Sharks seek edge from sleek new uniforms

You can stop fretting over the need to add to the collection of teal jerseys hanging in your closet.

After a couple teaser ads online featuring split-second flashes of teal-and-black and a snippet of “Jaws” music, the San Jose Sharks on Tuesday revealed their new home and road sweaters for the 2013-2014 season.

Despite the “The Next Wave” teasers alluding to a change in color or style, the “new” sweaters are actually just modeled after the team’s third black sweaters.

Changes were made to the home and road sweaters with a greater focus on the performance of the jersey, not necessarily how they look.

In a video posted to the team’s website, radio broadcaster Dan Rusanowsky tells viewers that the new sweaters were designed for “optimal performance on the ice.” In a behind-the-scenes vignette on the making of the new design, GM Doug Wilson elaborated:

“The jersey was designed mainly with performance in mind. Remove extra weighting, lettering, and make it as efficient as our third jersey, the black jersey.”

Think of it as utility over vanity. The jerseys were modified for the players to perform better in them; not because Team Teal wanted to shake up their look.

To make the jerseys more light weight, a few — though not many — aesthetic modifications were made to the two sweaters.

Home sweaters will remain “Pacific Teal,” and the roadies will remain white. The black shoulder pad and piping along the body was removed, and the lining along the neck of the sweaters was removed and replaced with laces, much like on the Sharks’ black sweater.

These items’ absence makes the new sweaters look a little more streamlined without completely altering the look.

Another change that might pique a fan’s visual interest is the removal of the orange that lined the lettering and the numbers. But if you are that attached to said color, you probably have one of the all-orange sweaters in your possession already.

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