COMMENTARY
Black becoming the uniform norm
When The Hockey News did a recent fans poll about the best uniforms in the National Hockey League, the Chicago Blackhawks won big. That was good news for anyone who likes the color red, and for everyone who is concerned that the league is inching toward a 30-way tie on jersey popularity.
Or perhaps you prefer the wonderfully original Ducks color scheme: black sweaters, black shorts, black socks, black gloves, black helmets. That happens to match the ensemble worn by the Flyers. And the Lightning. And the Kings, Penguins and Stars. All of which were inspired by the Bruins.
It’s such a great idea that the Hurricanes last month introduced their new third jersey: black. Thus they joined the Sharks, Senators, Coyotes and, alas, the Blackhawks among teams who wear black at least part of the time.
What you have is uniformity in uniforms. It’s also a mess. When you turn on a game, you often can’t tell who is playing unless you happen to know who is playing.
“Only a handful of teams stand out, if you ask me,” said Chris Smith, who tracks hockey fashion in his popular blog Icethetics (www.icethetics.blogspot.com). “Teams claim to spend so much money ‘developing’ uniforms and don’t seem to care when nobody likes them.”
Kudos to the Sharks, who dare to be teal. Here’s to the Bruins and the rest of the Original Six, who have not bent to the winds of trend. Here’s to the Islanders, who will unveil their new third jersey on Monday. It is expected to be a lighter shade of blue, possibly with orange numerals, which they wore in their inaugural season of 1972-73.
Of course, the pertinent color is green — and not the Wild’s dark green shirts, which, naturally, look like black.
Marketers have figured out fans like to buy and wear black jerseys. But the real point of a uniform always has been to build a team’s identity, not to bow to fashion’s whims.
“If you go back to the ’70s and ’80s and look at those jerseys,” Smith said, “there are the North Stars in bright green, the Kings in bright purple and yellow, the Whalers in bright green. I’m not saying those were the best uniform designs ever, but at least there was some color in the league and a way to tell everyone apart.”
Fact is, when fans or players are polled about NHL sweaters, the classic ones always win.
Islanders veteran center Doug Weight voted for the Red Wings. “I grew up in Detroit as kind of a fan of that jersey,” he said. “There is something about that red.”
“Probably the old Original Six teams, I think that’s what everybody would say that they like,” said Mike Modano of the Dallas Stars, an NHL player since 1989.
