Tuesday 7 June 2011

Let's Do The Time Warp Again

That was quite a beating that the Bruins put on the Canucks last night. Let's give credit where credit is due, though: Tim Thomas was outstanding, and his hit on Henrik Sedin deserves a little chatter as well. I am a little concerned about the health of Nathan Horton after he took that devastating hit from Aaron Rome. Horton is reportedly done in these playoffs after suffering a severe concussion despite reports saying he was doing fine at a Boston hospital. Let's just hope that Horton's head is good to go for next season, and that he doesn't wake up thinking he's playing in Florida again.

Although, if he did, he might not recognize the team. It was announced on Monday that the Panthers are going officially unveil their new red home jerseys at the NHL Entry Draft in Minnesota on June 24. The Panthers must think it's 2002 again after hiring former NHL player Kevin Dineen to coach the Cats, and now they are officially bringing back their red uniforms as their primary home uniforms.

"Red represents passion, desire, commitment and aggressiveness and that's exactly the type of team GM Dale Tallon is building here in South Florida," Panthers President Michael Yormark said in a team release. "It also represents our franchise's desire to achieve success on and off the ice, to win, and to build a team and a franchise that our fans and the South Florida community can be proud of."

Red represents all that? No wonder teams like Detroit and Montreal have had so much success over the years! On a more serious note, the best years in Panthers history have come while wearing red. The team wore red in their only Stanley Cup Final appearance, so the change back to red is probably a welcome sight for fans in south Florida.

I have a red Panthers jersey and two navy blue Panthers jerseys. I will tell you that I love the red one more than the navy blue jerseys because of how it looks. The fact that the Panthers are now trending away from navy blue after going with the colour as their primary home and alternate colours since 2002 is a trend I will happily support.

According to the Miami Herald, "[a] restyled red jersey will become Florida's primary jersey this season - the first time the red will be the team's primary home jersey since the early 2000s when it was relegated to alternate thirds and then dropped during the Reebok restyle in 2007. I was told Alan Cohen hated the red look, and for parts of his ownership, the team only wore that color on weekends."

So let's review:

  • The Panthers will wear red uniforms again.
  • Kevin Dineen is back in the NHL.
  • Winnipeg has an NHL franchise.
Somebody pinch me because it seems like it's 1993 all over again. Dare I say "we're going back to the future"?

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!

2 comments:

Peter Santellan said...

I do agree with the Panthers going back to the red look. I am also happy for Dineen being named head coach, as he was a finalist for the Vancouver job prior to Vigneault being named to that role (as Theo Fleury astutely points out in his autobiography).

mtjaws said...

As a Panther fan, I am so happy that the red jerseys are coming back. I just hope they aren't too different from the old ones. The navy wasn't bad, but the apron strings and sleeve stripes were just not good. And when they introduced baby blue on the latest alts, it didn't even look like the Panthers out there (except for the same losing seasons). The future is bright here in FL, and I hope it starts with the return to red.