Introduction to Jersey Rankings
Continuing on with the look of the NHL, I had the first five jerseys ranked, going from worst to first.
You can view the rankings here with a more detailed explanation for each one of why I put the jersey in the respective spot.
So far the list is:
- 30. Carolina
- 29. Colorado
- 28. Ottawa
- 27. Pittsburgh
- 26. Calgary
Remember: these rankings are purely my opinion. There’s going to be some jerseys that are ranked way higher than they probably should be, but it’s because of my taste in the jersey is why they are ranking where they are.
I’m mostly basing the rankings on the Home and Away set, although the Alternate can help/hurt, it can’t do it to a point where the entire kit benefits or suffers. If that were the case, Ottawa and Pittsburgh would be in the top ten. Alas, an alternate is just one jersey of three.
I’m using nhluniforms.com as the source for all my pictures used in this post. Check it out if you want to see a year by year history of a team’s jersey.
No. 25: San Jose Sharks
Am I biased against the Sharks because I like the Kings? Yes. I am. That said, I love the unique color that the San Jose Sharks have used throughout their history: Teal! Teal is not used much in sports and it looks so good on the ice. I love the color as it stands out and it has the distinction of being the only team that features teal as their primary color.
So why is it ranked 25th if I like the color so much? It’s mostly because it has nothing else going for it.
When the Sharks introduced these jerseys over this iteration , it was a downgrade in every sense of the jersey. Gone were the tail striping, replaced with…nothing. Gone was the shoulder yolk replaced with….again, nothing. The only upgrades for this year’s jersey was the patch replacing the lame front numbers. The lacing doesn’t do much for such a bland jersey.
That’s the part that kills this set: other than the color, nothing much stands out. They have orange as a tiny little stripe on the arms. I will concede that the name and numbers look better without the orange trim.
The alternate…it’s just your simple all black alternate. Again, very bland. I can see the appeal in the all black uniform, but that’s hardly unique.
Best Jersey: 1991-97
The Sharks wore the Teal jersey as a throw back this season and I would love if these were introduced as the main jerseys once again. It features a color that works: Teal, white, black and the now departed for awhile now, grey. When I think Sharks, I think Grey. These jerseys were awesome in every way.
No. 24 Washington Capitals
When these jerseys came out in 2007-08, these stood out as the jerseys that embraced the new designed. It was a radical change from their previous design and I liked it. However, eight years later, the design has stagnated. I think it’s mostly due to most teams transitioning from the RBK Edgefication. The piping in most jerseys are gone, the weird side panels on jerseys are also on the way out.
The colors work very well: this is typical Washington colors. The logo is a modernized version of the classic which is neither a hit nor miss with me. I’m not a fan script logos.
However, the classic jersey is a beauty. The return of the stars are a big plus here! The white shoulder yolk is unique and it has striping. If Washington moved to these, I don’t think many would be upset.
Best Jersey: 1985-87
It was a toss up between these and the 1989-95 jerseys but I went with these because the font works better. I think it’s slightly easier to read the font in one color rather than two colors. Much like their current thirds, these jerseys look awesome, although the logo is quite large.
No. 23: Arizona Coyotes
The Arizona Coyotes, I was surprised with their jerseys on the ice this season. When revealed, I thought they looked lame: they only added black to the arms and eliminated a shoulder yolk. However on the ice, the introduction of black to the jersey worked nicely. While these are not standout jerseys by any means, they are not bad. Starting from this point on wards, expect to hear that a lot. I like the home jerseys a bit more here because of the patches: I think the paw prints are better than the AZ patch on the whites. I will say that the whites have a bit more flavor to them now that they’ve added the black. It was a pleasant surprise.
Best Jersey: 1996-98
WHAT THESE JERSEYS?
Yes. See these jerseys as ugly as they are to some, were the reason why I cheered for the Coyotes as a kid. Seriously. I thought these jerseys were a thing of beauty. I sported a Coyotes hat more than an Oilers one when I was in elementary!
It had unique striping but still had some striping around the waist. It was definitely unique: a mix of red, green, sand and black. You could not say these jerseys were boring. They had a surprisingly clean look to them despite being a bit out there. Oh boy, that logo. What a thing of beauty. WAY more interesting than the howling Coyotes.
After the Coyotes switched jerseys, I stopped following them. I have a soft spot for the Yotes and badly want to add their throw back to my jersey collection.
No. 22 Columbus Blue Jackets
As mentioned, we are entering the jersey range of where they aren’t awful, but just a bit boring that hurts their rankings.
The Blue Jackets current set is the definition of that. Not really much stands out for their main set, although their alternate is very appealing. The logo history of the Blue Jackets have never been impressive: it’s a bland star wrapped around an Ohio State Flag. Yeah, that sure screams Blue Jackets.
The colors aren’t bad but nothing to scream about either: it’s your basic red, white and blue mix that many teams already feature. The jersey lacks striping around the waists and looks bland with the piping going from the neck down the arms. While not an exciting jersey, the white does look nice with the blue shoulders and arms.
The Alternate jersey looks great though. The logo, even though it suffers from circle logo syndrome, looks sharp. A Cannon! That’s way more relatable to the Civil War inspired Blue Jackets. The white is a unique looking color here and they introduce a silver for added effect. The font is old school looking. It’s a big plus for me.
Best Jersey: Current Set
No. 21 Winnipeg Jets
The Jets, formally of Atlanta have had only this jersey set so far in their existence. Like Columbus, it’s not an exciting jersey but it is servicable. I’d even say it’s a nice jersey, despite being at 21. The main problem is, the striping on the white jersey as it goes around the arm which looks weird. The Logo isn’t bad: it’s a nod to the Royal Canadian Air Force and points North as a reference to the True North Entertainment Group (which is a cool nod).
Silver is featured more on the white jersey, would have been nice to see that more on the blue jersey as it looks rather modest looking with the few colors.
It’s not a bad jersey: it’s just not an exciting jersey that stands out. If there’s a team that could use an alternate jersey, I think it’s this one.
Best Jersey: This one….wait? Not the 92-93 version?!?
I stayed away from that because techincally, that jersey belongs to the Arizona Coyotes. While some teams might have the same history, I felt it would have been to easy to select a Nordiques Jersey for Colorado, A Whalers Jersey for Carolina or a Jets Jersey for Arizona. Other than relocating the team, what connection do those jerseys have to their current cities?
As such, I stay the course here. Winnipeg only has the one jersey set.
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