October 28, 2007

Hockey Sweater Showdown! #1 Montreal Canadians vs. #2 Chicago Blackhawks: The voting ends November 1st. In true Chicago tradition I urge you to vote early and vote often as these Finalist Square for NHL Bragging Rights. See how your squad's threads did in comparison to these Timeless Classics.

posted by skydivedad to hockey at 08:32 PM - 24 comments

I cannot in good conscience vote for the Habs, but the Blackhawks logo... euch. You know who has the best jerseys in the NHL? The Phoenix Coyotes. It's one color, the logo is strong, the lettering and number fonts are fantastic, it would look good in any sport, in any league, anywhere in the world. (Shame about the team wearing them, but you can't have everything.) (I was at the NHL store in Midtown today, and I came very close to buying a Montreal Maroons jersey. That was a good looking sweater. Once my poverty situation clears itself up, I may go back and follow through. Not that that has anything to do with this. Just thought I'd share.)

posted by chicobangs at 09:56 PM on October 28, 2007

Chico I was hoping to get a report from a New Yorker on the NHL Store. (Pics Please) Were you there for the opening a few weeks ago? What's the vibe like and please prance about the Store Front in your finest NHL Jersey as Don Lagrecka and TJ do the XM NHL Center Ice Radio Show from that locale 12PM-2PM EST M-F. I listen everyday. If you don't have XM there's a link to the broadcast on NHL.com. (Bottom Right on Home Page) It's the best hockey show on the air! Don't forget a SportsFilter Call-out! Seems like a must see for any future Spofite NYC Hook-up. Oh yea! The Coyotes Home Jersey rocks for sure but let's be real. The best NHL Jersey belongs to the Chicago Squad...........

posted by skydivedad at 10:39 PM on October 28, 2007

I think I'm partial to the Habs shirt, but really just can't get over the fact that the Wings lost to the Stars in the first round. Maybe the old North Stars shirt with the N* logo, but not the current shirt. Not to derail the thread, but anyone want to volunteer their most regrettable hockey shirt purchase? I'm going to have to go with a Slava Kozlov Wings jersey purchased a season or two before he got traded to Buffalo. It got put in a goodwill bin in Cambridge, MA some years later, so if you see some homeless dude with a Kozlov Red Wings jersey in Cambridge (not necessarily unlikely considering all the commie sympathizers there), there's a large chance I'm the responsible party. After that purchase, I came to the decision that the only appropriate lettered jerseys to get are: 1) Retired players (no danger of trade there); 2) Current players unlikely to be traded or to leave as free agents (Yzerman for much of his career would have been an example, someone like Albert Pujols may fit in this category in a different sport now -- but note that this is much more difficult in hockey now with the salary cap and more player moves); or 3) Something delightfully goofy or ironic or that communicates an insider joke to select on-lookers (like the way my Bob Probert jersey says "What are you looking at, jackass? Wanna go in the bathroom and snort some blow?")

posted by holden at 10:58 PM on October 28, 2007

Not to derail the thread, but anyone want to volunteer their most regrettable hockey shirt purchase? That's easy, the Game Worn Blackhawk "Rookie Savard" Home Sweater now in the hands of my ex........

posted by skydivedad at 11:03 PM on October 28, 2007

SDD, the location is great. It's almost across the street from Rockefeller Center, and there's plenty of foot traffic. What it doesn't have is a huge amount of merchandise yet. All teams are represented, but in comparison to (just frex) the NBA store on 5th Avenue, it's not quite there yet. I hope they'll be loading new stuff in and filling the racks and space up over the next couple of months. I mean, a third of the store is devoted to Reebok material that has nothing to do with the NHL, and there's a Starbucks in the back. A friggin' Starbucks. Partitioned-off, even, not as part of the store. That has to change. Their vintage and defunct-team section was pretty good, though. Aside from the Maroons jersey, I was sorely tempted by a Cleveland Barons t-shirt, and there was a mess of Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Cougars and Toronto St. Pats stuff as well. It's tough. They'll have to figure it out. The space is big enough, but it's not big. Maybe they can take over next door, or add a second floor downstairs, or something. I'll go back for pics. You know, I'm free tomorrow afternoon. I could go down there in my SpoFi t-shirt, even though it's the tennis one. (I have three jerseys, none of them numbered, so that's an option as well.)

posted by chicobangs at 11:36 PM on October 28, 2007

Not to derail the thread, but anyone want to volunteer their most regrettable hockey shirt purchase? I don't have any (Sittler jersey from 20 years ago, and a Sundin jersey from 7 years ago), but I'm sure there are people out there with their St. Louis Blues Gretzky jerseys, or Ryan Smyth Islander jerseys... Something delightfully goofy or ironic or that communicates an insider joke Not hockey, but I bought my friend a Chattanooga Lookouts baseball cap about 10 years ago, and I regret not getting one for myself because that is one kickass goofy logo. Their vintage and defunct-team section was pretty good, though. The Hockey Hall of Fame used to carry baseball caps of foreign hockey teams, like Moscow Dynamo. Do they have those in the NHL store, or is the HHOF the only place to get them?

posted by grum@work at 11:39 PM on October 28, 2007

Not yet, but again, there's room if they wanted to go there, and the demand I think would follow. (I for one would wear a Metallurg Magnitogorsk cap until it disintegrated into its component alloys.) (To continue the comparison, I wonder if one could get, say, any Maccabi Tel Aviv merch at the NBA store?)

posted by chicobangs at 11:47 PM on October 28, 2007

Not hockey, but I bought my friend a Chattanooga Lookouts baseball cap about 10 years ago, and I regret not getting one for myself because that is one kickass goofy logo I own a Montgomery Biscuits baseball cap. I'm not sure that Biscuits is a name that would strike fear into the opposing team.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:25 AM on October 29, 2007

Take a look at www.sportslogos.net to see the evolution of logos in all sports. They have the original in most cases and the major changes up to how it looks today. I promise a lot of "wows." Check your University for some laughs too. Hope someone can link this to make it easier.

posted by gfinsf at 07:19 AM on October 29, 2007

Here's that link to sportslogos.net gfinsf. Great Site Thanks for the Heads-up. Chico, if your still heading to the NHL Store this afternoon let me know which jersey your wearing and I can't wait to see those pics. Thanks

posted by skydivedad at 08:49 AM on October 29, 2007

That's easy, the Game Worn Blackhawk "Rookie Savard" Home Sweater now in the hands of my ex........ sdd -- is there anything hockey-related your ex-wife didn't get? Man, that's just harsh to lose the season tix and the Savard sweater.

posted by holden at 10:12 AM on October 29, 2007

skydivedad, thanks. Hope there are lots of "Can you belive the ____'s logo looked/s like that!" Might be fun to watch and see what people say. Some are beautiful some are, well.. I'll mention Duke, old (ugly), Delaware State, present (great), and the Boston Bruins, original, (had to start somewhere), to begin with. Take a look it should be fun.

posted by gfinsf at 10:14 AM on October 29, 2007

I'm now not free this afternoon. But this week sometime. I'll let you know.

posted by chicobangs at 10:21 AM on October 29, 2007

I don't even understand how this whole brack thing works. I read the reviews and there were Jerseys the "critics" like that were not even in the voting bracket. Yet sone hideous jerseys made it into the voting. Plus, the "critics" seemed to have a limited knowledge of hockey, if any at all. This is so whacked I can't even vote.

posted by Hockey fan at 01:13 PM on October 29, 2007

From the article (about the Red Wings logo) Too plain. It looks like a wing on a wheel. (The guy: I told her that it's supposed to be like that). Oh, that's kind of creative. But it has nothing to do with a Red Wing. What is a Red Wing anyway? Correct me if I'm wrong but a logo of a red, winged wheel has much more than nothing to do with a Red Wing.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 02:07 PM on October 29, 2007

I refuse to vote in this contest on the grounds that: a) one of the best jerseys -- St. Louis -- wasn't even in the running, and b) Toronto lost to Vancouver? The classic Leaf falls to Shamu? Riiiiiiight.

posted by wfrazerjr at 02:43 PM on October 29, 2007

Toronto lost to Vancouver? The classic Leaf falls to Shamu? Riiiiiiight. At least they didn't have to compete against the jersey that looks like a technicolour vomit streak.

posted by grum@work at 07:33 PM on October 29, 2007

I gotta say, I like Vancouver's current jerseys. The old blue-green is a good color, and the name across the top of the orca kind of downplays the corporate-logoness of it.

posted by chicobangs at 08:25 PM on October 29, 2007

I would have to say my vote is for the 'Hawks. Been telling my friends for years it is the best uni in sport. If I were running this bracket it would be down to the 'Hawks and Leafs. The Final Four would have had Montreal and Detroit . Across all sports: 1. Blackhawks 2. Yankees (Home and Road) classic 3.Maple Leafs 4. Penn State 5. Dallas Cowboys Enough from me for now.

posted by chuck'n'duck at 09:59 PM on October 29, 2007

I'm digging the new Caps 'W' logo. Works well with the eagle. Where are all the PC freaks condemning the Blackhawks crest? Just wondering. Habs should win it. Though I always loved the Nordiques badge.

posted by garfield at 11:25 AM on October 30, 2007

Where are all the PC freaks condemning the Blackhawks crest? Just wondering. I have thought about this myself, if in slightly different terms. It is notable that the Blackhawks are absent from many discussions on these matters (at least in my experience). I have to think that it's largely due to some combination of the following: (a) they don't have a team name that is an ethnic slur (e.g., Redskins) and they have a regularly-used nickname ('Hawks) that doesn't even draw attention to the Native American connection; (b) they don't use a depiction of their mascot on their gear that plays to racial stereotypes (e.g., Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians); (c) they don't have a history of fans doing the tomahawk chop or otherwise playing off of the Indian theme (e.g., Atlanta Braves, Florida State Seminoles); (d) hockey is not really susceptible to suited mascots running around the playing surface dressed in warpaint (e.g., Chief Illiniwek at U of I), riding a horse with a spear (e.g., the Florida Seminoles mascot), or doing other things that perpetuate stereotypes about Native Americans; and (e) they don't use "fighting" (or some type of war-like word) in the name and don't suggest a warring image of Chief Black Hawk in the depiction on the sweater (I suppose the instruments on the shoulder patch are probably tomahawks, but they could just as easily be primitive hammers, right?). There is also perhaps a better case to be made for the Blackhawks than many other teams that the team's choice of name was meant to honor a certain tribe/individual. From the team's wikipedia page:

McLaughlin had been a commander with the 333rd Machine Gun Battalion of the 86th Infantry Division during World War I. This Division was nicknamed the "Blackhawk Division", after a Native American of the Sauk nation, Chief Black Hawk, who was a prominent figure in the history of Illinois. McLaughlin evidently named the hockey team in honour of the military unit, making it one of many sports team names using Native Americans as icons.

posted by holden at 12:24 PM on October 30, 2007

The chicks comments on the Flyers' logo are pretty funny actually... I don't even know what that symbol is. It's not flying, it's not a P; it's a meaningless circle. It's a circle with a mullet. Fitting. Very fitting.

posted by SummersEve at 02:44 PM on October 30, 2007

The chicks comments on the Flyers' logo are pretty funny actually... I don't even know what that symbol is. It's not flying, it's not a P; it's a meaningless circle. It's a circle with a mullet. You're saying a circle with a mullet is meaningless? You've got some nerve!

posted by tommybiden at 04:18 PM on October 30, 2007

In the Blue Jackets defense, they've shed the neon yellow-green bug that looked like it should be playing college football in Atlanta. Well, yeah, except that a swooping stylized Ohio flag has "non-hockey-fan focus-group consensus compromise choice" all over it. But then, "Blue Jackets" isn't exactly the most inspiring choice for a team name I've ever heard, either. That's usually what US Navy sailors call themselves (in addition to other descriptors like "screwed by recruiter," etc.); I've heard it's supposed to be some murky reference to Northern soldiers during the US Civil War -- not a terribly well publicized connection to the Columbus area that I've become aware of. 'Sides, the notion of Yankee troops doesn't intimidate this Southern boy much -- back home, we think of them as "cannon fodder from up Nawth."

posted by alumshubby at 08:18 PM on October 30, 2007

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