The final three alternate jerseys have been leaked online and it wasn't necessarily a "pleasant" surprise! The last three teams that still need to unveil their alternate jersey are the Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Well I can say it wasn't worth the wait. The Leafs are bringing back their St. Pats jersey from 2017 that they will wear once on St. Patrick's Day (cool but nothing new). The Kings are basically just bringing back their anniversary jersey (even though it's not their anniversary). But worst of all was Tampa Bay's new absurd black practice jers... I mean third jersey of course!
First is the Leafs. Here is the 2017 version (left) vs. this season's version (right). The only difference is it has been adjusted to the Adidas collar.
Next is the Kings. Again, here is the 2017 version (left) vs. this season's version (right). The 5 diamonds on the inside of the collar were replaced by two gold crowns (representing their two Stanley Cups). Their anniversary logo and All-Star Game logo shoulder patches were removed and not replaced. The two horizontal laces were changed to three. Lastly, the gold from the logo and numbers will be removed.
Now for the Tampa Bay Lightning... Not sure what was going through their minds with this design (don't think very much) but to me this is unexceptable. All it is is a black jersey with a funky grey pattern dissolving up the sleeves. It also has a grey collar with their BOLTS logo on the inside part of it, as well as two grey shoulder patches (looks like a new logo and also looks like they are copying the Hurricanes ghosted shoulder patches), and that is all folks! Their name & number design would have to be absolutely incredible make this jersey look any good.
Having said that, we still have to see the official jersey with the name and number design, and the rest of the uniform so... maybe it will be a bit better, but not by much. My guess is that they are going for an all black uniform resembling the stormy night sky (similar to the Sharks new third) with the sleeves representing dark heavy clouds. If that's the case, they did accomplish their goal but that doesn't make it a good jersey. The best jerseys are attractive with meaning cleverly designed with in it. Having meaning alone doesn't impress anyone.
Well that's enough of my ranting. Time for you to talk... let us know what you think in the comments below!
Stay tuned for the official reveal of these three jerseys. Also check back Thursday for the reveal of the 2019 Winter Classic uniforms.
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