The History of NHL Jerseys
The history of NHL jerseys
Are you NHL fan? In this article you will find all about NHL jerseys from the beginning until present days.
The NHL jerseys have been associated with the most famous hockey league since its first season in 1917/18. Naturally, the players of one team had to be distinguished from the opponent. At that time, only the following teams played in the league:
- Montreal Canadiens
- Toronto Arenas
- Ottawa Senators
- Montreal Wanderers.
However, their jerseys were fundamentally different from today's ones. Basically, they were not jerseys in the meaning and form in which we know them today. In essence, they were sweaters. Yes, the kind we wear today when it cools down outside, and that's why in the USA or Canada you can still find that jerseys are called "Sweaters". The Canadiens and Toronto jerseys were similar in design to those worn today. The Wanderers chose white as their color, while Ottawa played in black-and-white-red uniforms. That was it. The whole league contained only four jerseys and there was no such thing as an "away" sweater.
Firts NHL jerseys (sweaters)
Why would they be - the colors were contrasting enough to be distinguished on the ice by fans, coaches and the players of the match themselves. The problem occurred in 1920.
Bernie Morris, Seattle Metropolitans
It was not entirely directly related to the NHL, but the Ottawa Senators (which, by the way, has nothing to do with today's Sens except the name), was a direct participant. It was the 1920 Stanley Cup final. At that time, it was played by the NHL winner against the winner of another league. That season, the Senators met in the final with the Seattle Metropolitans of the PCHA. They wore the same color jerseys as Ottawa, which eventually forced Ottawa to wear on color white jerseys. And the problem was solved.
NHL itself did not have to deal with this jersey problem for the next 11 years. In 1931, the league expanded to include the Toronto Maple Leafs, which came with blue jerseys that had already been taken. For matches against the New York Rangers, they also made white versions. A year later, the league agreed to change the name of the Detroit Falcons team to Detroit Red Wings. Detroit Team also changed the logo and jerseys to roughly the same look as we know it today. But the Montreal Canadiens were already proudly using the red color, but the Motor City club simply didn't think about it.
Therefore, when it came to the first match between these two teams that year on the ice of Montreal, the Red Wings were forced to put white ribbons on their jerseys. It looked a little silly, but it brought debate to hockey about the need for a second set of jerseys. Traditional teams did not want to give up their colors. In 1934/35, the league had 9 participants, but only Detroit, Toronto and the New York Americans created a second set of jerseys for away duels. It was not until the 1940s that they brought a real change. The year 1940/41 was the first when the NHL away jerseys were worn by an absolute majority of teams except two New York teams. The Rangers were blue and the Americans white only.
New York Americans authentic jersey (sweater) displayed in Hockey Hall of Fame, Toronto
The Original Six era
The 40’s were the beginning of the era of The Original Six. The famous six, the Canadiens, Maple Leafs, Blackhawks, Bruins, Rangers and Red Wings, seldom changed the design of their jerseys. Everyone knew, who are white, blue and who are red. For all these years, the Rangers have seized the right to wear the blue only. There was no outer jersey for them, and even though they came to Toronto, for example, the Maple Leafs had to wear a white set of jerseys.
The expected change in the rules did not come until the 1951/52 season. The New York Rangers went white for the first time. Each of the six clubs had the second “away” set of jerseys. Black and white TVs were also partly a reason for that. The NHL needed contrasting colors for fans on TV screens. It was a novelty for the New Yorkers, but they liked it so much that their jerseys from the fifties are almost indistinguishable from today's ones.
The season of 1955/1956 brought big changes. The NHL has adopted a rule that the team will wear colored jerseys indoors and whites outdoors (this rule was cancelled n 1970 and renewed in 2003). In addition, the league changed the referees' jerseys. Until then, they were white or orange sweaters, but they often confused the players of the team in a white jersey. The NHL therefore turned the "judges" into "zebras" and found vertical black-and-white stripes on their jerseys. They were first used in the Montreal Canadiens vs Toronto Maple Leafs match. The Habs won 5: 2. If you would expect the end of changes, you are wrong. It is precisely this year that the very well-known phenomenon of third NHL jerseys was born. They were introduced by the Boston Bruins and their yellow set of jerseys. So Bruins were wearing yellow, black and white jerseys, which are the colors in which they are presented until today.
Larry Regan, 1957 Boston Bruins
The NHL jerseys featured by members of the Original Six are now legendary. Stan Mikita, Maurice Richard, Gordie Howe and other legends have roamed the ice of the NHL for years, and many of them have such a strong tradition that it continues to these days. To have such an original NHL jersey at home? That is almost impossible. That is, if you do not live in a hockey museum.
1950 Maurice Richard jersey
1960 Gordie Howe jersey
1960 Stan Mikita jersey
1960-1990
As hockey became popular and showed its potential, it was indeed easy to predict that the league would not stay with just six clubs. The year 1967 is one of the most important in the history of the NHL. On the occasion of her fiftieth birthday, the league expanded to other parts of North America. Joined by Los Angeles Kings, Oakland Seals, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Louis Blues and Minnesota North Stars. While until that date it was worn white, blue, red, black or gold, all very traditional colors, the newcomers came with changes. Purple, green or orange have been taken from the list of free colors.
Especially Seals were trying to be the innovators in hockey fashion. In 1970, they were bought by businessman Charlie O. Finley and changed the name of the organization to California Golden Seals. He added gold color to the dominant green, but that was not it. His players were ordered to wear white skates, which made them look more like figure skaters. The number of their wins that season meant that the figure skaters may have really played for them ...
So far, we've talked about the era of NHL jerseys, in which it wasn't common to have a name on the jersey. The players were assigned numbers only, and if you weren't exactly great expert, you certainly didn't know at first glance who si who by the name. The NHL made a change that continues to these days in the 1977/78 season, when clubs were instructed that in addition to numbers, names must also appear on jerseys. All but one agreed. That was Harold Ballard, owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs. He didn't like it and didn't want to accept it. He did not give up until the league threatened heavy fines, but that was not the end of the saga.
1970 California Golden Seals
At the beginning of the season, the Leafs came in blue jerseys. The numbers didn't lack names, but ... they were blue. The very next day, NHL officials intervened and rewrote the rule. Since then, it says that "the colors must be in the opposite color to the jersey."
1990-2000
In the following years, the traditions of the Original Six were somehow forgotten. The league accepted new and new clubs, and sometimes they simply came up with crazy and extravagant ideas. Not to mention the flying duck Anaheim, the fisherman from the Islanders or the Predators jersey greased with mustard. In 1995, the NHL launched the so-called program of third NHL jerseys and clubs were happy to take the opportunity to experiment. Each team had a contract to produce jerseys with a different brand, although in some years it happened that either all or most of the teams had contracts with the same brand. Companies such as Koho, CCM, Nike, Starter and Pro Player took full advantage of this and outperformed in terms of prices and quality of their products. The production and sale of NHL jerseys is becoming a big business.
Pro Player Anaheim Ducks jersey
Starter New York Islanders jersey
Nike Philadelphia Flyers jersey
2000-2017
Adidas jersey "fight strap"
Modern NHL jerseys have more or less uniform design, with the team logo on the front chest and the secondary team logo on the shoulders. Necessary is also player’s name and number on the back of the jersey, which must be in a contrasting color to the jersey. The numbers on the sleeves are not required by NHL rules, but are used by all teams. NHL players' jerseys must also be equipped with so-called "fight strap" - it is a piece of fabric sewn on the back inside of the jersey, which must be fastened to the player's pants during the match. As the name "fight strap" suggests, the purpose is to prevent the jersey from being pulled over the player's head during the fight.
From 2000/2001 season, NHL management has signed for the first time an exclusive contract for the production of NHL jerseys with one producer “The Hockey Company”. Jerseys were branded with subsidiary brands - KOHO, CCM and JOFA. The dark and third versions of the jerseys were under the KOHO brand and the white versions of the jerseys under the CCM brand. The Hockey Company has also started placing manufacturer's logos on the back of the jerseys in the neck area. Until then, the manufacturers' logos were placed on the back of the waist hem. This contract with the NHL also included the referees and linesmen jerseys, which were made by JOFA until the 2005/2006 season, when they were re-branded to CCM which they remain as of 2008–09.
KOHO Buffalo Sabres jersey
CCM Columbus jersey
JOFA referee NHL jersey
In 2004, The Hockey Company was acquired by Reebok. The following season, the official NHL jerseys were made by Reebok (Rbk Hockey), while cheaper replica jerseys sold to fans retained the CCM branding.
Since the 2007/2008 season, a ten-year exclusive deal with the Reebok was signed by NHL officials. A new generation of NHL jerseys - Rbk Edge - was introduced, which were lighter, absorbed sweat better and the goal was to enable players to better maneuver on the ice. However, these jerseys were also narrower, which is why the players complained a lot during the first season. Therefore, the following year, Reebok made minor adjustments to the jerseys, such as widening and lengthening the sleeves.
Interesting fact for fans may be the fact that players normally get a new jersey every ten or so games, although due to other reasons players may get another jersey sooner. Along with Rbk Edge jerseys, Reebok also introduced a replica jersey designed for fans and named it “Premier”. Visually, at first glance, these jerseys are identical to the RBK Edge version. The differences are, for example, in the double lining of the elbows and shoulders or the use of "fight strap" in the RBK Edge versions, which the fan's Premier jerseys do not have. Conversely, Premier jerseys has a sewn-on label “jock tag” at the left side of the front near the waist that includes the Reebok logo, NHL logo, and jersey size.
Rbk Edge Colorado Avalanche jersey
Reebok Premier Pittsburgh jersey
2017 - present
Since the 2017/2018 season, Adidas has been producing authentic NHL jerseys under the name Adidas ADIZERO Authentic. The NHL declares that the new jerseys are lighter, better cooled and stronger. Due to this change of manufacturer, there were no third sets of jerseys in the first season of 2017/2018. The following season, third sets were introduced and teams could even choose the historic "Heritage" version of the jerseys.
In the very same 2017/2018 season, there was also a change of manufacturer for fan replicas NHL jerseys, which are made by Fanatics under the name Fanatics Breakaway jerseys. These are designed and sewn for the first time in history, specifically for the comfort of fans, so that they feel comfortable in them.
Adidas Authentic New York Islanders jersey
Fanatics Breakaway Tampa jersey
As of 2020, the NHL is the only one of the four major American professional leagues (NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL) that does not have a contract for the production of jerseys with Nike. Although in the past NHL jerseys were also produced by Nike, e.g. Edmonton Oilers jerseys during the Wayne Gretzky era.
Jerseys sales rankings have been won by Chicago Blackhawks jerseys for many years (even those in which other sports are included). If we talk about NHL player jerseys, sales rankings are different, it is changing almost every year and it depends from the current form of each player. Or if a new young star fires, he can beat long-standing NHL legends, as Toronto Maple Leafs player Auston Mathhews did in the 2018/2019 season.
2018 / 2019 Top selling NHL player jerseys
It would take several long sites to pay attention to every jersey since the eighties, as the number of NHL teams increased rapidly. In the 2019/2020 season, there are already 31 teams in the NHL and the next one will be the 32nd NHL team Seattle Kraken.
Seattle Kraken home jersey
Seattle Kraken away jersey
Naturally, for every fan, the number one jersey is the one that represents his favorite club. NHL currently has a fascinating collection of jerseys, which every year carry a great guarantee of professionalism and quality design. Of course, you can also buy all of them in our NHL shop FansMania. Or imagine to walk through the hockey stadium, for example in personalized NHL jersey with your name and number, which you can also buy in our fanshop.
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