NHL Wardrobe Malfunction

I know that this has been going on for some time now, but I'd like to know who was responsible for the recent trend of having NHL teams wear their dark uniforms at home, and their white jerseys on the road? I'm still not used to this.

As the playoffs are now underway, I'll probably check out a few games over the next month or two -- stress free viewing since both the Blackhawks and Flyers are setting up tee times right about now -- and I'm sure each time I turn a game on, it will take me a few seconds to figure out which team is home, and which team is away. I wish they'd go back to the old days.

Of course, the NHL is the league that allowed the absolute worst sports uniform choice in the history of mankind, so I don't hold out a lot of hope for any sane decisions regarding uniforms. Those long pants were even dumber than the White Sox wearing shorts and collars. Am I wrong?

With baseball, and to a certain extent football, usually when you turn a game on, a fan can tell by looking at the ballpark who the home team is, so when a team like the White Sox is wearing black jerseys it doesn't confuse me, because I can tell U.S. Cellular Field from Camden Yards, Yankee Stadium, etc. Of course with football, most teams wear dark jerseys at home, as does the NHL, but that's how it's always usually been with football. We're used to that.

The NHL seems to have just decided to change things around a few years back, and I don't like it. Here are how the uniform rules should be for the four major sports:

Baseball - Teams can wear whichever style they choose, but must coordinate with the other team so they don't each choose a dark colored jersey. This doesn't seem too much to ask. Also, until the Pittsburgh Pirates have a winning season, they must wear this uniform for every game.

Football - Home teams wear their dark jersey, road teams wear white -- except in Dallas. As much as I hate the Cowboys, they get to wear white at home. Whatever it is, it just looks right.

Basketball - They still do it right, so no changes need to be made. Home teams wear white, road teams dark jerseys. Just don't laugh at the officials.

Hockey - Let's go back to home teams wearing white, and road teams wearing dark. Especially in Chicago. Each time I stumble upon a Blackhawks game -- which is obviously a road game since Dollar Bill Wirtz still refuses to televise home games -- I always get confused for a minute or so, thinking "Hey, this is a home game", becuase they are wearing the white sweater. Let's get this back to the way it should be. With one exception...

Until the Flyers have a winning season again, bring on the pants.

After the horrendous season my Flyers had, here is a gem for hockey fans, actual footage of the Flyers first Cup clincher against Boston in 1974.