Third Jersey in the Desert
January 20,
2009 | Kevin
Zdancewicz
I’ve mentioned this in
passing before, but
when the NHL mandated that all of its
teams use
the Reebok Edge uniform system last year, it also prohibited alternate
jerseys
for the 2007-2008 season. That ban was lifted for the current hockey
season and
18 out of the 30 NHL franchises have since introduced alternate
jerseys. Each of these teams unveiled its third jersey at a
different time,
most opting to wait until the season was under way. However, that did
not stop
some designs from being leaked (as far back as last summer) or prevent
rumors
from swirling about potential alternate looks. Out of all of these
rumored
jersey concepts prior to the start of the season, I was most intrigued
by that
of the Phoenix Coyotes. The buzz was that the Yotes’ alternate jersey
would
incorporate this new logo on a black sweater to contrast
with
their
overly brick red home uniform. I loved the potential
new
full-bodied, leaping coyote logo to complement the headshot howling at the moon and thought it
would
look
great on a black jersey, even though it seems so many teams are going
that
route recently.
When the Phoenix alternate uniforms
(featured above) were finally introduced, I have to admit I was a
little bit
let down. I tried to figure out what was bothering me about them,
originally thinking
it was the fact that the jerseys and helmets were different colors. But
eleven NHL
teams wear different colored jerseys and helmets as part of
their home
uniforms, so that couldn’t be it. Eventually, it hit me: it's the fact
that the
helmet is lighter than the jersey color, when usually the helmet is
either
darker or the same color. Seriously, check out every team's uniforms here
and try to find a set similar to the Coyotes’ thirds (with helmet
lighter than jersey).
The red breezers (aka hockey pants) don’t help the matter, but would
look fine
with the new black jersey in my opinion if Phoenix had gone with black
helmets.
The Columbus Blue Jackets
and the New York Rangers both rock red pants with darker
jerseys/helmets
and it looks great.
Overall, I still like the jerseys themselves
– just not the
entire uniform. The new logo is solid and the new
shoulder patch is a nice addition as well. The red patches on the
cuffs of
the sleeves don’t look great, but are much less of a problem than the
shiny red
helmets. I like the jersey side panels when actually viewed from the
side,
although the white stripes serve
little
purpose other than cluttering the front and back
of the jersey. Originally, I thought the Coyotes had the potential to
unveil
one of the best alternate uniforms once I saw the jersey alone. But I
expected
an all or mostly all-black set, with the brick red only serving as a
secondary
color on the jersey and socks. Though not as bad as the Coyotes’ original
alternate jersey, these uniforms had the chance to be great, but now
appear to
be a
missed opportunity.
Bonus Material:
The Coyotes did a really cool thing by releasing some of the other
concepts that the organization considered in designing its third
jersey. I especially
like the fifth one with the coyote leaping in front of desert landscape.
Photo Courtesy of Phoenix
Coyotes
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