Thursday, October 9, 2008

Leafs Go With Third For Opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs began their season on a high note, defeating the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings tonight. And they did so wearing their new third jersey — unveiled earlier this week.

That makes the Leafs the first team to wear a third jersey in the Rbk EDGE era. Hooray for them. Pics ensue!


credit: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

First up, Niklas Hagman in action in his new alternate uniform.


credit: Michael Sackett / US PRESSWIRE

That would be Mike Van Ryn above. And below, I have to say, I did not recognize Pavel Kubina in that No. 77 sweater.


credit: Michael Sackett / US PRESSWIRE

Kubina was No. 13 forever when he played for the Lightning but I believe opted for for No. 31 when first joining the Leafs.

Whatever, not the point. The point is, the first third jersey has hit the ice. A momentous night!

13 comments:

Dandy said...

Not a leafs fan but those look great! Its awesome to see two original teams faceoff for their first games of the year.

Andre said...

Not a Leafs fan, but it's nice to see the Leafs win on the road against the defending Stanley Cup champs by wearing their classic uniforms. These uniforms are the nicest in Leafs history. You don't have to like the Leafs just to appreciate the history of the Original Six.

TJ said...

I believe Curtis Joseph has the 31 that Kubina wanted. Naturally, Joseph trumps Kubina. Sorry, Chris!

Kevin Y said...

They said on Versus that Kubina wanted #31, but gave it to Joseph when the Leafs signed him. Interestingly, he gave up the #13 that belonged to Mats Sundin, even though Sundin isn't with the team, out of respect in case he comes back, or in case he doesn't and they want to (and likely will) retire his number.

Oh, and it's worth mentioning that the Red Wings are 0-1-0.

Unknown said...

Kubina first came to the Leafs in #37 before switching to #31 and now obviously is #77. This sweater is good, but the best Leafs uniform was the 1967 sweater.

Unknown said...

Actually, Kubina first wore 73 in Toronto, not 37, then changed to 31 after some poor play.

Brett said...

at first i thought the game was a re run from a couple years back

carpandean said...

Anyone want to bet that these will be their primary jerseys again sometime within the next three years? They changed to the new logo in the 1967-68 season after winning the cup before and have since gone 30 years without a cup. Why wouldn't they change back?

Anonymous said...

KSY.....the leafs have never retired a number in their history aside from the #5 of Bill Barilko who died in a plane crash at 24 and #6 of Ace Bailey who suffered a life threatening and career-ending injury at 30. These are obviously special circumstances, so Sundin will likely have his number Honoured like the other greats, and not Permanently Retired.

Jason said...

That was a beautiful game to watch. It just looked... right. Those two uniforms contrast and complement each other very well.

Anonymous said...

"That makes the Leafs the first team to wear a third jersey in the Rbk EDGE era. Hooray for them."

We can argue the definition of "third jersey", but I would say The Pens and Sabres were the first to wear a third jersey in the Rbk EDGE era during the winter classic.

Leafers LP said...

I must admit, I was extremely disappointed in the decision to keep the same thirds from Pre-EDGE, but I guess I just didn't realize how flawless these jerseys are. Well, I guess it helped that they played extremely well, but they looked very good while doing it. I was even thinking "Now this is a good, classic, clean-looking hockey game, original six style."

How impressive would it be if the young Leafs could knock off the currently top two ranked teams in the league? Montreal on Saturday...

Anonymous said...

this should become their primary jersey complete with a home blue variant. enough with the "practice" jerseys.

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