In Glacialis Blog

Friday 605: p.m.: Is vesper procul Quin Center Im’ reputo super diligo of pomum pie. Of men quisnam take suum pleadings pro manuum of women they diligo primoris ut abbas, pro permission. Of civitas quisnam instantly concedo suum sessio in publicus transportation ut senior quod decrepitus. Hominum quisnam habitum patefacio ianua pro women. Totus illorum upstanding civitas, qui reluctor vogue of moment quod veneratio institutio — hodie, they erant vindicated: per mactabilis quod inhumanus quod unanimous volubilis did Lavatio Caput is week shtcan* Reeboks’ similitudo ratio.

Caps, unanimously, suffragium ut toxic attero site quis Reebok vindico sibimet is autumn quod reverto ut fabric of permaneo seasons’ sudo. suffragium eram unanimous. Wednesdays’ venatus poema poematis Rags eram debut of Caps’ solamen ex quicumque drowning sensation. funny res est, amo everybody alius, EGO didnt’ perceptum super is insquequo mane hodie, ut nostrum own Gustafsson dug sursum jewel seputus in nonnullus team notitia, tamen vigilo Wednesdays’ venatus vel ex sursum altus, EGO repeto quispiam vaguely magis appealing super teams’ tops. Magis dico: secundum Wednesday nox noctis’ venatus, quondam interventus eram licitus in Caps’ cella, EGO saw a iugo of Caps etiam in suum sudo. Is didnt’ subcriptio me procul vicis, tamen in sulum alius domus venatus preeo, ludio ludius placitum per inculco frons of suum obfirmo erant usquequaqueex suum similitudo ratio. They erant quoque fervens ut subsisto in lemma. Tamen non Wednesday nox noctis.

Suus’ unus res, isnt’ is, pro an innovation deesse mereo hora secundum suus’ debuted, tamen quispiam omnino transcendently humiliating pro universus universum of suus users ut, per volvo dicounanimous, renuntio, “ is est non opportunus pro lining garage sedes of meus canine.”

EGO iustus orator per Nate Ewell super timeframe pro change. Caps no prex dudum, quoniam prothoplastus replacement sudo supervenio in vicis pro Vepres Pothier experior unus sicco procul Carolina in November 30. Pothiers’ pollex went sursum ut nox noctis, quod duos weeks laxus a plenus compliment of sudo supervenio EGO asked Nate si hed’ been tendo procul unanimous suffragium, unus qua non a singulus Solio opted ut retain faddish faux sudo. Is said is hadnt’ been. EGO volo scio si in effectus suffragium ludio ludius’ telum offa sursum sic velox in suscipio of motus ut nonnullus vulnero suum umerus humerus — est is quis vere venio per Michael Nylander? — sive seu instead they mereo screamed suum suscipio pro dumping vestio dreck. EGO quoque asked Nate quisnam pensus pro changes.

“ego dont’ teneo utrum league vel Reebok does,” is told mihi, “ tamen nos dont.’”

EGO sum quoque reputo super quantum quam 6,600 men quod women, puer quod puella, quisnam subcribo an online petition permaneo estas ut protestor Gary Bettmans’ profano of hockeys’ iconic vultus. Nos procul OFB subcribo is ubi nos evestigatus super is, dummodo updates quod consolatio pro institutio- veneratio, quod took nonnullus inrideo pro non genuflecting pro ara of vulgar corpus cupiditas. Interdum, sententia, David trucido Goliath.

EGO reputo ut ultio ultionis, Mandatum Melior should exsisto postulo, pro reliquum of suus tenura, ut famulor illud swanky, offseason Tabula of Satraps placitum — ones ut es usquequaque held in tropical tempero — outfitted universus vicis in a Reebok exemplar sudo chamber. Is should have ut golf sicco sub fervens solitudo occasus per Satraps una.

550: p.m.: An NHL off- glacies persona taedium suus snazzy navy puteulanus aestuo propinquo mihi procul prandium quod asked si is could etiam tutis duos tickets utTuesday nox noctis’ OFB Nox noctis procul Movies. EGO got a kick ex ut. Sic hes’ coming, quod si vos havent’ subcribo sursum etiamnunc, vos should pariter.

650: p.m.: Requiro Novus Jersey est tergum blogging tonight. Eatenus, haud Sarcalogos pecto, haud baked gingerbread bonus ex suus.

705: p.m.: summitto scaphium tonight est multus magis repletus quam is eram pro aut Novus Jersey Monday vel Rangers in Wednesday. Sic quoque est lacertus scaphium. Suus’ bonus video vidi visum.

720:-ish p.m.: Suus’ sic sentio- bonus hic procul Quin Center is week ut iugum of lovebirds spondeo suum posterus ago una in altus certus in a ingeniose intentio sicco admiratio pro posterus pontus. Is eram lascivio ut venatus of vigilo velox-moving puck in magnus splendens center- glacies screen, quod ut is identified rectus puck, instead of screen sententia “ vos Lucror!”, is said, “ mos vos matrimonium mihi?” Iustus tunc suus boyfriend commotus in ut screen offa quod socius ut unus genu. Res propono ut in talis a Romanorum occasus, tener mulier had bonus voluntas respondeo affirmatively. Ne multus EGO penso talis an compositio inter Requiro Novus Jersey quod mihi. (persevero)

Seputus in Wednesdays’ novus of three- venatus domus victor virga, Joe Motzkos’ obscoena explosion, quod Mike Viridis’ deprehendo victor eram isgemma of a nugget:

Autumn Sudo – Donatus choice ut reverto ut usura idem eadem idem fabric ut eram adsuesco assuesco in hockey sudo prior ut is season quinymo quam ultra-hyped “uniform systems” ut erant induco league- prolixus prior ut is season, sulum singulus member of Caps went per permaneo year’s fabric. Wednesday nox noctis venalicium prothoplastus vicis novus ( vetus) sudo fabric eram no available, quod sulum member of Caps had novus forma sudo per vetus fabric pensilis in suus obfirmo prior ut venatus.

An article in Novus & Video has ostendo sum ut a numerus of Turbo, comprehendo Glen Wesley, have switched suum sudo, tamen non suum teams. Secundum auditurus esse questus ex quattuor angulus of NHL Terra, Reebok est iam vitualamen alternate versions of Rbk Ora.

Turbo switched duos venatus abhinc ut modified jerseys, quod pluma a puter opportunus in telum, magis aer-knit fabric quod minor of “bead- absentis” unda repellency technology touted per Reebok.

“ego reputo illic erant satis questus league- prolixus ut obviously illic eram a noticeable distinctus” Wesley said Tuesday. “eatenus, suus’ been a bonus change.”

Touting vexillum versus, praesieo of Reeboks’ Lusum Licentia Divortium David Baxter civitas ut “ ratio” questus have non been unanimous.

“plures NHL ludio ludius es contentus per current Rbk Ora jersey, tamen utpote satus of season, nonnullus have effor sollicitudo super jerseys’ mador procuratio quod stabilitas”

Is may exsisto ferreus ut dico quisnam has no switch ut necklines es idem eadem idem per idem eadem idem super incidere.

“ego reputo sulum amo novus ones multus melior” Carolina center Res Runco said. “is eram iustus funny redeo ut vetus materia, quod is sentio melior”

Iam nos teneo ut Runco quod Wesley ero alicubi inter unus quod novem sentio tardus. Peius’ caveo alius skating tardus in Imbuo nox noctis.
Gratiae utKuklas’ Korner pro succurro.

Species humanus res comprise ingens major domus of enrollment pro valde venatus of hockey, ita ut giants intus is es accersitus super prebeo reflections in suum iter itineris intus venatus, nos shouldnt’ exsisto admiratio procul species they dedi in ut nisus. Suus’ impossible ut vigilo NHLs’ Aula of Laus Induction ceremony neque nec exsisto adduco ut humilitas, character, quod plurimus proprie iunctio ut prosapia ut hockey ludio ludius probo quod famen est unrivaled in landscape of professio lusum. Baseballs’ induction ceremony is preteritus estas, per rectum of character of suus potissimus inductees Gwynn quod Ripken, videor sumo a step tergum in vicis quod venia quod ingenero a resurrectio of veneratio parumper lusum pessime egenus is. Tamen NHL, per suus altissimus veneratio vicis sulum November, has is sulum annus.

billing pro Monday nox noctis’ ceremony in Toronto eram a legends’ album of inductees, optimus ordo umquam, tamen audio ut suum fabula of ortus intus dedicated families quod suum constans suscipio compages — ones ut es fundo quod amplified intus amplus hockey prosapia ipsum — unus felt ut is vicis, seemingly a spectaculum pro rarus- talentum unique, eram vere sulum frenum ut ultum an pre se ferre pro prosapia iunctum ut servo ut perpetuus wellspring of maiestas huic venatus.

venit permaneo nox noctis vindico nobis pes of excellentia of inductees in glacies; suum libramen quod affectus dum pondero in suum veneratio in tempus; tamen quoque ordinarius glimpses of suum families sessio nearby quod poeta testimonials ex suum sons ut ut suum inaestimandus duco. Totus videor interrelated quod intertwined.

Quod in cuspis of res is est. Hockey Aula of Laus has inter suus pre se ferre a simplex domus’ prosapia cella orbis 1950 intus quod prosapia members es recolligo inter a broadcast of Hockey Nox noctis in Canalis. Is quoque has a constituo plaustrum veneratio pre- diluculo pilgrimages ut rink, ludio ludius sicco super annus per labor of Canadian hiberna, se gero ut devoveo ritus.

A hockey ludio ludius’ developmental iter itineris postulo nusquam brevis of an totus- sicco commitment of vicis quod facundia ex families. They exsisto existo in weekdays per newspaper vindico pax facio pre- schola meditor in terror blackness. They fio via proeliator of hiberna weekend proficiscor ut venatus quod tournaments, quod in 90 sentio of Canalis quod lacertus Midwest, ut’ sepius desolate quod periculosus eo.

Decens a hockey ludio ludius est rare a volatilis, dimidium- pectus pectoris praesumo. Forsitan ut’ quare is lusum est ludio ludius per adeo pectus pectoris.

Al MacInnis eram primoris veneratio permaneo nox noctis profiteor persona of prosapia in suus maiestas, quod ut primoris- umquam Nova Scotian futurus enshrined ( incredibilis, ut), is no certus ut suus fundo prosapia members in Prodigium Hood knew of suum persona in suus tutela. They had a locus in Aula of Laus, quoque, is said.

Is eram heartening audire Scott Stevens testis ut labefactum is felt ex suus duodeviginti annus in Lavatio Caput’ prosapia. Is gratias ago David Poile quod Bryan Murray ex procuratio, quod suus defensabiliter socius Vepres Engblom. Is characterized suus tenura in urbs ut “a period of incrementum” quod prolecto ut res a secui of primoris Caput’ team ut species pro postseason — prothoplastus of septem rectus talis in D.C. is eram a secui of. Quod is gratias ago Caput’ fans pro suum suscipio.

tear apparatus ut est Vestigium Nuntius nimirum had spatiosus reflections in persona of prosapia in suus tutela. Is had spatiosus reflections period, efflectum determino quattuor minutes pro ingens per rambling incoherence ut prope outlasted suus tutela. Quis si hed’ been taedium a tuxedo ratio intentio per Reebok amid quicumque singultus?

Messiers’ obsideo gravida- porro pauses licitus mihi ut rememeber ut quondam suus prosapia eram res publica habeo comprehendo Madonna. EGO quinymo fruor hockeys’ instar of towering talentum, suum satus in civis of centum, suum pudor unmatched in vel ex professio lusum, dalliance-ing per American astrum strumpets. Ut nimirum est eximius ut quantum mundane tractus of prosapia huic lusum. Hockey ludio ludius nunquam alieno suum radix, vel perdo suum attachment sibimet.

Does quislibet teneo res pro Pullus taedium niveus similitudo ratio domi obviam Columbus tonight? EGO hadnt’ seen alius stipes operor ut is season. Illis eyes suus’ a refoveo quod exspectata reverto ut quis videor Northmanni.

EGO eram aliquantulus tener ut repeto Chinese unda cruciatus- amo progressio no per interventus obviam Nixon administration per Watergate, tamen Redford quod Hoffman in ‘ totus Praesieo’ Men’ innutum a painstakingly patiens propinquo ut aedificium edificium Stipes’ testimonium- substructio vindicatum obviam Nixons’ henchmen. North American unda cruciatus vires exsisto an apt genus of quis plures NHLers es diutinus illa dies indutus in Reeboks’ paratus- prosterno similitudo ratio. Quod amo Watergate, is may exsisto plures, plures mensis pro justicia est utlimately servo. Is exyesterdays’ Globe quod Mail:

“iustus weeks secundum induco suus ultum-vaunted, pinguesco novus NHL similitudo, Reebok est condita modifications experior ut mollify a growing numerus of ludio ludius quisnam have criminor super discomfort theyre’ usus ex scientifically- intentio fabric.”

Nonnullus quisnam es coming porro ut press per damno testimonium ( in atrum garages?) es requiro suum identities exsisto tutis:

“Obviously, similitudo dont’ eradico sudo” said unus U.S. hockey paratus pensator quisnam has been auditurus esse questus ex ludio ludius quod instructus. “is iustus goes vox down in gloves, pardus, crus pads quod skates.”

Quod:

“industria radix narro vexillum did non operor satis testis sub venatus valetudo.

“ materia ipsum est non tractare via they exemplar intentio” unus industria insider said. “illic eram non satis due diligentia tractare in is materia prior ut putting illa similitudo in universus league.”

Utriusque Reebok quod NHL is week praemitto PR apologists experior quod stem conscendo detrimentum: “utriusque league quod Reebok insist novus jerseys es hic ut subsisto” Globe quod Mail vindicatum Hockey fans trans jugis have got scio ut leagues’ administrator quod corpus consortio es non pandus.

Globe persevero “super redundo sudo, alius questus have focused in res they videor ut rip magis facile. Quod nonnullus ludio ludius dont’ amo adstringo opportunus, quod they reperio magis restrictive.”

Caput’ porro in proprius videor termino in suum surculus motus.

Quondam super a vicis, pectus pectoris of similitudo ratio rabies-fiasco commissio per Reebok eram absentis in secui of fabrica of ullus voluntas ut hockey, per suus sudo, had usquequaque had a novus iunctio inter ludio ludius quod fan. Illa EGO vilis, illud colo colui cultum ordinatus in a proprius penicullus, quod domus in an Everymans’ levamentum, erant a novitas in totus of lusum, quod alo per generations of North Americans. Quisquis pendo brought super per vexillum’ formo re-engineering — quod ut’ serio sub velitatio illa dies — Reebok aptly probo ut is nunquam pensus vota quod famulatus of hockey fan. Reebok iustus doesnt’ tutela.

Tamen hodie sermo est recedentia magis serius quam fan preferences vel purgamentum a significant institutio. novus jerseys es attero gloves. novus socks es attero skates. Alius ut, Reeboks’ similitudo ratio est iustus dandy. Permaneo week nos innotesco sepulchrum dissatisfaction per lemma in secui of Boston Frendo. An effectus per Edmonton Oilers magis vel minor told a journalist in urbs ut is wouldnt’ permissum ullus parvulus of suus exsisto caught mortuus in Oilers’ novus vultus. Quod permaneo weekend, Dmitry Chesnokov of Sovetsky Lusum quod EGO ambio sententia in novus unis of Caps’ trio of Russians — Ovechkin, Kozlov, quod Semin.

Quis they told nos wasnt’ omnino admiratio, ut perfusus testimonium conscendo trans league. Etiam, ut indictments vado, suum eram siccus, Francisca, quod unsparing.

“etiam, EGO have a forsit per meus gloves,” Ovechkin told nos. “They fio valde madidus. EGO vado per duos iugum of gloves per period.”

Chesnokov, quisnam est opinio in is res pro suus Russian newspaper quod tribuo nos obvius ut ludio ludius’ reflections, had sciscitor Ovechkin iterum si is vere vilis duos iugum per period. “etiam, duos iugum per period,” is respondeo.

Unus of causa hockey instructus peto valde tractus impetro apparatus siccus quam primum est prohibeo ludio ludius aegrotatio. Alius est prohibeo contagio. Fingers in madidus gloves es proprie susceptible ut contagio, quod nisi tracto prompte, serius, vel vita-threatening complications can exsisto existo.

Chesnokov tunc percunctor of Viktor Kozlov. “quam primum EGO persolvo ut Boston Frendo erant non gauisus per suum similitudo quod volo ut forsitan reverto ut vetus similitudo” Chesnokov told mihi. ‘’I asked Kozlov whether the Caps and he in particular had any problems with the uniforms. Kozlov said: “I don’t know, no one told us anything. But what do you mean ‘problems’ ?” I started to explain it to him: “Moisture is kept on the body and drips down to . . . ” At this point he interrupted me and said “to the skates!” Actually I wanted to say the gloves, but Viktor seems to have problems with water in his skates.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I think I have the same problem!” Kozlov told Chesnokov. “Actually, I have been noticing a lot of water in my skates. But I had no idea why! Maybe this is the reason! It makes sense if other players have the same problem.”

Chesnokov then thanked him for the interview, and Kozlov said, “No, thank you for enlightening me! It all makes sense now.”

It would appear that Reebok is being less than forthcoming with the league’s players about the equipment conditions that have settled in in the league’s opening month. Or, some certainly aren’t getting word of any acknowledgment.

By last weekend Semin hadn’t skated in three full games with the Caps this season, and he didn’t express concern with the equipment. “I just focus on playing,” he said, but he did acknowledge that players didn’t complain about the “old” gear. Turns out that last weekend he also had something else on his mind — a new contract with the Caps.

“I like it here because all of my friends are here,” he told us. “I am not the kind of person who likes to move to different places. I like my teammates, the management, and the fact that we are a young team.”

The headline is a quote from Edmonton Oilers president Cal Nichols in an article in yesterday’s Edmonton Sun. Sports columnist Terry Jones devoted his Sunday offering to “the total travesty of the Edmonton Oilers ‘pyjamas‘,” the road whites in particular.
Here’s more from the team president:

“I have to be careful here. Reebok paid a lot of money,” [Nichols] said of the project bringing the new uniforms to teams around the league and the obvious NHL memo to everybody in the game that they all must love them.

I told Nichols I was writing about the awful new Oilers silks.

“I think that would be a good article to write,” he said. “But just put me down for saying I liked our old uniforms. I don’t want to sound like an old stick-in-the-mud who can’t go contemporary.”

You can be sure the Oilers’ faithful are a little more than underwhelmed. In his column, Jones suggests that the reader should Google “Oilers” and “uniforms” where you’ll find comments such as

“Ice Capades awful!“

“I like the traditional horizontal stripes at the bottom of the old jersey.“

“Why mess with tradition?“

“Butt ugly. It looks like someone who hates the Oilers designed this one.“

Apparently, there was a method to the madness.

“We wanted change. A lot of things motivated us to look at change. We have a new locker room. A new team. We saw it as rejuvenation. A breath of fresh air,” said [Oilers’ CEO Patrick] LaForge.

“It was meant to be a sort of a Baltimore Ravens look,” he said.

So how do you get your stripe back?

“We can do it,” says LaForge. “But not until 2009-2010.”

A tap of the stick on the ice to Kukla’s Korner for the primary assist.

A tip of the hat to Mr. Eric McErlain, he of Off Wing Opinion, who just excitedly rushed into my office to inform me that the Boston Bruins have returned the entirety of their uniform systems to Reebok, because Bs’ players are drowning and suffering heat stroke in them, and Reebok is agreeing to replacing the entirety of the uniforms, made . . . of the old material.

(Eric and I actually man-hugged over the news.)

Well done, Commissioner Bettman, well done indeed. That experiment sure lasted a long time. NHL Commissioners don’t quite get libraries like U.S. Presidents do, but Bettman needs an Area 51-type hanger into which can be stored scores of Glo-pucks and now Reebok uniform systems.

The Bruins, friends, will be skating soon in those good old fashioned, lovely loose hockey sweaters. Bank on it.

The news broke buried in a story in yesterday’s Boston Herald. Take a lookey:

“According to sources in the B’s dressing room, Reebok has been unable to correct problems with the new jerseys introduced this season across the NHL and will replace them at the company’s expense with new uniforms made of the old materials.

“Players have complained since training camp that the new jerseys, which are supposed to be lighter and allow sweat to evaporate out through the shirts, have instead trapped water inside and gotten heavier. . . “

Now then. The Bruins most assuredly will not be the only team returning its players to comfort. But what will Reebok do for replacement uniforms for teams — such as the Caps — who performed wholesale redesigns predicated on the Reebok uniform system at least making it to Halloween? You may have noticed: The Caps’ new crest and nameplates are sized for smaller, tighter sweaters. This is going to get real interesting.

As is Reebok’s next shareholders’ meeting.

Update: After tonight’s game I had a chance to listen in on the opinions of three very prominent Washington Capitals about the conditions they’re enduring because of Reebok’s uniform system. You will find them interesting, I promise. Will be publishing them later this weekend.

“When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.“

Sidney Crosby may have never heard that famous catch phrase since E.F. Hutton’s last commercials were right around the time of his birth. However, Sidney Crosby is talking, and Reebok is listening. Crosby is talking about the complaints of waterlogged equipment the new RBK Edge “uniform system” has caused. From the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:

Reebok officials have tweaked the jerseys of their new Edge uniforms being used across the NHL this season, in part because Penguins captain Sidney Crosby spoke with company officials and expressed some concerns.

Crosby, who has endorsement deals with Reebok, conveyed his and his teammates’ problem with the water-resistant material, which traps perspiration and forces it to run down and pool in players’ gloves and skates.

Apparently, the two plus years Reebok had the “system” in development was not enough. Perhaps there was too much wind tunnel testing and not enough on ice game testing?

Darren Dreger at TSN is reporting that Reebok has developed a treatment to allow sweat to escape the “system” while keeping them reasonably dry. Well, that was quick. Were the Reebok engineers the same guys that fixed the air scrubbers on Apollo 13 some thirty-seven years ago?

It seems to us at OFB that Reebok and the league has 87 days or so to fix the problem. In 87 days, #87 will playing at an outdoor game in Buffalo where waterlogged gloves and skates in average temperatures of 24 degrees could lead to a serious case of pneumonia. Two teams unable to compete due to illness? New York/Toronto, we have a problem.

Thanks to Sean at PopJocks.com for the assist.

NHL players and equipment managers might have tolerated their new unforms being unsightly relative to their predecessors, but what if they not only don’t work as marketed (repelling moisture, making players more comfortable) but actually make player performance worse? That would appear to be precisely the case. Last week’s Pittsburgh Post Gazette alerted its readers to the disconcerting development that some Penguins have nearly drowned while dressed in Reebok’s new threads.

“They do what they were designed to do, as far as repelling the water,” defenseman Mark Eaton said. “But we’ve found, the last three or four days of wearing them, that, when the water’s repelled, it has nowhere to go but into your skates and gloves.”

Water that is repelled has to go somewhere. Apparently it’s all going from uniform tops into players gloves, and from the form-fitting socks directly down into players’ boots. “By the end of the second [period] or the start of the third, your skates are sloshing around and you have to change your gloves because they’re [soaked],” Eaton added.

Here’s Gary Roberts’ take:

“My hands are soaked, my feet are soaked,” he said. “I feel like it’s May, in the playoffs, I’m sweating so much. That seems to be a complaint with a lot of guys.”

Mark Recchi also isn’t being quiet about the new mess. He noted that the remarkable amount of moisture now inundating players’ skates is likely to lead to their breaking down sooner, requiring replacement. Elite boots commonly worn by NHLers cost more than $500 a pair.

“Recchi suggested that, although some complications caused by the new sweaters will be evident immediately — like how some players will have to alter their in-game routines to deal with unduly wet equipment — others might not be apparent for a while.

“My gloves never got soaked like [they do now],” he said. “They’re literally drenched by the end of an hour[-long] practice.

“I’m going to have to have two pairs of gloves ready [for games]. I’ve never done that. I’ve always used one pair a game. Some guys are used to that, but that’s going to be different. Maybe I’ll have to change my socks between periods, which I don’t like doing. You start sloshing.

“I think you’ll see skates break down quicker because of it; they’ll absorb more [perspiration], because it’s all going down into your skate and your socks.”

Back in the good ‘ole days of tradition, hockey equipment managers had heavy lifting to do at games’ end each night loading and hauling wet gear from arena to bus to airport back to arenas in new cities — in the middle of the night. So from the sounds of things this fall, Reebok has actually managed to make the jobs of some of the hardest working men in hockey harder. If Mark Recchi’s right, equipment guys could soon be faced with a doubling of their gear packing gigs each night. Additionally, the increase in moisture about gear and rooms is an increased health risk to the players, especially in winter.

Per the Washington Capitals:

The Washington Capitals will unveil their new uniforms at a special Draft Day Party on Friday, June 22, held at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Va. The event will be held in conjunction with the live broadcast on Versus of the first round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft, which takes place that evening in Columbus, Ohio.

The new uniforms will mark a return to a red, white and blue color scheme — the colors the Capitals wore from their first season in 1974-75 through 1994-95. The Capitals are the first team in the NHL to announce their plans to unveil their new uniforms, which are produced by Reebok and feature the Rbk EDGE Uniform System technology that was introduced at the 2007 NHL All-Star Game in Dallas. The Capitals are the first team planning to have their new uniforms on hand at the NHL Entry Draft.”

Fans of every team sport enjoy owning and wearing the uniforms of their heroes, but the relationship between the hockey fan and the sport’s sweater is distinctive in the sporting landscape. We’ve documented this in some detail at OFB, and so to us the news yesterday of the Caps overhauling their look for next season struck us as significant indeed. It is not of course on the order of a major trade or free agent acquisition or management shakeup, but it is not inconsequential either. And it might not be uninteresting to examine why.

I was able to find a YouTube link to the entire “Hockey Falls” series of superbly amusing television commercials that ran during ESPN’s coverage of the NHL years back, and two things stood out to me about the litany of spots. Every one featured the puck-crazed enthusiasts in their hockey sweaters, in every setting at every hour. And one spot, titled “April,” magnificently illuminates the sweater’s enduring lure for its owner. It takes place over a bar’s bubble hockey game and is predicated on an ex-girlfriend presenting herself and her new boyfriend before her jilted sweatered mullet, to flaunt her new dalliance.

“That’s just wrong,” the mulleted friend tells his stunned and sullen playing partner.

“And he’s wearing my sweater, too,” replies the cross-checked to the heart . . . “That’s really wrong.”

It would be really wrong, in my judgment, if the Caps didn’t get their new look really right. I’m pretty sure that last summer the Ducks didn’t (although admittedly they had nowhere to go but up with their look), and I know with their BuffaSlug the Sabres didn’t, either. I hope the fashion bar set by Caps’ management is considerably higher.

You see, we in hockey D.C. have had so little to be fantastically enthusiastic about over the past 30-plus years. Spasms of victory and achievement book-ended and blunted most often by enormous struggle. With the present darkness yielding to a new and far more promising dawn, it would be wonderful if Hockey Falls, Nation’s Capital style, could march into Verizon Center next autumn outfitted in fresh new threads that were the talk of the entire league. And perhaps beyond.

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:

• That it achieve durable and classic distinction. As a fan, I’m not interested in change for change’s sake, and being back on message boards in seven or nine years’ time reading full-throated fan appeals for an improved look. Shifting looks virtually by the year are for the NBA. It seems to me that you overhaul your look to improve it but you do so with the expectation that you get it so right with the remake that you arrive at a realm akin to the durable distinction of the Original Six appearance. If you’re not striving for this rarefied realm, why bother?

Here’s where we stand: the league is no longer hiding its intent to obliterate the classic and novel look of its athletes in action and replace it with something grotesque and profane and indefensible and never to be purchased by its fans. Gary Bettman, confirming hockey fans’ worst instincts about him, recently told Reuters that he was genuinely excited about the sweater redesign, despite the fact that everyone who’s viewed them judges them worse-looking than Bjork at the Academy Awards.

And a league “insider” sent this gem to ESPN recently:

“I recently viewed a promo DVD of the new NHL uniforms. From what I can tell, traditionalist fans are going to be pissed. The tucked-in jersey style looks weird, especially because the new pants from Reebok ride up real high on the sides of the back to help protect players’ kidneys — so high, in fact, that it creates somewhat of a V shape on the back, and almost obscures the bottom of the uniform number.

“The coolest thing about the new unis was actually the new technology in the socks. They’ve kept the horizontal stripes, instead of Nike’s shinguard look. What’s interesting is that they’ve added reusable compression into the sock itself. No more need for poly tape around the socks to ensure a tight fit.“

Fine, tinker with the socks if you must — genuine technological advances are welcomed. But for the love of the Charlestown Chiefs, leave our beloved sweaters intact! Caps’ owner Ted Leonsis fielded chat questions with Washington Post online readers last week, and one irate inquisitor pointed out the harming effects the slimmed-down sweater would have on more portly fans . . . which is to say, most of us in the stands.

About the “snug jerseys”: Ted,

Have you seen the typical hockey fan? To put it politely, “snug jerseys” won’t fit well. Stick with the loose fitting ones or I think you’ll have problems in selling them to the fans . . .“

During the same chat session, another irate fan chimed in:

The Phone Booth, D.C.: Please, Ted, is there anything you can do to stop Bettman’s upcoming snug-jersey plan? I love the idea of the Caps changing colors to some sort of red-white-blue combo, but the idea of tight, tucked-in jerseys seems ridiculous.” (Continued)

A reader this week shared with us word of an online petition up and running to combat the NHL’s plan to jettison its time-honored sweaters for something markedly uglier, produced by Reebok, beginning next season. More than 1,000 have signed it, OFB signed it, and if you value the classic and distinctive look of our heroes on the ice as they battle now, we’d urge you to too.

It’s a tall order — little ‘ole fans uniting and thwarting the seven-figure (at least) investment by a corporate American behemoth, with the blessing of the NHL brass. But we’re mindful of grassroots campaigns besting the power structure in the recent past. Think Harriet Miers.

We were struck by the passion signatories published at the NHL Sweater Redesign Protest and thought we’d share samples of it with you: (Continued)

I am a big fan of Gary Bettman’s general handling of the most significant challenge on his watch — the lockout of ‘04-’05 — but it’s his handling of the smaller things that are still near and dear to the puckhead’s heart that really roils me.

Remember the Glow-puck?

The fresh assault comes at one of the things that truly distinguishes hockey from all the other sports: its sacred sweaters. (Perhaps hockey’s most enduring and beloved piece of literature is Roch Carrier’s The Hockey Sweater.) (Continued)