Islanders, Sharks officially unveil leaked sweaters

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There's no doubt this has been the Summer of the Jersey Leak. At least four different NHL uniforms have been seen publicly ahead of their unveilings. In the last few days, two of those have been made official.

Let's start with the New York Islanders, who premiered their new third jerseys early this morning, confirming a leaked photo that showed up online two weeks ago.

The Isles have opted for a stark black and white sweater in tribute to Brooklyn — their new home as they begin play at Barclays Center next month.

While the reaction has been largely negative — this is something fans neither requested nor wanted — the reveal of the full uniform set adds some depth.

On its own, the sweater is abysmal. But in some sort of irony, the Islanders headlined their press release, "Traditions Resonate Through Uniform."

If they're referring to the Isles' tradition of terrible third jerseys, they might be on to something. But for me, this team's tradition is rooted in blue and orange.

They only thing you might call traditional is the batches of quad-stripes to commemorate the club's four Stanley Cup championships. But by embedding that so heavily into their branding, they're almost admitting a fifth will never happen.

What's with the collar? Why does the white stripe abruptly stop? Why are the blue and orange elements confined to a spot we'll never see on the ice? Why black? Why, oh why, is there so much black?

All that said, if we don't frame this uniform as "traditional," there are some likable aspects. The "BKLYN" logo on the helmet is sharp as is the "B" on the bottom of the sweater. I'm sure we'll see a lot more of those.

These are the small details that can improve the overall look. Are they enough to save it? Certainly not. But imagine if they weren't there at all.

In addition, special for this season are the two shoulder patches — one commemorating the team's inaugural season in Brooklyn; the other in memory of legendary Isles coach Al Arbour who recently died.

I'm curious how this jersey will look next year when those patches go away. If for some reason you want to see more photos, click here.

Now I can't spend anymore time talking about this sad jersey nor could I allow it to have a blog post all to itself. So let's talk about something wonderful!

On Saturday, the San Jose Sharks made their new Heritage Jersey official with an unveiling at Sharks FanFest. This after a feeble attempt via social media to get fans to wonder whether the leak earlier in the week was accurate.

It was.

In the era of Reebok and within the confines of the Edge jersey style, this is a master class in how you do an amazing throwback jersey.

I would venture to say it's the complete opposite of what we just saw above from the other coast.

For fans who loved the club's original sweaters, these games will be a real treat. The Heritage Jersey will debut on Nov. 3 and be worn two more times during the season on Dec. 1 and Jan. 18.

Their opponents for those games will be Columbus, Pittsburgh and Ottawa — the irony being that only one of those teams actually existed the first time this jersey was worn in 1991.

If you'd like to enjoy more photos of the sweater, check out the Sharks' website. Plus there's also this YouTube video!

The Sharks wearing this jersey as part of their 25th anniversary celebration. And by the way, here's a look at their center ice anniversary logo.