What's Up With The Rangers?

A reader noted in the comments on an earlier post something interesting with regard to the New York Rangers new Rbk EDGE uniforms.

I was noting that the New York Rangers were the only team in the league which doesn't have images of its new uniforms available online in the NHL.com Shop or any other site that is selling the new Reebok jerseys. Then this official Reebok site came out and it had the first official photos.

Suddenly, as Gabe pointed out, those phoos disappeared from the site and were replaced by a "coming soon" graphic.

What's stranger is that way back when the Rangers first began taking orders back in July, photos were posted on their web site. Within hours, the photos were removed. Now this.

Luckily, I was able to grab both images before they mysteriously went away, so we've all been able to see them. But I'm just curious as to the reasoning behind these decisions. As Gabe mentioned, are the Rangers planning some big unveiling ceremony they have yet to announce? And if so, for what reason? The jerseys, much like Detroit's remain entirely unchanged — merely adapted to the new EDGE cut.

Regardless, we'll find out for certain what the deal is no later than Friday, as that is the night of the Rangers' first preseason game and they'll surely be wearing them. I'll keep on top of this if anybody is interested. And if you hear or read anything, do let me know, either by email or in the comments of this post.

Official Rangers EDGE Photos

One other thing I meant to mention with regard to Reebok's new EDGE uniform web site that I wrote about earlier is that it's offering us our first official photos of the new sweaters for the New York Rangers.

Not even the NHL.com Shop has photos of the jerseys. In fact, the Rangers are the only team without official photos on that site. But regardless, I just wanted to make mention of that.

That's all I've got for today. Expect loads more stuff tomorrow!

First Photos Of Coyotes' Sweaters

Greetings, all. With much thanks to Paul and Wayne for their lightning quick responses to my previous post, we finally have actual photographs of the new uniforms for the Phoenix Coyotes.

We'll start with the NHL.com Shop images. The photos haven't been released on the site yet but have been uploaded to the servers.

The biggest alteration to the sweaters are the brick red sholder yokes now present on the road sweaters. I like that because although it's an irrational thought, I always feel like solid white jerseys blend into the ice too much. Also, the horizontal stripes around the bottom of the jersey are gone.

One more minor note is that the "PHX" patch is now located on the left shoulder. It was moved from the right. Not sure why though.

These photos were just posted over at HFBoards.com so I thought I'd keep them circulating. Apologies for the color. I would've done some retouching, but I just wanted to get them posted quickly.

I feel like the Wizard of Oz standing behind a curtain when I tell you to pay no mind to those iron-on letters that appear to be detaching themselves from the back of this jersey. If I were to guess, I'd say it was worn by a prospect at a recent tournament. Anyone want to confirm?

And as a special treat, our friend Wayne has also dug up the following graphics deep from the bowels of the NHL web servers. Have a look at the Sabres', Rangers' and Devils' new road jerseys.

But wait, if you thought that was it, get ready for this. Here's our first photograph of the Edmonton Oilers' new road sweater.

I just want to know what happened to the sleeves. At least when Florida did the whole interrupted elbow stripes, it was because of a swatch of color riding down the arm. Here, I just don't know. I'll wait to pass judgment until we see more photos.

Sabres, Coyotes And Blues On Deck

Oh and as if it weren't enough that the Thrashers, Flyers, Stars and Blackhawks unveiled their jerseys and the Blues started selling theirs (prior to the unveiling I might add), there's still more news. Not huge, but worth posting anyway.

The Buffalo Sabres have acknowledged their new Rbk EDGE uniforms on their official web site. See the graphic.

So there that is. Incidentally, the AP released this photo of Ryan Miller being photographed in said uniform. Solid, mostly unchanged.

So we move on to Phoenix where their web guy isn't even trying. I'm sorry, but really? A giant Rbk Hockey logo?

Tease us with a little logo embroidery like everybody else or something. Oh, that reminds me.

The Blues will probably be second as the Coyotes will launch their new threads at 11 AM. The Blues come about 30 minutes later. Anyway, that's what I was talking about with the whole logo embroidery teaser thing. It's fun. But teased we need not be. The Blues started selling replica jerseys today so we won't be surprised tomorrow.

Quite frankly, it's one of my favorites of the new crop. Those shoulders are nice. I wish more teams had tried something like that. This particular image was provided to us by Brad at St. Louis Game Time.

Anyway, I've got one more item as a special bonus for those of you who made it this far through the post. We've got another picture of the New York Rangers' new Rbk EDGE sweaters.

Check it out. Chris Drury is modeling the new home sweater for a camera. I don't know where this photo came from though. It was simply emailed to me. But we've seen the jerseys before. It's the same.

Enjoy your Friday night now, and don't spend too much time on the computer!

Just To Freak You Out... Some More!

Yes, you read that title right. Back by popular demand, I'm going to get your weekend off to a kicking start. I have the weird and crazy; a whole slew of new and wacky concept designs just meant to freak you out. So buckle in, it's going to be a long one.

I'm going to have a theme of red and black tonight. You'll see what I mean, but first I need to show you this.

From the brilliant creator of the Sabres and Canucks mish-mash logos comes this gem. True art in its rawest form. I dare anyone to attempt to improve upon that.

But since you can't, we'll move along. Do you like the color combination of red and black? Sure, if you're a Devils, Hurricanes, Senators or Coyotes fan. But what about Sabres, Predators and Canadiens fans? What about Leafs fans? Look on if you're brave enough.

It's a little blinding, isn't it? You might be surprised to discover that these designs all came from different people. Bad enough to have one disturbed mind out there Devil-ifying all these jerseys. There are at least four.

This Canadiens concept just scares me so I want to stop looking at it. The Sabres one just looks like a bloody slug (I knew that comment was coming so I wanted to head it off). And the Predators... well that doesn't look half bad if you ask me.

But imagine what kind of disturbed mind I must be to posting this stuff.

Wait. You need to catch your breath before you see this. Maple Leafs fans, ready your eyeballs for this one.

Wow, you're still here. I'm impressed.

All right, now I'm going to ease off a little bit. These designs are not so much horrifying as funny.

Dude, you spilled some oil on your— oh, wait... I see... yikes. Yeah. Oilers fans, I'm genuinely interested to know how you feel about this particular concept. I know it's been floating around a little, but it's just so... out there.

So what if the Rangers did this?

We probably ought not think about it.

Someone spent at least 30 seconds making this.

A missed opportunity, I say.

As a tribute (or not so much) to what I'm going to start calling the "VANCOUVER Incident," someone had some fun with other jerseys.

Similar work on the Sens, Isles and Jackets can be found in the Concepts Gallery. Now I'm going to wrap up where I began — Long Island. Imagine if Reebok decided the NHL should go the way of basketball.

Check out that outline of the island in place of a horizontal stripe. All is well.

Just remember, you guys asked for this. Let this be an object lesson in the notion of being careful what you wish for. Actually, if this keeps up, we'll make it into a weekly feature. So if you've made or found crazy crap like this, feel free to send it my way at nhllogos@gmail.com and who knows, you just might freak somebody out.

Danger Looming For Rangers?

That headline was a little dramatic, but it got you to read right? A reader named Nick recently sent me an email I thought might be worth sharing with the rest of the class.

Hey Chris. Let me first say that you are doing a wonderful job over at your blog and i check it every day for updates. Great idea for the tournament as well. I'm sure you are getting a lot more traffic than you thought. Way to go.

Just kidding. I can gloat if I want. Here's what he was really writing about.

I'm a huge Rangers fan and when the "new" jersey came out I noticed that it didn't look right. The word R-A-N-G-E-R-S is much steeper than the original uniform (most likely to fit on the specific fabric section, I'll call it the "body")

Notice how the R is way over to the right, next to the ties whereas on the old uniform the R started way over on the shoulder almost. Same goes for the S. The S is all the way down and to the right (won't be able to see it when skating, might be under the pants even) whereas the old one it was up higher and more visible.

I doubt these jerseys will stretch enough in the "body" to compensate for that weird angle.

But here's the kicker. What happens when you put an A or a C on the body area for the captains?

That's a petrifying thought, isn't it?

Personally, I don't think it will be that bad. I wonder if there's a reason why the "C" or "A" couldn't be sewn onto the stretchy material on the shoulder. The idea of sewing anything onto stretchy material may be a non sequitur but maybe the trick is you sew it on while it's stretched out. I'm not a tailor, though.

Anyway, don't freak out yet. It's just a thought somebody had. It's not necessarily the way things will be (as far as we know). What do you think?

Concepts For Blueshirts

One team I haven't posted a lot of jersey concept designs for is the New York Rangers. I guess there just aren't a lot out there. Regardless, I have some today.

Rangers fans probably aren't loving the Flyers template in this design. I love the use of the Lady Liberty logo as a primary for the Rangers, but I think a lot of teams are so afraid of losing traditionalists with the introduction of the new Rbk EDGE jerseys, that they won't even attempt something with a little "edge" — with all the pun I could possibly intend. I think the response to that fear is to make something that looks traditional on a "non-traditional" sweater.

Well what I have to say to that is this: If your support for your team hangs in the balance opposite the uniform or colors they choose to wear, how can you possibly consider yourself to be a real hockey fan or a sports fan of any variety? It's about the game, remember? The puck gliding across the ice. The teeth-breaking body checks. The one-timers. The hat tricks. The amazing saves that precipitate no possible response other than sheer awe.

I know those thoughts have slipped through the cracks on this site because we're all so delirious from the lack of hockey this off-season — fretting the changes being imposed by a controversial commissioner — but don't forget that this site is all for fun. When I read comments here about how self-proclaimed "fans" suggest cheering on another team if their team's new jerseys suck, it just saddens me.

Anyway, look at that. I just went off on a whole thing there. Moving on. More Rangers stuff to look at!

That design is actually in the Rbk EDGE cut. And the logo used can be seen at a larger size here to the left.

It's pretty cool but I'm partial to the NYR version. It's got a better color scheme and overall feel. This one feels like it's trying to be too retro while attempting something new.

Check out this next design.

While it may be considered blasphemy to put the Rangers in anything but blue, it's certainly an interesting concept. The first thing you might notice is its striking similarity to the Minnesota Wild's third jersey from last year.

So what do you guys think? Rangers fans, are your boys due for a change or should some things always stay the same?

Result: Senators vs Rangers

Ottawa
SENATORS
55% 6,359 votes

New York
RANGERS
45% 5,099 votes

11,458 total votes

Ottawa Senators
Advancing to Quarterfinals to face Bruins or Capitals

New York Rangers
Eliminated

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Aug 18 @ 4:26 AM

Poll closing date Aug 25 @ 11:59 PM

07CHTRN | #E1D | OTTvNYR

Poll: Senators vs Rangers

	vs
Ottawa SENATORS		New York RANGERS

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results! By the way, I know the Senators are unveiling their new logo on August 22 (three days before this poll closes), so on that day or the day after, the logo you see here will change. You can choose to vote now based on this logo or later in the week based on the new one. Or you may even be able to vote on both occasions.

Poll opening date Aug 18 @ 4:26 AM

Poll closing date Aug 25 @ 11:59 PM

07CHTRN | #E1D | OTTvNYR

Lightning vs Rangers

	vs
LIGHTNING		RANGERS
6-7		3-10

The Aesthetics
Well the text abounds here on the final day of the qualifying tournament. Since both logos use it in excess, we'll just have to look past the text. And call me biased (and I may well be), but I think the Lightning logo is a little more dynamic (though perhaps not as old as the Rangers'). At least there's more to it than just a shield. Maybe one day they'll take my advice and go full on with the Lady Liberty logo.
Lightning

The Nickname
Rangers work way up high in those elevated ranger stations where they are very prone to strikes of Lightning. Or something like that.
Lightning

The Analysis
Since its the last day of the tournament, we'll make this easy. The Rangers logo has the staying power of like a hundred years or something. The Lightning logo has needed an upgrade for the last 10 years. Finally, it's going to get it, though. Maybe then I'd be more apt to give it this point. Still, they sneak by with the win and finish the tournament even.
Rangers

WINNER

2-1