A Very Low-Key New York

In keeping with the unveiling spirit, I thought that some of the more financially-sound teams would put on a pretty good show for their fans. If Columbus can hold a party, and they have yet to make the playoffs, I expect more from teams like Colorado and Toronto. I was going to throw the New York Rangers in that club too, but they have taken the fun out of the unveiling of their new duds by posting them on their website. This seems oddly un-Rangerish. Normally, the Rangers make a big splash by throwing around bags of money with little regard for anyone. Look at what they did with their free agency signings. So what the heck happened in this case? In retrospect, it appears that the Rangers pulled the images of their new jerseys off their site, so this would explain why there is no unveiling ceremony. In that case, we'll call this "a leak".

Glamour and money aside, the Rangers decided against having the shield logo and/or the Lady Liberty logo on their new jerseys. I like the shield logo, and it should still be used as their primary logo. The Lady Liberty logo was alright, but I wasn't a huge fan of it. Personally, the monument is a tribute to the United States of America, and not the face of New York City, but that's just me. It is a decent logo, but I don't see the St. Louis Blues using the Arch in their logo or the Toronto Maple Leafs using the CN Tower in their logo. Let monuments be monuments.

As for the jerseys, the home jersey looks much like it did last year. While I'd never rip a team for going traditional, the jersey feels incomplete to me. Maybe it's the absence of shoulder patches, but it just looks too bare. However, the traditional design of the Rangers, as well as the Bruins, will always receive a resounding thumbs-up from this writer.

The road jersey is a mirror image of the home jersey in its design. One thing that really bothers me on both these jerseys is the tapered bottom hem. It just looks dumb, especially with the striping across the bottom of the jersey where the traditional hemline would be. The other complaint is the fudging of the diagonal wordmark due to the stupid front panel on the Rbk Edge template. They don't have the same shoulder-to-hip diagonal feeling that the old Rangers' jerseys did.

The lace-up necklines will always receive a kudos from me. I am fond of it on the Bruins' new duds, and the same can be said for the Rangers' new jerseys.

All in all, these jerseys rank up there with the Bruins in that they are traditional-looking, have no ridiculous design elements, and are aesthetically-pleasing. Boston still has a slight edge in their retro look, but the Rangers aren't far behind. Good show from the Broadway Blueshirts!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!