New Hockey Sweaters? Hurrah!

One of my favourite things about the offseason in sports is the debut of new uniforms. I remember watching the draft or other events as a kid and being amazed when teams debut new duds. To this day I still love looking at new uniforms, whether they be real or concepts.

So, when the Dallas Stars and Carolina Hurricanes announced they were revealing new sweaters on the same day, I was pretty excited. Using hashtags #NewStarRising and #NewStorm, both teams used social media to build excitement and give some teasers. Here's my opinion of what was debuted:

Dallas Stars

Image from Dallas Stars (Facebook)

First of all, I'm really happy the Stars went back to green. It's a colour that isn't used as a primary by many teams in the league and that's a shame. It's a nice new crest as well, although I miss the yellow/gold that has been around the team for decades, dating back to when they were in Minnesota. If they chose gold instead of the silver, I think it would make the crest really stand out from the sweater.

Image from NHL.com

The team chose to be generic with black pants and a green stripe. It's basic, but it brings the whole look together. With that green, I'm not sure that having green shorts would be fantastic. It might look nice on special occasions - maybe St. Patrick's Day? - but I think it would be overwhelming. One interesting thing to note is the different colour of stripes on the white sweater. It's odd, but I like it.

So, overall, this was a fantastic upgrade for the Dallas Stars.

Carolina Hurricanes

Image from Carolina Hurricanes (Facebook)

Before we get into this, I was a fan of the old Hurricanes sweaters. Having the "Hurricane Watch" flag as striping along the bottom was a very nice touch, unique to the team. (They did keep it inside the collar.) Now, the whole uniform is very bland as the team removed a lot of the black piping. The home sweaters are especially similar to Team Canada's sweaters. (Well, the Hurricanes do provide a lot of players to Hockey Canada for the World Hockey Championship...)

Image from hurricanes.nhl.com

One interesting is the shoulder yoke. It extends down past the name, giving a nice contrast to all of the other teams that use that design. The shorts are also very plain, which does not add to the overall look of the uniform.

Anyway, as I said before, the whole uniform is very bland. It reminds me of how the Tampa Bay Lightning removed a lot of their individuality from their sweaters and essentially became a copy of the Toronto Maple Leafs. To me, this is an example of how simple and clean is not always the best option.

What are your thoughts on the new sweaters? Sound off in the comments below, or hit us up on Twitter.

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