Sticks and Sunshine
California seems like an odd place for hockey, doesn't it? Though I guess it's no stranger than Florida. But today we visit the Golden State, which also tends to see the sunshine year-round. What do our illustrious concept designers have in store for SoCal?
 Matt McElroy |
Matt thinks the Kings could be well-served by a permanent transition to the third jersey. Here he's added a white version for our enjoyment. Me? I'm a fan of the purple. So many readers find black jerseys to be boring. Imagine if they had no other color in them. Well actually, you don't have to. I'm looking at you early '90s Kings. |
 Ryan Haslett |
But wait, Ryan has another idea for a white version of that third. Is this a popular concept? Are we so nostalgic for the Gretzky years that we'd want to abandon one of the best-looking identities in the NHL? The purple works. At least I think so. |
 Chris Fraterrigo |
I've often theorized that one of the things that could save the Ducks' current/dreadful identity is a bit of green. But this is not what I had in mind. While this designer has the home and road crests right, I worry the overload of green — and an ugly green at that — might not be the best plan. Back to the drawing board. |
Chris
While the Kings are no doubt dominating the conversation in the comments, the designer of the Ducks concept took another pass he wanted to share.
 Chris Fraterrigo |
The Ducks' biggest problem isn't their colors. Though orange and green would be a unique color combination in the NHL, let's be honest, so is orange and gold. The biggest problem is the wordmark passing as a logo on the chest of every Duck. Shameful. At least this is a real logo. And the use of orange in a manner beyond mere piping is also pleasing. Well done, Chris. Hope to see more. |
Reader Comments (13)
As much as I'd love a pure purple jersey for my Kings, the third jersey we currently have is so popular (and nostalgic, at that). It's pure black, but it has just enough that it stands out.
That being said, I'm not sure how I'd feel about it becoming anything more than an alternate jersey. What I'd love to see is simply the current uniform set, only the home jersey purple instead of black.
The Ducks... they're one of those teams that, in my opinion, NEED to have a black jersey. Nothing else really looks good to me. I like the use of the faded orange color (representing Orange County), and I'd love the jersey they currently have if they just use the webbed-D logo.
LOVE the Kings concept!! that would be amazing to see LA back in black and silver....maybe a purple alternate?
the kings one would be flipin fantastic love it. the ducks one that is pretty much awful
The current black Kings alternate is nicer than what they have now. And I like the above concepts. However, it's time to bring back the purple and gold. They are the true colours of the Kings. ANY team can wear black and white. However, not any team can wear the colours of royalty. Had the Kings enjoyed success during the Marcel Dionne/Triple Crown Line era like they did during the Gretzky era, more people would have appreciated the simplicity and uniqueness of the originals. In fact, I always wondered what a white version of the purple and gold would look like(gold as the trimming).
I would go with purple(home), white(away), yellow(alternate), and a black Gretzky-era(vintage). The one thing I didn't like were those garish gold pants of the 70s.
For those who don't want a connection to the NBA Lakers, remember this: the Minnesota Vikings have had purple and gold from the very beginning and their uniforms are beloved by their fans and most other football fans.
I don't know if the purple and gold can be considered "true colors of the Kings". If anything, they're just the colors of Los Angeles, but I'm not sure we will see that again, at least not as the regular. Maybe an alternate.
Fact of the matter is, the purple and gold jerseys wouldn't have worked if they couldn't have a gold jersey, instead of a white one. I'm not sure if there's a rule in the NHL Rulebook, but I don't see any time soon a road jersey being gold instead of white, even if no other team has a yellow jersey.
The Flyers' orange comes close, and the first game in franchise history was Kings/Flyers (at the Long Beach Arena!!!). It was back in the day where I think the dark color was the home jersey, similar to today's game, but I wonder what they did back then. No matter what, gold and orange are too close to both be worn on the same game, but I also think gold and white are too close. Anybody know?
The Kings look great now as with the Purple/Black/Sivler scheme. But I am a fan of the alternate jerseys more than their normal ones.
And the Ducks concept isn't good at all. What they've got now in Anaheim is perhaps the best combination of colors in the NHL.
My main criticism of the Kings third is how stripes overlap perpendicularly kinda like the early 2000's bruins sweater.I'm not crazy about the modern LA crown badge either (could be worse though), but why don't they just use the gretzky era one??
Meh. I've never been particularly crazy about the style the Kings have had for the last 12 years, especially the fonts. While I do like the idea of having purple, silver and black, the current sets just haven't worked for me.
I really feel that purple and gold are the TRUE colours of the Kings. Purple is the colour of royalty and California is the Golden State. When I first started following hockey, the Kings were my favourite American-based team because of the purple and gold.
Take Vancouver for example. While I grew up with the yellow, reddish-orange, and black and proudly watched the two runs to the finals in '82 and '94, I knew very well that the true Canucks colours are blue, green, and white. They represent Vancouver and BC and that is why those colours were chosen back in 1970 to be the Canucks' colours.
If the Kings had had the likes of Bobby Orr, Larry Robinson, Bryan Trottier, and Mike Bossy for example, and at least one Stanley Cup win, fans and especially, the media, would have loved and accepted the boldness and uniqueness of the purple and gold. This colour scheme and the classic crown NEED to be brought back ASAP. Using black helmets and pants just takes away from the purple. Imagine Kings fans throughout the Staples Centre displaying a sea of purple and gold during the playoffs. Purple Power! With the unis the Kings have now, they are just "another road team" to wear white jerseys with black pants, and black helmets and jerseys at home. Just plain boring. I put the purple and gold in the same class as Buffalo's blue and gold, the Islanders' blue and orange, and Detroit's red and white. All simple in design and unique and distinctive in colour.
I would, however, update the shades of both the purple and gold. I would use more of a royal bluish purple like what the Vikings use and I would make the gold jerseys more a shade similiar to Team Sweden's yellow. That would diminish any clash when playing the Flyers in their orange uniforms.
Another idea I've always liked is to have a white, gold, and purple scheme with only silver accents and the classic crown. The numerals would be the traditional block-style. If someone could post a concept of this idea, people would really see how sharp it would really look.
Nicely done, Chris. The second time around is a lot better.
Andre:
First of all, the Kings had Larry Robinson as a player (1989-92) and a coach (from 1995-99).
But anyway, if they had Bobby Orr, Bryan Trottier, and Mike Bossy, they might not have needed Gretzky, and maybe they never go to black and silver in the first place. I like all the color schemes they've had in their own way, but while the purple and gold stands out the most in terms of the boldness of color choices, the black and silver was from when they were arguably their most successful (with Gretzky, Robitaille and Taylor), and that's what I want to see them have success in.
The purple and gold is nostalgic of the old-time Kings (which I was born in 1990, so I've never seen that), but the black and silver is nostalgic of success. You obviously can't have both of those, so what I'd like to see is black and silver for home and away jerseys, and a gold third (didn't work for the Predators, but I'm sure the Kings could make it work).
Lol. I seriously want to bang my head against the wall everytime I hear complaining about the Ducks logo not being a logo, and that the D by itself should be on the jersey alone. Am I the only one who sees how blatantly plain that is!?!? You don't think that came up in the design process as an idea? There's a reason their jerseys aren't like that.
Hi Kevin,
I understand where you're coming from. Though I still stand firm in my argument in favour of the purple and gold, I understand and respect your standpoint. And I happen to love the black and silver of the Gretzky era as well.
As for me, I was born in 1969, so I got the privilage of watching Kings games on TV during the 80s and seeing highlights from the 70s, so I have a real appreciation of the original colour scheme.
Now, I'm a true Canucks fan like you are a Kings fan. I grew up with the yellow, reddish-orange, and black in the 80s followed by the addition of home white in the early 90s. I loved those colours without question. I associated the era of Smyl, Tiger Williams, Linden, and Bure and the two Cup runs with that colour scheme. However, as I got older, I realized that my Canucks had to go back to their roots. I grew a never-ending appreciation towards the blue and green and the Stick in Rink and Johnny Canuck logos.
Anyway, when teams like my Canucks and your Kings make all these changes over time, people are going to have different opinions and associate colours and uniforms to their favourite players.
So, best of luck to your Kings. Hey, what about a black, silver, and white verson of the original crown and an original purple third?
Cheers.