There's Something About Retro

They say fashion is cyclical. Trends come and go and come around again. In the NHL, we seem to be re-entering a retro phase. Throwback jerseys have always been popular with fans, but it seems only in the last few years have teams started to take advantage of that. Classic designs that bring history back to life have started making their way back into the mainstream, in the form of alternate jerseys and special events such as the Winter Classic.

So "retro" is the theme of today's post. Let's see what our artists have come up with.

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Jared LeBlanc	I'm a big fan of Jared's Winter Classic concept uniforms, especially what he's done for the Penguins. It's been suggested that the Pens might join the Bruins in borrowing elements from multiple past jerseys for a unique new look that still feels vintage. Jared's also submitted some ideas for the Heritage Classic, details of which will be announced later today. Regarding the design, he writes, "The Canadians jersey is really the only vintage jersey left that they haven't worn already. ... For the Flames, I took a look at the Cowboys jerseys, which looked like a pretty solid design. I considered doing a carbon copy but I thought they might still want the Flames logo on it." Both sets get a big thumbs up from me!
Connor Hanley	Another set of retros based in real life, come by way of Connor. Over the summer, it was announced that the Canucks would don a throwback jersey to celebrate their 40th anniversary. While this won't be the one, the Kings' vintage threads seen here are probably not far from what they'll be wearing on a few occasions this season. The Kings did give their first round draft pick a gold jersey from the 1960s after all. We're still waiting on an official announcement from the team, however.
Connor Hanley	Connor also sent in this set which calls back to the 1920s and the NHL clubs that arrived long before the Penguins and Flyers — that's the Pirates and Quakers. Of course the design is a little dated now with Gagne's name on the back. (He plays for my team now!) I suppose it might be a treat for centenarian hockey fans in Pennsylvania to see those two sweaters hit the ice again. But they shouldn't hold their breaths.
Jack Martineau	Canadian fans always like to see their teams don the retro duds. Jack digs back deep into Maple Leafs history with these St. Pats sweaters. The team actually wore that green jersey for a game or two back in the mid-90s. They should do it again!
Ryan Haslett	And while we're on the subject, here's another throwback for the Leafs from Ryan. Just like the St. Pats jersey, this one also saw life in the afterlife when it was dusted off for at least one game in the early '90s. Now that the Leafs seem to be taking an interest once again in looking like the storied hockey team they are, maybe more of these throwbacks are in the cards.
Matt Marczel	And to finish things off, one of our most prolific artists, Matt Marczel, offers up this throwback to the previous iteration of the Ottawa Senators club. He points out that it could be used if the Sens ever play in a Winter/Heritage Classic. Unfortunately, the first problem is legibility. The second is the Canadiens just wore a very similar stripe-y sweater last year.

By the way, I have lots of new concept art ready and waiting. Someone needs to stay on me about keeping this page updated. I'm very forgetful.

Strauss NHL Rebrand VIII

After a slight delay we pick up with Part 8 of the NHL Rebrand series by Elliott Strauss. Today we see big changes out west and sometimes change isn't really necessary — if you're part of the Original Six.

The Kings, Bruins and Canadiens are featured this week. Elliott's descriptions are in bold text.

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Elliott Strauss	This is the one concept that gave me the most trouble. I went through about five drafts, with secondary logos that included a lion and an interlocking LA, but all secondaries were eventually scrapped. I finished with this rendering of a crown and the lack of purple in favor for the Gretzky era colors of black and silver. The striping is very atypical and was inspired by the old alternates from the mid-90s. Unfortunately I am not happy with the final product here but I'm showing it anyway. I'm thinking about a complete redo, which I will send to Chris if I get around to doing it. It's certainly not as bad as Elliott is making it out to be. But it does look like it is still in the process of being perfected. Is it better than what the Kings currently have? Maybe not. But with a little more work it could be.
Elliott Strauss	Not many changes here. I made the stripes on the arms go white-yellow-white on the home to match the white outlining on the numbers. Same goes for the shoulders, reversed on the roads. A new thing is yellow socks on the roads as well with stripes tweaked to match the arms. Not much has changed at all here. Kudos to Elliott for recognizing some teams are perfect already.
Elliott Strauss	Obviously this team's identity is timeless but lets face it, the home and away aren't consistent, which is slightly bothersome to me. I tried making them correspond more, it's a little hard to even explain my thinking here, but hopefully you can see the consistency this design brings. I actually sort of like the blue backdrop stripe for the logo and numbers, which plays off the current homes. The uniform change is significant and might require some getting used to, but it's certainly not the worst thing we've ever seen. And here again, there are some classic, iconic logos you just can't change.

Just six more teams left to cover in this series. Check back for some very sharp rebrands for the Predators, Canucks and Rangers in the next two weeks.

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?

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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.

Update on Thursday · Feb 4 · 2010 | 10:34 PM PST by 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.

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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.