Best NHL Jerseys of All Time

[DowntownBooster]

This is the ultimate Boston jersey for me. Intimidating. Again, the contrasting yellow and white shoulder bars on a dark jersey are killer.

Their jerseys took a downturn in my opinion when they dropped the shoulder bars...

I agree with you about the Bruins jerseys SealsFan. The yellow with white shoulder bars on the black jersey looked really good. I also liked the logo when it had the yellow circle border and yellow 'B'. It was a real shame when they made the logo change in 1995-96 to have the same color on both the home and away jerseys. You are also right that the jersey lost some of its appeal when they removed the shoulder yokes for the 1974-75 season.

 

[TheMule93]

The 80s Flames jerseys are probably my favorite. And I pretty much always prefer cool colors to warm colors, so that says something.

 

[hfman]

I think this is probably my favorite one, ever, in the NHL:

Also, why have they had so many logos, all of them bad? The 'zooming skate' I sort-of get. The orca logo is just ugly. And what's with the hockey-stick one? Is that supposed to be a 'C', or is it just a stick for no particular reason?

The "hockey-stick" one is indeed a "C" for Canucks, as it surrounds the curved rectangle which represents the ice rink.

"Bad" logos are up to you.... just look at Major League Baseball, and take a look at some of their logos from the early 1900s. You see "bad" there? Of course you do. But 100 years later, it's about tradition, not whether the logo is good or bad.

 

[greyraven8]

^^^ Quite the handful..... I like them all & Ive never seen that photo/card of Forbes of Hamilton before.

Have that card now.
Sadly, that's likely the best image I've seen of a Hamilton Tigers jersey for that style. Not sure if a picture that shows the tiger crest clearly and fully exists.

 

[Killion]

Have that card now. Sadly, that's likely the best image I've seen of a Hamilton Tigers jersey for that style. Not sure if a picture that shows the tiger crest clearly and fully exists.

There are some floating around gr and theyve been poster here on HOH & elsewhere on hf in the past.... did a quick search but alas I cant find them.... The Hamilton Tigers while short-lived had I believe at least 2 if not 3 changes to their jerseys while in existence. They had that full Tiger and then they had a couple of logo's that just featured a roaring tigers head, changes made to the striping & banding as well..... I wish I could find them & put them up here, really quite attractive & certainly evocative of time, place & era.... but with this site "migration" like many no doubt finding it frustrating in accessing archived (or what should be archived) materials.

 

[VanIslander]

The Hamilton Tigers while short-lived had I believe at least 2 if not 3 changes to their jerseys while in existence. They had that full Tiger and then they had a couple of logo's that just featured a roaring tigers head, changes made to the striping & banding as well..... I wish I could find them & put them up here, really quite attractive & certainly evocative of time, place & era...

Here is Eddie Carpenter, the American-born defensive 'cover point' of the 1911 Stanley Cup losing Port Arthur squad. He won the Stanley Cup in Seattle in 1917 and played later in the NHL as a member of the Hamilton Tigers. (He returned to Port Arthur to coach them to two Allan Cup championships).

Here is HHOF-inducted winger Shorty Green, the team's captain, in their last season's jersey, 1924-1925.

 

[Killion]

^^^ Awesome. Thanks VanIsle and there we go, 3 versions that Im aware of,
forgot about that 'H' version sans the Tiger altogether. Turtleneck's at that.... (or maybe undergarment?)

Name escapes me but theres a Member here who for a hobby actually makes his
own vintage jerseys, has a Loom, gets the exact cresting made up one-off, colors
exact, striping, everything a perfect match, replicas right down the materials.

 

[Foppberg]

Spoiler: Best Jerseys of all time

Love Anaheims old set + logo, their complete away (Though I guess back then it's their home set?) one is extra gorgeous though. The pants and everything just goes together perfectly.

Perhaps a bit biased, but I loved our 3rd jerseys and our old set + logo. So happy they brought them back, has a nice modern touch to them too.

Arguably my favourite jersey of all time, not just because Saku Koivu donned it.

Another classic.

Their home jersey is decent, but their new away jerseys are absolutely gorgeous. I love the darker navy.

Another gorgeous one, Edmontons new set looks eerily similar to these.

An 80s classic. Their bright red ones are okay, but these I love. I'd actually not completely hate Calgary if they went back to these full time.

And no list can be complete without including the Whalers. Best logo out of any sport IMO and one of the best jersey sets.

 

[Killion]

^^^ well that's pretty bold of you Foppberg, "Spoiler Alert - Greatest Jerseys All Time"?!!!!.... I. Think. Not.... The only one I really like & would elevate to that level is Colorado's Rockies throwback jersey (not a fan of the Avalanche uni's at all) which is brilliant, extremely well done..... I also like the Ducks burgundy color scheme, the dark jersey but there I'd be tweaking that some, seriously dislike their whites.... I also note that several Members here like that Montreal Canadiens white jersey with the banding going around the chest & back..... and sorry, not a fan. I love the Habs all red with the banding & I love their whites with the red shoulders, free floating crest on the chest without the banding. Total classics. But that thing?... No thanks.

 

[Foppberg]

^^^ well that's pretty bold of you Foppberg, "Spoiler Alert - Greatest Jerseys All Time"?!!!!.... I. Think. Not.... The only one I really like & would elevate to that level is Colorado's Rockies throwback jersey (not a fan of the Avalanche uni's at all) which is brilliant, extremely well done..... I also like the Ducks burgundy color scheme, the dark jersey but there I'd be tweaking that some, seriously dislike their whites.... I also note that several Members here like that Montreal Canadiens white jersey with the banding going around the chest & back..... and sorry, not a fan. I love the Habs all red with the banding & I love their whites with the red shoulders, free floating crest on the chest without the banding. Total classics. But that thing?... No thanks.

I mean to each their own, not saying they're the best jerseys universally, just for me those are my favourites of all time.

 

[VanIslander]

I think some team jerseys could be tweaked to better present awesome main logos:

and

 

[Albatros]

"Bad" logos are up to you.... just look at Major League Baseball, and take a look at some of their logos from the early 1900s. You see "bad" there? Of course you do. But 100 years later, it's about tradition, not whether the logo is good or bad.

Though just a couple of MLB logos are from the early 1900s, the Yankees most notably. The orca would probably have fared better if the original jerseys would have been better, the same goes for the Capitals remake.

 

[Johnny Engine]

I think some team jerseys could be tweaked to better present awesome main logos:

and

Agreed on the Avalanche, though it might be a lot easier to build a great look around a revamped logo that nixes the oh-so-90s skewed geometry and just uses a normal circle and triangle.
The Bruins look good now, but I really miss the gold socks. Picture Bobby Orr flying through the air - the socks really stand out in that image, don't they?
The Habs' red is perfect, and I find it hard to imagine thinking it isn't. The white I could take or leave, but as a few posters have noted, they have a better white one that they don't use nearly enough.
The Golden Knights, I actually think look a lot better on a sweater than by itself. The sparkly gold embroidery thread they use pops out against the black, but I think the team really blew it when it came to choosing RGB values for their official colours. The muddy tan colour doesn't contrast with the off-black well at all, and if I take of my glasses and glance at the logo without focussing, the V disappears into a dark, spade shaped blob. No other NHL logo is as difficult to distinguish on a screen at a small size. Great sweater patch, though.

 

[babylonzoo]

What about the original ducks jersey?

 

[VanIslander]

What about the original ducks jersey?

Well, Kariya makes it look good:

But the color of the heritage thirds really POPS in a good way. I'd wear it.

 

[SealsFan]

The Bruins look good now, but I really miss the gold socks. Picture Bobby Orr flying through the air - the socks really stand out in that image, don't they?

I see the Bruins have returned to a yellow/white shoulder yoke on the black jerseys (although it's rounded and has the bear heads on it, doesn't look as good to me) but the B logo still looks "off" to me with the black B on the black shirt... and yeah, what's with the black socks? Nothing but gold socks will work on those black unis!

 

[SealsFan]

Any jersey that doesn't have traditional thick waist striping looks like a practice jersey to me:

All three of these teams had thick stripes on the waist previously. Now it looks like they're wearing practice jerseys. I don't like this look....

 

[VanIslander]

Back in the 1980's the NFL's best defense was clearly the Cleveland Browns. And there was something wonderful about the SIMPLE uniforms they wore.

The Cleveland Barons of the NHL had a decent jersey. Here the franchise leader in points with 149 points in 156 NHL games played for the city is Dennis Maruk, who'd later go to have 50- and 60-goal seasons as a member of the Washington Capitals.

 

[SealsFan]

BLASPHEMY! That second Barons jersey pictured is a cheap knock-off; they never wore that design with a white shoulder yoke and that color sleeve striping at the wrists. The pic of Maruk shows their first-year version with the Ohio patch on the sleeves (great look), and for some reason they removed it in their second year, which looked like this:

 

[DowntownBooster]

I see the Bruins have returned to a yellow/white shoulder yoke on the black jerseys (although it's rounded and has the bear heads on it, doesn't look as good to me) but the B logo still looks "off" to me with the black B on the black shirt... and yeah, what's with the black socks? Nothing but gold socks will work on those black unis!

The Bruins have messed up with changing to black socks. They should bring back the yellow. You're right about the B logo SealsFan. The uniforms looked much better when the black jerseys had the yellow B and the white jerseys had the black B. The current logo used on both jerseys just doesn't look quite as good in my opinion.

 

[DowntownBooster]

I was always a fan of the Atlanta Flames jerseys (mainly because of the logo).

 

[Killion]

^^^ Ya, absolutely worked for Atlanta & a shame Cousins had a financial meltdown of his real estate holdings & had to bail.... as you know he did receive a generous offer from a group of local investors and even outsiders including legendary actor Glenn Ford (a Canadian actually, born in Quebec & related to former Canadian Prime Minister & founder of the country Sir. John A. McDonald & US President Martin Van Buren)... it was short by half what Rounder Nelson Skalbania was offering from his group out of Calgary. Cousins wouldnt take a 50% haircut on the price, was also wanting out badly having found out about the nefarious NHL Pension Scam & wanted no part of the NHL Cabal, using that information to demand that he permitted to sell the club for Relocation or he'd go public.... As for the logo & name, why Calgary didnt change it a decision I for one though & still think pretty absurd. They should have, something more identifiable, evocative of the city, western culture.

 

[VanIslander]

Speaking of Atlanta, I loved one of the Thrashers logos but HATED the jerseys.

GOOD:

BAD:

 

[SealsFan]

The Bruins have messed up with changing to black socks. They should bring back the yellow. You're right about the B logo SealsFan. The uniforms looked much better when the black jerseys had the yellow B and the white jerseys had the black B. The current logo used on both jerseys just doesn't look quite as good in my opinion.

Another subtle difference is the removal of the bold white stripe on the side of the pants. When you combine that with the addition of the black socks, there is way too much black in their home uniforms.

 

[Terrier]

Love these. The Bruins' gold socks were distinctive. And the bearheads!