New York Islanders Rumored Third Jersey Underwhelm but Make Sense

It’s one of the worst-kept secrets at the moment. The New York Islanders will be getting a third jersey. While it hasn’t yet been confirmed, a leak seems to show some rather underwhelming new colors.

In 2017-18 the NHL and Adidas, the NHL’s new jersey supplier, decided to remove all third jerseys from around the league. That meant sweaters like the New York Islanders Brooklyn black were retired.

We knew that Adidas and the NHL would soon return to making third jerseys. It’s a cash cow that’s just too good to pass up. So when it was rumored that 13 teams, including the New York Islanders, would get alternate jerseys in 2018-19 no one was surprised.

The question was: what are these thirds going to look like? For months Islanders fans have been speculating or pleading their case for what they think it should be, but over the weekend the new thirds were potentially leaked. And they’re underwhelming.

The Safe Bet

The new alternatives for the 2018-19 season were leaked by Gotham Sport’s James Duffy on Twitter this past Saturday. While obviously still unconfirmed by the Islanders themselves, SportsLogos.net has confirmed the legitimacy of the leak.

These new alternative jerseys look almost identical to the stadium series jerseys they wore in 2014. Jersey’s the Islanders introduced for their one and only outdoor game to date and used as their alternate jersey during the 2014-15 season.

Considering how some franchises have decided to go with their new third, this “new” design is underwhelming.

I understand with so many previous failed alternates the Islanders organization just wants to go with something that won’t ruffle any feathers. They know people generally liked the stadium series jersey in the past and so they tweaked it very slightly.

The four orange stripes on the ‘Y’ are now on the blade rather than the shaft. The ‘Y’ is also straighter rather than the slight angle it used to have. The orange and white bands at the elbow seem to wrap around the jersey rather than stop halfway. And lastly, they seem to have “Isles” written on the helmets rather than the ‘NY’ crest.

The New York Islanders organization played it safe with these new third jersey’s. I personally don’t like them as much as some of the other options Isles Twitter was bouncing around during the summer. But then, I don’t blame the Islanders for taking the safe road.

For an organization that has missed way more frequently than it has hit the mark when it comes to jerseys, taking the safe bet is the best case scenario.

I don’t exactly care for these jerseys nor do I particularly like them, but with a return to the Nassau Coliseum (or its actual name NYCB Live Home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum) it makes sense to get an alternate jersey for this season. Something that can visually differentiate between a Barclays game and a Nassau game.

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These jerseys are underwhelming when you consider what other teams are pulling out for 2018-19. But for an organization that wants to make sure it doesn’t ruffle any feathers and who are lead by noted “I don’t like third jerseys” Lou Lamoriello, these leaked jerseys make sense.