The Minnesota Golden Gophers Men’s Hockey team have introduced a new anthracite uniform, which they’re dubbing the “Iron Range” alternate. The team will debut the new uniforms Friday night against Michigan State.
We’ll start with the video…
The 〽️ represents every corner of the State of Hockey.
Introducing the .
Debuting Fri. Dec 13th. pic.twitter.com/labgLsKCqd
— Minnesota Men’s Hockey (@GopherHockey) December 8, 2024
The team has created a poster with some borderline cringe-worthy boilerplate about the team/uniform’s toughness, that could probably be very easily applied to any team or school. “A tribute to the gritty, hardworking culture that embodies the Minnesota Iron Range,” and “This jersey embodies the toughness and pride of a region that has helped shape Golden Gopher hockey.”
Word salads aside, let’s take a closer look at the new alternates.
The jerseys are anthracite, featuring a maroon collar and the team’s “M” logo in gold, outlined in maroon, as a crest. Two sleeve stripes are in a thin maroon/thick gold/thin maroon pattern, while the hem features gold and maroon stripes. The team will wear gold helmets with this uniform. Breezers are solid maroon.
Here are some closeups of the sweater.
The socks will match the jersey’s anthracite gray coloring, and the stripes on the hose match those on the sleeves.
According to The Daily Gopher, “The uniforms were originally designed by the 2022-23 team and were ordered along with the new white, maroon and gold uniforms that Minnesota debuted last season. Unfortunately due to shipping delays, the uniforms did not arrive until this summer, and then it took an extra few months to get names and numbers on them locally to be ready to be worn this season.”
Here’s a look at the white, maroon and gold uniforms which the team debuted last year.
Not only are those in school colors, but they are also all excellent looking and well designed uniforms.
I’m not a fan of the AFAS alternates, but if they appeal to the players and the fans, then they will have served their purpose. While the team did announce they will debut these uniforms Friday night againse Michigan State, they did not indicate when or how often they will be worn during the 2024-25 season. Strictly as a uniform (and discounting the use of a non-school color), the design is fine.
Your thoughts?
Having trouble seeing the maroon against the grey.
I think they’d look better with gold breezers, but it looks like Minnesota is only wearing maroon breezers across all uni sets so hard to complain too much.
I really hate the Baggy Socks look in hockey now.
And in regards to the jargon infographic, it IS impressive that the uniforms are able to “embody” two separate things at the same time.
Yeah, this type of sock looks terrible. Especially now that they’ve realized they can put the “maker’s mark” on the kneecap.
I have a sneaking suspension that the names will be hard to read on-ice.
I am not a fan of AFAS.
I’m not form the area, so prior to this I was not aware of the Iron Range Region of MN. I learned something new & with the regional connection, I’m ok with the color choice.
Will State of Hockey be a series of special uniforms to represent different regions/geographies within the state? That is kind of cool to include the whole state since it is the flagship state university. I like the state pride type marketing concept. Like city edition/connect original idea, but better since this is a state public institution.
Also, I respect their “State of Hockey” branding tag line.
I spent 30 years in Minnesota, and the Range is not only a distinct and important part of the state, but was/is a hockey hotbed. So, while I too don’t love AFAS, it really does sense here.
Whatevs, another school with a uni featuring a color that’s not theirs. For me, these are totally silly and unnecessary, particularly given how great their three regular uniforms are and how nice the maroon/yellow/white combos look (I love the skating Goldie sweater). Better than a black alternative, I suppose.
Why does any Hockey Team need 4 different Uniforms??
They don’t besides selling merch.
Did the team actually call them anthracite? I would have guessed they’d call them magnetite (one of the primary iron ores and which I think is mined in the Mesabi iron range)
Love it! If a team was choosing a non-school color to signify a part of the state, you would think they would do a little research.
As an alum and big gopher hockey fan I like the unis. Different enough but still feels like the U.
“The Wreck of the Ella Fitzgerald”
I wonder what Univ of Minnesota Duluth has to say about this. They’re closer to that area than the Twin Cities campus.
I thought the same thing. Does UMD have alternate unis currently? If not, they should slap Bulldog logos on these sweaters and ship them up north.
For anyone who wants to see how the unis look on ice, the Michigan State-Minnesota game Friday is on the B1G Network at 7:30 p.m. Central.
And I guess that’s what I want to do before I cast my worthless opinion on the Iron Range jerseys. I am not very optimistic, and I just don’t think anthracite will look good on a white hockey rink.
As a Minnesota alum and Gopher hockey lover, I like the uniforms sans the chunky collar. I’m admittedly a lover of all things anthracite. The response from fans seems to be that it looks too much like an Arizona State uniform, which is hard to disagree with. I’ll buy one if I can to add to the collection, which is the whole point, I guess.
I should also add that if they do alternates over the next few years representing other parts of the state it’d be a great troll job since Minnesota has five other D1 hockey programs.
I’m a Duluth resident, and actually a big Michigan hockey fan, but Minnesota-Duluth is the local team here and to be honest this feels like a low-key slap in the face. UMD is the local hockey team to the iron range.
Granted, it’s not the recruiting hotspot it was years ago when John Mayasich was excelling at Minnesota and the “Eveleth Boys” spearheaded by Wally Grant led Michigan to 6 national titles in the 1950s and Mark Pavelich was a part of the Miracle on Ice. But it’s a significant area and it is, shall we say, sports rude.
Looks like they just got them out of the hamper. Look at those wrinkles!
Every one of Minnesota’s regular uniform looks are vastly superior to these
Check!
These are a better U of M ‘dark mode’ jersey than anything the football team has produced with the inclusion of gold. Most of the football designs are black with maroon accents so they look like a can of Dr. Pepper Zero.
Not the Golden Gophers brand. Nike forcing another look down the brand’s throats. SHM.
A big no no. Silly storytelling and an ugly look for a program with great regular uniforms.
Anthracite? Ummmm, we don’t mine coal on the Iron Range; we mine…iron. It’s right there in the name.
If they decided to go with a dark grey nobody thought of hematite, which is actually an iron (and the name of the Hibbing High School yearbook)?
Uff da.