N.C. State freshman Robert Von Jess attended a historical event in the Carolina Hurricanes organization, and in his ‘Canes fandom, unveiling the team’s new home and road uniforms for the 2013-14 season Tuesday at PNC Arena.
Fans were randomly selected to attend the jersey unveiling press conference through a social media contest—Von Jess was one of the few selected to attend the event.
For 12 days leading up to the press conference, the Hurricanes “teased” pictures of the uniforms on the team’s Instagram account, giving fans a small glimpse before the unveiling.
“I put my name in once, out of six thousand people, and got an email yesterday,” Von Jess said. “I thought the whole experience was really cool. I liked the press conference and being on the floor of PNC.”
Though the event is historically limited to staff and media only, Von Jess and the other winners sat with among local media and watched as Hurricanes captain Eric Staal, general manager Jim Rutherford, Vice President of marketing Doug Warf and senior director of marketing and brand development Ben Aycock, fielded questions about the new changes.
Von Jess said his favorite part was watching videos that built up to the moment when the curtain was taken off the models to unveil the jerseys.
After the press conference, all in attendance were treated to lunch on the PNC Arena floor. Each had an opportunity to take pictures with the jersey models and speak with Hurricanes staff.
“I liked the whole format of it, and how I was treated special,” Von Jess said.
According to Warf, the process was a two-year journey, rendering many different concepts.
The change marks the first major uniform overhaul the team’s 15-year history in Raleigh. The primary logo crest remains the same but has been reduced in size. The original colors remain the same, with the exception of the metallic silver, which has been changed to a matte finish.
The home jersey remains distinctly red and features two red stripes on the sleeves and at the bottom of the jersey, and includes a black color with white lacing, giving the jersey a classic look.
“I’m a fan of the red,” Von Jess said. “I like the classic stripes and laces, and keeping all the red.”
The white, also significantly different, features a red shoulder yoke that extends down to the player nameplate. Bold red striping is found on the sleeves and bottom of the jersey outlined by a thin black stripe.
Missing from the new uniforms is the hurricane warning flag stripe that used to be featured at the bottom of the past uniforms, which is now found inside the neckline.
The secondary logo, found on the previous edition’s shoulders has been removed.
“The white is going to have to grow on me,” Von Jess said. “The warning flags never grew on me, and I don’t miss the flags on the shoulder either.”
Warf said the team will continue to use its current third alternate jersey for the upcoming season.
“Sometimes a jersey that has as much going on, on our past jersey, sometimes it can be a little bit stale,” Rutherford said. “We wanted to go to a more traditional and cleaner look.”
“I thought the whole experience was really cool,” Von Jess said. “I really do like the jerseys a lot.”
