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Back in silver and black: Kings make Gretzky-like look their official color scheme

San Jose Sharks v Los Angeles Kings

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 24: Willie Mitchell #33 of the Los Angeles Kings celebrates his goal with teammates Oscar Moller #9, Anze Kopitar #11 and Drew Doughty #8 in the second period during the NHL game against the San Jose Sharks at Staples Center on March 24, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Victor Decolongon/Getty Images)

Victor Decolongon

While I wasn’t a fan of the Los Angeles Kings’ purple-tinged color scheme, you have to give it a little bit of credit for being different. The logos and general design were a bit on the bland side, but there aren’t many teams in sports - let alone hockey - that use purple so prominently.

That being said, there should have been little doubt that the franchise was going in a crowd-pleasing direction toward a look that emulates the style of uniforms the team wore when Wayne Gretzky captivated Los Angeles. The team wore those black, white and silver alternate jerseys during their last two playoff runs, which is pretty obvious indication that fans and players alike preferred that design.

Although my preference would be for the team to go the full Gretzky-like distance by using the superior logo from that era, it’s great to hear that the Kings officially announced that those alternate jerseys will be their full-time look. The official team colors will be black, silver and white, the team will wear a new road version of that look for all away games and the team’s old crown “mark” will instead serve as the alternate one - only now it will no longer feature any purple.

The team reports that it won’t alter the look of the alternate-turned-home jerseys, but they provided two examples of what the new road duds will look like.

roadla

James

roadla2

James

Now that you have a feel for what those road jerseys will look like, glance at the team’s two marks.

First, the primary mark:

shield

Next, here is the primary-turned-alternate mark - the crown without a trace of purple.

newcrown

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Personally, I like the changes in the grand scheme of things, since it acknowledges the obvious preferences nearly everyone shares. I’d still prefer the Gretzky-era logo over the LA emblem they’re opting to use, but that’s nitpicking more than anything else. Here’s what Luc Robitaille had to say about the changes, via the Kings’ press release.

Said Kings President, Business Operations Luc Robitaille: “There was an overwhelming sentiment from our fans and from our players that has led us to this change. Our fans really like the late 80s and early 90s era Kings uniforms which are very similar to this uniform. As a player, the colors give you an attitude and an edge. Dean Lombardi and I talked a lot about it with the players and they love it. We feel our fans believe in it as well.”

Kings players will wear the new jerseys in public for the first time during the team’s Hockey Fest event on September 11.

Now that you’ve had some time to look over the road jerseys and decide how you feel about the changes, I thought I’d gauge your feelings about the Kings’ decisions with a poll. Rather than asking if you merely like the changes or not, there’s an added wrinkle: even if you dig the look overall, would you rather see the Gretzky-era emblem on the duds? Here’s a shot of Gretzky in that old look for your own reference.

Wayne Gretzky

FILE - In this Oct. 1, 1988 photo, Wayne Gretzky, of the Los Angeles Kings, is shown during a break in action at the Forum in Inglewood, Ca. The infamous trade that dealt Gretzky from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988, sent shock waves throughout Canada and the United States is the subject of the documentary “Kings Ransom” that will be broadcast Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2009 on ESPN. (AP Photo/Mark Terrill)

AP

OK, now go ahead and share your thoughts in the poll and comments.

[polldaddy poll=5464926]

(Gretzky photo via The Associated Press.)