New NHL jerseys

I have been searching the internet (not quite all of it though) for pictures of new team jerseys, but have managed to find just a few. So far most of them suck real bad!

However, I do want to start off with the only jersey to get five stars from me (so far), Boston Bruins. This jersey absolutely reeks of tradition and class. Unfortunately, not many teams nowadays seem to value those things. The original six teams have always passed in my book simply because they are all 200 years old and no one dares to mess with tradition in places like Montreal, Toronto and Detroit.

It seems like most of the newer teams just let Rbk do what they felt like and go crazy (which is exactly what they did). Nashville's (a jersey I have always hated) doesn't even look like a hockey jersey anymore. It looks like a really ugly football shirt, that someone threw up on, with way too many vertical lines, designed to attract younger fans how could care less about traditon and probably even like football more than hockey. The Los Angeles jersey is ok I guess (although I never cared much for that purple color), except for the Los Angeles text at the bottom. I always thought the shark logo looked kind of stupid (though not nearly as stupid as that damn duck), but now someone redesigned it so it looks like it's from a Disney comic book. Worse! If the Florida Panthers would lose that big red vertical patch on the arms it actually look alright. I think the Ottawa Senators look ok. There is nothing in that jersey to get me irritated. But, there is also nothing that gets me excited. The old roman logo looked cooler.

That is pretty much all I have seen so far. I will get back with more once I have viewed the rest. I am very excited to see how bad the Canucks will have messed up with their new jersey. Will they perhaps bring in yet another new logo (hate that whale one). I wish they would come to their senses and just stick with one design, preferably the black, red and yellow from the 90s or the blue, green and white from the 70s.

Any greatness left?

With almost two months passed since the UFA circus began, there are still a few high profile names out there. A healing Peter Forsberg has sparked an interest from several teams, including Vancouver, Detroit and Ottawa. In addition to that his previous teams Colorado, Philadelphia and Nashville are also in the hunt for his signature. The injury prone forward is a gamle and every one knows it. He could end up playing 30-40 games scoring around as many points. However, he could just as well be the one to tip the scale, pushing that team all the way to the cup.

Eric Lindros seems to be heading for retirement as a player. I think his main motivation and future is with the NHLPA, which he is putting a lot of work into. Healthy or not, these days he is only average as a player, a shadow of the guy who once led the Legion of Doom.

The Columbus Blue Jackets have shown an interest in Michael Peca, and that seems like a good fit to me. They have an up and coming team with lots of young players. A great defensive-minded veteran like Peca is just what they need. Granted he's not the player he was ten years ago (who is?), I still think he has a couple of miles left.

Last but not least, Ed Belfour has been rumored to be heading to Sweden to play for Leksand Stars in the second division (not the Elite League as stated by TSN.ca). I seriously doubt the truthness to this claim, and I also hope for it to be untrue. I can se it now.. Belfour is paid way to much (as a crowd pleaser) and ends up playing a handful of games before breaking the contract and flying back to Canada after some drunken brawl with some locals somewhere in Sweden. As a supporter of Leksand I am hoping the Eagle will see that it is time to finally draw the curtain on a fantastic carreer.

Penner strikes Oil.. and gold

I can't say I'm surprised over Michael Nylander's choice to play with the Washington Capitals instead of the Edmonton Oilers. For some time I have been wondering what the hell is going on in this former great club, and had I been in Nylander's skates, or anyone else's for that matter, I would have thought long and hard before accepting an offer from Edmonton. This is, of course, unless I was paid $4.25 a year. For that money I guess I would play pretty much anywhere.

Is Dustin Penner worth this much? Of course not! Only a few players in the NHL are worth that much and he certainly isn't one of them. This guy posted 29 goals and 45 points last season, adding 8 points in the Duck's playoff run. I might be wrong here and Penner may very well be a success in Edmonton, but it still can't be worth it financially.

Wouldn't it have been both better and cheaper to keep Ryan Smyth, the heart and soul of the team, than to send him packing over a couple of hundred thousand dollars? The only good thing in this story is both clubs are losers and Smyth and Penner are the only winners.