Peterborough Goes Back to Basics

It's been 5 years since the Peterborough Petes, one of the OHL's oldest and most well known franchises dropped their classic maroon and white jerseys for the black, beige, and maroon they teased for a decade as an alternate. Now the team has decided to go back to that look they wore for close to 60 years. 

Photo from Yahoo Sports

Now to be fair the team never dropped their classic jerseys, the photo above is from recent seasons, wand has been kept as an alternate and includes the Peterborough locks alternate logo first introduced in 2007. The jerseys, still using the CCM branded Reebok edge template takes the single hem stripe and puts it on the sides of the jersey, which was the style of the times in 2007. So what would the team do 12 years later? Do they go back to having a hem stripe or keep things as is? 

Photo from gopetesgo.com

Two things worth noting. The first being that team is going fully back to their 2009-14 version of these jerseys, not the previous version with the single arm stripe and single hem stripe. Outside of the shoulder patch, beige and black are not seen outside the OHL logo. The second is that the collar style does have the carbon fibre collar, which means the CCM Quiklite jersey system will take over the OHL and likely the entire CHL, joining the AHL. 

In a press release announcing the changes next season, Petes President Dave Pogue says that "While our current jersey design was well received when it was unveiled ahead of the 2014-15 season, fans, players, and staff have continued to express their fondness for our traditional colours. We’re excited to continue to pay homage to our storied history, but with a modern design"

It's nice that the team admits that they are replacing well loved jerseys for something equally loved if not more within house. I know we can all think of examples of jerseys we liked being replaced with something we don't like as much, and I'd like to think if the team could keep both sets they would.

Here are some HJC Write Opinions:

Sean- "It's a downgrade for sure, hopefully will pick up one of the current jerseys for cheap now" 

Ryan- "A step backwards unfortunately. Would have preferred the design from the 80's. The piping and side panels are outdated nowadays."

Steve- "This design, altogether, feels outdated and the Quiklite collar doesn’t improve the design. This design worked much better in 2010. There’s good half sleeve designs and bad half sleeve designs. This is in the latter."

Justin- "Typically I’m all for history-based redesigns, but I’m gonna miss the maroon, cream, and black look. The unique color combo really worked for the Petes. Starting next year, the only thing more boring than the name of the team is it’s jerseys."

So what are your thoughts? Let us know in the comments!