First of all: jerseys? Sweaters? Sweat-jers? Jer-sweats? I don’t have a preference, but I think I normally say jerseys. But when we’re talking about retro uniforms, I feel like I lean towards sweaters. I don’t know. Tell me in the comments why I’m wrong.
Anyways, with not much else to talk about in hockey news these days, Hockey World has been abuzz with jersey talk lately. Here’s a good question, featuring Stinger and the Pooh Bear:
Personally, I wasn’t in love with this CBJ jersey – CJB? CBJ? Hmm. But it’s also a Blue Jackets franchise history icon, as PD and Will go into in this week’s podcast. PD nailed it when he said that this jersey looks like 90s clip art. The Stinger shoulder patches are weird to me, and I also agree with PD’s pod take that the Blue Jackets had a bit of an identity crisis at the beginning of the franchise. What’s the mascot? What’s that green bug in relation to a Blue Jacket? Was the green bug just a hasty solution to the poorly-thought-out-but-also-hilarious phallic Boomer mascot? The early 2000s were quite a time to be alive.
The idea has been floated that teams are creating fourth jerseys for the upcoming season, which are going to be “reverse retro” in theme. Awesome! Despite the Jackets not existing in the 90s, they certainly have a lot of 90s style to pull from, as mentioned above. I LOVE the Jackets’ current third jerseys, and this checks the boxes for me as far as a “retro” feel. But if the Jackets were going to create another retro fourth jersey, I think they could pull heavily from their initial early 2000s design and incorporate some acid Stinger-green.
Speaking of incorporating green, Dallas knocked it out of the park with their newest jersey and logo concept, in my opinion:
Inspired by Dallas.
Designed for Texas. pic.twitter.com/iRgpjT02lP— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 28, 2020
Like, f*** it, right? This gives me unhinged Monster-energy-drink vibes and I love it. There are also a bunch of cool little Texas details in this blackout design:
▪ Skyline Green
▪ Returning to our roots
▪ A nod to our homeLearn all about our 🔥 Blackout third jersey that will debut next season
💻 https://t.co/VQysThdtnv pic.twitter.com/aBELD8XWBX
— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 28, 2020
While the Stars took this futuristic approach with their jersey design, the Calgary Flames fully bought into the retro angle with their upcoming season’s jersey plans. I also think these are quite literally “fire” jersey concepts:
It’s official.
🔥 It’s time to go Full Retro 🔥 pic.twitter.com/MBtXVHEhVE
— Calgary Flames (@NHLFlames) October 5, 2020
What do you guys think? My favorite thing about hockey jerseys are the polarizing opinions everyone has about them. What do you think a fourth CBJ jersey should look like? Will they catapult into the future with a cool new look, or should they return to their roots with a retroactive redesign? Sound off in the comments! Or, even better, if you have any skills on InDesign, show us your best jersey concept! Make sure to listen to this week’s podcast for a full breakdown of jersey concepts, plus a return-to-play plan and where teams stand right now with their rosters.