The Best and Worst NHL Uniforms

For our money, the NHL has the best uniforms in pro sports. OK. There. We said it.

Let’s start with stability, kids. From top to bottom, the basic hockey look has changed very little since helmets became mandatory four decades ago. Teams have a home uni, a road uni, and in most cases, an alternate model. That’s it. You don’t see many of those needless, cockamamie rebrands designed to pad the bottom line and take up closet space. 

Then there are the Original Six teams, bless ’em. They scream style and tradition. Every one of ’em. As you’ll soon discover, the Original Expansion Six aren’t bad, either. By our count, at least nine of them rank among the dozen best unis in the league overall.

And another thing: In pucks, they’re called sweaters, not jerseys. Is that cool or what? 

Here’s where every team set ranks, from worst to first.

Founded: 1993

Stanley Cups: 1 (2007) 

Top sweater seller: Ryan Getzlaf

Bottom line: The franchise lost its identity when Disney sold it a decade ago. Gone was that popular duck mask logo and lovely teal sweater, neither of which has been sufficiently replaced since then.

Orange has become more prominent in recent years — for Orange County, get it? But it doesn’t mesh with the rather unimaginative gold “D” logo.

The original model returned with orange hockey sticks on the logo in the 25th anniversary season. Why not give the fans what they want and bring it back permanently?

Founded: 1967

Stanley Cups: 2 (1974, 1975) 

Top seller: Claude Giroux

Bottom line: Just as the “Broad Street Bullies” once dragged the game into the dark ages, the “Flyboys’ have given hockey fashion a black eye.

In 2010, the Flyers became the first team to put incredibly tacky black nameplates on the backs of their white sweaters.

Wait, it gets three times worse. They also will wear ugly orange nameplates on their black sweaters and yucky white identifiers on their orange ones this season.

Not even their classic logo can overcome this bit of thuggery.