway Arch as a secondary for the Blues. But not quite like this.

This design was suggested as a possible future third jersey. It needs a little yellow and some work on the logo, but it certainly has potential. Thoughts?

Rangers Replica Photos

Apologies for the limited posting today but I've been preparing for the new Rbk EDGE Reviews. You can read the first review on the Boston Bruins' new unis today.

I have photos to share with you of the New York Rangers' new Rbk EDGE jersey. Jim, who just purchased his new replica road sweater, emailed them in this morning.

The lettering does appear to be placed somewhat differently than in the past, but it has a lot to do with the paneling of the various fabrics, I'd imagine. I wouldn't say it's a bad change at all.

With regard to the stripes you see here, Jim wrote, "I have to say I am very impressed with how every stripe is stitched on, so that it seems separate from the other stripes and the rest of the jersey, unlike the old replicas where the stripes would be continuous with the rest of the jersey." It's a very nice feature of these new Reebok jerseys.

And then there's the obligatory close-up of the new collar design with the lace ties. I really like that. Overall, they seem pretty nice. But I'm still in love with my Lightning jersey.

Rbk EDGE Review: Bruins

Part 1 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

Boston Bruins

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Thursday, June 21, 2007. The Bruins unveiled their new logo and uniforms to fans at an event the day before the NHL Draft.

Home vs. Road
Home: Black. Road: White. Both sweaters feature the same crest and secondary logo patches on each shoulder. The primary colors are black, yellow and white.

The black home jerseys feature yellow-white-yellow spaced stripes around the elbows. The same pattern is found around the waist. The yellow shoulder yoke features white stripes beneath that extend from the laced collar almost to the shoulder.

The white road jerseys feature yellow-black-yellow spaced stripes around the elbows. The same pattern is found around the waist. A black cuff extends up the sleeve to the elbow stripes. The black shoulder yoke features yellow stripes beneath that extend from the laced collar almost to the shoulder.

In The Details
The shoulder patches are different for the home and road sweaters. On the home jersey, the word "Bruins" is arched above a bear with the word "Boston" underneath. The words are swapped on the road jersey.

New & Old
The biggest uniform alteration, aside from the new logos, is seen along the shoulders and sleeves. The vertical stripe down the arms are gone and the horizontal elbow stripes have been wrapped completely around the arm. In addition, the stripe colors around the waist have been swapped on the home jersey.

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

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
By all accounts, the Boston Bruins by far have one of the best uniforms in the new crop. Classic and dignified. The essence of a hockey jersey. From the stripes to the shoulder bars to the collar laces, the style is top-notch. Even the upgrade to the primary and secondary logos is simply stunning. Boston's was the first jersey unveiled this summer and it gave hope to everyone dreading the "new-fangled" style being introduced by Reebok and the NHL. It's a shame this style didn't permeate more teams. 5/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Bruins jersey!

Avalanche, Here's How You Fix It

The introduction of Reebok's new EDGE Uniform System has left a lot of people stratching their heads. If you're among those questioning some of the design choices made here, then this series is for you.

Yesterday we contemplated fixes for the new Vancouver Canucks uniforms. Today we're going to look at the Colorado Avalanche.

Among the complaints for the Avs' new threads was the lack of the zig-zagged, mountain-range like stripes we're used to seeing. In fact, the sleeves even go from blue to burgundy on the home sweaters without so much as a stripe in between. One designer came up with a solution in this rough sketch.

Voila! But Reebok would have us believe such a design is incompatible with the cut of their uniforms. Well, Atlanta and Buffalo seemed to have gotten away with it all right.

No matter. Check out this design.

Personally, I've found that the Blues' new uniform is one of the best of the new crop and even in Avalanche colors it's still pretty damn nice.

When you come right down to it, I think the Avs still escaped with a relatively nice jersey. Seeing Joe Sakic's "C" overlap a big stripe on his shoulder will take some getting used to, but all told it could've been worse.

Any thoughts on improvements to the Avs or any other team's new threads? Email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Up next: Atlanta Thrashers.

Rbk EDGE Makes Pens Wet

First off, sorry about the headline, but sometimes when these things come to me I can't resist.

Anyway, Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wrote an article about flaws players are finding with the new sweaters' wick away material. I mean, we all knew this stuff was coming. It's a new technology.

You can read his story here or see excerpts below.

Right winger Mark Recchi, for one, understands what the league was trying to accomplish by adopting a sweater that does not absorb fluids, but does not think the designers took into account the moisture — to wit, perspiration — generated under a player's uniform.

"[The sweaters] don't soak anything in, which I guess is what they wanted," Recchi said. "But the problem is, it goes through all of your equipment. It goes into your gloves, goes into your skates."

And eventually saturates the leather in both, leaving the players feeling as if their hands and feet are immersed in liquid. Perhaps because, at least in some cases, they are.

"They do what they were designed to do, as far as repelling the water," defenseman Mark Eaton said. "But we've found, the last three or four days of wearing them, that, when the water's repelled, it has nowhere to go but into your skates and gloves.

"By the end of the second [period] or the start of the third, your skates are sloshing around and you have to change your gloves because they're [soaked]."

So, that's probably not a good thing. But it goes on.

"It's very good that the water doesn't stick on it, but the sweat all goes into our gear," goalie Marc-Andre Fleury said. "Sometimes, it gets really wet."

Veteran left winger Gary Roberts, who was to make his preseason debut when the Penguins faced Detroit at Mellon Arena last night, said he planned to withhold judgment until after wearing the new items in a game, but wasn't pleased with what he experienced during practice.

"My hands are soaked, my feet are soaked," he said. "I feel like it's May, in the playoffs, I'm sweating so much. That seems to be a complaint with a lot of guys."

So then there's the NHL's response.

Frank Brown, the NHL's vice president of media relations, said in an e-mail interview that "every equipment system requires a period of adjustment," and that the sweaters, which are made of four materials, are part of a uniform "upgrade" intended to "help optimize performance and protection."

Naturally.

So while we're at it, here's what else Mark Recchi says doesn't work.

While other elements of the equipment system also have gotten negative reviews — some players have mentioned that the socks that cover their shin pads are so taut that they are more prone to tearing than the looser-fitting ones worn in the past — the sweaters have received most of the attention.

Recchi suggested that, although some complications caused by the new sweaters will be evident immediately — like how some players will have to alter their in-game routines to deal with unduly wet equipment — others might not be apparent for a while.

"My gloves never got soaked like [they do now]," he said. "They're literally drenched by the end of an hour[-long] practice.

"I'm going to have to have two pairs of gloves ready [for games]. I've never done that. I've always used one pair a game. Some guys are used to that, but that's going to be different. Maybe I'll have to change my socks between periods, which I don't like doing. You start sloshing.

"I think you'll see skates break down quicker because of it; they'll absorb more [perspiration], because it's all going down into your skate and your socks."

Whether the league and Reebok will consider altering the material that goes into the sweaters to make them less moisture-repellent isn't clear — "They have a great feel, but I just think they have to find a way to maybe have some absorbency," Recchi said — so it's hard to say how long the current ones will stay in use.

At least a few players, though, would prefer to see the league go back to the uniforms players used to wear, although they realize that probably is not a viable option.

Deterioration Of An "A"

I don't want to step on the toes of the folks at UniWatch blog, but in going through pictures of last night's Rangers-Flyers game, I noticed something funny happen to Scott Gomez's uniform. This is why you don't iron things on an NHL jersey.

Early on, everything's fine. Gomez is looking all right in his new #19 uniform after losing a coin toss over the summer to Chris Drury. (Drury is wearing the #23 sweater.)

But after a while, that iron-on "A" on his shoulder is starting to have some problems. But, no, it couldn't fall off. This is the NHL, right?

Oh, oops. Let's hope that doesn't happen during the regular season.

For what it's worth, Drury's "A" didn't seem to suffer the same fate.

Just thought that was a bit funny.

Toying With TML

I don't know why I've been skimping on the concept art posts. I have plenty of stuff to share. Tonight, we're going to take a look at the Toronto Maple Leafs logo. I'll be the last person to say it needs to go, but I'll be among the first in line to call it dull. (Consider its early exit in the tournament.) In other words, dull logos are all right for teams with a history as rich as these guys.

Now having said that, let's mess around a little. Seems like the Leafs have always have a logo that featured a leaf. Makes sense. But a few years ago they introduced a secondary mark that wasn't shaped like foliage. If I'm to understand correctly, it was met with disinterest by fans. Many were happy to see it go when the Leafs unveiled their Rbk EDGE jerseys recently.

So to those people, prepare to have your eyes assaulted by this.

It's just the skeleton of an idea someone had. Not a bad idea but it needs some work. No matter what, a leaf needs to don the crest of both main jerseys. However, I don't see why these couldn't work as an alternate sweater.

Something cool I ran across a long while back is this logo.

The TML actually forms a leaf. The leaf. Very creative if not slightly awkward to look at. So what about this?

I think there are enough logos enclosed in circles and this probably wouldn't work on a jersey, but there it is anyway. It sounds like I don't have anything good to say about any of these designs, but that's not true. I like them to some degree but I'm not oblivious to why they wouldn't work. While I understand the double-lines in the logo above, it just seems empty.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Does the leaf need some work? Or is it untouchable?

Canucks, Here's How You Fix It

I'm starting another new series tonight — because you know I just love series. In "Here's How You Fix It," I'm going to post Rbk EDGE concept art designed by fans who feel their team's new uniforms are less than stellar. The reason I'm starting with the Vancouver Canucks is because of the sheer volume of work I've gotten for them.

So we'll start with the most conservative and work our way out.

The biggest complaint these jerseys have garnered since August 29 is about the text over the logo on the chest. Along with that is the fact that the logo and jersey colors don't match. The jersey has prominent green stripes yet there's not a hint of green in the logo. This design takes care of both of those problems, it's already so much improved.

Now I say that despite being among the less-vocal group that isn't bothered by the giant VANCOUVER across the chest. So, consider leaving that — we'll just add some green to it.

Either that or move the stick-in-the-rink logo to the crest. Also a good option because now it matches the design scheme of the jersey much better.

But back to the text. What say we dump the logo all together on one sweater and go the route of the mid-90s Pittsburgh Penguins.

But if that's a bit to liberal for your tastes, there's no reason we can't just leave the logo how it is and simply shrink the name of the city. Hell, even a couple of Vs around the elbow might be all right.

Now if you really want to go wild and crazy, among the new logos unveiled by the Canucks as part of their rebranding was the one you see featured on these sweaters.

To me, that is what a logo should be. I'd venture to say it's damn near perfect for this team. I recognize not everyone will agree but that's why you can never make everyone happy with these things. Half of everybody wants to relive the "good 'ol days" while the other half wants to unload a stale image. Personally, I think this makes for a pretty good mix but what do I know?

One thing to note is that the designs above have changed nearly everything but for the striping pattern on the jersey itself. So I'll share one more concept that toys with that.

It approaches the Montreal Canadiens a very small bit, but doesn't work because of the contrast between the top and bottom. You'd never be able to read the number on the back of the sweater. The nice thing this design makes use of is smaller text above the logo on the crest.

By the way, all of these designs and many more can be found in the Concepts Gallery.

What do you guys think? Would any of these be a good fix for the Canucks' Rbk EDGE jersey? Is it irreparably broken or is great just the way it is? Comment below.

Up next: Colorado Avalanche.