Reebok, What Have You Done Now

Have you seen the new Vancouver Canucks jerseys? Oh man. What planet do they have to sequester their fashion consultants on to get them to agree on these bad boys? So many mixed messages. They brought back the green and blue, which was inevitable I guess, but kept the exploding orca and topped it off with a big ol' reminder that hey guys, we play in Vancouver. I could have gotten behind mish mashing the two jerseys, but the nameplate kills it for me. Makes it feel hugely retro and confusing.

The new NHL jerseys have been trickling out all summer long, and while some teams have opted to keep it simple (Detroit, Nashville, LA and the Rangers) others have used it as an excuse to add some serious ugly. Poor Dipietro. The Islanders don't seem to know what they are doing on or off the ice. They riff on their upstate rival's habit of putting numbers on the front, and then they enlarge their logo because I guess they must have realized their aging baby boomer fans can't see as well as they used too. I think Long Island is the one place you don't want to be captain now. There is a lot going on there.

Tampa Bay and San Jose went for the same design philosophy: new and sleek and stylishly boring. Both have newly stylized emblems updated for the new millennium and I think San Jose might be trying to sneak some orange into their colours. I've been thinking for a while now that both of these teams could use a break from the kitschy early 90's inspired logos they were born with, and I guess I shouldn't ask for more.

It's not all bad; some of the teams that couldn't keep their secret have actually done well. The winners so far are Columbus and Boston I think. Columbus will be adopting that oh so snazzy dark blue patriotic number that had been slowly creeping more and more into Columbus' dressing room and all I can say is finally. Boston went small on their changes, adding serifs to the big B and some black outlines but all it does is make it look better. So far the Original Six teams haven't dropped the ball, but all that means is that there is a bigger chance it will be the Leafs who screw it up. They've already said that there will be changes to the leaf and while I don't think anyone at MLSE would be crazy enough to follow the lead of Tampa and San Jose and create some kind of ungodly stylized maple leaf cum ninja star, this is still the Leafs we are talking about so frankly, it could end up worse. The new Leaf duds drop in two weeks.

Florida seriously dropped the ball on their jerseys, I mean guys this is textbook how not to design a jersey. It's their whites that particularly offend my eyeballs. The Senators updated theirs too, and I will begrudgingly admit that they have made an improvement but let's all be honest with ourselves, they still suck eggs. Am I right or what.

Finally there's Washington, who I will give a tentative thumbs up for their change in direction. By change in direction I do of course mean backwards. Like Vancouver, the Caps have pulled the retro threads out for another try, except unlike Vancouver, the folks in Washington can commit to one idea at a time. Washington's new logo is just modern enough and I think their whites are particularly spiffy. The darks are maybe a little red, and I've never thought Alexander Ovechkin has looked particularly good while suiting up in the motherland's colours. Hey, do you think it's a coincidence that Washington has stepped in line with Russia's colour scheme?

We still have more than half the NHL waiting to walk down the runway. Calgary and Montreal are next and I wouldn't bet on big changes from either team. I'm still worried about my Leafs though. And while we are at it, nhllogos.blogspot.com these guys are the place for logo updates.

Jason

Come Home Gary

The NHL's trade deadline is approaching, and the Maple Leafs look to be buyers, which in of itself might just be an accomplishment on it's own. The Leafs have a slippery grasp of the East's eighth spot, and you know John Ferguson will want to do something about that.

With the Leafs brushing up against the salary cap, that will be difficult however, which is where Mike Peca's long-term injury comes into play. Using the space made available, the Leafs have just enough to squeeze our good friend Gary Roberts back into the line-up.

Last seen in a Leaf uniform before the lockout, Roberts, one of the hardest working players in the NHL and oozing veteran leadership, has spent the last season and a half in the sunny hockey hinterland of Florida. He tried to get himself back to Toronto last summer via trade, but Ferguson (perhaps wisely) declined.

Things are different now. The Leafs are a playoff team, and the Panthers are ready blow up their roster (we've heard even Ollie Jokinen is no longer untouchable). Roberts needs to come home to Toronto. He's said the only places he would like to play for are Toronto and Ottawa, and we don't think our poor hearts could take the sight of him in red and black. Please Fergie, make this trade happen.

Jason

Into the Lion's Den

The Leafs had their (insert adjective of choice: modest, promising, short-lived) three game win streak snapped in Florida the other day. The Panthers were backstopped by, guess who, Eddie Belfour, who returned to haunt the team that cut him loose.

Belfour got his revenge, and the Leafs got their lesson in humility, managing all of five shots in the first period, compared to 23 from Florida (speaking of Florida, Todd Bertuzzi, apparently worried that there were still people out there who didn't think that Vancouver made one of the biggest hockey swindles of all time by trading him, had back surgery on Thursday that will keep him out for at least two months).

Toronto will be in tough to rebound when they face Buffalo tonight, and just so we're clear, when we say "in tough", we really mean, "no gotdang chance in hell". Buffalo is a scary good team. Twelve games into the season they have yet to lose in regulation, and have for all intents and purposes clinched the Northeast division already.

As if the Sabres' invincibility wasn't enough for them, tonight's contest takes place in Buffalo's HSBC Arena, a venue where the Leafs have historically scrounged together four wins to Buffalo's, ahem, seventeen. Toronto has a bad habit of leaving their game somewhere on the QEW.

Glimmer of hope for the Leafs? Let's employ some shaky logic: the only blemish on the Slugs' record is a shootout loss to Atlanta (which incidentally stopped Buffalo's undefeated streak at ten, which keeps them tied with our Buds. Thanks Atlanta), the same Atlanta team that lost to Toronto earlier this week. Ipso facto, the Leafs should beat Buffalo. QED.

Jason

That Got Real Auld, Real Fast

It took the Maple Leafs 42 shots to beat the Florida Panthers' Alex Auld last night.

Positive: The Leafs dominated the game all night and finished with 47 shots all told.
Negative: Only one of those shots went in.
Positive: The Leafs won a shoot out and hell still hasn't froze over (they're saving that for when the Cup comes down Yonge St.)
Negative: Pavel Kubina's mid-game exit (at the hands, or knees rather, of Todd Bertuzzi no less) makes five injured defenseman.

That sums up these Leafs pretty well. Up and down. There have been promising signs, a better work ethic, more shots, above average goaltending, but then there's the only decent record(2-1-1), the overcrowded injured list, and the inability to actually put the puck in the net.

But Coach Paul Maurice seems to have them on the right track. We'll see if he can keep it up against two ostensibly good teams, New Jersey (their record, 1-1, is inconclusive) and Calgary (we still don't understand how this team gets by with Daymond Langkow as their number one centre).

Until then,

Jason