The classics are classic for a reason.
The uni-verse has taught us that lesson countless times, and it did so again this week when the St. Louis Blues finally dispensed of all the nonsense and got back to basics with their new uniform design.
How superior is this new design to the one it's replacing? Let us count the ways:
1. No more apron strings.
Those annoying gold stripes that ran down the torso and continued onto the pants, which were added to the Blues' uniform in 2007, were a disaster from the get-go. They made the chest logo feel too boxed in and confined, they looked like dangling apron strings, and they almost never lined up from jersey to pant leg. They reeked of gimmickry and templating -- two surefire ways to ruin a uniform -- and getting rid of them is a textbook case of addition by subtraction.
2. No more Ree-box.
The Blues are one of several teams that have employed the so-called Ree-box -- a contrast-colored notch on the back of the jersey whose only apparent function is to showcase the Reebok logo. The Reebok mark still appears on the new jerseys, of course, but it's much less prominent, which is a serious improvement.
3. The return of the belly stripes.
Hockey is the only major sport whose jerseys are designed to be worn untucked, which is why so many teams throughout the decades have made use of that lower-abdomen real estate by putting stripes there. The Blues' outgoing jerseys were blank in that area, which looked too plain, but the new ones have restored the stripes. Much better.
In short, it's a win-win-win. And if these new uniforms look familiar, they should, because they're extremely similar to what the Blues wore from 1998 through 2007, right down to the lettering and numbering on the back. It's almost as if the Blues said, "OK, these past seven years have been a failed experiment. Let's go back to what works."
Interestingly, this isn't the first time the Blues have deviated from their classic look and then come down with a case of buyer's remorse. In 1984 they plastered big, ugly letters across their chest, but after three seasons they thought better of it. Then in 1995 they added diagonal striping and lots of red, but three seasons later they basically said, "Never mind." This is a team whose design pendulum keeps swinging one way and then back the other.
And it could have swung ever further. In 1996 the Blues were planning to introduce a Louis Armstrong-themed alternate design that would likely have gone down as the worst jersey in NHL history. Unfortunately, then-coach Mike Keenan put the kibosh on that one, thereby denying the rest of us the chance to have a good laugh at his team's expense.
So while the Blues' new uniforms are superb, it's worth asking how long the team will stick with this latest design before scrapping it for a "creative" replacement, how miserable that replacement will be, and how long it will then take for the team to go back to another traditional design. For now, though, enjoy this latest swing of the pendulum before it heads back the other way.
Paul Lukas will never forgive Mike Keenan for scuttling that alternate jersey. If you liked this column, you'll probably like his Uni Watch Blog, plus you can follow him on Twitter and Facebook. Want to learn about his Uni Watch Membership Program, be added to his mailing list so you'll always know when a new column has been posted, or just ask him a question? Contact him here.