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With all of the expansion draft, trades, entry draft and award show madness that’s been going on this week, it was easy to forget that, oh yeah, every NHL team was getting an updated jersey thanks to new sponsor Adidas. Threatening to #FORMTHEFUTURE all week like Kang The Conqueror screwing with the Multiverse again, Adidas finally revealed the “new” jerseys on Tuesday night, most of which weren’t new at all.
One of those is that of the Islanders, which got a few minor tweaks - sleeve colors seem a little higher, collar’s a little different - but mostly look exactly the same as the team’s most recent POWERED BY REEBOK jerseys. That’s good.
They're here.
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 21, 2017
#Isles x @adidashockey #FormTheFuture pic.twitter.com/A4t6KOGg48
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Wait. Hold the phone. Here’s a pretty significant change: the road jersey brings back the blue outline to the logo that’s been missing for quite a while (in favor of white). This is the classic stuff right here. It’s a small detail, but I like it a lot.
The look on the road for the 2017-18 season. #Isles #FormTheFuture pic.twitter.com/Zim1pFZvMz
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) June 21, 2017
Some teams put fancy stuff into the collars of their jerseys - Stanley Cup years, inaugural seasons - but the Islanders appear to have foregone such frivolities. Fair enough. The jerseys also have some fancy bells and whistles like lighter, cooler and stronger materials or so this press release says.
I don’t need to tell you folks that compared to some jersey changes the Islanders have had, I’ll gladly take almost no change at all. Seriously, thank you to whoever made this call. It’s much appreciated.
As part of the switch-over to Adidas, all teams will only have home and road jerseys this season. So no more black uniforms for the Islanders (at least, for now).
NHL says we'll have 24-26 teams with @adidas third jerseys for 2018-19 season. Some old designs, some completely new.
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 21, 2017
Of course, this being the NHL, nothing stays a secret forever. The entire set of jerseys leaked about two hours before the official announcements and you can see them here. The Devils lost their big bottom stripes (blech), the Predators lost almost everything (hrm) and the new guy Golden Knights went all Team Germany. The full uniform has white gloves, which is very Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.
#FormTheFuture pic.twitter.com/26KQ5FSUHq
— NHL (@NHL) June 21, 2017
Finally. Something easy.