NHL Power Rankings: Each team’s most iconic jersey

Atlantic Division

Boston Bruins

1967-74 Black jersey

The Bruins have had a plethora of designs over the years, ranging from brown and yellow stripes to cartoon bears. Their classic spoked-B logo (actually started life as an anniversary logo, but just stuck after that) is simple and timeless. Their colors are perfect together. Perhaps their most iconic look comes from their most iconic player, Bobby Orr.

Yellow shoulder yokes with a white outline underneath, classic triple stripes on the sleeves and hem, and the yellow version of the spoked-B that seems to have gotten lost these days, all add up to a jersey that goes down as an all-time great. This jersey is the same jersey the Bruins wore when Orr took flight in 1970, an iconic part of hockey history, not just Boston’s. Today’s jerseys closely resemble these classics, with a few tweaks here or there, and still look fantastic. But you can’t beat the original.

Buffalo Sabres

1970-1996 Original White jersey

The Sabres’ original look was gorgeous. The logo was classic, with the buffalo leaping over the crossed swords, the blue and yellow complimented each other well, and the design aged well between the French Connection era to the La-la-la-la-la-Lafontaine era. The white jersey featured a blue and yellow shoulder yoke that was well balanced with the alternating yellow-blue-yellow stripes at the hem and sleeves.

After these beauties, the Sabres overhauled into the Goat-head logo in red and black, then changed back to yellow and blue with the Buffa-slug logo, then brought back the original design but in navy and yellow (with the Turd Burger jersey mixed in there somewhere). Slowly but surely, the Sabres made amends for their mistakes and brought back a classic design, showing they should never have changed at all.

Detroit Red Wings

1937-present Red jersey

This pick is about as easy as it gets. Since 1937, the Red Wings have worn but 2 jerseys (with some modifications along the way, such as names on the back, minor logo facelifts, one year with curly numbers). But the look has remained the same, and seems to be destined never to change. When it works so well for so long, it becomes a sin to touch it.

The classic winged-wheel logo on red, a couple of white stripes to balance, and the captain’s letter on the right side (unique until the Arizona Coyotes started in 2016) are staples of Red Wings history. The jersey that was made famous by Mr. Hockey himself, Gordie Howe, and passed on for generations to come is a slam dunk for this list.

Florida Panthers

1993-2007 Original Red jersey

The Panthers had a great look during their first decade plus. The leaping cat logo (that picked up a stick in 1998) settled in well over time, and the red/navy/yellow was also one that seemed to fit well for the Panthers. The team actually had their best season in history wearing these jerseys, the year of the Rat Trick, where they made the Cup finals.

The sweeping shoulder yokes point down to a V shaped design on the sleeves, which works well together in terms of spacing. The striping pattern also worked nicely and wasn’t overdone. This is also in the 1990’s era, where teams were using designs that became infamous (Fish Sticks, Wild Wing, Burger King, basically any jersey with its own name).

The Panthers, playing in Sunrise, FL, is Miami’s team, and can also lead to some wacky designs. But the Panthers kept it relatively clean, which is a nice departure from Art Deco.

Montreal Canadiens

1917-present Original Red/Blue jersey

Another Original Six team, another classic jersey. Since 1917, the Canadiens have worn their classic Bleu Blanc et Rouge jerseys, with the CH logo on the front (H stands for hockey), red base with the white and blue stripes across the chest and sleeves. The white jerseys we see originated in 1941, and stuck around for all but 3 years since. But the red jersey hasn’t changed (not counting small trim changes) since the original season of the NHL.

The amount of Hall of Fame members that has worn these jerseys is staggering. The team has unrivaled success on and off the ice, and they haven’t changed their original brand since the beginning of the NHL over 100 years ago. There’s no question about choosing the best jersey for the Habs. It chooses itself.

Ottawa Senators

1992-2007 Original White jersey

The original Ottawa Senators wore red-white-black striped jerseys in the days they dominated hockey. That was until 1931, when the team had to pack up and move for financial reasons, folding a year later. Today’s Senators debuted with a centurion logo, but the same colors. Their original white jerseys had the logo front and center, and a unique sleeve design, black with red stripes enclosing the number.

The team has since incorporated new uniforms, which have stuck around more or less since these were discarded, but suffered from Reebok-itis, meaning colored in panels on the jersey instead of making a clean design. The jersey has been used ever since, and doesn’t look much better. They have a heritage jersey reminiscent of the old days, which is pretty, but not used long enough to consider regular. The team had more success with the older jerseys, earning it’s spot on our list.

Tampa Bay Lightning

2001-2007 Black jersey

The Lightning used to have a great, unique look to them, and it’s really a shame that they toned it down as much as they did. Today’s jerseys feature blue and white, and very simple design, with just one stripe across the sleeves and hem. It wasn’t always like that, though. They came into the league with a completely different look, and one that was better in almost every way.

The black jersey had a white shoulder yoke, simple white stripes that covered enough of the arm to notice, and balance with the hem stripe getting the same treatment. They also feature lightning bolts on the pants, which has remained with them to this day. Little known fact, they had a unique striping pattern in the armpits called “Victory Stripes”. I picked specifically the 2001-07 era of this jersey because of the simple numbering pattern (not a crazy font or thunderstorms), and the fact that they lifted a Cup wearing these.

Toronto Maple Leafs

1938-1967 Blue jersey

The Leafs are one of two surviving members of the original 1917 NHL season, but were the Arenas at that time. It wasn’t until 10 years later that they adopted Canada’s national symbol as their name and logo, and another year after that to wear the iconic blue and white they’ve worn ever since. The Leaf logo has changed here and there over the years, but the idea has stayed the same.

The Leafs last won the Stanley Cup in 1967, and were wearing a classic uniform when they did. The logo was the cleanest looking leaf they’ve ever had, so much so, that these uniforms were the basis of the current look for the Buds. The classic blue with a couple of white stripes on each sleeve and the hem wasn’t much, but the simplicity was the beauty of this timeless look. There’s plenty of good reason the Leafs came back to this idea, after all.