RBK EDGE Jerseys - The Winners and Losers

Now that all of the new NHL RBK EDGE jerseys have been released (compliments of a leaked code for NHL 08 by EA) I thought it would be a good time to look at the biggest winners and losers of the new jersey era. Let's look at the winners first, since that is a shorter list:

Winners:

The Phoenix Coyotes:
Probably the only thing to be excited about if you are a Coyotes fan, the 'Yotes had nice jerseys coming in and manage to escape RBK's wrath with a simplified version. These jerseys have a nice, classic feel to them. If only the team looked half as good.


The Chicago Blackhawks:
The Original Six all got by with minor changes if any to their uniforms. The Blackhawks are here just because they have better jerseys than the other five. Too bad the product on the ice hasn't been as attractive lately.


The Minnesota Wild:
The Wild pretty much left their away jersey alone and took on their third jersey to be their new permanent home jersey. This is a good move since the maroon jersey is one of the best in the business hands down.


The Montreal Canadiens:
Like the Blackhawks, Montreal bought into the "don't mess with a classic" theory. I'm not a big Habs guy, but these jerseys are still timeless.


The Ottawa Senators:
Sure pink sequined jerseys would be more fitting for this team, but I have to admit their new jerseys are pretty sharp. They'll look even better skating off the ice after the Pens knock them out of the playoffs this year.

Losers:

The Colorado Avalanche:
For my money the Avalanche were the biggest losers in the switch to new jerseys of any team. They had an awesome, unique, original jersey coming in and now have arguably the worst looking jerseys in the league. The stripes on the sleeves are a joke. To make matters worse, at the unveiling they put the new jersey right next to the old one so you could see just how big of a disaster it is.


The Columbus Blue Jackets:
I'll be honest, these jerseys could have been a lot worse, but that new logo they've taken on just rubs me the wrong way. Why even call yourself the Blue Jackets with that logo?

The Edmonton Oilers:
The Oilers had very solid jerseys before, and now will look like about half the NHL with these cookie cutter EDGE monstrosities. The sleeves and vertical piping are a mess.

The Florida Panthers:
see Edmonton Oilers


The Nashville Predators:
Predators fans this season (all six of them) can look forward to a team that will look almost as bad as it will play. Nashville's offseason game plan:
- Gut roster
- Ruin jerseys
- Raise ticket prices
Gotta love that new NHL!


The New York Islanders:
The other team with a legitimate claim to worst jerseys in the league, these new ones are a mess. And they look even worse in action. Good times ahead on the Island.

All in all I'm not too happy with the new jerseys, but I'm sure they'll grow on me. There are only a handful of teams that should really be excited about the EDGE jerseys, and those are mostly teams that made no changes. Minnesota and Ottawa are really the only teams to make actual improvements to their look. Oh, and the real good news... these new jerseys are more expensive too! The NHL... it's FANtastic!