Lightning Update

Since the initial unveiling of their new uniforms, the Tampa Bay Lightning have to make a few revisions before the uniforms see the ice next season. They have decided to add black as an accent color around the numbers, as a tribute to the current Lightning color scheme. They have also decided to bring back the lightning bolts on the pants, which is something I was really hoping that they would do in my first post.

With that said, here are the new away uniforms for the Lightning. Here is the updated home version.

As you can see, they really didn't make any changes, other than the two I mentioned earlier. I really would have liked to see them take "Tampa Bay" off of the front of the away jerseys, but I'm not going to go there again.

As I did before, I'm going to go ahead and break down the two changes that the Lightning have made to their jerseys. I'm going to do it slightly different however. Instead of comparing the changes to the current uniform set, as I did before, I'm going to compare these changes to the uniform that was originally unveiled.

Let's first take a look at the new black accent color, which it appears will only be used around the uniform numbers (on both jerseys) and on the new lightning bolt on the pants. I really have mixed emotions on this one.

Before I continue, let me get into a side story on this issue, which will better explain my point. After the original unveiling, the team received immediate feedback on the new uniforms from fans. This is nothing new. It happens every time a change of some kind is made. In this instance however, several fans who contacted the team about the new uniforms were given invitations to meet with members of the front office to discuss their feelings on the new uniforms. If you read the second post here, you will be able to read the details about one of those meetings. The poster claims that she got to meet with CEO Tod Leiweke, General Manager Steve Yzerman and COO Steve Griggs. Not bad company if I do say so myself. Hell, I would've sent in my first blog had I known I could have possibly had the opportunity to meet with Steve Yzerman. Being a Red Wings fan, that would be one of (if not the) coolest experience(s) of my life.

Now, back to the black accents on the new uniforms. I really like that the Lightning were willing to talk to fans to see what they wanted to be included. To me that is going above and beyond the call of duty. Most teams will just send out a generic "thanks for your input, we'll take it under consideration" letter. Even though they probably never took your opinion into consideration at all. Of course, that's just speculation on my part. With that said, this added black still falls into the "epic fail" category. When the original jersey was introduced, it was meant to imitate a classic two color jersey (i.e. Red Wings, Maple Leafs). Now all of a sudden the added black just doesn't fit with the rest of the jersey. On top of that, look at the new lightning bolt on the pants, and then look at the bolt on the front of the jersey. They added the black accent to the bolt on the pants, but not the one on the front of the jersey. Those differing bolts now create an inconsistency that just doesn't look good together. Black Accent Color - Downgrade

Now lets move on to the previously mentioned lightning bolt on the pants. As I said before, in this post and my previous one, that this is something I really wanted added to the uniform. The plain white stripe down the pants is classic, but the bolt works for the lightning. I'm excited that they took "my" advice and added it, but I don't like that they added the black accent to it. Like I said, it now creates an inconsistency with the bolt on the front of the jersey. If you're going to add black to one, you have to add it to the other. I think a white bolt on blue pants would've looked just fine. Plus it would've fit the new two color scheme that the team had previously chosen to go with. Had they just kept the lightning bolt white, this would have been an "off the charts" upgrade in this category. However with the black accents and the inconsistent bolts on the uniform, this is just a slight upgrade. But an upgrade none the less. Bolts Added to Pants: Slight Upgrade

I think those will officially be the final changes the Lightning make to their uniforms for the upcoming season. However if something new comes along, I'll be sure to post it here.