Do the NY Rangers "own" the diagonal text jersey?

[Soundgarden]

As a Penguins fan - yes and no.

I have less of an issue with the jerseys the Penguins wore in their inaugural season, which followed this template, than I do with the ones in the 90s for the simple reason that the 1967 designs at least tried to do some interesting things on their own, at least in regards to the striping and fonts. That said, those 1967 designs were just bad...the mid-90s version has as many fans as it has detractors, but I don't know of anyone who likes those original jerseys enough to go to bat for them, they're pretty much universally reviled by Pens fans. The 90s ones also had differences (namely the lack of a yoke and the shoulder striping), but still come off as blatant rip-offs in my eyes.

Frankly, outside of one-off throwbacks to those 1967 jerseys I never want to see the Penguins wearing this look again (as ugly as they are, you can't just hide the fact that the team wore those in their first season...I expect them to make one-off appearances on major anniversaries, including this season). It can be a nice look, but it's the Rangers look. I don't like the idea of a team 'owning' anything...but to me the Rangers have been using that look for long enough, and it's distinct enough that whenever anyone wears a jersey that looks like that, they're inviting the comparison...and that shouldn't be what designers set out to invoke.

I'd like those diagonal 90s 'PITTSBURGH' jerseys a hell of a lot more if not for the Rangers...but you can't ignore the comparisons, and it just stands out in such a way that I don't like it. I mean, the current template is based on the Red Wings...but there's a very real reason for that (started out as an homage to the Pittsburgh Hornets, who were the AHL affiliate of the Red Wings in the 60s), and it's not as blatantly obvious without looking at side-by-side comparisons, mostly because of how different the color schemes are and how different the striping is (really the sleeves are the only things remotely similar).

Personally I kinda view it like the Steelers only having the logo on one side of their helmet...it's too distinctly unique (the Rangers started wearing that look back when the Pirates were in the NHL; the Steelers since helmet decals became a thing) and has been worn by one team for so long that any variation of it would inherently look like a rip-off.

I honestly don't see it as a Rangers rip-off, if anything it just reminds me of the Pirates(MLB).

 

[tarheelhockey]

that team was stacked^

Not sure which one you mean... the '15 Aristocrats and '21 Eskimos were pretty weak teams by the standards of the day. Victoria had some HOF level talent but their record was 4-15 or something like that.

 

[Jackets Woodchuck]

Not sure which one you mean... the '15 Aristocrats and '21 Eskimos were pretty weak teams by the standards of the day. Victoria had some HOF level talent but their record was 4-15 or something like that.

I think it was a pun referring to the stacked lettering.

 

[Bones45]

The Rangers "own" a design? Oh please..

 

[ybnvs]

As for the original question - I could care less as it is absolutely irrelevant.

If it is truly and absolutely irrelevant, as you say it is, then why do you give any care at all in the first place?

To answer the OP: No rights obtained in the diagonal lettering.

 

[Bones45]

If it is truly and absolutely irrelevant, as you say it is, then why do you give any care at all in the first place?

One of my pet peeves.

 

[Tawnos]

Not sure which one you mean... the '15 Aristocrats and '21 Eskimos were pretty weak teams by the standards of the day. Victoria had some HOF level talent but their record was 4-15 or something like that.

For the record, the Rangers first head coach, who was also on the inaugural roster, was a member of the Aristocrats. The Patricks were a big part of early hockey history in that part of Canada and early Rangers history. Probably a jersey connection there.

 

[tp71]

I could care less

That means you care then.

 

[tarheelhockey]

For the record, the Rangers first head coach, who was also on the inaugural roster, was a member of the Aristocrats. The Patricks were a big part of early hockey history in that part of Canada and early Rangers history. Probably a jersey connection there.

That's an interesting connection. Lester Patrick wasn't just some incidental part of the Aristocrats either, he owned and managed the franchise, and was a star player for about a decade at a time when careers were much shorter. He basically WAS the Aristocrats franchise, and if he didn't personally design the jerseys (which he may have, as the founding owner!) he certainly would have had the last word in approving the design.

Then he goes to New York to manage the Rangers, and the team immediately becomes the first eastern club to use diagonal lettering? That seems like quite the coincidence.

Barring some sort of info that may be missing in this conversation, I'd say there's a solid case to be made that Lester Patrick can individually be credited with being the father of diagonal lettering in ice hockey.


Edit: if someone out there knows how to get in touch with the Icethetics guy, this would be an interesting question to ask him.

 

[Stonewall]

I have less of an issue with the jerseys the Penguins wore in their inaugural season, which followed this template, than I do with the ones in the 90s for the simple reason that the 1967 designs at least tried to do some interesting things on their own, at least in regards to the striping and fonts.

I have to disagree with your post.

This is the Penguins first jersey

If that had unique striping, then the Mario-Jagr era PITTSBURGH jersey, which has triangular striping on the arms, definitely had unique striping. And I'm not sure what you mean by unique fonts. All three have big bold letters with drop shadows, and both PITTSBURGH fonts are similar.

Not to mention the fact that the Mario-Jagr jersey is black and gold. No one is going to confuse that with a Rangers jersey.

I remember you disliking the realistic penguin logo with a passion. I think your bias against the logo is causing you to hate every jersey from that era as well.