As to it looking feminine, I can agree on that, but it’s not the first thing that sticks out to me. Watching the superskills last night, I had to wonder as to how much faster a player can skate in a competition like that when wearing the new threads(they wore their respective team, old school jerseys). I’ve gotta see this new stuff in non-all-star designs that are awfully designed. I know they’re all-stars, but do you have to accentuate that?

The other thing is goalies. That extra fabric can help stop pucks, especially in the arm pits. There’s just enough extra jersey in some spots to slow a puck sometimes. How will that change, if at all?

No sports equipment company would go through this, without consulting players during the development process. Now, since the uni’s are developed by RBK, my guess is they used Crosby and others under contract to solicit feedback on the look and fit of the sweater. In any venture, you make the product for the consumer…the ultimate end consumer in this case is the athlete. If RBK and the NHL by-passed that (like the NBA did with the new ball), then they deserve the criticism players and the NHLPA should level at the league and RBK. And if that were the case…RBK and the NHL would stand to lose big (probably RBK, more).

OK…whew.

Ahhh…one more thing. For those that say this isn’t about fashion and is about function, that’s a load of crap. It’s ALL about fashion. It is ALL about how the players look on TV and on the ice. This uni package is definitely designed to make the player look sleeker, something the NHL feels is necessary to attract the average fan (funny, but the casual fans I talk to tell me the same thing, ‘I can’t see the puck on TV’, not, the uni’s are too bulky). Add to that, the desire to try and market a new apparel technology that RBK has developed…and you have a fashion statement with functional characteristics (see, iPod, Air Max 360, Scion), and that comes with a price tag. Which, slaps in the face of the fans, once again.

It’s all a Catch-22 for the NHL. I don’t think they handled the pre-show criticism well. They never prepared their fans for dramatic change in the look of the player…only how the players and game would be played. It just seems as though the NHL marketing department is playing catch-up all the time…instead of innovating and getting new and catchy things out there.

Am I done?? Maybe.

I left a comment at Kukla’s about the initial look-see of these babies…and I still hold my opinion to be true. The shift from horizontal flow of the sweater to a more vertical flow is, well, feminine. Example…go online and look at the ‘womens’ jerseys (only sold in pink) on NHL.com. They have the same flowing lines…vertical.

I don’t have a problem with the tighter fit…that actually looks pretty good. If you watch some vintage games in the 50′s and 60′s, the sweaters were actually quite short and much tighter than todays. That look is OK.

These jersey’s slightly remind me of the Chicago White Sox jerseys’ from the late 70′s…the way the bottom of the jersey flows out the back (the only reason you do that on a shirt, is to tuck it in so it stays tucked in!).

Anyway, back to the original point…the sweaters are feminine. I think, though coloring, each team could do a better job of getting their colors and logo’s into that sweater, without having to use the vertical lines that are stitched into it.