New Gators

If it's summer, there's a good chance that someone is changing their look for the upcoming season. It should come as no surprise that this article is about one of those changes, although this change seems highly unnecessary and certainly a downgrade in this writer's opinion. The ECHL's Florida Everblades decided to update their look today, and the unveiling felt a little underwhelming. The uniform pictured above will no longer be worn by the Everblades, replaced by something far simpler.

Without further adieu, here's the new look for the Everblades!

Yeah, underwhelming. Who the hell was in charge of this redesign? Did they graduate from the Dallas Stars' School of Design? No logo on the white jersey, the loss of the hem stripe on the dark jersey, the shoulder number on the dark jersey, the chest number on the white jersey... these jerseys are literally a collection of everything that was wrong with the Reebok designs within the last decade!

I'm sorry, but this new design pushes the Everblades into the distinct position of being the worst jerseys in hockey. For a Peter Karmanos Jr.-owned team, that's not hard to believe since his Carolina Hurricanes wear one of the worst alternates in the history of hockey as well, but his ECHL team is now the worst-dressed team in hockey. Period. Not even close.

The only saving grace that these uniforms have is that the dark uniform is green. As you may know, I really believe it is an underutilized colour in the world of hockey, and I happen to like the shade that the Everblades employ. Everything else, however, is a raging tire fire on these jerseys. Compared to the previous iteration, these uniforms are the equivalent of burlap sacks in the fashion world.

Heavy fail, Florida. We've seen the Buffa-Slug. We've seen the University of Dallas Stars. We've seen the apron strings and the shoulder numbers. Each of these were replaced, and then you went ahead and brought everything back that fans hated. Congratulations, Florida, on being the worst-dressed team in all of professional hockey.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!