AHL Fashion Show

With the upcoming 2010-11 hockey season right around the corner, we're going to start seeing some teams debut their fashion ideas for the new season. The NHL, of course, has shown off some new threads for the upcoming Heritage Classic in Calgary, so it's no surprise that some AHL teams are also getting themselves ready for a new look this winter. We have two teams that have moved, so we'll take a quick peek at their new logos and fashions, and one well-established franchise decided to go in a different direction with their road uniforms.

We'll start with the Charlotte Checkers. The AHL affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes moves closer to home as they leave Albany, New York for Charlotte, North Carolina. The Albany River Rats will be replaced by another team, though, and we'll check them out below.

The jerseys that the Checkers will wear in their first season in the AHL look nearly similar to those of their parent Carolina Hurricanes. While the logo comes directly from the Charlotte' ECHL team - providing instant brand recognition within the Charlotte community - the jerseys are very Carolina-esque. The Checkers' logo is coloured to reflect the new affiliation with the Hurricanes, but the only major change that the Checkers made was to incorporate an alternate logo on the black alternate jersey. Otherwise, this is just a mash-up of the ECHL Checkers and the NHL Hurricanes.

The lack of creativity in this situation receives a thumbs-down. Minor-pro hockey gets a little slack for allowing creativity with their uniforms, but Charlotte brings no creativity or imagination to the table. And that's disappointing considering some of their more imaginative promotional jerseys in the past. The only good news? They don't have to change the logo on their home ice.

From Charlotte, we go back to Albany where the New Jersey Devils have returned home. Well, the minor-pro Devils have. After having established an agreement with the Lowell Lock Monsters in 1998, then establishing their own AHL team in the Lowell Devils in 2006 after the Rats came to terms with the Carolina Hurricanes to be their affiliate, the NHL Devils decided to move their AHL affiliate closer to home by transplanting the team in Albany, New York. As Albany lost their team to Charlotte, they gain back a very familiar group as the Albany Devils will begin play in 2010-11.

There isn't much to report from the jersey perspective except that the new logo will be featured on the front instead of the Lowell logo. Otherwise, there are no new jerseys as the Devils will continue to look like the NHL Devils, and the mandate from Lou Lamiorello is the same: no alternates.

Lastly, we have a brand-new road jersey that will be worn by the Milwaukee Admirals this season. The Admirals, who wore gray last season on the road, will replace the somewhat-drab gray with black this season. You read that correctly: black.

As you may be aware, this writer has a serious issue with black hockey jerseys, specifically the number of teams that turn to black as a road or alternate colour. As much as I am aware of the Admirals' colour scheme containing black, they were quite unique with their road grays. The only saving grace this season is that they will still wear their baby blue alternates. Otherwise, thumbs-down to the black road jersey. It just isn't very creative.

There are your new looks for this season thus far. The AHL always sees some additional changes, so you never know what else may come about. The first Antler Banter report will be published in September once the Moose schedule is released, so look for it in the coming month!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!