Boy, they screwed the pooch on this one

Pardon my French, but seriously. How awful are the uniforms – well, Calgary’s at least – for this year’s Heritage Classic?

I wasn’t pleased to hear that there were two outdoor games this season. The NHL should stick to one per year, maybe less than that. I think it would be in the NHL’s best interest to take a year or two off from the outdoor fun so the novelty doesn’t wear off. At the very least there should be only one game per season.

What makes it worse are the uniforms. I thought the jerseys last season were very ho-hum, as was most of the game. Although the Winter Classic threads for the Capitals and Penguins have yet to be unveiled, the rumored for the Penguins jersey aren’t all that great. Plus, the Capitals don’t have too rich a history of jerseys, especially considering that their current jerseys are a spin-off from their older red, white and blue unis. But seeing some Dale Hunter-era white shoulders would be pretty bad-ass.

All in all, the Sabres-Penguins and Red Wings-Blackhawks Winter Classic’s featured the best jerseys. The jerseys that the Flames will be wearing are by far the worst yet.

The jerseys are ugly. The barber pole look doesn’t flow with this color scheme. What is even worse are the pants. Don’t get me wrong, the heritage gloves are outstanding. But, the tan pants look brutal. It doesn’t work with any other part of the uniform and I think the designers swung and missed badly on this one.

I understand that there is quite a bit of history involved in these sweaters. Icethetics has the info.

It pays tribute to the Calgary Tigers, the first major professional team in the city. It existed from 1920 to 1927 and was the first team in Calgary to compete for the Stanley Cup.

Unfortunately for the Flames, the Canadiens haven’t changed their uniforms ever. The Canadiens could trot out in their usual white jerseys and it wouldn’t matter. If they threw in some heritage gloves, like the Flames, it would make it work better.

The one thing that the NHL got right was the logo for the game.

That thing is beautiful. I might just buy a hat with that beauty on it. Even the Winter Classic logo looks awesome for this season. Ignore the jerseys in that picture, those won’t be the ones worn at Heinze Field.

Maybe the Flames jersey will translate better on the ice. But, I don’t have high hopes.