Sweater Season

I tried posting this as a comment on Uni Watch, Paul Lukas's blog about uniforms in sports, but it would not go through. It probably was too long (thought I didn't see a maximum length restriction...) for the filter (is there a filter?) to allow it. So instead, I will post it here.

After seeing the Ducks win the Stanley Cup tonight in their first year of the post-purple era, it got me to thinking: Is there a relationship between a teams uniform and championships?

Being relatively young (I'm only 19), I have a rather narrowly focused memory of sports. I really began to pay attention to sports in 1996. And in the years that followed, I have noticed a relationship to a team's changing of uniform to their championship success.

Let's start with hockey. In 1996, the Colorado Avalanche won their first Stanley Cup. Having been the Quebec Nordiques the year before, the Avalanche were obviously wearing new sweaters. Mind you, their opponents, the Florida Panthers, were still relatively young, and, in turn, so were their sweaters.

Then, two years later, as the Red Wings were repeating as champions, they defeated the Washington Capitols, who were wearing a sweater style that was still relatively young.

The following year, 1999, the Dallas Stars won the Cup while in the process of incorporating a new sweater style. Their opponents: the Buffalo Sabres, who were also sporting a relatively new style of sweater. The next year, the Stars, now fully switched to the new style, were defeated in the finals by New Jersey (who, ironically enough for this post, were not sporting new “jerseys”/sweaters).

In 2004, the Calgary Flames, who had incorporated some new sweaters into their current design, were defeated by Tampa Bay (who, in my opinion, are in dire need of a new design) in the finals.

And then today, the Anaheim Ducks, with a new name and sweater design, won the Cup.

(Special note: The Sabres, BuffaSlug and all, did quite well for themselves this season.)

It’s getting rather late, and I need my some beauty rest. I need to look pretty so I can sport my Rik Smits jersey tomorrow. Gotta love the Dunking Dutchman. He was a thing of beauty and lanky, uncoordinated awkwardness.

I'll continue my analysis later, unless Mr. Lukas beats me to it (or if he already has...I only started reading this blog a few months ago, and consistently only since the school year ended for me. So if I am just beating a dead horse hear, please stop me and provide a link to a previous analysis of this topic. Also, if I have neglected anything for this era, please feel free to fill in. And for those who are more knowledgeable (read: older) than me regarding the years prior to 1996, please help me out. Thank you.).