If you were around at the time, the summer of 1991 saw the North Stars coming off a Stanley Cup Final appearance against the Pittsburgh Penguins where they fell to the Penguins, but had played some inspired hockey as an unlikely finalist all spring to reach the final series. Norm Green, the former Flames owner who had been recruited by the NHL to save the North Stars franchise in Minnesota in 1990, decided that a rebranding was in order for the Stars - an idea that had been speculated since Green's purchase of the franchise from George and Gordon Gund.
Honestly, in looking at those two uniforms above, the original North Stars jersey is far superior to anything that the rebranded North Stars could have ever brought to the table. The colours are bold, the logo is iconic, and the choice of green as a primary colour in hockey, as said many times on this blog before, is extremely underutilized. While Nanne was eventually right in that it was easier to move the team without "North" emblazoned across the chests of players, the rebranding to black was ultimately, in my opinion, a colossal error.
Which brings us to today.
Look at the depth on the Stars logo on the left with the colouring and shadowing giving the Stars logo some life in comparison to the monochrome, pock-marked Stars logo on the right. There's simply no comparison between the two because the logo on the left is so good and the logo on the right is so bad! "But the 'D' has shadowing!" I hear you exclaim. Sure, except you can't see that shadowing unless you're up close. It's monochromatic garbage in terms of wrecking a respectable logo.
And the colour? Well, let's do a little history lesson here as well.
When the league decided to go in a different direction in 1997 for the 1998 NHL All-Star Game, the Stars simply grabbed the star-patterned jerseys for themselves and introduced them as alternate jerseys in the 1997-98 season before adopting a home and road version of the jerseys as their primary wear for the next eight seasons. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? The Stars wearing star-patterned jerseys simply fit perfectly for a Star rebrand, but they didn't do something new or innovative to improve their brand. They just followed a trend that had already been done.
In saying that, consider the following.
The Stars aren't doing something different or innovative with their new alternate jersey here. They're simply following another trend that has already become passé. More and more teams are opting for colour in their alternate jerseys, and it makes the game far more watchable as people want to see these colourful uniforms in person. We don't watch black-and-white TVs, so why would NHL teams opt to make black alternate jerseys part of their wardrobe when the colour palatte is available to them?
I'm sure you know where this jersey lands on the "Good Or Dumb" rating system I use if you've read this far. There is nothing new, innovative, different, or alternate about this jersey outside of the introduction of a new colour of green that the Stars can absorb into their colour scheme. Marketing buzzwords and the appeal to civic pride are tossed around in this unveiling, but the Dallas Stars missed a key component of introducing an alternate jersey: making a good alternate jersey.
I can't fathom going through the jersey design process to come up with a final product that I could print with a black-and-white printer and colour with a standard-issued highlighter from my desk drawer. If the Dallas Stars want to dump money on my doorstep for an alternate jersey design where it requires me to literally work for five minutes - three of those ensuring that I have enough black toner in my printer for the job - I'd be happy to collect any monies they're willing to throw my way.
This is the DUMBEST alternate jersey unveiling I've ever been witness to, and I lived through the Mooterus era. Just like the North Stars change from green to black, this alternate needs to be scrapped sooner rather than later. Like now.
Until next time, Happy Halloween everyone!
