Word on the street is that there are pros and cons to the new socks. Pro: They are tight enough that you don't need to tape up your shinpads. Con: They have a smooth texture. With the knit socks they've been wearing forever, when a player hits the ice it's moderately abrasive, and you slow to a stop pretty quickly. I'm told that with these new ones, if a player falls to his knees, he'll just keep on sliding until he hits something (boards or another player). I don't wear hockey socks (I wear soccer socks in really garish patterns just because it amuses me), so I'm totally indifferent to the functional pros and cons. I just like the look of the knit socks better.
The cut of the jersey: From what I gather, for Johnny Average buying an authentic jersey in the new style, there will be a learning curve. Replica jerseys aren't made to the same cut (either now or in the new style), so no biggie there, your size is your size with those. But I'm told that someone who likes, say, a size 52 in a current jersey (be it for on-ice or for casual wear), might need to order a 56 in the new style in order to get a jersey that has a similar degree of roominess. So if you want a jersey to look like a current jersey and fit like a current jersey, you have to order bigger. The intent is that in the NHL, they won't order bigger, a guy who wears a 52 now will wear a 52 in the new cut and will just have to get used to the different fit. But for someone looking for a jersey to wear to the rink, that's a different matter.
Supposedly, because of the materials used, even though it's a tighter cut, it feels even less restrictive than the looser current jersey. At least that's what guys like Lecavalier and Crosby are saying. Bear in mind that they are both paid CCM/Rbk endorsers, so they have a good motivation $$ to say so. The new jersey is supposed to weigh about six ounces less (the weight of a puck), and the fabric changes are supposed to wick away water better (although I've heard complaints that this water wicking means that all the moisture from your arms just pools into your gloves). So there is some "performance benefit". Although many have been saying "okay, fine, why not just continue to make the jerseys as-is but with the new materials, rather than making such a big stink about it?" Which is a fair question.
Other thoughts: Like I said, I think the advance reaction/speculation was so negative (and the early player feedback was so negative) that they intentionally backed way off from how radical it would be and instead moved it to something fairly conservative, essentially a new material and a somewhat altered cut. But I'll be interested to see what some teams do with it. I expect the old-school traditional teams to stay old-school traditional, but I can see some of the newer/recent expansion teams being easily swayed by Rbk's design team to go with something fairly wacky. But hey, they aren't NFL-tight, they aren't cyclist-tight, they aren't even Nike Swift jersey-tight, so that's cool. But I don't think I'd buy one without getting to try it on in person first, just to see how the cut feels.
Then again, I don't know if I'd buy one anyhow. I don't care how hi-tech the "Double knit polyester/spandex four way stretch pique core body" is,
$350 for a non-customized blank authentic jersey is re-god-damn-diculous. US$425 if you want it lettered. If that's the pricepoint they plan to maintain when the authentics for all 30 teams go on sale sometime late this summer, then I'd suspect that sales are going to take a hell of a hit. $110 for a non-customized replica is pretty silly too. Congrats on your new plan to attract young people to your game, NHL! You will now have by far the most expensive replicas and authentics in the sports world, beating out the NFL, MLB, NBA, and top-level/premier soccer! Way to go!
But hey, think of the bargains there might be as the folks at places like River City Sports and Ice Jerseys are dumping their inventories of those icky out-of-date current jerseys when 3/4ths of the league redesign their unis over the summer! That'll be nice. Maybe it'll be like the bargains you used to be able to find a decade ago. For years and years, CCM had the exclusive jersey deal for the NHL. Then it expired and teams could go with whomever they wanted. A bunch of new faces entered the market, and teams would do things on one year deals, and they kept swapping between CCM, Starter, ProPlayer, and Nike jerseys every year. Thus the previous season's "authentic" would no longer be quite "authentic" since the team had changed brands, and they'd cut the price. Got a few bargains that way. Got a Flyers authentic customized with John LeClair (another UVMer and Vermont native) for about $115. Those were the days! Then of course the NHL stepped in and put an end to all the brand hopping, so there were no more "last year's authentic" bargains, but it was nice while it lasted...
-Ricardo
