Anyway - on with the list!!
Returning to Glory
15. Edmonton - The Oilers are the first of three who strayed away from their original looks only to wise up and come back to the classic logo and uniform. In 1995-96 they went to a darker blue color and a brownish secondary color. I didn't mind the navy look, but the brown just wasn't working, For the 2010 season they returned to the original royal blue/orange look and it's classic.
14. - New York Islanders - Talk about losing their minds - at one point the Isles thought this was a good look. I'm getting just now looking at the back of the jersey. The Gorton's fisherman look was bad. In 1998, they wised up and went back to their original look - one that reminds us of Mike Bossy, Bryan Trottier, Denis Potvin and the 4-time Stanley Cup Champion. It will be interesting to see what happens next year as they move out of Long Island and into the Barclay's Center in Brooklyn.
13. Washington - The final of the "returning to glory" teams. I could be wrong but I think the Caps hired the Islanders graphic design department when the transitioned to this look. Personally, I believe Minor League Baseball logos had quite an impact for awhile. There is a difference between a cartoonish look and a fun logo. Sometimes the line was crossed. But again, the Capitals wised up and returned to the simple and clean look they use today.
Close, But Not Quite
12. Tampa Bay - This section contains some potential surprises for most folks, but I find just falling just short of the best of the best category. We'll start with the Lightning. The best choice they could have made was dropping the black look to go to the straight royal blue look. Tampa, along with a couple of the next teams, took a page from the "old school" and went with the team name along with the logo. I like that....a lot.
11. Philadelphia - Ah, the Flyers. Absolutely love the logo. The only attribute that keeps them from the top of the list is their nameplate. I just can't get past the white nameplate with black lettering on an orange jersey. Just seems odd to me.
10. Arizona - As we hit the Top 10 a surprising team makes an appearance. In most lists I've seen ranking the uniforms, the Coyotes are ranked low. This I do not understand. If we're talking about this uniform set - then I get it. Awful. I don't want to feel as if I'm tripping on acid while watching a hockey game. Their changes in 2003 went with the simple look. Love the deep red color and the simplicity of the coyote logo. But what sets it all of is the striping. LOVE the different sizing of the stripes, with the outer stripes being thinner with the inside stripe being thicker. Classic.
9. Vancouver - As much as I possibly could, I've tried to keep my feelings about certain teams out of the equation when judging their uniforms. I think I've done pretty good here, because I can't stand the Canucks. When they went to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 they were wearing this boring look. Hey, we've got skates....cause we're a hockey team. Ugh. At first, I wasn't sure how I felt about the Orca look, mostly because I was confused as to where it came from. As you can read here, the reasoning was the name of the parent company that owned the Canucks called Orca Bay. Made sense. They really won me over when in 2007 they kept the same logo, but returned to the original royal blue and kelly green colors. Gorgeous.
Best of the Best
In the final 8 it will not be a coincidence that you will find all of the Original Six teams. This is the way it should be. A couple of non-Original Six teams made the cut because their looks are excellent.
8. Minnesota - They would be higher on the list IF they uniform shown was always their stated home jersey, but it's not. This is currently their official home jersey. This bumps them down the list. What the Wild have adopted as their home jersey is beautiful. I love the simplicity of the cursive script on the uniform and the striping is top notch. I also prefer the green to the red as the main color of the jersey. And the cream color font just brings it all together. Stellar.
7. New York Rangers - The first of the Original Six to appear on the list. Why don't I have them higher? To be completely honest, by this point it was EXTREMELY difficult to differentiate between the uniforms and decided which is better, so I had to get nitpicky. For the Rangers, it comes down to this - when the NHL decided to go with dark colors at home (which I still don't like) they changed the blue jersey from saying New York to saying Rangers. I feel as if one of the jersey's should say New York on it. Minor, isn't it?
6. Boston - The Bruins, classic. Again, I needed to find a reason to rank them lower than others and for the Bruins it's the fact that I wish they'd just stuck with the TV numbers on the shoulders. They started adding a logo in 1981-82 with just the bear head. Then in 2007, they added their alternate logo to the shoulder. If it's your "alternate" logo, leave it on the alternate jersey. I know, I know. But I had to delineate a difference somehow!!
5. Montreal - Les Habitants (this is where the Habs nickname comes from, BTW). Love the simple look of the CHC logo. Oh yes, there are technically two C's in the logo. And the H does not stand for Habitants, as most people believe. The french name of the team is le Club de hockey Canadien. The H stands for hockey. Surprise!!! Why are the #5? Much like the Rangers I much prefer the white jersey to the red. That's it.
4. Buffalo - What?!?! A non-Original Six team in the Top 5? I can't help it. I just love this Buffalo jersey so much I can't stand it. From 1996-2010 this was another team that lost its mind when it came to the logo and uniform. Good lord, that's ugly. But like many other teams, they decided to return to the original logo, yes, a Buffalo and sabers. Get it? But they made a slight change - navy blue instead of royal blue. Absolutely perfect. But there are three ahead of them that are more perfect. Sorry Buffalo.
3. Toronto - The long-suffering Maple Leafs fans can at least take solace in the fact that their uniforms are at the top of the league. The simplicity of the Maple Leaf along with the team name within the maple leaf is classic. There's something so beautiful about its simplicity. And the striping is excellent as well. Kudos Toronto!
2. Detroit - As I've stated before, I've tried not to let my fan feelings get involved when judging the uniforms. Here's it most difficult. It came down to the final two and I had to find a separator. I'll let you know what that was when I get to number 1, but the Red Wings logo and uniform is perfection. I know I've said that multiple times, but the NHL is really the best professional league when it comes to logos and uniforms. There are so many excellent choices.
1. Chicago - Yes, I am a Blackhawks fan. But the Indian head is fantastic. The reason it finished ahead of Detroit? The C with the tomahawks on the shoulders. What a fantastic secondary logo. The multi-colored striping in gorgeous and it really is the best uniform in all of professional sports.
There you have it! My rankings of the best NHL uniforms for 2015. We'll keep our eye out for any changes next year. Thanks again to Chris Creamer's site for the pictures!! Can't wait to do this for the other major sports....
Until next time,
Shawn
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