Are there too many similar color schemes among NHL teams?

[TheNumber4]

I may have been the only Oilers fan excited to see us veer away from the Lame Overused Blue for that brief period.

Cmon these Orange Creamsicles are sick:

 

[Fishy McScales]

Utah was quite the blunder especially following up similar looking expansion teams like Winnipeg and Seattle.

Tampa Bay choosing to look exactly like the Toronto Maple leafs was the next biggest blunder

Utah is a placeholder, though. They went generic on purpose waiting for their "real" look next season.

 

[JohanFranzenstein]

I'm watching Washington vs Loiusville right now, and Washington's purple, gold, and black color scheme is pretty sick.

I wouldn't mind seeing the Oakland A's / Green Bay Packers color scheme back in hockey.

The Coyotes had amazing unis. I loved the Kachina unis and the brick red unis they had.

The eggplant and jade color scheme of the Might Ducks were amazing.

I'd love to see orange and white like the old school Tampa Bay Bucs.

Those are just some examples.

These are all fair, especially the kachina example. Anaheim for sure should've gone back to their original scheme.

I also feel Tampa should go back to their original black/white/blue combo, that logo was great too. It's especially difficult when Tampa and the Leafs meet in the playoffs every year, blue and white vs. blue and white.

 

[Mosby]

If Utah doesn’t utilize purple properly it’s a pretty big self own.

This is why I love Utah's blue. It's not the same as Toronto, Tampa, Columbus, St. Louis, etc.

 

[Chainshot]

The simple answer is yes.

 

[StreetHawk]

Well, it's not that surprising. Not many people dislike red, blue, or black, so those are pretty common options. Meanwhile, plenty hate brown, yellow, or purple comparatively, so way safer to adopt a traditionalist color scheme versus something far more out there.

Meanwhile, if I ever own a team, those guys're gonna be teal.

It's also merchandising. Bright colors go better in warmer climates, as people are in t-shirts and shorts from spring to fall. No need for parkas. Creamsicle Bucs always looked odd in GB with their orange winter coats. Teams are selling no only jerseys, but hats, shirts, hats, even scarfs, jackets.

Green and purple are underused in the NHL color schemes. Minny and Dallas use green only. No purple. Appreciate the gold/yellow of LV/Nash.

 

[Gaylord Q Tinkledink]

100%.

LA and Tampa blend together at times and Toronto and Tampa do.

 

[dirtydanglez]

needs more purple

 

[BKarchitect]

Tampa Needs to add back the black and silver. (Miss you Serge)

Please go back to this Tampa. So much better than the Leafs knock-offs. This retro reverse set nails it…gorgeous, bright and a touch of the classic with the logo.

 

[Bender Duster]

OP says Winnipeg Jets primary colours are blue and red…?

Two people respond to OP saying that they don’t like Utah’s jerseys because they look too much like Jets jerseys…?

I don’t understand 2025 so far.

 

[BKarchitect]

Utah is a placeholder, though. They went generic on purpose waiting for their "real" look next season.

100% - but guaranteed the light blue and black will remain as primary colors (which is so boring). They aren’t going to fill their arena with those colors this year only to go “purple primary” or something radically different next year - they will want to keep a seamless look when the crowds may be rocking half inaugural season “HC” gear and half of the full identity merch. The “Utah” word marks / fonts and some of the other identity items are likely to carry over as a connector to the full real set.

I think the best we can hope for is they sneak purple or some other brighter and more interesting color in as a tertiary color in the logo and jersey accents. Think how Seattle uses the navy/teal but has pops of red. You can eventually turn that third color into a fashion/faux retro third jersey set.

 

[StreetHawk]

100% - but guaranteed the light blue and black will remain as primary colors (which is so boring). They aren’t going to fill their arena with those colors this year only to go “purple primary” or something radically different next year - they will want to keep a seamless look when the crowds may be rocking half inaugural season “HC” gear and half of the full identity merch. The “Utah” word marks / fonts and some of the other identity items are likely to carry over as a connector to the full real set.

I think the best we can hope for is they sneak purple or some other brighter and more interesting color in as a tertiary color in the logo and jersey accents. Think how Seattle uses the navy/teal but has pops of red. You can eventually turn that third color into a fashion/faux retro third jersey set.

If Utah was going to go Purple to match the revised Jerseys that Malone/Stockton wore in their finals appearances vs the Bulls, they should have gone to those colors now. See it with Buffalo, Van, LA, Ana, of teams who have changed colors completely. Going from a navy/yellow to black/red, or blue/green to black, yellow, red, or purple/yellow to black/silver and back. Too many different versions in the crowd.

One thing to be like Phi and go from what used to be your primary color to the secondary color and back again. Even Edm who flipped from blue to orange back to blue as their main color jersey.

 

[kvladimir]

RED AND BLACK
Devils
Senators
Hurricanes
Blackhawks - albeit they also have green and yellow.
Sabres - 3rd jersey

RED AND BLUE
Jets
Rangers
Blue Jackets
Canadiens
Capitals

BLUE AND GOLD / YELLOW
Sabres
Blues
Predators

BLACK AND GOLD / YELLOW
Bruins - I wish they kept last year's uniforms. I like those more than their current ones.
Penguins

BLUE AND WHITE w/ some black
Maple Leafs
Lightning
Utah HC
Capitals 3rd
Sharks

BLUE AND ORANGE
Islanders
Oilers

ORANGE AND BLACK
Flyers
Ducks

I appreciate the following teams for having a unique color scheme.

Flames - Red, orange, and white w/ black 3rd.

Avalanche - Burgundy and blue

Stars - Green, white, and black

Red Wings - Red and white. Albeit they're just the same as the Leafs and Bolts just with red instead of blue.

Panthers - Red, blue, gold, and tan

Kings - Black and silver. Albeit I'm not a fan of copying the Raiders

Wild - Green, red, and an off-white

Kraken - Blue and aqua

Canucks - Blue and green

Golden Knights - Black, gold, red, and grey

I both agree and disagree with this take (it's my favourite topic, so get comfortable)

I think some general combos are definitely overused (red/black/white and red/blue/white especially), but there are lots of ways to make teams look distinct within those categories. First of all, it's quite different when the teams have different primary colours - I don't think many would say the Habs and Rangers are too similar, for example. Another is by adding another colour, as a subtle accent. Carolina used to have this with silver, Sharks did it with orange for a while, Kraken are doing it with red, etc...

Then you have the jerseys' design elements: make them unique enough, and the jerseys stand out well enough. This is why I would reject your idea that there are "too many blue/gold teams" wholeheartedly. Nashville's primary colour is gold, the Blues have navy AND royal blue (and powder blue in their alternates), and the Sabres' home has almost no white at all, so they all look quite different.

But yes, more purple, more green, more orange (a lot of people disagree with this, but orange is a great colour). Heck, there is room for more gold, even!

 

[BKarchitect]

If Utah was going to go Purple to match the revised Jerseys that Malone/Stockton wore in their finals appearances vs the Bulls, they should have gone to those colors now. See it with Buffalo, Van, LA, Ana, of teams who have changed colors completely. Going from a navy/yellow to black/red, or blue/green to black, yellow, red, or purple/yellow to black/silver and back. Too many different versions in the crowd.

One thing to be like Phi and go from what used to be your primary color to the secondary color and back again. Even Edm who flipped from blue to orange back to blue as their main color jersey.

Agreed. We will definitely get a light blue Utah jersey at some point. I wonder if that’s a possibility for next year or if they stick with the black base they have set a precedent with this season.

They do have some graphics on their website which suggest they definitely will be playing with the black/blue scheme and perhaps flipping it in some manner:

 

[kvladimir]

And now, to geek out and share a bunch of my own concepts with y'all!

Ok, so first of all, I mentioned the "adding accent colours" for OTT and CAR idea. Personally, I would do this:

And for the "red and blue" teams, I think WSH should simplify things and kick their awful intense-wordmark logo (both versions) to the curb and focus in on the Weagle and Screagle (as an alternate), while the Jets should largely start over, with some unique design elements, and a different colour scheme. I like purple and red for them, but it could also be navy and powder blue, like their current set:

 

[StreetHawk]

Agreed. We will definitely get a light blue Utah jersey at some point. I wonder if that’s a possibility for next year or if they stick with the black base they have set a precedent with this season.

I'm sure at some point, we see a third jersey from them in their blue color. Virtually every team with a secondary color have done a jersey in that secondary color.

Just disappointed in both Utah and Seattle for going with blue vs Seattle opting for Green and Utah with Purple to add some more variety. But, their choice.

 

[kvladimir]

I praised the Predators earlier, but I also think their set could use some improvements, and the Blues should embrace their retro look, rather than their current one (which is still quite nice, nothing to complain about really, but the retros are just a little better):

Now, the Lightning clearly have issues: right now, too much like the Leafs/Red Wings, no personality. But their originals? Ugly wordmark-heavy logo, blocky, mostly black and white. The blue reverse retros are a marginal improvement, but still leave a lot to desire. The storm jersey needs to be fired into the sun. Also, Leafs? Drop the wordmark on the logo already, we all know what a blue maple leaf is referring to! And use more design elements from some of your jerseys of the past, they can be assembled into a very nice set!

The key to the TBL concept is the very nice logo (designed by Matt Kauzlarich, who is a great logo designer, unlike me ) and designing the jersey so that the blue and the black never directly touch each other (always bordering white, so they don't blend in so much).

 

[Big McLargehuge]

Green and purple are the best colors...so naturally they're practically extinct in the NHL.

The only color schemes I'd call overused are red & blue/blue & red and red & black. Blue & red being paired together entirely too often is a global thing going back longer than hockey has existed (just look at flags). Red & black is bullshit 90s market research. The two most 'intimidating' colors. Blech. Hate hate hate.

I'll throw some honorable hate to Tampa Bay just aping Toronto's whole schtick. Nobody 'owns' a color scheme (and f*** you Boston for trying), but you gotta at least try to differentiate yourself. They look like a beer league team from Toronto. Being nostalgic for their shitty 90s jerseys wasn't something I ever expected, but at least they had character.

 

[kvladimir]

I will leave you all with a few more concepts, mostly for teams who do have unique colour schemes, but the design of the jerseys leave a lot to be desired, or there are just some obvious changes that they need to make:

First, Dallas and Minnesota: you both should adopt these sets yesterday:

(hot take: the North Stars' logo is highly overrated, so I'm not exactly all that sold on my alternate, and the Wilds' is 10x better, making this set the best in Minnesota NHL history )

Next, while I agree that the Ducks could just go back to their originals (and that these orange versions they just made aren't bad at all, but the bar was not high). However, Matt Kauzlarich made this concept years ago (just the green one) using an old concept logo the Ducks cooked up when they rebranded in '07, which could have been so good. I actually prefer it to the Might Ducks look, but I am not expecting many to agree. The Panthers absolutely killed it with their sky blue RR, to the point where I would like to see a set based on that. The owner can still have his military tribute thing on one of the alternates...

Finally, Kings: just please stop screwing around. If you want your Gretzky-era black and white thing, you can make it an alternate and wear it a bunch of times per year, but can we please bring back purple and gold and call it a day? As for Utah, I know it's not happening, but I would love to add in purple as the primary colour and go with the name "Utah Rogues". I attempted to make logos for this team using AI, but they are pretty rough, still. The idea is "Rogues" would be Wild West / rail industry themed, with a primary logo combining a silhouetted train robber with a train and Utah mountains in the background, while the secondary logo focuses on the Golden Spike. There's something there, I think

 

[BKarchitect]

I'm sure at some point, we see a third jersey from them in their blue color. Virtually every team with a secondary color have done a jersey in that secondary color.

Just disappointed in both Utah and Seattle for going with blue vs Seattle opting for Green and Utah with Purple to add some more variety. But, their choice.

At least Seattle uses some red. And I get it - even navy and red is extremely overdone - but the kind of tealish blue gradient with pops of red at least seems a bit more interesting to me.

Utah - if all we get is just a monotone black and light blue and not even a real third color...definite missed opportunity. Utah is such a gorgeous state with so many various vibrant landscape palettes to choose from. Just pop the purple in like this (obviously excuse the poor Kraken knock-off mock-up and fake logo - just trying to illustrate the idea):

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

In fairness John Henry would never have bought the Pens if they didn't share the Bruins colours.

 

[kvladimir]

At least Seattle uses some red. And I get it - even navy and red is extremely overdone - but the kind of tealish blue gradient with pops of red at least seems a bit more interesting to me.

Utah - if all we get is just a monotone black and light blue and not even a real third color...definite missed opportunity. Utah is such a gorgeous state with so many various vibrant landscape palettes to choose from. Just pop the purple in like this (obviously excuse the poor Kraken knock-off mock-up and fake logo - just trying to illustrate the idea):

So, one fun fact about the Kraken's colours, which will interest you if you are into colours, which I 100% am:

I know this well from my days working in a paint store, and doing colour matching: it's easy to have subtle differences in colours like navy, gray, tan, off white and so forth where the red/green balance (or blue/yellow) makes these look extremely different when side by side, but close from a distance or when separated.

Because of this, I recognized right away when Seattle revealed its jerseys that their navy is actually a "green" navy, while every other team's navy is a "red" navy. To illustrate this, take a look at a colour swatch of Seattle's navy side by side with Columbus' (try to guess which is which ):

 

[BKarchitect]

So, one fun fact about the Kraken's colours, which will interest you if you are into colours, which I 100% am:

I know this well from my days working in a paint store, and doing colour matching: it's easy to have subtle differences in colours like navy, gray, tan, off white and so forth where the red/green balance (or blue/yellow) makes these look extremely different when side by side, but close from a distance or when separated.

Because of this, I recognized right away when Seattle revealed its jerseys that their navy is actually a "green" navy, while every other team's navy is a "red" navy. To illustrate this, take a look at a colour swatch of Seattle's navy side by side with Columbus' (try to guess which is which ):

View attachment 954458

Very cool. Love color theory. Seattle’s navy definitely appears different. I can imagine the Columbus navy would subtly clash hard with the teal accents, for example. But also maybe why the red piping really stands out so much!

 

[Qward]

Always thought Clevelands Brown and orange was criminally underrated. Love earth tones. #bearsbeetsbattlestargalactia

Agreed

 

[Realgud]

I agree but calling Utah and the Sharks "blue" is the same as calling burgundy and pink "red". They are different tones and they look different but are still categorized as "blue" in the english language (specifically for Utah's blue).