Power Ranking the Metropolitan Division Retro Reverse Jerseys

Shawn Antoski of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
Shawn Antoski of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
1 of 3
Next
Shawn Antoski of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport
Shawn Antoski of the Philadelphia Flyers. Mandatory Credit: Rick Stewart /Allsport /

Last but certainly not least, we present the Power Rankings of the Metropolitan Division NHL Retro Reverse jerseys.

Back on Monday, the NHL dropped all 31 of their retro reverse jerseys for this coming NHL season, whenever and whatever it’s going to be. Today we are going to take a look at the Metropolitan Division, ranging from Lady Liberty to the Whalers, a lot of these jerseys are colorful, creative and, well, some are just plain bland.

Let’s delve right in…

New York Islanders. 8. team. 106. . .

If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it is when a jersey is boring, and that’s exactly what these Islanders jerseys are. They had the option of going back to the iconic Fisherman jerseys of the mid-90s – admit it, Islanders fans, you would have wanted to see it back.

But, instead, they went with the navy blue of the early 2000s. This is basically a navy blue of their current design. A couple of these next jerseys may seem Gotti but at least they tried, this is basically a copy and paste and a slight alteration of somebody else’s homework.

. . Columbus Blue Jackets. 7. team. 113.

I understand they wanted to go back to when they debuted in the league. While they could have had the option to go neon green, remember when they wore neon-green for their All-Star jerseys? They decided to incorporate red into their jerseys and I ask why? What about the Columbus Blue Jackets scream you know what? We need a red jersey!

Well I could have forgiven this jersey for going completely red, maybe with some white striping.

I can’t get over that white striping that goes from arm to arm and over the shoulder. Thank God this is only going to be a one-year one-off, because these do not deserve to come back.

Pat Verbeek #16 of the New Jersey Devils. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)
Pat Verbeek #16 of the New Jersey Devils. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images) /

19. . . . Washington Capitals. 6. team

They took the Screaming Eagle design of the mid-90s and just slapped red, white and blue on it. They could have went with the Capitol Building design, but they chose this. It’s a giant screaming eagle with Capitals written on it, and the C is on the opposite side because of the big freaking Screaming Eagle.

This is certainly not boring like the previous two jerseys, but it feels like they made the wrong decision on which 90’s Jersey to go with.

. . New Jersey Devils. 5. team. 85.

If you are a fan of the New Jersey Devils you are going to love these. It’s a reverse of the regular Christmas Jerseys, oh I’m sorry, Garden State jerseys. They swapped the green on the shoulder yoke and made the Garden State green or Turnpike green the primary color of the Jersey.

It’s fine if you’re a New Jersey Devils fan but, for the rest of us, Merry Christmas!

. . Philadelphia Flyers. 4. team. 68.

These jerseys are fine if you live in South Philadelphia, it’s an invert of their 2000’s Jersey swapping the black and orange. However, for someone like me, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms already use this design.

Basically swapping the orange and black for Home or Road. These jerseys are fine and they will sell like hotcakes in Philadelphia.

Scott Daniels of the Hartford Whalers. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Cratty /Allsport
Scott Daniels of the Hartford Whalers. Mandatory Credit: Glenn Cratty /Allsport /

Pittsburgh Penguins. 3. team. 92. . .

Okay cards out on the table, I would have much preferred if they went with the robo Penguin chest stripe design of the late 90s. I personally think that Pittsburgh should not be in diagonal wordmark. It’s too many letters on a Jersey, 7 to 8 letters is perfect like Rangers, New York or Phantoms.

However, taking a step back and looking at it, they are not that bad, although I think the lettering could have been in black instead of gold, but a black outline on the Pittsburgh does help these jerseys. The black numbering and lettering with the trim on the back look really good, and I think these jerseys are going to look nice as a one-off.

. . Carolina Hurricanes. 2. team. 109.

Well the Whalers are back for another season baby! While they could have easily opted for the darker navy blue, I will applaud them for going the opposite direction and going completely gray.

The Hartford symbol still looks great all these years later, and they keep paying homage to the former city in Connecticut.  Once again, they could have went with the navy blue, which was the dying days of the Hartford Whalers, but I give them bonus points for trying something different and succeeding.

. . New York Rangers. 1. team. 95.

As soon as these were revealed it was no contest to the number one in this Division. The Lady Liberty jerseys are back baby!

Featuring dark navy blue and red shadow numbers with a hint of silver throughout the Jersey, Rangers fans have been wanting this jersey back for the better part of two decades, and the Rangers saw the perfect opportunity to grant the wishes of many and hit a home run.

The slightly altered New York Rangers shield shoulder patch is a really nice touch, while there is so much to love about these jerseys and I cannot wait to see them at Madison Square Garden in 2020-21.

So, there you have it, those are my rankings of the Metropolitan Division NHL Retro Reverse jerseys. To me, number one and number two were never in doubt, it was more the middle of the pack where I had some trouble with this.

Next. Ranking Retro Reverse Jerseys in the Atlantic. dark

I can understand if there are more people out there who like the Devils over the Flyers, or think I’m just plain wrong about Columbus. Stay safe and see you next time.

Next