The NHL Is Waging A War Against Style, Penalized Trevor Zegras For Having His Jersey Tucked Into His Pants
Len Redkoles. Getty Images.The NHL is in a great spot right now. Viewership numbers are going up, there are a ton of superstars all across the league, and we're getting to a point where a bunch of teams are coming out of the purgatory they've found themselves in over the last few years. Goaltender interference is a mess, the offside review is still a little too convoluted, and sometimes suspensions don't seem to line up from the Department of Player Safety. But at the end of the day, the on-ice product in the NHL is fantastic right now. All the NHL needs to do is mostly just sit back and relax. All you have to do is not get in your own way for a change.
Turns out that's way too much of an ask.
This is what happens when the NHL doesn't have any problem to deal with. They just start making up new problems. What point could there possibly be to get players to stop tucking their jersey in? There's no safety risk, you don't get any competitive advantage from tucking your jersey, and there aren't any ads down at the bottom of the jerseys that would be blocked out by the tuck. There is quite literally not a single issue that stems from players tucking their jersey, but that's not going to stop the NHL from putting all their time and energy into eradicating style from the league.
Because it's not just tucked jerseys they are going after, but visor tilt as well.
The two greatest goal scorers in the history of the National Hockey League. Both of them are jersey tuck icons.
Andrew D. Bernstein. Getty Images.
Patrick McDermott. Getty Images.I can understand the safety concerns when it comes to visor tilt in the NHL, but still. There are very few looks in hockey that are crispier than a Bauer 4500 with your visor going full wheelie mode over your eyes.
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Rich Graessle. Getty Images.There are so many things refs need to be looking for out there on the ice. The game is so fast, and the margins are so slim. They already miss enough calls as it is, so the last thing the NHL should be doing right now is have them waste any of their attention on irrelevant bullshit like a jersey being tucked or a visor being tilted back a little too far.
This is a War on Sty. It's the only logical explanation. Why the NHL hates style, we may never know. Perhaps it's just the control that they crave. The ability to tell grown ass men that they cannot express themselves through minor equipment modifications. But the fact that Trevor Zegras was assessed a 2-minute penalty for his jersey being tucked will now officially go down in history as the first legitimate shot fired in the War on Sty. It's a sad, shameful day in the world of hockey.