In this week’s edition of the NHL Power Rankings we take a look at the league’s newest collection of jerseys and rank all of the 31 Reverse Retros that were unveiled on Monday.
There are some classic looks here, some bold designs, some missed opportunities, and even a few dives into absurdity.
We examine all of them!
Where does your team’s newest jersey rank?
To this week’s NHL Power Rankings!
The Elites
• Los Angeles Kings. These are perfect. You can not be the Kings and unveil a “retro” jersey that does not feature purple and gold. They nailed it.
• New Jersey Devils. Always a big fan of the Devils Christmas color scheme. Embrace it.
• Minnesota Wild. I am a sucker for early 1990s era NHL, and this color scheme brings back major memories.
• Colorado Avalanche. If you live in Quebec your blood is probably boiling, but you should take pride in the fact that these look awesome.
• Arizona Coyotes. The Kachina look, the purple, and the overall design just work for me. It is bold, it is different, and it is excellent.
• Anaheim Ducks. Are they pretty? Oh my gosh no. Are they ridiculous? Absolutely, positively, and without a doubt. And that is why I love that they are using them. The willingness to embrace the absurdity of this jersey is a level of confidence we should all strive for.
Sometimes a second chance is good
• New York Rangers. The Lady Liberty jerseys were a huge change when they were first introduced, and I was originally not a fan. I like them this time around.
• Washington Capitals. I hated the screaming eagle uniform when it was first around, but just swapping the colors seems to make a massive difference. I am now on board.
• Carolina Hurricanes. I appreciate the greatness of the Hartford Whalers uniform as much as anyone, but the gray here knocks it down a few spots for me.
• Calgary Flames. Another jersey that I used to hate, but I am coming around on the idea of a fire breathing horse-dragon.
The Very Good
• Boston Bruins. A classic look, but I would have liked it better without the white stripe down at the bottom of the sleeve and if the goofy bear would have been featured on the front. Let’s get weird with these.
• Tampa Bay Lightning. This reminds me of their original expansion design when they entered the league, and I always liked that look. Like most early 1990s logos, they never should have changed it.
• Columbus Blue Jackets. This logo looks better surrounded by all the red than it did in its original blue design.
• Vegas Golden Knights. I do not hate this. I also do not love this. So I think 14th works just fine.
These are fine
• Florida Panthers. I do not know about you, but I am picturing Pavel Bure blowing past defenders and scoring 50 goals.
• Ottawa Senators. I like the 2-D Senator look, but I am not crazy about this particular jersey design. You take the good with the bad.
• Buffalo Sabres. I think this would have been really good if not for that “Buffalo” slapped on the bottom.
• Edmonton Oilers. I get a 1980s feelings from this. Other than that I have no strong feeling on the jersey itself one way or the other.
• Philadelphia Flyers. Not a huge fan of the sleeves, otherwise it reminds me of exactly what almost every Flyers jersey has ever looked like.
• Toronto Maple Leafs. Like the front of the jersey but hate the sleeves.
• Vancouver Canucks. These are giving me Mark Messier in Vancouver vibes. Nobody in Vancouver liked that era.
• Chicago Blackhawks. Honestly this just reminds me of something they would wear at their next outdoor game.
The missed opportunities
• St. Louis Blues. I can forgive them for giving into Mike Keenan and not using the Cool Cat jersey in the 1990s. I looked the other way for them not embracing the All-Star Game as an opportunity to finally use it. But I can not — and will not! — overlook a third missed opportunity to use the greatest alternate jersey idea ever. If the Ducks can bring back Wild Wing, the Blues could have used Cool Cat!
• Pittsburgh Penguins. This design looked better in the early 1990s in its original black. If they were going for mid-1990s look here they should have used Robo-Penguin.
• Montreal Canadiens. I get that the Canadiens jersey is a classic and you do not want to mess with it, but it just does not work in blue for me.
• New York Islanders. If ever there was a time to bring back the Gorton’s Fishstick guy on a semi-regular basis, this was it.
You tried
• San Jose Sharks. The Sharks have two colors that work for them: Those colors are teal and black. They take a back seat here.
• Nashville Predators. There is nothing here that would make me want to run out and buy this over a regular Predators jersey.
• Winnipeg Jets. I like this logo, but this color does not work and I would have liked to have seen more to honor Atlanta since, you know, that is this team’s history and origin.
The past weekend of football was all about the favourites.
The favoured teams went 13-1 straight up and 10-4 against the spread in the NFL. In college football, the three most teams bet at the BetMGM Sportsbook in terms of number of bets and money all won and covered. All three were favourites.
Trends of the Week
The three most bet college teams that won and covered on Saturday were Ohio State (-3.5) vs. Penn State, Indiana (-7.5) at Michigan State and Oregon (-14.5) at Michigan. Penn State has now lost seven straight home games as underdogs. The Nittany Lions were up 10-0 in the first quarter and were 3.5-point favourites at the time. The Buckeyes won 17-10.
In the NFL, the three most bet teams in terms of number of bets and money were the Washington Commanders (-4) at the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions (-2.5) at the Green Bay Packers and the Buffalo Bills (-6) vs. the Miami Dolphins. All three teams won, but only two of the three covered the spread as Buffalo beat Miami 30-27.
When it came to the players with the most bets to score a touchdown on Sunday, only two of the five reached the end zone — Chase Brown (-125) and Taysom Hill (+185). David Montgomery (-140), Brian Robinson Jr. (+110) and AJ Barner (+500) did not score.
Upsets of the Week
The biggest upset in the NFL was the Carolina Panthers coming from behind to beat the New Orleans Saints 23-22. New Orleans closed as a 7-point favourite and took in 76% of the bets and 79% of the money in against-the-spread betting. The Saints fired head coach Dennis Allen following the loss. They have now lost seven straight games after starting the year 2-0.
Arguably the biggest upset in college football was South Carolina beating No. 10 Texas A&M 44-20 at home. Texas A&M closed as a 2.5-point favourite and took in 59% of the bets and 58% of the money.
NEW YORK – Washington Capitals left-wing Alex Ovechkin, Carolina Hurricanes centre Martin Necas and Pittsburgh Penguins centre Sidney Crosby have been named the NHL’s three stars of the week.
Ovechkin had a league-leading five goals and nine points in four games.
The 39-year-old Capitals captain has 14 points in 11 games this season, and his 860 career goals are just 34 shy of Wayne Gretzky’s record.
Necas shared the league lead with nine points (three goals, six assists) in three games.
Crosby factored on seven of the Penguins’ eight total goals scoring four goals and adding three assists in three appearances. The 37-year-old Penguins captain leads his team with 14 points (five goals, nine assists) in 13 games this season.
Crosby and Ovechkin, longtime rivals since entering the league together in 2005-06, will meet for the 70th time in the regular season and 95th time overall when Pittsburgh visits Washington on Friday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
TORONTO – Running back Brady Oliveira of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and Hamilton Tiger-Cats quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell are the finalists for the CFL’s outstanding player award.
Oliveira led the CFL in rushing this season with 1,353 yards while Mitchell was the league leader in passing yards (5,451) and touchdowns (32).
Oliveira is also the West Division finalist for the CFL’s top Canadian award, the second straight year he’s been nominated for both.
Oliveira was the CFL’s outstanding Canadian in 2023 and the runner-up to Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for outstanding player.
Defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Berglund of the Montreal Alouettes is the East Division’s top Canadian nominee.
Voting for the awards is conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and the nine CFL head coaches.
The other award finalists include: defensive back Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders and Montreal linebacker Tyrice Beverette (outstanding defensive player); Saskatchewan’s Logan Ferland and Toronto’s Ryan Hunter (outstanding lineman); B.C. Lions kicker Sean Whyte and Toronto returner Janarion Grant (special teams); and Edmonton Elks linebacker Nick Anderson and Hamilton receiver Shemar Bridges (outstanding rookie).
The coach of the year finalists are Saskatchewan’s Corey Mace and Montreal’s Jason Maas.
The CFL will honour its top individual performers Nov. 14 in Vancouver.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 31.
