The NHL are kind of like the Nintendo of pro sports leagues. It used to be huge and over the last ten years or so have fallen to the point where many non-fans don't regard it as a major sports league on par with the other three. Well Nintendo is making a comeback so I guess the analogy doesn't work anymore but you know how frustrating it was to be a Nintendo fan and observe all the dumb sh!t they would do? That's what being an NHL fan is like. Hell just recently they annouced an outdoor game between the Penguins and the Sabres. Sounds like a cool idea. But the NHL has to goof it up just to remind us who we're dealing with and scheduled it for New Year's Day. Rose Bowl day. Ooops. Enjoy another ratings disaster.
But that's not what inspired me to start this topic. This year the NHL is introducing new uniforms across the entire league. Reebok has some new space age design that all the teams will be using. Most teams are also making some changes to their uniform's appearance to coincide with this.
My Vancouver Canucks debuted their new uniform today. As is tradition with this team it looks like crap. Well I like the colours a lot but it has two major questionable parts to it. First the orca logo (which no one likes in the first place) has lost some of its colouring. It looks unfinished. That's not the really bad part. For some reason they decided to have "Vancouver" plastered across the chest, cluttering the uniform and making the whole thing look like some farm team jersey.
This has been common with virtually all the new jerseys shown thus far. The best ones (like Boston's) look virtually the same. The new designs are at best tolerable but most of them look like absolute crap. Plus while the new jerseys supposedly are better to play in they have a major flaw from a merchandising perspective - they're TIGHT. The hockey sweater used to be an ideal accessory for fat, beer-bellied fans. Now you have to be in decent shape or you'll look horrible. So less people can pull off wearing the jerseys and thus less people will buy them. The fact that so many of them look like crap will also hurt merchandise sales.
Plus the NHL has been accused of alienating their fans. The rules seem to change every year. Hardcore hockey fans were upset to see hockey markets like Winnipeg and Hartford move to southern US markets that don't seem to care about hockey. Aside from these new jerseys going against DECADES of tradition they seem very much like a cash grab. Every team changes their jersey to encourage existing jersey owners to upgrade to the new design. The NHL seems to always be concerned about who ISN'T watching hockey and very little with who is (maybe that Nintendo analogy does make sense). The fans don't trust the league. It's too corporate and doesn't seem to respect hockey tradition. No one alive has ever seen NHL players wear a different type of sweater.
I don't think the new Reebok jerseys will last more than a season or at least SOME team will abandon it. They're ugly and the design isn't merchandise friendly for the average joe. Jersey sales will drop and the whole thing will be forgotten in a few years.
Topic: NHL's wacky new jerseys (Read 1507 times)
