Delivery Date: Unknown

With the three arms of the Canadian Hockey League kicking off their seasons tonight, there are a lot of teams with new or slightly altered looks thanks to the CHL's deal struck with Under Armour who will now outfit all 61 teams across the three CHL leagues. Getting 61 teams ready fpr a season is a Herculean task for any manufacturer to undertake, but Under Armour knew the deadline when they agreed to the deal. However, one team made their debut tonight without new uniforms.

I'm not saying that dressing 60 teams is some easy-to-accomplish feat, but having one team open their season after they specifically redesigned their logo and uniforms feels like a failure on the manufacturer's part. Under Armour seemingly was ready to get 61 teams ready for the 2025-26 CHL season, but it turns out they were not as the Saint John Sea Dogs were forced to wear their old uniforms as they hosted the Cape Breton Screaming Eagles this weekend.

The Sea Dogs published a statement on Facebook yesterday with the information that the new uniforms had yet to arrive, and that they were expecting the uniforms to arrive in New Brunswick "later in the season". Thankfully, they still had enough of their old CCM jeseys kicking around that they could dress in those, but one has to wonder response the CHL will have after signing a five-year deal with Under Armour at the end of May. Clearly, this isn't an ideal start.

There were repots that the OHL's Kingston Frontenacs were also facing this same problem, but it seems they received their jerseys sometime over the last week as I watched some of their game tonight. They were wearing the Under Armour jerseys against Ottawa, but apparently Under Armour has some sort of "quality control with the unique, metallic fabric" used in their jersey design.

As Gare Joyce of The Kingston Whig-Standard wrote in his article above, "the sweaters were supposed to arrive at latest in mid-August, because they’re not game-ready, but rather require involved preparation. At this late date, it would be a mighty challenge to assemble the sweaters in time for the season opener, the stitching of numbers and name plates in addition to the sponsors patches."

He added that the Frontenacs couldn't wear last season's jerseys as "the team no longer possesses them — they were auctioned off at the end of the season". During the preseason, the Frontenacs wore practice jerseys in games to make up for the absent jerseys, but that's not the look that the Frontenacs wanted to have starting this season. They weren't the only team irritated with Under Armour as Oshawa Generals media spokesman Carter Smith, speaking about about a late delivery of jerseys, told Joyce, "It's not ideal."

The Brantford Bulldogs, also referenced in Joyce's article as potentially starting the season without their jerseys, had their Under Armour gear ready to go for their game tonight against the Kitchener Rangers. With these three OHL teams confirmed as having their jerseys in time for their opening games, that leaves Saint John as the lone CHL team without their jerseys. Going 60-for-61 in the jersey manufacturing game would be considered a failure when Under Armour had three months to have the jerseys ready and delivered.

I'm sure that the CHL is having quiet discussions with Under Armour about the Sea Dogs' situation, but one has to wonder if the complaints from other teams are hitting home at the CHL head office. Obviously, neither side is going to claim any sort of breach of contract, but there should be some pressure from the CHL on Under Armour to meet deadlines moving forward. While you can move around "Pink in the Rink" or "Hockey Night in Saint John", you can't really have a St. Patrick's Day game in April for obvious reasons.

It goes without saying that this isn't the way you want to start a five-year partnership, so Under Armour's got some serious work to do.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!