The SHL’s two expansion teams, the Baltimore Longshoremen and the Utah Blizzard, held events this month at which they officially unveiled their inaugural uniforms.
The Longshoremen debuted their new look at the Baltimore Convention Center. The uniform models included C Jasper Stevenson and LW Barney Keeler, the team’s top draft picks, as well as D Thor Dalmgaard and LW Dave Yaughn, who also appeared at the Inner Harbor during the team’s expansion draft extravaganza.
Stevenson and Dalmgaard modeled Baltimore’s home uniforms, which are a striking blue-gray color that GM Ace Adams described as “blue steel.” The jerseys have a crest featuring the longshoreman from the team’s logo, and have burgundy and white stripes along the sleeves and jersey hem and a burgundy collar and cuffs. They also have a lace-up collar, joining the Portland Bluebacks as the only SHL teams to sport that accessory. The jersey is complemented with plain black helmet and breezers, along with striped burgundy socks, to complete the uniform.
“It’s a look that’s rugged and distinctive, which suits us just fine,” said Adams. “We’ll look good, but we also mean business. And you’ll notice that it’s heavy on black and blue, which is just how our opponents will look after they play us!”
Stevenson is a fan of the look. “It’s old-school without being boring,” he said of the new unis. “I really like the blue steel… that’s a nice color that no one else in the league is wearing.”
Keeler and Yaughn, meanwhile, showed off the road uniforms. The road jerseys are even more of an old-fashioned throwback than the home ones; they feature a giant “B” on the front in lieu of the longshoreman crest. They’re white with burgundy and blue steel stripes mirroring those on the home jersey, with burgundy collar and blue steel cuffs. The jerseys are paired with white socks with the same striping pattern that appears on the jerseys, along with the same black helmet and breezers used at home.
“Going with a consistent look on the helmet and the breezers, that’s another throwback touch,” noted Adams. “We actually talked to the league about having just one jersey for home and away, which would be a real throwback, but they vetoed that idea.”
Yaughn praised the road uniform, saying it’s “a really classic look. It almost looks like we stepped out of the ‘40s or ‘50s with these. I kind of want to see what these would look like on the ice in a black-and-white photo. You can picture the fans in ties and fedoras, smoking cigars. We look sharp!”
One Baltimore player whose absence was notable: RW Rick “The Stick” Nelson. The Longshoremen chose him in the draft after he was unexpectedly left exposed by his former team, the New York Night. The winger reportedly demanded a trade and said he would not report to Baltimore, even threatening to retire if he was not dealt. The Longshoremen have refused to deal him, and it’s far from clear that there would be much of a market for the high-scoring but expensive and defensively-deficient winger.
At the event, Adams expressed continued confidence that Nelson would join the team in the end. “Don’t read anything into it that Rick’s not here,” said the GM. “Come training camp and especially Opening Night, he’ll be here. We want him here, and I’m sure he loves playing he game and getting paid for it. He’ll be here, and we’ll all be excited when he is.”
Utah’s event, which was held at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, was free of any personnel drama. They had several players on hand, including RW Boniface Carpentier, the top overall pick; C Napoleon Beasley; G Jesse Clarkson and D Chris “Lightning” Oflyng, who were at the expansion draft; C Cliff Derringer, who signed as a free agent earlier this month; and D Brooks Zabielski.
Unlike Baltimore’s uniforms, which were designed very much along classic lines, the Blizzard’s unis are more modern. Perhaps most striking is their primary color, a light purple shade that has been described with terms ranging from “periwinkle” to “lavender.” It’s not a color that’s common in professional sports, and it has drawn a fair bit of comment, both positive and negative, on social media since the team unveiled its logo at the expansion draft. The Utah players, though, generally seem to be in favor of it.
“It’s our color, and I like it,” said Clarkson. “I know some idiots out there have been making fun of it and calling it a girly color. But I think it takes a real man to wear light purple.”
The home jerseys prominently feature that light purple color, with the front logo featuring the walrus in the team’s logo. (The walrus is the favorite animal of owner Hirum Matthews’ granddaughter.) The jersey has a narrow shoulder yoke in white with a black collar. The jersey also contains a black-and-white belly stripe, with black below it. It’s also black on the underside of the sleeves.
The socks are split roughly half and half, with purple above and black below, divided by a curved black-and-white stripe. Like Baltimore, Utah wears a black helmet and shorts with all of its uniforms; however, Utah’s shorts also contain a bold slash of light purple, apparently in the shape of a walrus tusk.
“I think it looks nice,” said Beasley. “I mean, the walrus isn’t super-aggressive like some other animal logos out there, but it doesn’t need to be. You know it’s dangerous. Those big old tusks? It’ll mess you up if you try to mess with it. Just like us!”
The road jersey is a color-swapped version of the home one, with the light purple and white swapping places. (The same is true for the socks; as mentioned above, the helmet and shorts are still black.)
“I feel like it’s a good balance: a little more purple at home, and a little less on the road,” said Zabielski. “Maybe it will cut back on the number of catcalls we get in other barns.”
Unlike Baltimore, Utah has added a third jersey to their arsenal. It follows the same general design template as the other two, with another color swap. This time, the main body of the jersey is black, with a white yoke, and light purple along the hem and under the arms. It also swaps out the walrus logo for the word “UTAH” rendered diagonally across the front, a more traditional approach, and one that no other SHL team is currently using. (The last to use a diagonal wordmark was the Dakota Rapids, who abandoned it when they changed names to the Jackalopes in 2017.)
“People in Salt Lake have a respect for tradition, so we wanted a jersey that speaks to that,” said Blizzard GM Clint Hoxie. “It’s a nice little classic touch on a more modern style overall.” Hoxie said he expects the Blizzard to wear the alternate jersey a couple of times a month.
Hoxie also had some words for those on social media who mocked the Blizzard’s use of light purple. “For all the people making fun of our color, you’d better get used to it,” the GM proclaimed. “Because you’ll be seeing a lot of it on the ice, and in the playoffs, and even raising the Vandy soon enough. Like the great Prince once said, it’ll be a purple reign.”
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