Portland Pirates Redesign Jerseys

There have been quite a few redesigns in the minor hockey world this year, and the Portland Pirates join that group. First, the Milwaukee Admirals spiffed up their jerseys and logos. Then he Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL rebranded entirely as the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

Well, the Pirates aren’t quite Swamp Rabbits, but they do have a new look going into the 2015-2016 American Hockey League season.

The transition makes sense for the Maine based club. After working with the Arizona Coyotes for the past few seasons, the Florida Panthers took over as the parent club for the Pirates.

“The uniforms unveiled today represent an opportunity for us to a create fresh, clean look as we begin our new affiliation with the Florida Panthers, while also paying tribute to our roots as an organization,” said Portland Pirates COO Brad Church via press release. “We feel the new game uniforms bring us a more traditional look that our players and fans will be proud of. We’re also excited to bring back our original “Swash” logo and our original uniform design in our alternate jerseys. This is a design that our fans have been asking for, and we are very happy to make this design a reality.”

The team will have new home and away jerseys along with a retro third jersey that reflects the team’s original road uniform. A shoulder patch with the Florida Panthers logo was also added to the new look. The old Portland wordmark has also been removed from their old uniforms.

The Pirates are one of many AHL teams to switch affiliations this season and were part of what ended up being about a four team swap. While the Pirates were picked up from Florida, the Arizona Coyotes migrated to Springfield to take over the Falcons. The Falcons old parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets, picked up the Erie Lake Monsters. The Monsters had been the affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche, who gained a new affiliation with the San Antonio Rampage.