NHL Power Rankings: Remembering the ugliest jerseys in history
By Jeremy Tuch
1995-1998 – New York Islanders’ Fisherman jerseys
Oh God why.
When joining the NHL in 1972, the Islanders wore a very solid uniform set that aged perfectly fine. Blue and orange worked well together, as it does for the Mets and Knicks in town. Then 1995 happened, the front office and roster was completely gutted, Mike Milbury was hired as a coach, and these uniforms came out. The Islanders quickly went from respectability to a laughingstock.
The color scheme added teal and silver, the number font and striping pattern lost all common sense, and the logo looked like the same guy that Gorton’s seafood company uses in their logo. Everyone universally hated this jersey immediately, and demanded the old design back (which only took until 2010 to fully recover, because logic).
The team replaced Gorton with the classic logo in 1996, and returned to normal looking jerseys by 1998. But if you think they learned their lesson with bad jerseys, you’ll soon find out they didn’t.
Meanwhile: The NHL installed a third jersey program, which put out some of the legendarily bad uniforms in league history. Included in this is Anaheim’s Wild Wing, Boston’s Bear Face, Los Angeles’ Burger King, Pittsburgh’s Robo-Penguin, and whatever you want to call this Vancouver jersey. Additionally, Tampa Bay added a rainstorm to their jerseys, and Buffalo released their Goat-Head logo onto the world. The 90’s are fully underway.