More Black Hurricanes

I was never a fan of the Carolina Hurricanes ditching their red jerseys for their alternate black uniforms which, unfortunately, is now their home uniform. Black is a colour that virtually any and all teams could opt to wear, but hockey should be a game of colour when it comes to what's worn on the ice. We have red lines, blue lines, white ice, and red posts, so why add more black to the game when the officials and the puck are well-represented by those colours already? Well, the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes apparently never got that message as they introduced a new black alternate uniform to their jersey options, and they wore those new jerseys to open the season against the Swift Current Broncos tonight to start their WHL season!

It should be noted that the Hurricanes posted a 5-2-0-0 record in seven meetings with Swift Current last season, and that included a 3-0-0-0 record at home during the season series. Obviously, Lethbridge was looking to continue those winning ways with the Broncos visiting for opening night in the WHL, but this would be the first time in a very long time that a Hurricanes team dressed in black for an opening night. The colour of one's jersey shouldn't affect how one plays, so would we need to track the Hurricanes' record this season in black?

Well, the good news is that the Hurricanes, despite falling behind 1-0 in the opening period off a Maddix McCagherty power-play goal, rallied in the third period to send the fans home happy with the a 3-1 victory. The win marked the first for newly-appointed head coach Bill Peters while goaltender Harrison Meneghin made 40 saves to earn the first-star honours in the game. I'm not certain that the Hurricanes will want to surrender that many shots every night this season, but Meneghin earned that victory for his team on this night.

Here are the highlights from tonight's game with black jerseys.

Nope. Just nope. I don't like the look of the Hurricanes in black, and that goes for both the WHL and the NHL teams. You have colours that you've used in virtually all your branding - stick with the colours. Black is lazy and uninspiring as a jersey colour unless there's a signficant history with the franchise, and Lethbridge simply does not have that history. Use red, use blue, or figure something else out.

While I do understand that merchandising for WHL teams is important when it comes to generating income, a black jersey won't be one of those jerseys that everyone loves a decade from now. Yes, there likely will be an uptick in sales for the Hurricanes' new black jersey when compared to sales of their normal jersey set, one has to wonder when the bump will start to plateau for the Hurricanes. Historical jerseys would likely have a longer bump due to those past jerseys appealing to fans from various eras in the area, but I'm not making these decisions for the Hurricanes. We'll have to see what kind of revenue is generated from these new alternates.

Before I wrap this up, what team wears an alternate jersey in their first home game of the season, let alone the season-opening game for two teams? Has this ever happened at any other level of hockey? I could see the Hurricanes wearing the new alternate jerseys on their next homestand, but to open a season and play one home game in those alternates before heading out for a three-game road trip is something I've never seen before at any level of hockey.

The Lethbridge Hurricanes are 1-0-0-0 in their new alternate jerseys, and they'll be worn again this season at some point. It won't be for the next week, though, as the Hurricanes visit Swift Current and Edmonton twice before returning home for a game against the Moose Jaw Warriors on October 6. They'll be wearing white on the road, so we'll see if that second home game has the Hurricanes in their normal jerseys against the Broncos or if they're back in black during the first weekend of October.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!