NHL Leaks Thirds

Oh, Bill Daly. I feel your pain. It's never a good thing when the company you work for reveals secret designs that are supposed to be revealed down the line. It's never a good thing when a simple mistake becomes a national story. As you may have read, the international edition of the NHL online store had the alternate jerseys for both the Anaheim Ducks and Colorado Avalanche online on Monday night, and everyone got a sneak peek at the new threads for these two teams. I feel your pain on this one, Bill Daly.

So let's take a look at these two new jerseys. We'll start with Anaheim simply due to alphabetic order. Ok? Ok.

The Ducks will virtually retain their Stadium Series jerseys with some slight changes. The sleeve stripes are a little different, the hem stripes are different, and gone is the metallic duck's foot logo. The Ducks will reach into the past and bring back Wild Wing's mask logo to wear this season as an alternate jersey, and I have to say that I'm a fan of this logo. I have an original Ducks jersey, and it's still a pretty sharp jersey. In saying this, the orange alternate isn't a bad look, but that logo feels lie it's out of place. It's growing on me, but it still seems a little off right now because those were never the colours of the old Ducks. We'll see how these look on the ice, but they get a pass for now simply because that logo is so iconic.

Oh boy. Colorado had a terrible alternate before, and there wasn't much wiggle room to fall further. Or so I thought. First, the logo is alright, but it's a bastardization of the original Colorado Rockies logo. Why not just ask the NHL if they can use that original logo? The design is fairly simplistic which isn't a problem, but it feels like it's missing something. I'm not sure what at this point, but it just feels incomplete to me. Almost like a fan mock-up or a reader submission of what the Avalanche should wear. I'm not sold on these new alternates. There's something about them I just don't like.

Seeing a leak like this isn't the best for the NHL in terms of helping its club members generate hype, but I'm sure there will be as many people who like the new looks as much as those that don't like them. That's pretty normal. And while I'm not asking for the wackiness of the 1990s where there were sublimated designs on jerseys, I'd like to see the teams honour their pasts or past local teams a little more with alternates that reach out into their communities. After all, sports teams are a civic entity, so why not represent the city or region they're found in a little better?

Feel free to have your take in the comments, readers. As always, I'm interested in your thoughts on these new jerseys!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!