{ 07 janvier 2006 }
the penguins
last night i went to the penguins game; unfortunately they lost to the thrashers 6-4. the penguins were wearing jerseys [actually, hockey jerseys are technically called “sweaters”] with the old skating penguin logo [left] on them, and this made me wonder if they had reverted back to the old logo. i did some research into the history of penguins’ sweaters, and it was interesting to find out how they had changed since the inception of the organization.
the penguins debuted in the nhl in 1967, wearing sweaters that were white, dark blue and light blue with the word “pittsburgh” written diagonally across the chest. the next season, the skating penguin logo was put on the uniforms. the triangle the penguin is in front of represents downtown pittsburgh, a.k.a. “the golden triangle.”
minor changes were made to the sweaters over the next decade; they remained the same colours with the skating penguin logo. 1980 is when the biggest change came: the sweaters changed from blue & white to black & gold. with the pirates winning the 1979 world series and the steelers winning both the 1979 and 1980 superbowls, the penguins wanted to unite with their fellow pittsburgh teams.
in the mid-1990s, the penguins’ sweaters featured the new logo [right]. the penguins’ website calls this logo “modernized.” i personally prefer the skating penguin logo because it’s cute. well, in the 1999–2000 season, the penguins introduced a 3rd sweater with the old logo on it. and in 2002 sweaters featuring the skating penguin logo were made the team’s official uniforms. not only is the old logo cuter, but it is perhaps luckier as well since the penguins wore sweaters featuring it when they won the stanley cup in 1991 and 1992.
posted at 23.42
comments:
The last Pens game I went to was against the Thrashers also. It was noteworthy for two reasons: (a) my friend sitting next to me caught the puck, and (b) there was a fight. Normally those events wouldn't be a big deal, but they both happened during the warm-up! I prefer the skating penguin logo too, though the diagonal "Pittsburgh" is probably my favourite. I guess I'm old school like that.
posted by Sanjiva at 07.51 on 08 janvier 2006