Are the 90's the New Retro??

As many of you know, I'm a big fan of the aesthetics of hockey. If you didn't, you do now. In any case, I peruse sites like the CCSLC, Icethetics, and NHL Uniforms. Recently, a topic on the CCSLC came up about what jerseys the users wanted to see come back and in a majority of the hockey comebacks, it seems that the 1990s style of jerseys were selected. It wasn't too far back that the 1970s crazed was going wild-- which it still is, but it seems that many have been longing for the uniforms of the 1990s as of late.

And while we're two decades removed, at what point do retros become retros?? Is there a timeline for such a thing or is it just arbitrarily decided for when one person becomes nostalgic and then becomes a domino effect on such a thing??

Since it's probably the latter, at what point does it all kick in for something to go back to the way it was?? There's very few times where a team does the wrong thing and them reverts back to what they had before, like the Penguins when bringing back the skating penguin and with the Anaheim Ducks putting the old Mighty Ducks logo on their new third jersey's shoulders-- but most of the time, the changes have been for the better. Especially when you consider the tackiness of the jerseys from the '90s, you have to wonder why anyone would want them back.....though, you could say the same about the 1970s movement we've seen.

Yet, at the same time; could it be the tackiness that's actually makes us want it to come back in full effect. Don't know at what people some people got "too cool for the room" when it came to those designs, but it seems everyone is so very happy genuflecting on the good ol' days of jerseys past. Even though there are some that aren't up to par; that could be a ploy to make you realize how good your team has it when what they're wearing now. And, let's be honest, people would buy up the retro jerseys when they come out like it's nothing. It'd definitely be a chance for people to get what they may have missed out on and can't readily get on the eBay.

Of course, whether or not most of these designs come back is another story. We all have a scheme that we hold near and dear to our hearts and regardless of how awful they may have looked at the time, the yearning for having those back onto the ice to rekindle the fond memories many had is always going to be present. This is one of the times where you have to envy the likes of the Montreal Canadiens and Detroit Red Wings, who haven't had many drastic jersey or identity changes since the 1970s.

Hockey Lifestyle in Print Form

A couple weeks back, I was talking about the ability for the NHL to produce something along the lines of a reality based show to give a greater understand of the inner workings of the hockey life. However, it seems, oddly enough, print media has been the one to really bring out the hockey lifestyle inside and out.

Of course, The Hockey News just put out their own sort of lifestyle mag called "Fully Loaded," which I thought was going to be a monthly gimmick, but only seems to be once-a-year. Granted, the minute I saw it, I immediately thought of The Fourth Period's magazine, which came out around the Draft time and has the same kind of feel to it, but luckily TFP's magazine is a monthly thing and is more of a mix of hockey news and gives kind of a Maxim feel in terms of the picture of some Ice Girls every month which is really.....really great. The Hockey News' one-off has mostly to do with actual gear for on and off the ice, so it's more like a Laptop Magazine with gadgets and stuff.

In any case, I have to say this is the step that hockey fans need in order to get more into the game off the ice. The fact that both TFP and THN have taken this step is a great idea, which I'll say TFP did have first and I'm a bit disappointed that THN is almost ripping them off. Either way, this is just what is needed to give the game of hockey more appeal. Get the fans more into the lives of players and how they live, plus showing off some of the new things apparel wise that fans can get their hands on that they see the pros wear in the post-game interviews and wherever else they may don such things. Any insight into the players and game the NHL could give to the fans, both hardcore and casual alike, will be helpful into making the game more marketable and appealing.

The Idiocy and Hideousy of a White Out That's Not in Winnipeg

I preference this by saying this is not a dig against the Penguins and their fans, but a venture into why something like a white out won't work and why it shouldn't go to anyone outside of Manitoba.

As we all know, the color-coated themes by fans in the playoffs-- Calgary's "C of Red", Washington's "Rock the Red", Philly's "Orange Crush", and the Islanders "Navy (First) Overalls"; but the one big thing that irks the hell out of me is the "White Out" in Pittsburgh. It's not so much the sacrilegious part of it by taking a hallowed gimmick by the Winnipeg Jets (may they rest in peace), which actually had a meaning to it and had legs throughout the entire hockey community. Sure, other hockey teams and college teams have tried and this and it has worked out for the most part because that's how most fans roll, but the Penguins thing irks me more than anything and here's why.

My complaint is the Penguins don't even wear white at home anymore-- and haven't since the '03-'04 season-- so why wear the white to the games?? The colors of the Penguins are fairly unique to the NHL, with the Bruins having the only close scheme to them. Why not do something with the black, which is a little hack, sure-- or the Vegas gold they have?? You'd think a team would think outside the box and not steal material like they were Carlos Mencia....allegedly. You'd think that the road team would try to convince themselves that the white-out was for them, since they are in white while playing, and hype themselves up that way.

Fact of the matter is this-- don't take a great hockey tradition that was enstilled by a dead franchise and try to make it your own or say it's an homage. If you want to be original, so something that's going to put your own stamp on it and going to make you stand out. If I'm a Jets' fan, the white-out is sacred and while it's understandable that the Coyotes did it when they got into the playoff, it's still hurt to see something that was tradition move away from your area. The Penguins doing it must be 1,000 kicks to the groin with Jets fans seeing it.

So, note to the Pens and Pens fans-- let's buck the hack trend of unoriginality and maybe do something to put your own seal onto something you'll be doing year-in and year-out. You have a good team and good color scheme to do something spiffy-- make it happen.

Draft Hat Disgust

The geniuses at Reebok and those who make the choices for the NHL have unveiled some of the 2009 NHL Draft hats and to be honest with you....ugh.


Look, I get that people wearing white may be the in thing nowadays, but enough of it. I'm sick of it, mostly because it's so very cookie cutter. There's no thought, no originality, and really no identity. Put some damn team colors on it for Pete's sake-- it won't hurt anyone. Usually, the NHL follows the NFL Draft hat since Reebok does both official clothing contracts. And to be honest, I was really ready to see the new Draft hats because the NFL's were pretty solid, as you see by the Redskins' hat.

I can deal with the cookie-cutter if they have some kind of team feel to it. The NHL's hats just fail horribly when it comes to originality or diversity amongst their teams. Maybe it's cheaper, but I don't know if it's going to be a highly sought after product if they are this plain. Another thing could be my OCD and hatred for anything white because it could get very dirty very easily, but still.

Granted, if the NHL can come out and say that these are just prototypes, that's fine, but I have my doubts when it comes to that kind of reprive.