In 2013, the Dallas Stars underwent a total rebrand. From the logo, to the colors, to the font used on the jersey, the Stars wanted to present a new look to represent a new era of the franchise under the ownership of Tom Gaglardi.
It was a fresh look, and kind of radical at the time. Gone was the boring black, white, and gold “DALLAS” motif the team had drifted to over time. In its place was a color palette of white, silver, and Victory Green, a shade of kelly green that is owned solely by the Dallas Stars in the league (except when St. Patrick’s day rolls around and teams like the Chicago Blackhawks do a version of their jerseys in the color for warmups one game a year.)
The Victory Green shade absolutely pops on television. Maybe coinciding with the re-brand, and maybe a result of finally icing teams that were competitive after years of mediocrity, the amount of Stars fans in attendance at away games was more and more noticeable. You can easily pick them out of a crowd in any building in the league, even when you don’t hear them shout “STARS!” during the American national anthem performances.
It’s also a color that has become synonymous with the Stars locally. If the Dallas Cowboys own the navy and silver, the Stars own Victory Green. The adoption of such a unique color amidst the blue schemes of the Dallas sports scene has made them stand out. Had they gone with a red, white, and blue color scheme as tested during the design process, the Stars would have blended into the landscape, lost amidst FC Dallas and Texas Rangers gear.
Now, when you walk down the street, you know when someone is wearing Dallas Stars gear.
The original green and white versions of the re-branded Dallas Stars have endured for the seven seasons since they were introduced. The first jersey to be added to the traditional road and home jerseys outside of one-off specialty jerseys for causes/theme nights was the Winter Classic jersey. It was a mix of throwback to hockey history in Dallas and the team’s current modern colors. The demand for the Winter Classic was off the charts, with the team scrambling to add production capabilities to keep up with jersey orders that surpassed their expectations.
Now, the team has finally decided it is time to mix in a third jersey. Plenty of NHL teams have one, a jersey that is put into rotation and worn for a handful of games each season to spice things up a little. Some teams use third jerseys to harken back to days of yore. Others, to subject the worst designs humanly possible to the eyeballs of the innocent.
Where did Dallas end on that spectrum with this third jersey design?
Inspired by Dallas.
Designed for Texas. pic.twitter.com/iRgpjT02lP— Dallas Stars (@DallasStars) October 28, 2020
Honestly, for some it’ll be gloriously different and unique. Others are likely to hate it on sight.
The colors are black and a shade of neon green the Stars are calling “Skyline Green”. It’s a very modern departure from the more staid NHL jerseys around the league.
They also did what many fans thought could end up being a third jersey design when the Stars originally rebranded years ago was putting the secondary logo — that of the Dallas Stars logo inside the state of Texas — as the main chest crest.
That isn’t the only touch of Texas pride in the design, either.
The collar of the jersey features a stylized Texas state flag design, which starts with the star on the player’s left side. A solid color bar with a striped color bar underneath is reminiscent of the red and white bars of the Texas flag. Inside the collar is the phrase “Come and Take It”, an unofficial Texas state motto. (Seriously, search for the official Texas state motto, and you get “Friendship” and that’s not the emotion you want to evoke with your team’s jersey design. This is really the only true answer if you’re incorporating something like this into a design.)
Though the phrase originated elsewhere, it was famously used in Texas during the Texas Revolutionary War when a small group of Texans rebuffed a Mexican military attempt to take back a cannon given to Texas by Mexico years before at what is now known as the Battle of Gonzales. Texans fashioned a flag afterward that featured the phrase with a star and a cannon design underneath it. Nearly 170 years later, the design now can remind Dallas Stars what it is they are fighting for whenever they don the new black and neon design as they step onto the ice to fight for Texas glory in hockey.
To focus on the secondary logo on the chest, the Stars have removed that design from the pants, preferring a streamlined black pant to go with the jersey. The helmet will feature a Dallas Stars watermark instead of a logo, keeping all focus on the secondary logo prominently displayed in this third jersey.
For a third jersey, the first such in this new era of Stars branding, I think the design fits into the team’s penchant for more modern looks. The color is still one that will most definitely pop on television, and is not like anything other teams in the league have today. This is once again another color that the team will own, giving them distinction amid the myriads of black jerseys in the league. For something that will be worn for 30 percent of home games or so starting next season, it gets a pass from me.
But what say you about this design? Was there something else you’d have preferred to see? What did they get right or wrong?
Jerseys will be on sale at the Stars Hangar stores in Frisco and Victory Park or online at hangarhockey.com beginning Thursday, October 29th at 9 AM.