The Philadelphia Flyers revealed their new third jerseys last night at a fan event, and they are gloriously retro. As this staggeringly pretentious video shows, the color orange has tied together the great moments in the franchise's history: The Stanley Cups in the 1970s, Ron Hextall's Conn Smythe performances in the 1980s and Lindros's fourth concussion in the 1990s.
As you can see, the sweaters mimic the classic Flyers jersey. In many ways, this is really fantastic: Unlike the San Jose Sharks, who are running away from their signature color with a new black jersey, the Flyers are embracing what makes their look distinct. That's commendable.
But ... white nameplates. Yes, they're a part of Flyers history, having been temporarily used on the back of the orange jersey for "Game of the Week" appearances back before they had names on them.
Also parts of Flyers history: Bill Dineen, Paul Coffey and Roman Cechmanek. They shouldn't bring any of them back, either.
The only question here for us is if the obsolete, garish white nameplate takes the rest of a solid jersey down with it. Retro is one thing; the white nameplates are like installing a rotary phone in a million-dollar condo. With that ...
Pass or Fail: The Philadelphia Flyers' new third jerseys?
