The on-ice debut of the Hurricanes' new black alternate jerseys had everything to recommend it, from the marquee opponent -- the defending champion Detroit Red Wings -- to the sharp new sweaters themselves.

Without the eye of the storm on their chests, though, all the Hurricanes ended up with was a 3-1 black eye, their first loss of the season.

"It was a nice change," Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward said of the third jerseys. "I thought we looked good. It would have been nice to win with 'em."

The Canes had their chances in this one despite being outshot 28-15 through two periods. It was a winnable game the way Ward was playing, keeping them within a goal heading into the third, bolstered by the best performance yet by Carolina's new-look defense.

But that goal never came in 13 third-period shots against Ty Conklin, whose last appearance in this building was one to forget -- his disastrous relief appearance for the Edmonton Oilers in Carolina's Game 1 win to open the 2006 Stanley Cup finals.

Past is past, though, and it's a new season for everyone and a new look for the Hurricanes, although one years in the making.

The Canes' original idea, after much consideration, was to debut alternate jerseys during the 2006-07 season. The plan was put on hold because the NHL and Reebok were in the midst of preparations for the new "Rbk Edge Uniform System," which was officially unveiled during the 2007 All-Star Game and put into full use last season.

The design concept was always the same -- black, with the alternate waving-flag logo on the chest -- even if the execution ended up a little different from what was originally planned, thanks in part to the new uniforms.

The history of third jerseys in the NHL is a mixed bag of clever ideas and gaudy mistakes, although the hits -- like the New York Rangers' classic Statue of Liberty design -- outnumber the misses.

Most of the good ones have made use of the color black, with the Chicago Blackhawks using it to good effect. Once the Philadelphia Flyers tried black on an alternate jersey, they kept it as their home uniform.

With black an accent color for the Hurricanes, it was a natural choice for the alternate sweater -- and the right choice.

Even if you're philosophically opposed to the concept of the alternate jersey or don't feel these look "alternate" enough from Carolina's regular jersey, these are pretty slick, from the silver-and-black detailing to the white outlines on the red numbers.

For a team whose colors are an unintentional -- or perhaps intentional, given owner Peter Karmanos' Detroit roots -- homage to the Red Wings, it couldn't have hurt to face them in a jersey with a unique identity.

While the team's primary logo bears an abstract resemblance to the wheeled wing, minus the feathers, the secondary logo is all Hurricanes, if not all hurricanes. (With only one flag, that's a storm warning -- just ask the University of Tulsa.)

If nothing else, the Hurricanes should have gotten black alternate jerseys years ago so they could skate onto the ice to the Rolling Stones' "Paint It Black," instead of the umpteenth blaring of that same old song by the Scorpions.

That alone was a welcome change. Some things don't change, though, no matter what color the jersey. The Canes missed an open net (Tuomo Ruutu from Eric Staal) early before giving up the first goal, then fought back to tie the score.

That's been the case in all three of Carolina's games this season. The color of their jerseys wasn't the only difference between this one and the first two.

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