After Sunday's 'reveal' (which really wasn't, thanks to a late Saturday 'leak') of the Minnesota Wild's new road white sweaters -- the last ties to the early, expansionist days of the 14-year-old franchise -- a few thoughts come immediately to mind:
1. They retained the large 'head' logo for the chest, instead of going to the 'circular logo' emblem which is the centerpiece of the red home sweaters. That logo is also retained as a shoulder patch on both shoulders, leaving a perfect place for the patch for, say, the 2015 NHL Winter Classic. The 2/3rds-sized head logo, which was on the chest on newer, Reebok versions of the now-retired old style white jerseys, is officially retired to the 'patchwork' of history.
2. The red numbering is also retained, albeit in a somewhat boring, standard font, with the green, wider bordering reminding one of mid-2000's Carolina Hurricanes sweaters (only the 'Canes were in black trim, not the Wild's 'Forest Green').
3. The neck, with the 'Minnesota' on the inside, has a green lace to offset the ocean of white on the front of the sweater.
4. The striping at the bottom of the road sweater mirrors that of the green 'third' sweaters as to style and width. The only difference is, of course, the offsetting color (green) against the base white.
Overall, if the Wild needed a new look (and they did) in order to show further improvement, this was probably the best compromise that they could come up with, between the 'traditionalists' and the 'modernists', while staying with the Reebok GIII-template, which all NHL teams must adhere to.
It will take time for the new design to 'grow' on Wild fans. It took time for the others to do that, also. The fact is that the look was getting somewhat dated (mid-late '90's) and that fact, combined with the need to keep the cash registers going, combined to drive the new design.
Overall: B+.
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