All I See Is Fail

The Hockey Hall of Fame Game went this weekend in Toronto, and didn't look anything like the game to the left. Instead the Toronto Maple Leafs hosted the Buffalo Sabres in the annual game as the five inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame were honoured on Saturday night. It should be noted that the first two women to be inducted into the Hall of Fame - Angela James and Cammi Granato - were part of this class. But that's not why I'm writing today. Today is all about why numbers on the front of the jersey are a fail.

The way that the patches on hockey jerseys are supposed to be worn are shown by Mike Komisarek and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Komisarek wears the alternate captaincy designation on the left side of his jersey, and the patch fits nicely in the open space on the front right shoulder. The Toronto Maple Leafs were not the problem on this night.

The Buffalo Sabres, however, wear their jersey numbers on their front right shoulder. As you can see on Jhonas Enroth, the HHOF patch fits nicely on the front left shoulder if the Sabres were opting not to have captains or alternate captains on Saturday night. But, as you may be aware, players must be designated either captain or alternate captain in order to speak to the referees on the ice. This is where the "fail" develops.

When looking at both Tomas Kaberle of Toronto and Jochen Hecht of Buffalo, it's clear to see why numbers on the front of the shoulder are a complete debacle. The captaincy designations are squished against the lace-up collar for the Sabres while Toronto's uniform looks clean and balanced. The eyesore created by the HHOF patch can be solved with one move: lose the numbers.

Clearly, in the Pat Lafontaine image, the front of the jersey looks clean and balanced in the same way that Toronto's jerseys did on Saturday night. Losing the numbers wouldn't be very difficult or problematic for any NHL team, and it just makes good sense with all of the patches being worn by teams for various reasons. While San Jose and the New York Islanders have yet to participate in one of these special games requiring a patch, but the numbers are still obtrusive and dumb.

The only way that Buffalo could have avoided this patch debacle was to have placed the patch on their shoulders like the New York Rangers did in 1999 and 2007. As you can see on Tim Connelly, there is nothing on the sleeves of the jersey to prevent the patch from being placed there, and there is precedence with the Rangers have done it in the past.

I'm sorry, Buffalo, but this look is an epic fail. And it bothered me every time I saw Craig Rivet, Derek Roy, and Jochen Hecht on the ice. Lose the front numbers when playing in an important game with a patch, or start using the sleeves of your jerseys.

Otherwise, don't participate at all.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!