Posted on by

Utah HC Varsity debut, more hockey, soccer and more

Utah HC Varsity debut, more hockey, soccer and more

Good morning everyone. As we are now a week into the National Hockey League season, we had the opportunity to see the new Utah Hockey Club’s jerseys in meaningful action. As we like to say here at Uni Watch, “I need to see these on the field/court/ice to make a judgement.” Well, it’s already been two games with both uniforms worn, so let’s render something.

The hockey club played its first home game against the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday, it was a nice university duel.

It’s very fitting that they opened against Chicago because I get a real Chicago Bruisers vibe from Utah’s colleges…and that’s a very good thing. I love the black and light blue color scheme, almost as much as navy and light blue. Both the blue and white stripes are particularly effective here, as are the white letters and numbers.

The first season patch can be seen on both shoulders and there is a second Utah logo on both sides of the helmets.

Here you can see the helmet logo better, and here you can see it on the white helmet.

Two days later, Utah wore their white jerseys with black Breser pants as they traveled east to take on Phil’s New York Islanders. Another nice matchup.

I’m sure many of you have noticed this much before, but I didn’t notice that the stripes were different until yesterday. The stripes are separated on the black plains, but there is no separation on the white plains.

I’m not sure which version I like better. All I know is that Utah fans have a lot to cheer about besides the 2-0 start…including those simple but very effective unis.

If they get a name and a new logo, I hope they put it on the white jersey. Just leave the black uni as it is.

Yes, there is still hockey in Arizona…

…just not the NHL guy anymore. The Arizona State Sun Devils, who shared their arena with the former Arizona Coyotes for the past two seasons, had an interesting rise this week. Yesterday I came across this post while surfing the internet:

Of course that piqued my interest because it immediately reminded me of ice football from Germany last winter.

Oh yes. It’s real and it’s spectacular.

It turned out that ASU was promoting its Friday doubleheader with hockey and football.

The hockey team started against Michigan in a battle for helmets that adopted the football teams’ designs.

Here’s a closer look at the helmets, along with a nice alternate Arizona-shaped captain’s patch:

The patch on the other side is for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, which the Sun Devils joined a few months ago.

After this game, the football team hosted the Utah Utes again Mono and mono Matchup.

At least the pants weren’t plain!

Terry might have more to say about this game during the Sunday Morning Uni Watch. The only thing I would like to add is that I wish the logo on the helmet matched the one on the pants.

Another goal line discovery

Last month’s posts about Gs on the goal lines (found here and here) got me thinking about something else. SMUW crew member Wade Heidt reminded me that at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium there used to be double zeros instead of Gs on the goal lines.

I remember watching them in the 1984 Gray Cup between Winnipeg and Hamilton.


I thought I had seen these before somewhere else, and it turns out that was the case. Another green and gold city, Green Bay, used ’00s in the early ’60s.


These stills are from this highlight reel of a 1962 Lions/Packers contest. I think I’d rather see 00s on jerseys than on the field, but it’s a nice little quirk that I’m glad some teams did have. Does anyone know of any other teams that have done this?

Going out with a kick…and a few long volleyball rallies

I like to finish with a walk-off field goal when I can, but today I’m going to give you a different kind of kick. Check out this piece of footwork from last night’s Purdue-Nebraska volleyball game!

Here’s another rally on a good looking gray pitch.

And I’ll take this long book over an ace any day!

Plays like these are the reason why I count indoor volleyball as one of my four main sports. I hope you enjoyed them too.

That’s enough for now

My father turns 90 today and my niece turns 40, so there will be a lot of celebrations. Mom’s dad was born 120 years ago today, so hopefully they’re celebrating in heaven. May you also have a nice day. Take care, see you tomorrow for the Sunday Morning Uni Watch.