Lost in the shuffle of monochromatic college uniforms, no NFL throwbacks, and Dallas Clark’s missing flag decal was the passing of Tom Johnson, a Hall of Fame defenseman for the Bruins and Canadiens. His 30-plus-year career with the Bruins included a stint behind the bench for the team’s last Stanley Cup in 1972.
While his contributions to the game were great, those stripes are pretty sweet, too. So honor the past with a smile and a nod, think about the good old days of Original Six hockey, and go polish off that last helping of mashed potatoes. If you don’t eat them, I will. — Bryan
#1 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 8:28 am |
wow…that is the most uncurved stick blade i’ve seen…
is that typical of old time players, or did this guy play/shoot ambidextrously? just seems so quaint and out of place with the twigs the modern players use
/RIP joe kennedy
#2 by Philly Bill on 11.24.07 9:09 am |
All sticks were flat in the early days, but became more curved as the slapshot came into fashion – the curve of the stick provides a bigger “sweet spot” for harder shots.
#3 by Dave Soline on 11.24.07 9:11 am |
Stan Mikita did the first curve to a stick. Before that they were straight as an arrow.
#4 by Jet on 11.24.07 10:02 am |
Well, the straight blade made for better stickhandling and better backhand shots. There was a period in the late 60’s where the curves became ridiculous, i.e. called “banana blades” and there were a series of rule changes to limit the arc of the curve.
By that way, even with a few slight modifications throughout the 60’s and early 70’s, that sweater Tom Johnson is wearing is to me the quintessential Bruins jersey. The colors with the wide shoulder bar and contrasting stripe were the meanest thing on ice!
I was flabbergasted when they removed the shoulder bar designs in the late 70’s.
That’s why when Boston redesigned their jersey for this year, they almost got it right. They should have returned to the 60’s style with the wide yellow shoulder bar instead of reversing the colors with a wide black shoulder bar.
That’s also why I hate most of the new hockey jerseys – most are missing two elements that define a classic-looking jersey – contrasting shoulder bars and horizontal waist striping…
-Jet
#5 by Dan on 11.24.07 10:06 am |
Talk about an eyeburner
link
#6 by Dan on 11.24.07 10:08 am |
Dan said:
If the link doesn’t work it was the Tennessee/West Virginia basketball game. Tennessee wore their orange roads and WVU wore their home yellows
#7 by Dan on 11.24.07 10:09 am |
This should work now prepare for you retinas to explode
#8 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 10:11 am |
Dan said:
try this
#9 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 10:19 am |
LI Phil said:
never mind…ya beat me to it
/reminds me of the 11/2/07 suns v. lakers game
#10 by Kyle at IU on 11.24.07 10:27 am |
LI Phil said:
At least the Vols use that creamsicle orange, which is a little easier on the eyes. The “PHX” Suns’ orange is absurd, even when it’s not paired with LA’s gold unis on the court.
By the way, get ready for a couple more eye-searing matches in Big Ten World when Illinois, who always plays in orange, takes on the likes of Iowa (gold), Michigan (Maize), Indiana (Crimson), and, last but not least, Northwestern (purple!).
#11 by TOG on 11.24.07 10:41 am |
All sticks were flat in the early days, but became more curved as the slapshot came into fashion – the curve of the stick provides a bigger “sweet spot” for harder shots.
Banana Blade’s Autobiography…Corny but true.
http://www.hhof.com/...
Stan Mikita and Bobby Hull took slapshots that dipped and dived, curved and flew faster than anything anyone had even seen before. Players on both teams looked at the shots and were amazed. They were impressed and scared and couldn’t believe the difference in speed and trajectory.
#12 by ScottyJ in WV on 11.24.07 11:36 am |
The Aggies looked REAL good yesterday while whuppin’ the ‘Horns. Their uni is normally very solid, but those gray pants made it even better.
#13 by Dave Soline on 11.24.07 11:53 am |
OK, does anybody else think the Islanders look like they are wearing water wings?
#14 by Marc M. on 11.24.07 12:06 pm |
Alot less controversial than last weekend’s post Bryan.
#15 by Tod H. on 11.24.07 12:06 pm |
Some might say that Mr. Johnson’s sock stripes make him look as much like a clown as this kid.
#16 by Marc M. on 11.24.07 12:10 pm |
Tod H. said:
I stand corrected lol
#17 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 12:13 pm |
a quick perusal of games on tv yields 2 of 3 (hokies & ‘canes) in away all-whites (usf vs. pitt has pitt in monochromatic blue vs usf in white/green pants); seems like this weekend teams are going back to the all-white look
#18 by Max on 11.24.07 12:23 pm |
The NHL put a rule in their books about the maximum that a blade could be curved. When the WHA came along, they did away with that rule.
#19 by DonD on 11.24.07 12:31 pm |
Max said:
From wikipedia.
For the 2005-06 season, the NHL has changed the curve limit to 3/4 of an inch.
#20 by Josh Petty on 11.24.07 1:00 pm |
I haven’t figured out who it is yet, but one player for Derby County FC of the Barclays English Premier League is playing without a name or number on his back. I’m watching the game live right now and it’s not even halftime yet, so if I catch a name, I’ll try to find a pic.
#21 by Doug on 11.24.07 1:04 pm |
Josh Petty said:
Speaking of Derby v Chelsea, somebody more tech savvy than me please get a screen grab of Chelsea’s all neon-yellow away kit. Talk about scorching the retinas…
#22 by Ryan B on 11.24.07 1:05 pm |
Max said:
Tell that to Marty McSorley – his illegally-curved stick essentially cost the Kings the Stanley Cup in 1993 (Montreal caught him using it in Game 2, scored on the ensuing power play, and won the Finals going away).
#23 by Dan on 11.24.07 1:18 pm |
ScottyJ in WV said:
No kidding. Not quite as good as the all maroon uniforms, but still nice.
#24 by Josh Petty on 11.24.07 1:22 pm |
Doug said:
Ask and you shall receive…..
http://msn.foxsports...
#25 by Josh Petty on 11.24.07 1:25 pm |
Josh Petty said:
I’m wrong, that’s not what you’re looking for. That’s just the neon jerseys with black shorts, not the all neon look they’re wearing today. Is that the first time they’ve gone all neon?
#26 by Jeff B on 11.24.07 1:36 pm |
I love those BC unis. Maroon and gold looks awesome, the number font, just sweet.
#27 by Casey (Davis, CA) on 11.24.07 1:47 pm |
here is a picture of the monochromatic neon kids of chelsea. they look soooooo much worse on tv, though.
http://uk.eurosport....
#28 by Josh Petty on 11.24.07 1:56 pm |
Josh Petty said:
I can’t find him now, he must’ve gotten a new shirt at halftime. I’ll check the game replays and see if I can find out who it is.
#29 by Josh Petty on 11.24.07 1:57 pm |
Casey (Davis, CA) said:
Thanks for the pic. Do you know whether or not that’s the first time Chelsea has gone monochromatic with their away kit? Every time I’ve seen them they’ve had the black shorts, which is in the pic I posted earlier.
#30 by TD on 11.24.07 2:17 pm |
Bayou Classic: Southern U. has a ‘MICHAEL WILLIAMS’ and ‘MYLES WILLIAMS’ FNOBs
#31 by Nuk on 11.24.07 2:34 pm |
Max said:
I believe what Max meant was that the WHA had no limitations on blade curvature during their time of operation – partially because they had Bobby Hull as their original signature star.
Last player that I know of that played with a straight stick was Ryan Walter – mostly because he thought it was better for faceoffs.
#32 by BCrisp on 11.24.07 2:40 pm |
ScottyJ in WV said:
I agree. The maroon and grey looked great! Here are two better pictures. 1 2
There was also a uniform tribute in this game. A&M linebacker Mark Dodge wore “Thomas” on the back of his jersey in honor of his aunt and granmother. link, but no picture.
#33 by Justin on 11.24.07 2:43 pm |
Hey Uniwatchers,
I don’t know how many of you read this site, but Paul got a min shout-out on one of the posts today. Check it out.
I don’t know if he goes with or against the general uniwatch consensus on the jersey in question
#34 by BCrisp on 11.24.07 2:44 pm |
Here are those pictures again…
1 2
#35 by John on 11.24.07 3:11 pm |
This article is about fans of a football team that never played a game.
#36 by Casey (Davis, CA) on 11.24.07 4:30 pm |
John said:
Great logo…thanks for the link!
#37 by ThresherK on 11.24.07 4:57 pm |
John said:
Uniwise, aren’t there enough blue-A teams in the CFL, with the Argos and Alouettes? (And yes, the Als were dormant in 84, but…)
Second, I’m amazed that that team didn’t even involve Jeffrey Loria or Horn Chen.
#38 by LakerPride on 11.24.07 5:05 pm |
why is uconn’s defensive coordinator sporting a bright red pullover while the rest of the staff is wearing traditional uconn blue?
#39 by Brandon on 11.24.07 5:14 pm |
LakerPride said:
I think this has been talked about recently… it is so he can be easily seen. Most OC’s DC’s wear either the opposite of other coaches or RED as I saw a Coordinator wearing in the Colts/Falcons game on thursday
#40 by Eliot on 11.24.07 5:20 pm |
it looks like gameday got an updated kansas helmet with the gray facemask. no pic.
#41 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 5:55 pm |
LakerPride said:
so bill belichick can more easily videotape him
#42 by ThresherK on 11.24.07 6:09 pm |
Am I imagining that the Nederland, CO HS FB team pictured in this article has some helmets with an “N” on the side, and some with the player’s number instead?
#43 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 6:15 pm |
ThresherK said:
the “N” is on the right side of the helmet, the number is on the left side
#44 by Jordan on 11.24.07 6:39 pm |
Watching the multiple Michigan class football championships yesterday and today, lots of full cheek eyeblack seen. No judgements were made.
#45 by Stevo on 11.24.07 6:48 pm |
Brandon said:
To make it even easier, the coordinators (or their signal callers) will wear not only different from the rest of the team, but different from each other. After all, all it takes is one other person wearing the same outfit for the players to get confused.
#46 by MikeyB on 11.24.07 6:56 pm |
Gators going all-blue agaisnt FSU.
#47 by John on 11.24.07 7:15 pm |
Clemson going with the purple pants tonight. egh
#48 by C.N. on 11.24.07 7:29 pm |
Brandon said:
UConn’s coordinator in particular has been wearing a red shirt in games for several years now. Also, I remember Romeo Crennel used to always wear red when the DC for New England.
#49 by Mack on 11.24.07 7:56 pm |
At Gallaudet University (Div III) Football program we have our offense coordinator wearing red polo and our defense coordinator wears white polo. It is probably because the players could recognize their coach on the sideline while playing on the field.
#50 by My Name is Not Earl on 11.24.07 8:11 pm |
Well, GU is the national university for the hearing impaired, so it makes perfect sense for the coaches to wear something where they could be easily identified.
Missouri wearing the gold pants with the white jerseys. They’ve worn all three pants colors (white, black, gold) on the road (and at least gold and black with the black jerseys). Gold pants look best. Kansas looking a lot like the NYG, as usual.
#51 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 8:15 pm |
think this rivalry goes deep?
#52 by Valjean on 11.24.07 8:32 pm |
Oregon almost looked like a college football team today. (Sure, the pants are a nightmare and that black facemask is a bad mismatch, but, compared to previous weeks …)
Of course, they still lost to the team with far the superior — dare I say, classic — unis.
Does/Should Uniwatch have some sort of redemtive “uni-winner” concept where the team with the best unis happens to win — especially if they’re the underdog? OK, I’m a UCLA alum and Oregon is an easy shot, but still …
#53 by Billy D on 11.24.07 8:39 pm |
I haven’t seen Kansas play much, but the typography for the numbers bother me. They’re too rounded to look good in a masculine sport like football. Also, when you use writing as part of your logo (KU) you should try and match the numbers with the helmet (just my opinion)
#54 by Stevo on 11.24.07 8:42 pm |
LI Phil said:
I think somebody should buy the area where Kemper Arena is and build a football stadium that straddles the KS/MO border, just for this game. You build it with the field North-South, put Mizzou on the East side of the field and KU on the West side, and build in a narrow gap in the stands right where the border is.
#55 by The Hemogoblin on 11.24.07 9:09 pm |
Billy D said:
They are both in a variant of the Trajan font. Read that on Page 2 a while back I believe. It might have been here too. It was a while ago. I still prefer the Jayhawk on there.
#56 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 9:23 pm |
the iron bowl features timeless unis, no shock there…too bad saban can’t coach his way out of a shoebox
/war eagle
#57 by Stevo on 11.24.07 9:33 pm |
I was just watching the Border War in HD, and they went to a 4-way split screen of the KU QB, his OC in the booth, the main game action, and KU’s 2 Offensive Signal Callers. Yes, I said that correctly, KU has not one but TWO offensive signal callers, and they appear to be calling the exact same signals at the same time. I was waiting for them to break out in a rousing rendition of the Hokey Pokey, or the Macarena.
#58 by DCM on 11.24.07 9:49 pm |
Why did A&M wear grey pants? They did look good, particularly with the normal, narrow stripes, unlike those in tonight’s Clemson/Carolina game.
I do not like Boston College’s font, though it’s interesting to note that the names are stitched on…you could tell today in the sunlight.
Clemson’s high white socks are a refreshing change of pace from low whites or black shoes and socks. Their great-looking helmets suffer with all the white tiger-paw stickers on the back…as do Georgia’s.
#59 by Craig on 11.24.07 9:59 pm |
I’ve had it!!! Seeing as this is the only place that matters in my plight I am venting my rage. The uniforms in college as a collective suck the king kong balls. Be it Nike, RBK or Addidas I don’t care…they suck. The microstripe on the side is awkward and never seems to maintain a consistent flow with the designed cohesive jersey. I don’t know if these designers think they are creating a nuveau image for college football but this is one fan that is disgusted by the pathetic designs portrayed.
Classic designs: Alabama, Michigan, Florida, USC, UCLA, Auburn, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Texas
Non-classic designs: Maryland, Missouri, Oregon, Illinois, Kentucky, Clemson
As you can see they proliferation as infiltrated every damn conference. The sad thing is that most of these teams have had a traditional look at some point in their history. Oregon is the guiltiest party. They have whored their image to nike for more than a decade and it gives an impression of absolute nausea.
Why do these nikeists feel they have to tie the pant stripe with the jersey? Why do these morons feel the need to tie the pants color with the sock color? I am appauld with the absolute lack of integrity of these schools. My resolve is to boycott these changes and get back to a grass roots imagery.
I am disgusted by the state of college and pro football these days.
In the pros Arizona, Minnesota, Alanta and Denver should all be ashamed.
#60 by gopherboy on 11.24.07 10:00 pm |
the Tennesee basketball team has a J. Smith, T.Smith AND R.Smith. not sure if they have initials or just SMITH.
#61 by Thorold Blair on 11.24.07 10:29 pm |
John said:
I’ve been working at the Grey Cup all weekend, and the Schooner Cheerleaders are there.. and no one knew why!! Lovely girls, but many of you will be disappointed to know.. they have been sporting monochrome black uniforms. I’ll try for a picture when I’m down there tomorrow.
#62 by Joseph on 11.24.07 10:46 pm |
Craig said:
Id put Tennessee in the classic category
#63 by Craig on 11.24.07 10:49 pm |
Kudos…so who else would classify as “classic”?
#64 by Mike Engle on 11.24.07 10:53 pm |
End bold?
#65 by LI Phil on 11.24.07 10:53 pm |
Joseph said:
vols or titans?
#66 by Greg on 11.24.07 10:55 pm |
Michigan State vs. Oakland University today…. Oakland sporting some nifty uni’s with NOB below the numeral.
Looks like they’ve been doing this for at least a couple years. I’d never noticed it before.
#67 by James Craven on 11.24.07 11:03 pm |
And the sweet full shoulder UCLA striping on Grambling and Southern in the Bayou Classic needs picture goodness!
#68 by The Hemogoblin on 11.24.07 11:04 pm |
What happened to the HTML?
#69 by The Hemogoblin on 11.24.07 11:05 pm |
#70 by The Hemogoblin on 11.24.07 11:05 pm |
there we go, it’s fixed
#71 by Stevo on 11.24.07 11:07 pm |
For the third time in 3 days I have noticed a college team that wears their helmet flags to the left of helmet center. This time it is the Missouri Tigers.
#72 by James Craven on 11.24.07 11:15 pm |
LI Phil said:
POST OF THE DAY WINNAH!
#73 by jacob on 11.24.07 11:31 pm |
im watching the mizzou-kansas game and i noticed that mizzou’s gold pants doesnt match the gold on thier helmets..
#74 by jacob on 11.24.07 11:31 pm |
im watching the mizzou-kansas game and i noticed that mizzou’s gold pants doesnt match the gold on thier helmets..
#75 by Dan on 11.24.07 11:31 pm |
Gardner Webb looked like they wore different road jerseys today at Clemson take a look
Today at Clemson
Game against Kentuckyhttp://i.a.cnn.net/s...
#76 by Dan on 11.24.07 11:32 pm |
Dan said:
Dan said:
Whoops made a mistake here is
#77 by Dan on 11.24.07 11:36 pm |
Link got screwed up this is the link of the different road uni
#78 by Stevo on 11.24.07 11:40 pm |
jacob said:
The helmet gold is the main gold that Mizzou uses, notice that it’s the same gold that trims the jersey numbers. I think the pants are lighter because of the fabric.
#79 by Dan on 11.24.07 11:40 pm |
Virginia Tech debuted new orange jerseys tonight in the Great Alaska Shootout against Gonzaga
#80 by Craig on 11.24.07 11:44 pm |
Stevo said:
Ugh
#81 by Bill Scheft on 11.25.07 12:42 am |
For years, Bruins were only team in four major sports that wore same jerseys home and away.
#82 by Original Jim on 11.25.07 1:45 am |
Watching the Butler-Texas Tech bb game from Alaska tonight, I noticed some inconsistencies with Butler’s uniforms.
Some of the players’ names are vertically arched (Streicher) and others are radially arched (Green). The vertically arched names use a much more condensed font than the radially arched ones.
#83 by u2horn on 11.25.07 1:50 am |
Bill Scheft said:
Dallas Cowboys?
#84 by Kevin on 11.25.07 2:02 am |
Craig said:
Wow! What passion…misguided as it is. Looking like Penn State does not appeal to every player in the country. Schools are trying to recruit kids and kids like new shwag. Don’t think for a minute that new gear and updated facilities don’t sway a kids decision to choose a school.
#85 by Kevin on 11.25.07 2:09 am |
#86 by Josh Petty on 11.25.07 2:49 am |
Here’s a weak update on that Derby County player I was talking about that didn’t have a name or number on his back for atleast some of, if not all (I didn’t watch it from the start) of the first half. Every Derby player in the 2nd half had a name and number on his back, so it was corrected at halftime.
This isn’t a great picture, but you can still see the guy in the background, not to mention it’s the only one I’ve found so far. He’s in white and he’s the guy standing in the background on the right side of the picture. I still have no clue who it is yet, but you can see clear enough in the pic that there’s no name or number there.
http://www.premierle...
#87 by Joseph on 11.25.07 3:05 am |
gopherboy said:
I read that In Sports Illustrated. I would hate to be their radio announcer. “Smith…passes over to Smith…dumps inside to Smith who lays it in!”
#88 by Craig on 11.25.07 2:07 pm |
Kevin said:
Misguided? For the very reason you just mentioned is why your argument holds only 50% support. There are schools that have such weak visual ID that yeah they have to use that approach. Sad. But there are other schools that don’t use that tactic. Even more there are “kids” that appreciate the classic uniform too. And you’re crazy for thinking every kid wants to look like some kind of rollerderby queen.