Penn State men’s hockey debuted its new grey alternate uniforms during Friday night’s victory against Michigan State.

The Nittany Lions’ new sweaters feature “Penn State” written in diagonal letters across the front of the jersey, a common sight on hockey jerseys at the professional and amateur levels. The team will wear the uniforms in place of its old alternates, which debuted in January 2015.

Two of our staffers weighed in on whether the new grey jerseys are an improvement over the old ones.

Matthew Fox: Yes, it was time for a change.

The new grey sweaters are absolutely awesome. My favorite part about the new uniforms is the diagonal “Penn State” across the front of the jersey. Every other Penn State hockey jersey has sported some version of the “chipmunk” logo front and center. The diagonal Penn State is a nice change from what we’ve grown accustomed to.

Another thing that stands out about the new alternates is how sharp the lettering and numbers are. The solid blue numerals and letters really pop with the crisp white trim, giving the jersey a distinct look.

My only issue with the new alternates is the fake laces on the collar. I know that it’s all about being ~aerodynamic~ in this day and age, but come on. Are laces on the collar really going to slow down the players that much?

That said, the new gray uniforms are definitely superior to their predecessors. If I weren’t a broke college student, I’d definitely go out and buy one.

Mikey Mandarino: No, nothing will ever beat the old alternates.

Let me preface this side of the debate by saying that the new alternate uniforms are good-looking. The grey and navy blue color scheme is gorgeous, and I’m glad the team opted to stick with it for these uniforms.

However, I think Penn State made a mistake in swapping out the old grey uniforms. I’m a firm believer that the old grey sweater was by far the nicest in college hockey. It was a fairly simple sweater, but it also took a big risk by using a thick stripe behind the front-and-center circular logo, which looked amazing.

There’s a reason the team’s official social media accounts still use that circular logo as their avatar. I think scrapping it on the sweater was a mistake. “Penn State” written diagonally is fine, but it also isn’t the most unique concept in hockey.

I also don’t like the idea of removing the belt stripe. The previous jerseys featured navy blue stripes with a white outline on the belt and sleeves, and the sleeve stripes were retained without the white outline on the new sweaters. The new jersey’s lack of a belt stripe makes it seem too plain for my liking.

I’ll reach into James Franklin’s bag of tricks for my final assessment on the uniforms: The new alternates are great, but the old ones are truly elite.