July 26, 2008

All Star Jerseys

I was wandering around hockey sites and unfortunately came across some information on the Habs. This upcoming season the franchise will celebrate its 100th anniversary. It seems that the entire 2008-09 NHL season will be a celebration of the Montreal Canadiens...urgh! Sorry I just threw up a little there.


They were advertising this on their tickets since the first season out of the lockout. As part of the celebrations the Habs will have like a two hour ceremony every night before a home game and will retire all numbers between 1 and 99. They will also wear a variety of alternate jerseys and will play host to the 2009 All Star Game. Which got me to thinking what the jerseys will look like. Also, what past all star jerseys have looked like. So here we go. The top 5 NHL All Star Game jerseys of all time.

Number 5

This was the jersey of the first all star game. This is from 1947 when the NHL All Stars played the Stanley Cup Champions. The game was held in the Champs' home arena. The jersey (or a white variation of it) was used from 1947 to 1960. A replica was also used for the 1992 All Star Game in Philadelphia. The NHL was celebrating its 75th year.

Number 4


This all star jersey was first used for the 1983 All Star Game in Uniondale, New York (NY Islanders). That is the game where Gretzky scored four goals to set a record. This jersey was also used in 84, 85, and 86. The hosts were New Jersey, Calgary, and Hartford.


Number 3


This jersey is from the 1998 NHL All Star Game in Vancouver. This was also the first game that featured the North American team versus Team World. This was done to hype the NHL's involvement in the 1998 Nagano Winter Olympics. Interesting note, I believe in the history of that format no team ever won both the skills competition and the actual game in the same year. This jersey was also used in 1999 for the game in Tampa. In 99 Team World continued to wear white while North America stayed in maroon. The jerseys were replaced by a new design for the 2000 game in Toronto, where the goalies wore white and the players wore the coloured jerseys.


Number 2


These vintage look jerseys were only used for one game. The 2004 NHL All Star Game in St. Paul, Minnesota. Which was the final all star game before the lockout. It wasn't until 2007 another game was held, in Dallas. The jersey had and old style, wool look to them just like a jersey from the 60's. This was the first game that returned to the East versus West format.


Number 1


These jerseys premiered at the 1989 All Star Game in Edmonton. This was Wayne Gretzky's return to the Northlands Coliseum as a member of the home team. Before Gary Bettman renamed the conferences (that a whole 'nother can of worms) the format was the Clarence Campell Conference (West) versus the Prince of Wales Conference (East). The home team always wore white and the home team was always the conference in which the host city was located. The jerseys were also worn for the 1990 game in Pittsburgh, the 1991 game in Chicago and the 1993 game in Montreal. In 1994 after the renaming of the conferences the jerseys were changed to aqua (home team) versus purple (away team).

There we go, top 5 all star jerseys of all time. There aren't really enough All Star jerseys to make a worst 5 list. I can really only think of one really bad one. It was used for the 2000 NHL All Star Game in Toronto and the 2001 NHL All Star Game in Denver.

July 20, 2008

Leafs Alternate Jersey 2008

According to http://icethetics.blogspot.com/
the new Toronto Maple Leafs alternate jersey for the 2008-2009 season will be...


I always thought that is was going to be the vintage jersey from previous seasons...


just in RBK Edge form.

We'll see. I still think it's going to be the vintage jersey.

July 19, 2008

Top 5 Worst Jerseys

Here it goes. MY top 5 Worst jerseys of all time...

I will start with some terrible jerseys that were not bad enough to make the top 5...or bottom 5, depends how you look at it.



Now the 5 worst of all time.


5



This is the Oilers jersey from the first year of the WHA when they were known as the Alberta Oilers. Gretzky never wore this jersey. Maybe the most famous Oiler to wear this jersey is not even really known as an Oiler at all, Jacques Plante.

4

The Canucks just can not help themselves. They create some of the worst jerseys ever. The make another appearance later on this list. This jersey was one of the original 5 third jerseys. Another original third jersey makes it to number 1 on this list.

3


With a name change comes a new jersey. The former Oakland Seals had a decent jersey and logo. Then the name change for the 1970-71 season, to the California Golden Seals. So why not make the jersey gold also. Thus, here is this monstrosity! I believe at some point everyone on the team also wore white gloves.

2

This jersey replaced the classic blue and green jerseys for the 1978-79 season. This jersey brought the Canucks ZERO winning seasons and Harry Neale as a coach. They did manage to make it to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1982, dropping 4 straight to the New York Islanders.

Now, the Worst Jersey of All Time!
1


This is without a doubt, the worst jersey of all time. When you go to the jersey display in the Hockey Hall of Fame, Teemu Selanne jersey is on show. The caption below it mentions that this jersey was not well received. It was an original third jersey. It was only used during the 1995-96 season, after which it was abandoned. The Ducks introduced a new third jersey in 1997-98.


Sorry for any gammatical errors. My keyboard is being a bitch right now. This is what I get when I type a question mark... É ... stupid keyboard.

All jersey images are from nhluniforms.com and whauniforms.com

Fans First Game


I know I said I`d do my top 5 worst jerseys of all time, but I had to write about this first.

The Toronto Maple Leafs are having a pre season game on September 22nd and all the tickets are free. They will be given away through various contests. The idea of the promo is very good. It`s called the Coke Zero Fans First Game. Smart, seeing as a select few actually ever get to a Leafs game. I entered the contest, and as I was checking the rules (to see if I could enter more than once) I read Rule 2. It states that, all current season seat holders are automatically entered into the contest! I was really excited about this game, mainly I wanted to hear how loud the ACC can get when REAL fans attend! Now that won`t be so. I have a feeling that even though it`s supposed to be a Fans First Game, once again the platinum seats will be reserved for big corporations who won`t show up and are too lazy or stupid to give their unused tickets to the many programs that are set up for that kind of thing! These programs take the unused tickets and grant a kid with cancer, or a kid who grows up in poverty, a chance to go see the Leafs!

Anyways, that is my rant for now. Just when you think the Leafs do something right, you read the fine print and you realize they have messed it up AGAIN!

July 15, 2008

Jerseys

I love a classic jersey. Except it's hard to find a new classic jersey these days because teams don't even keep their current jersey long enough to even establish a reputation (Vancouver Canucks, I'm looking in your direction). So I've made two lists. The first list is for MY top 5 jerseys of all time. Of course, many will not agree with my choices, but it would be hard to find a group of people that would agree on this issue entirely.

The second list is the top 5 worst jerseys of all time. Many teams will constantly change their jerseys in hopes of generating more revenue from merchandise sales (Again, Vancouver, I'm looking in your direction). A lot of these jerseys could have made this list. In fact, it was harder to even come up with 5 great jerseys, while I had to narrow down this list, of worst jerseys, from 13 down to 5. So here it is;

TOP 5 JERSEYS OF ALL TIME


#5


The Flames brought this jersey in for the 2003-2004 season and went all the way to the Cup Finals. The lettering is not in a classic font, but is not too crazy either. The lines on the jersey are in traditional hockey design, except for the triangle dip down. This jersey had minor changes when the RBK Edge jerseys were introduced this past season.

#4

This jersey was designed primarily for the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics. It was used at World Championships and World Juniors. It was a nice change from the "future" looks that were used for the 1996 World Cup and the 1998 Nagano Olympics.

#3


I hate the Habs, but their's no denying that their jersey is a classic. It really has never been changed, only slight modifications. The blue stripe across the middle of the home jersey is as iconic as Yankee pin stripes. Again, I HATE the Canadiens!

#2


Much like the Habs' jersey, this jersey has not been changed over the years. It's simple red and white colours are famous around the league. When you see those two colours on the jersey you don't even have to look at the logo, you know it's a Wings jersey.

#1


Yeah, I'm a "homer". I'm choosing the Leafs' 1967 jersey as the greatest jersey of all time. This jersey represents a good time in Toronto. I've already discussed how much I like the logo. This jersey is an upgrade on a classic. It was brought in for the 67 Finals. The logo was changed to a traditional Maple Leaf to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Canada. A large stripe was added in between the two thin stripes. And just as the Wings jersey, you know when you see blue and white on a jersey you just know it's a Maple Leafs jersey.


Next, the top 5 WORST jerseys of all time (Vancouver, I'm looking in your direction!)

July 12, 2008

First Blog

So this is my first blog. I hate that word...blog. It sounds like I'm a 16 year old kid who set up some super computer in his parent's basement. Not true. This is more like a forum, a place where I can write about what I love...hockey. The blog is called Hockey Lister because I thought that is always fun. Making top 10 and top 5 lists about everything hockey.

Why not start with my favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs. The only team I cheer for. Centre of the hockey universe and Montreal, you know it! A franchise rich with history...and money. Of course the only thing missing is a Stanley Cup banner in over 40 years!

So here it is. My top 5 Toronto Maple Leaf logos of all time:

Part of the reason for the rich history is the fact that the Leafs rarely change their logo. If you research it you'll find that there really only have been about 5 different logos in the Toronto Maple Leafs' history. There have been colour variations, such as a green leaf when Conn Smythe bought the Toronto St. Pats and renamed them, but kept their colours for a season. Or during the second World War, where the name inside the leaf was written in red, to represent Canada. Seeing as there are only 5 logos, I will do no more than a top 5 list, obviously.

#5


This logo was introduced for the 2000-2001 season along with new lettering on the jersey. It was a shoulder patch which replaced the classic Leaf that was used for the 40's, 50's, and 60's. if the Leafs had one more logo that I could chose it would be on this list at number 5. This logo is terrible. It had no leaf on it and it was brought in to sell more jerseys and other merchandise. Luckily it has slipped away into time, removed after the introduction of the RBK Edge jersey.

#4


The current logo of the Toronto Maple Leafs. I rated it number 4 because I associate this logo with the Harold Ballard era. Even though he has been dead for 18 years now it will take a lot longer than that to remove his fingerprints from this team, that era, and this logo. The logo is also known as the only Maple Leaf logo (main crest logo) that does not have a Stanley Cup attached to it. The logo looks fine, but one can instantly see that it was created in the 1970's, when compared to an actual maple leaf. It just has that look to it.

#3


The very first Maple Leafs logo. It has a lot of history behind it, including a Cup win in 1932. That was the Leafs' first year in Maple Leaf Gardens. Nothing special here. It is a maple leaf. as if they went out to a tree, grabbed a leaf and traced around it. Then coloured it blue. Even with its simplicity it will still always been recognized as a historic logo, not just in Toronto, but in the history if the NHL.

#2


To many, this may be their number 1 Maple Leaf logo. It has Cup wins associated with it in 42, 43, 47, 48, 49, 51, 62, 63, and 1964. It was also used as the Leafs' alternate logo on their retro jersey from 1998-1999 season to the 2006-2007 season excluding 1999-2000, when it was not used. It is rumoured that the jersey will be making its return in the 2008-2009 season as the Leafs' alternate in RBK Edge style. That is not confirmed however, yet an alternated jersey is confirmed.

and now my #1 Toronto Maple Leafs logo of all time is...



Many will not agree with me, but this is my favourite Leafs logo. It was brought in for the 1967 Stanley Cup playoff run to celebrate Canada's centennial. As every Leaf fan knows, the Cup was won for the last time that year. This logo was used for three more seasons (67-68 to 69-70) before it was replaced by the current logo.

So that's it, post any comments you may have. I think most people will have their own ideas on this list. Check back for more hockey lists.

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