Note to Kings Management: PLEASE DON'T DO THIS

[This post originally appeared on January 17, 2011.]

NHL JerseyWatch 2011 - Blog - icethetics.info
Apparently the Kings intend to toss out everything and go back to the drawing board in 2011. [...] Icethetics reported in October on photos of possible jersey prototypes seen in Luc Robitaille's office at the Kings' practice facility. They are essentially white versions of the current third jersey [...]. So if I had to guess, the crown logo along with the black and purple sweaters will disappear. Replacing them will be the LA shield logo along with black and white jerseys. And as for the third, obviously the purple and gold throwback is the front-runner. And that suspicion just got a little more meat on it last night when the Kings added nameplates to those jerseys. Surnames are a league requirement on uniforms, but they got away without them for opening night against the Canucks as they were celebrating the 40th anniversary of their first meeting — which was at a time when jerseys didn't have nameplates. So now this is a complete uniform and it looks phenomenal. Fans like it and there's no reason not to keep it around. I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's how things shake out for the Kings next season. Black and white regular unis and very colorful thirds. Of course I could be totally wrong and they could be in the process of launching an brand new identity altogether. As I've been saying, we'll really just have to wait and see.

Look. The "Medieval Times" jousting tournament jerseys are bad. They are bad because the crest looks like something from a Arthurian theme restaurant. They are bad because they remind me of that stupid plastic castle the Kings appear out of, and the castle is bad. They are bad because they're all black and white (oh, and silver, yay!), and this decade(s)-long trend toward black (Dallas, New Jersey, Anaheim, Philadelphia) must stop, because it's bad. Color is good. The Red Wings, the Leafs, the Nordiques, the Canadiens, the Oilers, those colors are rich and shimmering in HD, and beautiful. If you don't believe me, go play NHL 11 and put the Avs in the Nordiques jerseys and the Kings in their throw-back purples. See?

Go back to purple and gold. I'm sorry. "Forum blue." I don't care what you call it. But those jerseys look great. They look like hockey jerseys. They're venerable. They look like an old guy with a cigar thought of them, just like those old original six jerseys. They don't look corporate. They don't look like they were designed by market research, by committee, by focus groups. The Kings can win the cup in those jerseys. No, I'm not saying this year. But someday. They can, and should. Picture it. It just looks right.

(If it were me, I would not only go back to the purple and gold, but if I had to have a third jersey, I would use the actual black Gretzky-era chevron jerseys, not some kids-eat-free "homage" to them. And why-why-WHY when the Kings make bad jerseys do they always look like they stole them from crappy chain restaurants? The Islanders did that, too, didn't they? Weird. I guess that would be the corporate/market-research influence, again. It's probably even the same people...)