2008-2009 NHL Third Jerseys

Posted by Mother Pucker on November 24th, 2008

Now that they have all been revealed, its time for me to do a review of this years class of third jerseys. I’m going to go through them alphabetically, and then give you my top picks at the end, so be sure to read on and voice your opinions as well. Also, a special thanks to IceThetics for being so diligent in gathering this years third jersey info and sharing it with us all!

Atlanta Thrashers

Is it too early to give out the awful award to the first jersey in the list? That’s the first thing I thought when I first saw this jersey, and I still think the same thing today. Way to be creative and whip up a sweet logo to go along with the players number on the front of that basketball, I mean football, I mean hockey jersey.

Boston Bruins

This isn’t too bad, but it’s still not the best that the bruins could have done. Their original jersey sports one of the most popular logos in the game, and I think that they were smart in not directly screwing with it, but I still think that they would do better with something similar to the UofA Golden Bears logo.

Buffalo Sabres

Now this is one awesome jersey. The silver highlights make this baby pop, and I definitely like the slight color variations. Not the biggest fan of the strings on the collar, but strings or not in a world where I could spend infinite cash on jerseys, this thing would definitely be hanging on my wall in my hockey room.

Carolina Hurricanes

This was one of my top picks when I first saw it, and it still remains high up there. I’ve even gone as far as suggesting that the canes should replace their current toilet flusher with this beaty. Unfortunately its black and there is just too much of that in the NHL, but still its not a bad looking sweater. Am I alone thinking it should become permanent?

Chicago Blackhawks

Now here is a logo that looks awesome transplanted onto a black jersey. I realize that Chicago is one of those teams that doesn’t need to mess with their logo to sell a lot of jerseys, and I agree with them not going all screwy and using a mallet or banic or a tee pee or something just as ridiculous as their main logo. haha

Dallas Stars

If I wasn’t trying to maintain consistency by writing an equal amount about each jersey (and making sure everything lines up properly here), I would have simply wrote Ugly as Eff for the caption beside this jersey. Yeah, its not black so I congratulate them there… or maybe I don’t because they use black by default anyway?

Edmonton Oilers

It was nice to see the Oilers go to the throwback of the 80s with the orange and blue. I’d become so used to their jerseys being mainly blue with no orange, so was a little skeptical, but have to say that these bad boys look pretty good, and sure bring back memories of the glory days when you see the Oilers in action with these things on.

Los Angeles Kings

Great move for the LA Kings to go back to the black and silver of the Gretzky / Robitaille era. Other than the font they used for LA, I really like these ones. Looking at how crappy that logo is, makes me wonder why they didn’t go back to the logo of the early 90s? Way better that way, but still a sharp uniform.

New York Islanders

Like the Edmonton Oilers, the New York Islanders made a good decision to go back to their jersey that saw so much glory. This thing looks good, and again brings back some great memories of days past. I’m also thankful that they went with this jersey over the fisherman’s friend one… man that was garbage.

Ottawa Senators

This piece of junk just screams money grab when I look at it. Yeah it sticks with pretty much the same color scheme that the team wears, but that logo, if you can call it that, sucks. Why bother trying to make something if you know nobody is going to buy it? These jerseys should be pure revenue, not garbage.

Philadelphia Flyers

This isn’t as bad as I thought it would look, but I still can’t get over that white name bar on the back. Reminds me of Atom or Peewee hockey where your team was too cheap to get your names done properly, and instead went for the generic white name bar. Anyway, the color is nice, and can’t wait to see these in action.

Phoenix Coyotes

Hmm, not really sure what to think of this one as its pretty much the first time I’ve had a look at it. The black, white, red combo looks pretty good, but that meandering coyote seems a little odd. Don’t you want to look tough, and not like you are running away from some other team that decided to go black this season?

Pittsburgh Penguins

Gotta love this thing. Lots of people fell for it last year at the Winter Classic, and I’m sure more people are snapping this thing up this season as the pens have employed it as their 3rd jersey. Some are speculating that they will eventually choose this as their regular jersey, but I don’t see it happening any time soon.

San Jose Sharks

Now this is what a mean logo on a black jersey should look like. Take notes Phoenix. Anyway, this thing looks good, and I think that the Sharks would be smart to go to this, and ditch their blueish-green thing that they are currently wearing. On second thought, don’t change a thing, they are on an absolute tear this season!

St. Louis Blues

This thing is great, and also falls into the if I had unlimited money to spend on jerseys I’d have one category. That logo is sharp, and the lack of anything too stupid up near the shoulders is great, and really makes the stripes near the gloves stand out. I don’t know anyone with a Blues jersey, but now it’s only a mater of time.

Tampa Bay Lightning

I kind of like the blue they chose for these things, but again I don’t like the simple lettering as a logo. Yes, the Rangers have that, but they’ve always had that, and it looks good. Trying to promote your nickname by way of a third jersey just doesn’t sit right with me. I’d rather they had the old 1997 model… just kidding… maybe…

Toronto Maple Leafs

Nothing really new here as the Maple Leafs have gone back to this a few times. It’s a definite classic that still looks sharp, and in the opinion of the person sitting next to me right now, the leafs should permanently switch their logo to the older, more realistic leaf, and scrap the cartoony one they have now.

Vancouver Canucks

I was really hoping for the old black, yellow, and orange ones with the giant V in the middle. Partly because I think they are sharp, and also because they provide hours of entertainment for the dirty minded comics in the crowd, but instead we got these. Ugly? Yes. Would I wear/buy one? Never.

The Bottom Line

Well I have to say that there are some really nice jerseys this year, quite a few of which I’d love to add to my collection. Anyway, lets get down to it and award my top three:

1. Buffalo Sabres
2. St. Louis Blues
3. San Jose Sharks

Now its your turn. What do you think of the new third jersey lineup? Any that you love/hate? Which are your top three, and even bottom three for that matter? Let’s hear it!