When enemey fans whose teams are outfitted in the finest, Original Six look roam our arena concourse they are entitled to a fashion haughtiness that we as Caps’ fans, at long last, I think deserve. It’s funny how what was once taken for granted as moderately good looking sports fashion (the original Caps’ and Bullets’ jerseys) regain popularity when juxtaposed by forgettable replacements. Clearly the Caps can’t and won’t return all the way back to their original look, but I hope the redesign captures much of what was good about it.

But what specifically drives the profound attachment a puckhead has with his team’s and or favorite players’ sweaters? I’d love to hear from OFB readers their own rationale for the size and quality of the collected hockey garb they possess — to learn of the significance the collection has for them. I know that among the four of us at OFB we could fill a First Lady’s closet with game worns, practice editions, and novelty sweaters (I’m ever angling for OrderedChaos’ Guinness sweater).

I can think of two prime motivations fueling the enduring appeal of the hockey sweater. The most primal is what I think is a shared yearning to be visually associated with the rugged warrior ethos and culture of our great game. In wearing a Scott Stevens’ sweater, for instance, a puckhead is clearly expressing his appreciation for the future Hall of Famer’s brutal bravado.

But I think it’s also likely true that sweatered hockey fans also want to advertise their basic love affair with this niche game, what is akin to patronage of the underground rock band while your big brother rocks out to Bon Jovi. The Sporting News’ Steve Wulf puts it this way: “Part of the joy of being a hockey fan is knowing you love something that not everybody gets.”

Here’s what we know already about the new look: it’ll be produced by Reebok and carry the controversial “slimmer” look. We’re no fans of that, as you know, and last autumn we joined thousands in adding ourselves to an organized protest against it, but Gary Bettman’s flawed vision and attacks against tradition once again won out. So it is what it is. We do know that the Caps will return to their original red, white, and blue colors, which I cannot imagine eliciting protest from anyone in this town. We never should have ditched them. Count me among those who’ll never miss the dour and drab black look that blurred names and numbers from the view of every upper deck (and many lower ones too). We don’t know what manner, if any, of emblem change might accompany the new look.

My wish list for the new sweater is brief:

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Posted at 11:22 am. Filed under Morning cup-a-joe, Reebok, Sweaters, TV, Washington Capitals.
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9 Comments

  1. Joe wrote:

    Bettman is ruining the game and should be fired!
    http://www.fireBettman.com

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 11:40 am | Permalink
  2. WFY wrote:

    Ted and I talked about the RWB uniforms back in October:

    WFY: What’s going on with the uniforms? It seems every year we have people scratching their heads wondering if you’ll be going back to red, white, and blue uniforms.

    Leonsis: We will eventually go back to red, white, and blue. For every person who sends me an email that wants the color change or new uniform, I get as many mails, mostly from mothers, saying “please don’t change the uniform because then I have to buy the new jersey for my children and they are very expensive.” I am very cognizant of that and when we’re changing the uniform I don’t want it to look like we are doing it to generate money. To be honest, that is not even how it works. We’re not the recipient of individual, additional jersey sales. That is a misconception. The NHL overall is looking at changing the style, the weight and making the uniforms more contemporary. So, I think we’ll just wait and see when the NHL goes to a new design and style and new color scheme and logos ready and that would be the time to do it.

    WFY: I imagine there will be a lot of effort put into that when the time comes, so there is not a repeat of the Buffaslug disaster.

    Leonsis: *laughs* Yes, we will make sure we have total fan buy-in before do anything.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 12:08 pm | Permalink
  3. usiel wrote:

    As with any new jersey there are going to be some that hate it or love it. You know the old saying…you can’t go back home…so of course I wouldn’t want to see the old rwb jersey….but would love to see it re-envisioned. And I agree with the blog post in that if somehow the design be more ‘classic’ and enduring design.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 12:31 pm | Permalink
  4. pucksandbooks wrote:

    It’s good news that it’s happening. Now, let’s get it done right so that 20 years from now WE’RE the ones walking around arena concourses and drawing the admiration of other fans.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 1:00 pm | Permalink
  5. 3 Grumpy Caps Fans wrote:

    I’d love to see them go with a color scheme that matches the russian team (red with blue shoulders instead of white). Add something like the seal of the United States (The Eagle and the Shield) but have the eagle holding a hockey stick. I’d reference my take on the jerseys from earlier this year, but I’m embarrased by my total lack of any artistic ability. It looks like a 2 year old did it.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 4:14 pm | Permalink
  6. odessa steps wrote:

    I wonder…

    Could they make the new “uniform system” sweaters for the players and continue to make “classic jerseys” for fans to buy?

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 4:30 pm | Permalink
  7. Wthrw wrote:

    “Durable” and “classic” are certainly admirable goals, but I’m not exactly confident. Have their been any recent jersey designs around the league that have achieved (or will someday achieve) “classic?” There have been some that I think were really nice updates - Calgary and St. Louis come to mind - but many, many others have been pretty far from classic. And I don’t think any of the new teams’ uniforms (or from-the-ground-up redesigns like the Caps are presumably getting) have been all that successful.

    Anyway, my wishlist is similar to yours. Durable and classic would be great. I think a key element of that would be a good logo - simple and iconic, preferably. I don’t really have any ideas - just not the current capitol dome logo. And I’d like red (over blue, or heaven forbid, navy) as the primary jersey color, like in the old days.

    Tuesday, March 27, 2007 at 7:17 pm | Permalink
  8. P-Mac wrote:

    I cannot help but be reminded of an earlier post
    http://www.onfrozenblog.com/2007/01/24/morning-cup-a-joe-12407/

    I think it was the great Stringer Bell who once said, “There ain’t no new package. New package same as old; just gonna put that s–t in a different color gelcap is all.”

    Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 9:24 am | Permalink
  9. Grumpy Caps Fan 2 wrote:

    My take on the Caps’ jerseys is this: I have steadfastly refused to buy a jersey with the “new” color scheme for years…thank goodness. In that time, I’ve bought an OV Russian national team jersey, a Clarkson Chris Clark jersey for my father, a Quebec Remparts jersey, a Dallas away Modano jersey, a Chicago Blackhawks Black third jersey, and a Calgary Hitmen jersey (No, it’s not a #24 Beech personalized jersey, thank God). Just imagine how much the Caps could have made off me if they had a decent logo/color scheme! They should look to the Minnesota Wild’s third jerseys (the red ones) as an example of a CLASSIC look. It’s remarkably similar to the original Blackhawks jerseys as well (without the Barbershop pole stripes). And put a real logo on it, not just “capitals” and not the silly capitol dome.

    Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 1:41 pm | Permalink

One Trackback/Pingback

  1. Hockey News Clips | National Hockey League Digest on Wednesday, March 28, 2007 at 9:33 am

    [...] On Frozen Blog is really rooting for the Caps’ new jerseys to be the talk of the league and possibly beyond. [...]

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