Note: Longtime readers know I normally don't discuss hockey on the internet while the season is in progress due to various superstitions. But given recent trades, Capitals management appears to think the season is over. So, here we are. Now I recognize that hockey jerseys have to accomplish multiple things. They need to look cool on a hanger, or more likely these days, in a thumbnail in the online store. So the color, the design, the logo, the front is very important. The thing is, once the game starts, everyone's leaning over their sticks to play, and I the viewer can only see the back. The back has a prominent number and name, so the referee and linespeople can easily identify offenders.
But what happens is often the back is white with one contrast color stripe along the sleeve. Or black, with one contrast color stripe across the sleeve. And I do not know who anybody is. Canada and Switzerland played each other and I only know who won because of the box score in the corner. Sure one team was red with white letters and one was white with red letters, but the only reason I now know that Canada had on white is because I later saw Canada's dark jersey and it had black stripes which would have been very useful to me on the light jersey. (They were wearing black shorts, but so was Switzerland.)
And you might be thinking Tara, this is maybe a once every for years problem, and I will point you to the Carolina Hurricanes and the Montreal Canadians. On a TV that is less than wall sized, even their logos are hard to tell apart on overhead shots because they are both round red things. (Yes they are very distinct when held stationary side by side. Do you know how often hockey players are stationary?)
So, hockey jersey designers, I implore you, think of the backs, or even the sides, when coming up with something the viewer at home can latch on to to tell the teams apart.
