Talkin' Jerseys

For those of you who can't get enough jersey news, there were a couple exciting reveals today for NHL teams sporting new looks in the 2013-14 season. I say exciting somewhat sarcastically, cause neither jersey is very impressive in my view, but I'll let you look at the pictures and decide for yourself.

First up are the Carolina Hurricanes, who showcased new home and away uniforms that you can see above. They kept the classic (if you could call it that) hurricane logo, but simplified the stripes and colors. Overall it's not much of a change, aside from the noticeable lack of black and the checker design they've had for years. Not a bad effort, but the crest on the chest looks too high, and they're a bit too simple for my tastes.Also, why only laces on the home jersey?
Here's a view of the back, which looks oddly like recent Team Canada jerseys:

Not to be outdone however, the Dallas Stars introduced not only a new jersey, but new logos as well. Check them out:

I gotta say, I love the colors, there's no team in the NHL that has that shade of green. I'm also glad that they got rid of that horrible gold and replaced it with silver. The laces are a nice touch, and the green shoulders on the road jersey look pretty sharp. They're also pretty simple like Carolina's new jersey, but the black stripes stop it from being too simple. Something about the logo just bugs me though. I understand the concept, a D with a star is very representative of Dallas, but something about it just looks off-kilter. Seems like something more suitable to the AHL or maybe a beer league to me. The shoulder patch is great though.

Carolina and Dallas aren't the only teams that will be changing things up next season. There's word that the Buffalo Sabres are working on a new alternate jersey. There's not many details, but supposedly it will feature both the classic blue and gold color scheme and logo. The Minnesota Wild will also be making some alterations to their white road jersey, but it doesn't sound like it will be very radical, just changing some red and green stripes around. The Penguins are going to give their blue retro jerseys a break and won't wear them next season. And finally, it looks as though the classic Montreal Canadiens jersey will get a bit of an change as well. I think it's safe to assume it will be a very, very minor change, considering their red jersey has been virtually unchanged in almost a hundred years. My guess is that they're adding laces to the neck. Though nobody has seen the new jerseys I've just described, it does mean for some more potentially exciting reveals before next season.

Overall you can see the trend that NHL teams have been going with in recent jersey changes. Simple, classic, elegant. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I've passed a lot of judgement in the short time that I've had to analyze both looks but, as always, it all depends how they look on the ice in October. Huge thanks to Icethetics for a lot of that information. Bookmark that site, it's the best on the internet for the latest news about hockey jerseys and logos.