Arizona Coyotes Reveal New Uniforms: Fans React
The Arizona Coyotes unveiled their new uniforms at the team’s Draft Party on Friday. Shane Doan was a guest on a recent Arizona Diamondbacks broadcast and teased the team’s new sweaters as “different, but familiar.” Well, I think that is a spot on way to describe the new uniforms.
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Connor Murphy, Max Domi, Christian Dvorak and Brendan Perlini modeled the new uniforms for the crowd at Gila River Arena.
This is the team’s first major change to the Coyotes uniforms since September 3. 2003, when the team changed from the old Kachina jerseys to the current colors and logo.
Here is the description by the team in a press release on the team’s official website,
"“The body of the Coyotes home and away jerseys remains unchanged but the new jerseys feature an original sleeve stripe designed to connect with Arizona’s distinctive striated landscape. These bold sleeves, along with a striking black pant, will be worn both at home in Glendale and on the road. The new red jersey shoulder patch features a coyote’s paw “A” mark, an icon built for Arizona’s hockey fans; while the white jersey shoulder will carry an updated “AZ” mark, connecting back to the new word mark. Finally, a uniquely Southwestern pattern in the jersey’s neckline connects the Coyotes to the legacy of Arizona.”"
The old Arizona state shoulder patch still remains, but only on the away white jerseys, it is no longer on the home reds.
Coyotes President and CEO, Anthony LeBlanc, had a few comments about the team’s new look on the teams official website,
"“We are very excited about our new jerseys and uniforms. We are fortunate to have one of the NHL’s best primary logos and as promised, that remains unchanged. We went through an extensive process with the NHL and Reebok which lasted about a year and produced numerous different uniform combinations. We wanted to maintain the classic design of our old jerseys but create a fresh new look that our fans can be proud of. The final product reflects the very best of those efforts and we are thrilled with the results”"
Much like any change, the new look has been received by fans with very mixed reactions thus far. Here are just a few,
I'm getting a white one, that is just gorgeous.
— Hail Stan (@NicholasB40) June 26, 2015
First sight of new #Coyotes jersey was a meh. Now that I relook its better and better. Definitely improves with the full uniform on.
— David Johnson (@DavidDJohnson) June 27, 2015
I hope those leaked pics of the new #Coyotes jerseys are fakes. On first glance, I'm not a fan.
— Michael (@kash2112) June 26, 2015
Wildly disappointed by the Coyotes new jerseys... Anyways back to baseball
— Goldschmidt Happened (@GoldyHappens) June 27, 2015
The new Coyotes uniforms look OK but are a downgrade from one of the most underrated looks in U.S. sports. Haaaate the black pants.
— Casey Hart (@caseyhart) June 27, 2015
So, whether fans like the new look or not, it’s here to stay. The new uniforms come at a very appropriate time in the team’s existence, they have new owners, a new name, will have new and young players next season as the rebuild continues, so, this is almost like a whole new team with a fresh start (minus the current off ice drama with Glendale).
Personally, I like the new look. It took a bit to grow on me, but I think they are slick and will look good in action on the ice.
Despite the mixed fan reaction, I think there is something that all Coyotes fans can agree with, at least they new sweaters say, “Arizona” and not any other city, state or providence.