The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Updated: Oct 12, 2020
With the NHL season officially at an end, all eyes are on the draft and free agency. However, in the last few weeks several team have released new or updated sweaters and logos that they intend on using next season (whenever that may be). As an avid jersey collector, these two new uniforms and one new logo rubbed me in very different ways. So, in order to sum them up, I have broken them down into those classic three categories: the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good: Calgary Flames
Oh my my, oh hell yes. I mean, what is not to like about these? Atlanta may be the only city to have and lose two separate NHL franchises, but they certainly got this look right, and props to the Flames for not changing it up when they moved to Calgary. The classic look of the white "C" on the red home sweater is amazing and goes so well with the yellow and white striping on the bottom and the sleeves. The white sweater does a great job of including the red shoulder blocking, without taking away from the overall look of the jersey. If you have listened to any Empty Betters episodes before, you know how Harrison and I feel about these bad boys. Home run for sure.
The Bad: Ottawa Senators
Okay, hear me out. I know I'm labelling this logo as "the bad" but that's entirely dependent on what Ottawa's new sweater looks like. The Sens are expected to reveal their new jerseys at the NHL Entry Draft on October 6th. If the Sens do what they have been doing for the past five or so years, which is not only be one of the worst teams in the NHL, but also have the worst look in the NHL, then I will stick with labelling this logo as "the bad". If it looks familiar to you, it may be because the Sens used this (nearly) exact same logo from 1992-2007. While I like this logo so much better than the previous one they used, this really does come down to what sweater it is on. And lets be real, we all know which one we want them to bring back:
That's right, these bad boys. Now, I am biased because I do own one of these beautiful specimens, and it is one of the favorites in my collection. The gold striping and pattern along the sleeves and bottom of this jersey are just so unique. It give the sweater a nice bit of flash, without being out of control. Let's hope that the Sens go from having the worst look in the league, to one of the best overnight.
The Ugly: Vegas Golden Knights
Please excuse me while I vomit. Seriously, this may be one of the worst uniforms I have ever seen. I am not sure how they came up with this, or who is to blame, but something tells me they are no longer in their position of employment. The frightening thing that comes to mind when seeing these, is wondering what concept lost out to this one. What was the concept that made the Golden Knights front office, design, and PR team go "oh not that one, that would just look stupid!"? Nashville seems to have been the only team in the league to make a yellow sweater work for them. The Penguins tried and failed miserably with their yellow third jersey, and ended up ruining that with yellow helmets. The first thing I thought of when I saw this uniform was this puke-greenish-yellow concept that the predators came up with a while back.
Vegas has done a lot of things right since they came into the league. Hell, they've been around for less than five years and already have more postseason wins than four other established NHL franchises. This however, was something they did not do right. This is oh so very bad, and I have a feeling it is going to look even worse when they're wearing them.