Unless you've been under a rock for the past 7 years, you know that the Toronto Maple Leafs haven't left their fans with much to cheer about lately. Since the 2004-05 lockout, the Leafs have failed to make the playoffs and, being a Leafs fan myself (I know, stupid really), it has left a bitter taste in our mouths. But with the 2010-11 season soon approaching, "Leafs Nation" finally has something to look forward to. While constantly stressing that "we will try and compete for the playoffs next year", President and GM Brian Burke has no question changed the face of this team since his arrival back in November of '08. Acquiring big name players like Phil Kessel and J.S. Giguere will undoubtedly help, and landing Dion Phaneuf in a blockbuster trade provides a solid, young defenseman that could perhaps fill Mats Sundin's shoes as our next captain.
Well, a week ago today, the Leafs announced Dion Phaneuf as their new captain (shocker!). If you're a Leafs fan, we all saw this one coming. And so it should be. He's a great player that leads on and off the ice. So good on Burkie, and more importantly Ron Wilson (it was ultimately down to the coach's decision) for naming Phaneuf our newest captain. Cheers to Phaneuf leading a new-look Leafs team into a new season.
Speaking of "new-look", along with the announcing of the captaincy, the Leafs also unveiled their new sweaters for the upcoming season. Since the "new-era" NHL began after the lockout year, RBK was in charge of redesigning the 30 jerseys across the league. I for one, am not a fan of this look, as they are all very similar looking. Focusing on the Leafs, RBK decided to remove almost all character from the Leafs' jerseys, by negating shoulder patches, and waist stripes. Now, this may not sound like much, but in my opinion, they looked like practice jerseys; simply terrible.
So on a more positive note, the Leafs decided to bring back a very familiar look to their jerseys, reminiscent of the early (successful) '90s by adding the old leaf shoulder patches and bringing back the horizontal waist stripes. They also went back to the Pro Block font which goes much better with the heritage of this team. Well done. They have gone from having some of the worst jerseys in the league to arguably some of the nicest. Thumbs up to the designers of these jerseys. Can't wait for the new season! Dare I say Stanley Cup Champs 2010-11? Kidding.
