Looking at the Olympic Threads

Thanks to the talented Sean Leahy via the IIHF website, the Olympic jerseys were unveiled to the masses. While there was big to-do about the Canadian jerseys, since countries were able to put their Hockey Federations logo as the crest; not much else was brought to the table in terms of what these countries are going to wear. Since I like jerseys and aesthetics of things-- here's my take. You can follow along with the link above, which will pop into a new window.

BELARUS: They keep the same scheme per usual, which is a good way to use the green and red combination without making one color look completely out of place....right Minnesota Wild?? Can't go wrong with the country crest.

CANADA: Probably the biggest topic over the summer, the Canadians got with the traditonal maple leaf with a Native design within the leaf, to tie in the appeal to Vancouver. The jersey remains the same as the past few World Championships, however.

CHINA: First off, I didn't know they even qualified for the Games, but they keep your basic red and yellow design the country uses with a simplistic wordmark on the front. You don't see much of the red/yellow scheme and I believe it looks damn sharp.

CZECH REPUBLIC: You don't get much of a change, but for some reason the bicep stripe irks me. It almost looks like a football kind of gimmick and they look like Ole Miss.

FINLAND: While the white jersey seems a little off with the streaks from the shoulder to the elbow, the big deal with the red crest on it. The crest in the past has been blue, but they went a little radical in terms of changing up the color as a whole. It's pretty out of place, when all is said and done.

GERMANY: The coolest part of the jersey is the sublaminated eagles on the sleeves below the forearm. The Germans designs are always awesome for the color scheme and the crest of the eagle. Could be the best of the bunch.

LATVIA: The template approach is alive with these maroon wonders, but at the same time-- they keep a nice look to them. The crest is saying solid and should be a solid look for them out on the rink.

NORWAY: The biggest tragedy could be the Norwegians, who had a simple, but classy design and have been resigned to the diagonal wordmark. It's too much of a plain design, even with the call-back to their heritage jerseys.

RUSSIA: The craziness of the blue on the white jerseys are odd to me. Especially considering they have used plenty of red in the past with their jerseys-- it seems a touch out of place. However, it works with their flag having the blue in it and creates a bit of uniqueness to it.

SLOVAKIA: They Slovaks keep the same scheme they always have. Not much of a change at all, in all honesty.

SWEDEN: They keep the triple crowns and really didn't change much. Have to love the simplicity working in this essense.

SWITZERLAND: This is where simplicity goes wrong in all of this. A small cross on the top left corner where the captain's letters should go, then move the captain's letters going next to the next. Probably the worst jersey out there, especially when they had a simple wordmark from past Olympics.

USA: The US jersey harks back to the 1980s jerseys, plus they get back to the 1960 team with the only third jersey out there. It works in the sense that they could pull off simplicity, like Sweden, and make it work out well.

While it's easy to take shots at the Nike Swift design and the templated gimmick, it's a given. Ready the past post about all of that and you'll be saved. There's what you have to look forward to when the skates hit the GM Place ice in February.