Regarding 3rd Jerseys Part 1

According to initial reports from the summer the NHL will probably allow teams to use third jerseys next season. This is nice for marketing and fashion, but all it really means is that designers will have to go back to the drawing board and find a way to convert whatever snazzy design the team used to wear before the new templates and make it Rbk Edge compatible (sort of like upgrading from a stable operating system to say...Vista.) Well, in theory that's what they would do, but in reality things are a bit more complicated.

History
First a little history, the NHL's third jersey "program" truly came to life during the 1995-96 season (although vintage jerseys had been worn by the Original Six teams in 1991-92 in conjunction with the league's 75th anniversary). Five teams wore alternate jerseys in the first season they were allowed. In 2006-07, the last year they were worn, the number had reached 18. During the 11 years in which they existed more than two dozen different designs were used by the league, these often came and went and were occasionally absorbed into a teams uniform set as a main home or away jersey. Detroit, Carolina and New Jersey are the only three teams to never have a third jersey.

Despite what some of the uniforms we've seen in the past may suggest, teams actually have to have their designs approved by the league and get permission to wear them on certain dates. One exception to this were the Rangers Statue of Liberty jerseys (they actually toyed with the idea of using King Kong if you can believe) which, according to Al Morganti, were in violation of the rules and hence the Rangers were fined every time they wore them. (No stranger to this type of thing the NHL is currently fining the team $100,000 a day for not giving up control of their website to the league.)

Today
So, back to the future, what will we see next year...if anything. Well, some focus has to be put on the actual jerseys themselves not just the designs. Despite a grand entrance and mammoth marketing campaign (EA Sports) the actual Edge jerseys have not lived up to expectations and have seemingly failed to win over most of the players that were supposed to be ooing and ahhing. Most recently in the news the Capitals have completely ditched the space age fabrics used in the jerseys and unanimously voted to return to the material used in previous years. (via On Frozen Blog). Reebok, in a rare multi-national corporate giant moment of saving face, extended this option to anyone in the league wanting to make the switch. Needless to say a many players have done so.

Reebok
What Reebok is going to have to do, or may currently be in the process of doing, is fix the stuff they broke. Whether this means a return to traditional fabrics (negating the point of the Edge design entirely), coming up with new fabrics, or admitting total defeat and returning to the old template remains to be seen. Players were of course involved in the creation process of the jerseys and I can assume their subsequent complaints after using them in action will be taken seriously when the season is over. (I imagine a small survey being given to each team member with questions like, "On a scale of 1-10 how would you say the Rbk Edge jerseys compared to last year's model...etc.") Reebok, despite a contract with the NHL, is going to be walking a thin line with whatever changes they do make - too much and they've created a new jersey entirely, too little and they come across as not taking their product seriously enough.

It's a debacle, and a sideshow, it hasn't made players better, and it certainly hasn't boosted jersey sales. But, if the Edge jerseys are going to stick around and additional jersey designs made using them then things will need to be straightened out first. Obviously they aren't going to start putting a focus on additional uniform sets when they haven't succeeded with the 60 brought out this year. (And I don't mean appearance wise, but rather the basic functionality that amounts to wearing a sweater over some pads and being able to play hockey in it.) So, in a nutshell, there will not be any 3rd jerseys next year unless Reebok and the NHL decide that all is well and they can now move forward.

Now, taking into account that all that happens, we can start looking at what kind of third jerseys we are talking about. For one, and this is all speculation and opinion from here on out, I wouldn't be surprised if all 30 teams had 3rd jerseys next year. From a marketing stand point it makes sense, from a video game stand point (don't underestimate how important EA Sports is to both Reebok and the NHL) it gives people a reason to buy an updated version, it brings about publicity and gives fans more stuff to buy. Heck, for all I care let teams have as many jerseys as they want so long as they aren't hideous and a waste of money. Which brings me to the next point.

Limitations
When is a third jersey even worth having? When it says something about the team, adds to their identity, doesn't go overboard, and in some way incorporates a look that is not used in the team's main set. And of course it has to appeal to the fans, but not more or less so than the team's main set. Because, let's be honest, in this day and age sales outweigh identity (sadly). Hopefully teams take these types of things into account and don't just roll out some basic color changes and alternate logos used as crests which seemed to be the easy way to go before.

I personally don't think that any newly thought up third jersey can beat a team wearing a vintage sweater. It says more about the team (and the history of the league) than anything else. They are popular with fans of the game because they are reminiscent of bygone eras and often connected to specific players from the past. (Why do you think Boston's new jerseys have been more successful in comparison to say Edmonton's?) If you are team with a 30+ year history than for godsakes pay some homage to that rather than introducing some flashy bit of fabric with no connection whatsoever to the club. The only real problem with this is whether or not the actual Edge templates are capable of reproducing older designs. From what I understand there aren't too many patterns that can't be achieved. So, if we can go by that (and the fact that older jerseys tended to be simpler) then there are no practical limitations. Even if there are why not make them using the old style, I mean they are vintage...

But what if you haven't got a 30 year history? What if you're say Atlanta or Nashville? This is where things get interesting, there are about a dozen teams that can't really look to the past and return to an old style as a third jersey. I assume that none of them will dig so deep as to wear a jersey from the city they previously played in (as in Carolina wearing a Whalers uniform or Phoenix wearing a Jets sweater). The Ducks will never wear anything that pertains to the Disney era...ever... The Lightning and the Panthers haven't been around long enough, neither have the Sharks, the Blue Jackets or the Wild. The Avalanche could use their old style jerseys conceivably but they are rather close to their new ones. Same with Dallas wearing their old star jerseys. These teams will have to go back to the drawing board and come up with something that is hopefully not as garish as the mustard colored thing the Predators wore.

Why and when?
A certain set of guidelines should be drawn up for when these jerseys are worn. I always liked the idea of old rivalries playing each other in vintage uniforms. Wearing them on anniversaries of particular events or when players retire is another thing we should see more of. In general they should really see more use, otherwise they just become a bit of a show and not a part of the team's look. Instead of a third jersey perhaps we should look at what could be called a "second set" with a home and an away version...that would certainly bring about more opportunities to wear them. It certainly would have made sense last year when Buffalo had their old blue jerseys to wear...but not their original home whites (which they are wearing in the Ice Bowl on New Years Day, which in itself says something about the popularity of vintage jerseys considering the high profile of the game).

Conclusion
- First and foremost the whole Edge mess needs to be cleaned up. Players (and fans) need to have something they can both feel comfortable in and be satisfied with. In no other sport is the jersey as iconic as in hockey (except maybe soccer), and to have so many current complaints and issues is a shame and a scar on the face of the sport itself.

- More vintage team jerseys and less trivial fashion attempts. Give the fans what they want and let the players feel a part of history. The NHL is timeless let's see more of it's great heritage.

- Create more events to exercise the use of these jerseys, not just outdoor games once a year. Rivalry weekends, Original Six nights, bring back Hockey Day in Canada the way it should be....etc.

Part 2
In part 2 of this series I hope to take a closer look at what jerseys we might (that I want to) see next season...or whenever it is the NHL brings the third jersey back. Plus a closer look at some of the one's we have seen in the past.

Part 2 Here