The Two-Line Pass

Playing the third jersey game is always a dicey prospect. We’ve had some good ones (the Wild’s vintage jersey that eventually became their home sweater), and some very, very bad ones (the “Cool Cat” Blues jersey, the “Gorton’s” Isles jersey, and the flying Mighty Duck). So whenever new ones come out, as a handful did today, there is a great movement to quickly judge these new jerseys and accompanying logos.

With this in mind, I am going to be quickly judging the new logos.

Atlanta Thrashers

We knew already that they would be going with a text-only third, so this is no surprise. If they stick with just this (and keep numbers off the front of the jersey), it could be their best one. Grade: B+

Boston Bruins

Another one we already knew, thanks to a few pictures of Patrice Bergeron skating around in one, and while I love the throwback logo, the jersey itself is uninspiring. Pity, too, because Boston was one of the teams that  benefited most from the Edge jersey reboot. Grade: C-

Buffalo Sabres

Buffalo literally cannot go wrong with this logo. Icethetics also notes a silver lining around the logo, which is perhaps some sort of metaphor. Again, keep the numbers off the front of the shirt and this will be Buffalo’s best. Grade: B

Phoenix Coyotes

Not a big fan of black third jerseys in general, but this is a stellar logo and it fits the Coyotes well. They literally could not have done a better job with this, and I’m a big fan of their current jerseys as well. Well done, Phoenix. Grade: A

Pittsburgh Penguins

No shock here, but the old-timey Penguin look is a nice touch. We’ve already seen what the jersey will look like thanks to the Winter Classic, so they really couldn’t screw this up too badly. Grade: B

San Jose Sharks

Ugh. San Jose is literally just slapping its already-mediocre logo on a black jersey. No imagination, nothing of interest. Grade: D

Tampa Bay Lightning

This is another one we already knew about, but still, just seeing it really drives the point home. This is like if the Canadiens’ rumored third jersey said “Habs” on the front, or if the Devils’ third said “Devs.” It’s okay to refer to the team as the Bolts colloquially, but seeing it in official logos is a big turnoff. That said, they could have made it a lot worse. Grade: D+

Toronto Maple Leafs

Again, it’s tough to screw up a classic. Grade: B+

Icethetics is quick to warn, by the way, that these may not be finalized versions of the logos.

As with anything, keep in mind that while I trust this source, I’m always wary about passing rumor off as fact. I believe these to be legitimate images but anything is possible. Take it for what it is and enjoy it!

The blog also notes that we’ve yet to see the third logos for the Kings, Sens and Blues, with several more unconfirmed but accounted for. Carolina, Philly and Chicago will stick with their primary logos, and the Oilers, Islanders and Canucks are going vintage. Dallas’ jersey will be their current black one in white (with just “DALLAS” and the player number on the front).

This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 30th, 2008 at 1:19 pm and is filed under Sum-sum-summertime. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.