The word “honor” appears 17 times in the NHL/Adidas release detailing the newly unveiled Reverse Retro jerseys from all 32 teams. By “honor,” of course, the NHL means it will honor any form of currency or credit as you shell out $249.99 (plus tax!) to own yet another Montreal Canadiens jersey that you simply can’t live without.
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But this time it’s blue!
No, I mean a different blue than the last time it was blue less than two years ago!
We’re all suckers for this stuff, but can you blame us? Grown adults look ridiculous in NBA jerseys, and football jerseys are made of a mesh-like material that makes them impractical for everyday wear. And who wants to wear a button-down baseball jersey? But hockey jerseys just work. Hockey jerseys are cool. MTV in the 1990s told us so. You can wear them to games. You can wear them to the bar. You can wear them to work if you have a cool boss. You can wear them to a wedding or a funeral or a college graduation or the operating room if you’re in Minnesota. Pretty sure they don’t even let you into the Saddledome if you’re not wearing a Flames jersey.
And so the NHL will make its biannual cash grab, and hockey fans everywhere will grab their cash. Well, maybe not everywhere. Have you seen Detroit’s yet?
Anyway, The Athletic’s Mark Lazerus, Sean Gentille and Alex Iniguez — three fashion gurus if ever there were any — each ranked all 32 Reverse Retros to come up with these unimpeachable, absolutely correct power rankings. Let us know how keen our eyes are in the comments.
32. Toronto Maple Leafs
Lazerus: 22, Gentille: 32, Iniguez: 32
Gentille:
Lazerus: The jersey looks good. But absolutely zero thought went into this. F for effort.
Iniguez: C’mon, do something. Red lettering, pot-leaf logo, anything.
Lazerus: 27, Gentille: 28, Iniguez: 28
Lazerus: Two Reverse Retros, zero Mooteruses. Mooteri? Whatever. Bring it back, already! It’s the whole point of these things! Also, we really need to stop using black when black isn’t one of the team’s primary colors.
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Gentille: It’s Mooteri. Also, at least black used to be one of the Stars’ primary colors. I feel like they’re catching a bit of a raw deal; none of us actually had them ranked 31st, and yet here they are. The concept tracks — it’s their current “Victory Green” blended with the black from their first set of post-Minnesota jerseys. Just nothing to get excited about.
Lazerus: Love me some Victory Green. I’m actually the guy who thinks the Stars’ home greens are the best jersey in the league, so maybe I’m not actually qualified for this assignment, after all.
Iniguez: It’s just boring. Some gold might help? I dunno, man.
30. Calgary Flames
Lazerus: 25, Gentille: 26, Iniguez: 27
Iniguez: I feel robbed. The Flames have great primary uniforms. It feels like they should be able to do something more exciting. I guess it’s tough when your two options are a variation on the same old “C” and a horse that was already used for their last Reverse Retros.
Gentille: Yep, they couldn’t go back to the Blasty well, since it’s now their permanent alternate. The “pedestal” hem stripe is back, but I doubt anyone missed it.
Lazerus: You know those insipid half-and-half jerseys that parents wear when their kids play against each other? This looks like those, only they did it horizontally instead of vertically. But then they also did it with the sleeves. And what is that, a belt? A towel tied around the waist? I have no memory of the “pedestal,” and now I wish to have it Eternal Sunshined from my brain.
Lazerus: 28, Gentille: 23, Iniguez: 26
Gentille: This was actually my favorite of the two “We’re an Original Six team that hasn’t changed our look all that much, so let’s do something with stripes” looks.
Lazerus: Remixing one of the worst retro jerseys of all time was a choice. Point for boldness, at least.
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Iniguez: The Blackhawks don’t have a wealth of logos to dip into, which hurts their options. But in avoiding repetition, they’ve just managed a jersey that looks like it’s missing something.
Lazerus: 14, Gentille: 31, Iniguez: 31
Gentille: It reminded me of the “Ghostbuster” dogs when I was a kid, and nothing has changed. Other than the shade of yellow, I guess.
Lazerus: We don’t talk enough about how wild it is that we have a team in the NHL called “the Predators.” Anyway, this is a cool, scary logo, and there’s a surprising lack of those in pro sports.
Iniguez: They’re somehow worse than the Smash Ville Mouth jerseys.
Lazerus: 31, Gentille: 22, Iniguez: 20
Gentille: This one is garish as hell, but it deserved better, if only for the source material. It’s based on a prototype the Blues’ owners wore a year before the team actually played games.
Lazerus: The Blues have the best third jersey in the league by a country mile, and they also have two of the worst Reverse Retro jerseys. This is the provel cheese of jerseys. It looks weird, and I don’t want it anywhere near my body.
Iniguez: I’ll defend St. Louis any chance I get, but this is tough to defend. Points for effort.
Lazerus: 29, Gentille: 20, Iniguez: 24
Gentille: This is a Flyers jersey, and I like Flyers jerseys.
Lazerus: This is indeed a Flyers jersey. And therefore it looks fine. But we’re not looking for fine here. We’re looking for fiiiiiiiine. Or fun. This is neither. This is fine.
Iniguez: *nods*
Lazerus: 16, Gentille: 27, Iniguez: 29
Iniguez: Seattle gets points for unveiling a third jersey of any kind, but this one misses the mark. Not sure why the Kraken didn’t opt for something closer to the Seattle Metropolitans’ look here. Lots of ways to go, and we get … this.
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Lazerus: That is… a lot of stripes. I agree with Alex. The Metropolitans’ “S” was right there. Of course, so was Vladimir Tarasenko.
Gentille: They should’ve been excluded from the assignment. The news release said the crest is “seemingly” submerged in the navy blue water. Whatever!
Lazerus: 19, Gentille: 29, Iniguez: 23
Gentille: They took the Blue Jackets’ original third jersey and inverted the two main colors. That’s teetering on “why bother” territory.
Lazerus: If you look up “meh” in the dictionary, well, you’re very strange. But you’d also see this.
Iniguez: We’re firmly in the mushy middle here, which isn’t where you want to be. These uniforms shouldn’t be boring. At minimum, they should be a chance to try something new, different or controversial. Being boring isn’t fun.
Lazerus: 15, Gentille: 30, Iniguez: 25
Gentille: You could tell me these were already Canes jerseys, and I’d believe you. I love Carolina’s permanent black alts, but these don’t do anything for me, even though the hurricane warning flags are always a cool touch.
Lazerus: I’m generally going for kitsch with these, and this is the opposite of that. But it’s clean, it’s cool and it generally looks great. So it goes in the middle.
Iniguez: I’m glad they’re not doing another Whalers look. That whole deal makes me sad. But this is what we get instead. It’s fine. Whatever. Moving on.
22. Detroit Red Wings
Lazerus: 30, Gentille: 24, Iniguez: 14
Gentille: And here we have the inferior “We’re an Original Six team that hasn’t changed our look all that much, so let’s do something with stripes” look.
Iniguez: See, I like this one more than the Blackhawks’ striped look. It’s less busy and just cleaner overall. Still uninspired, I agree.
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Lazerus: In the immortal words of every Chicagoan ever, “DE-TROIT (’s Reverse Retro uniform design) SUCKS.”
Lazerus: 32, Gentille: 16, Iniguez: 15
Iniguez: So bad they’re (kinda) good. Bro, the tribal tattoo lightning bolts on the sleeves are so stupid I can’t do anything but laugh. At least they’re not boring!
Gentille: I dropped these pieces of artwork directly in the middle for a reason. The Lightning get credit for resurrecting the world’s worst roller-hockey jerseys — points for shamelessness — but I can’t sign off on the entire deal.
Lazerus: I’ll say this: At least they weren’t afraid to get weird. They tried.
20. Vegas Golden Knights
Lazerus: 13, Gentille: 15, Iniguez: 30
Gentille: I liked what they were going for here — a ‘90s-style diagonal crest — before I knew there were “glow in the dark” elements on the crest that’ll pop when they’re hit with pregame blacklight at T-Mobile Arena.
Iniguez: I had glow-in-the-dark stars on my bedroom ceiling as a kid. Never thought to put them on a hockey jersey. They’re going with the ‘90s theme, but I would’ve liked a more ‘90s color scheme to hammer it home.
Lazerus: We’re told they “imagined” what a 1995 Knights third jersey would have looked like. And it looks pretty cool. But Vegas in 1995 was way more garish than this (back before every new resort’s theme was BEING RICH). Could have had some real, campy fun with it.
19. Ottawa Senators
Lazerus: 7, Gentille: 25, Iniguez: 21
Gentille: Nope. This is just their current jerseys with an older set of numerals on the side.
Iniguez: This is another case where a team just doesn’t have much material to work with, so they end up with something generic. It doesn’t look bad, but it doesn’t look exciting in any way.
Lazerus: This violates nearly all my rules for Reverse Retros, but it just looks sweet as hell. I’m a hypocrite with no standards, is what I’m saying.
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Lazerus: 24, Gentille: 9, Iniguez: 19
Gentille: Gotta say, was not expecting to be the only one with these in my top 10, and I’m surprised it took us this long to see a Sharks/California Seals crossover.
Iniguez: I wanted to like this one more. The colors are good. But what’s tripping me up is that it reads like a football jersey. The simplicity is there, but maybe it’s too simple.
Lazerus: This nails nearly all my rules for Reverse Retros, but it just looks wonky as hell. I’m a fraud with no moral compass, is what I’m saying.
Gentille: Don’t read the comment section.
17. New York Islanders
Lazerus: 18, Gentille: 14, Iniguez: 17
Lazerus: Deep within my closet, I have a Zigmund Palffy jersey from when I was in high school and the Islanders went completely insane. I didn’t go so far as to get the fisherman logo jersey, but it still had the “wave” (it was more like a tsunami) of piping at the bottom. It looks absurd. Yet somehow, it’s not as absurd as the angle of the stripe at the bottom of this one. But I’m glad the Isles had the guts to go with Gorton’s this time around after chickening out last time. If the fisherman logo can become cool, literally anyone can become cool. Except me in 1996.
Iniguez: Well, you’re at least moderately cool now, just like these jerseys. They didn’t overthink it: A simple design that lets the logo do the talking.
Gentille: One of the key tenets of an alternate jersey is making it an alternate to your normal jerseys. Glad to see they figured it out while also eliminating the possibility that their highlights would give folks seasickness.
Lazerus: 23, Gentille: 19, Iniguez: 7
Lazerus: I actually don’t mind the brown. But the piping at the bottom is ghastly. I’d like so many of these jerseys if I never saw the bottom third. Maybe everyone can just wear them tucked in.
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Iniguez: I too am down with the brown. The bear looks cool, and I’d like to befriend it. The “Bruins” wordmark on the shoulders isn’t great, but overall this is a strong look.
Gentille: The “Pooh Bear” look was one of the original NHL third jerseys, so I’m all right seeing it back in action. The contrast between brown and black in the bear face hasn’t improved, though, so it still looks like a lump of … pooh? Is that why they called it that?
Lazerus: 9, Gentille: 21, Iniguez: 18
Lazerus: We’re told this is a “dynamic gear” around an oil drop, with each “bolt hub” representing one of the team’s five Stanley Cups. Sure. Got it. Totally. Still doesn’t explain the three teeth? Claws? Stalagmites? Whatever. Looks cool.
Iniguez: I don’t know what that is, and I’m scared.
Gentille: I know lots of Oilers fans love the Todd MacFarlane logo. I do not.
Lazerus: 26, Gentille: 18, Iniguez: 3
Lazerus: I loved this jersey in purple. I hate it in “sienna.”
Gentille: Yeah, all this does is remind me that they ditched one of the best 2021 Reverse Retro looks. I’m typically All Kachina Everything, but this doesn’t work.
Iniguez: I can’t get enough Kachina, and the desert hue works for me. You’re both wrong.
Lazerus: 21, Gentille: 13, Iniguez: 11
Gentille: I was in college in the D.C. area when the Caps ditched this look and went back to red, white and blue. Everyone was thrilled. Amazing what 15 years can do. The big news here is that they went all-black on the jersey and pants, which emphasizes the strengths.
Lazerus: Do I want to go back to what Washington was like in 2005? I do not!
Iniguez: I’m surprised Sean remembers any of his college days. Anyway, the Capitals took their previous Reverse Retros and improved them. Good work.
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Lazerus: 17, Gentille: 6, Iniguez: 22
Lazerus: Baby blue looks bad when the St. Louis Cardinals wear it. It looks bad when the Philadelphia Phillies wear it. And it’s going to look bad when the New York Rangers wear it. Of course, by the Rangers’ curmudgeonly standards — they don’t even have a mascot, for Youppi’s sake! — this is a radical jersey akin to playing in tank tops and short-shorts.
Gentille: This is baby blue? Are you colorblind? Am I colorblind?
Lazerus: *taps imaginary earpiece* I’m being told this is “royal blue.” It’s not Rangers blue, that’s all I know. Also, the Statue of Liberty is in New Jersey. Just saying. I’ll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I recognize the pact of 1834.
Iniguez: Here’s a radical idea: Statue of Liberty logo, on a red jersey. Yes, I know they’re the Blueshirts. No, I don’t care.
Lazerus: 12, Gentille: 17, Iniguez: 12
Gentille: Mid. Really missing red here.
Lazerus: These are sharp. They even Reverse Retro’d their kids charity, changing the old “Goals For Kids” patch to the “True North Youth Foundation.” We don’t speak about what happened to the “Goals For Kids” kids.
Iniguez: To me, ranking these No. 12 says more about the rest of the league’s jerseys than it does about the Jets’ look. Still, they’re clean and inoffensive, which is enough.
Lazerus: 11, Gentille: 12, Iniguez: 16
Gentille: I was all set to rank these lower because I didn’t understand why they went with navy and gold striping on the arms. Then I realized it was a Colorado Rockies reference from when the team relocated to Jersey in 1982. Pretty thoughtful, especially since there aren’t a ton of other Devils looks to pull from.
Lazerus: Tough to top the Christmas-colors look from last time, but these are very solid.
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Iniguez: Not many throwback Devils options, as Sean said. Maybe someday we’ll get flesh-colored jerseys with a red “D” painted on.
9. Montreal Canadiens
Lazerus: 20, Gentille: 3, Iniguez: 9
Iniguez: I want to like these more than I do. Points for the Expos idea, deduction for execution. Still solid enough to crack the top 10 on a weak list.
Lazerus: Interestingly, they don’t even mention the Expos in the description. They just call it “Montreal colors.” When it comes down to it, this is still just a Habs jersey in a different color. It’s like re-using a paper you wrote for a different class and changing a few adjectives. It’s still self-plagiarism.
Gentille: Tough job here; no jersey needs less fiddling than Montreal’s, but you still have to try something a little different. I think they managed. Also, I’m all for a city’s sports franchises adopting similar colors. It’s a shame there’s no baseball team to match.
Lazerus: 5, Gentille: 10, Iniguez: 8
Lazerus: This is just a road version of their 2020 Reverse Retros. And I know this again makes me a total hypocrite after what I just wrote about Montreal, but I can’t help it. They’re gorgeous.
Gentille: Same deal for me as the Coyotes; they took last year’s borderline perfection and messed with it. Now, the crest pops a little less, and I like it a little less.
Iniguez: Uninspired, but it ain’t broke. I like ’em.
Lazerus: 8, Gentille: 9, Iniguez: 5
Lazerus: Sneak a buffa-slug or two on the shoulders and this makes the top five. Good logo, good colors. Works a heck of a lot better than it did in black and red.
Iniguez: One trillion percent better than their prior Reverse Retro unis, and with a logo that conjures up all sorts of nostalgic fuzzies.
Gentille: We’re now in the “No complaints tier.” This one is a reminder of how great white hockey jerseys can look.
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Lazerus: 3, Gentille: 7, Iniguez: 13
Lazerus: Old cartoonish logo, current colors. Perfect. That’s the assignment. Why is this so hard for everybody?
Iniguez: The nostalgia is wearing off, and I think I’m getting tired of the old Mighty Ducks jerseys, and the color makes it worse. I guess we all grow up eventually. Sad times.
Gentille: I know Anaheim had to use orange here, but I’m still docking them points for it. Their primary set of uniforms sucks, and it’s sucked for a long time. There’s no reason for them not to readopt this look on a full-time basis.
Lazerus: 10, Gentille: 8, Iniguez: 4
Lazerus: You’ve got a Pittsburgher and two guys with ties to Pittsburgh here, so you can’t go wrong bringing back the Robo Penguin, which harkens back to the Penguins’ era of star-laden dominance. No, not that one. No, not that one, either. Yeah, that one. God, Penguins fans are spoiled.
Gentille: Given how much time I spent watching that logo on TV as a kid, it was legitimately disorienting to see it on a plain black jersey. I get why they did it. Still weird.
Iniguez: My main reference point for this logo is the black jerseys with the gray-yellow gradient, as worn by Mario Lemieux on the cover of NHL 2002. They cleaned it up here, and it looks sharp. Easily in my top tier.
Lazerus: 4, Gentille: 2, Iniguez: 10
Iniguez: The colors work. The logo works. It’s clean and sharp. So why don’t I like it more? I need some soul searching.
Gentille: I’m probably more into state flag design than the average bear, so I love this one. Red-blue-gold also always pops.
Lazerus: Thank goodness there are no NHL teams in Maryland, then. But these are superb. Colorado is good at this Reverse Retro thing.
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Gentille: This is Maryland Black Bear erasure.
Lazerus: 6, Gentille: 1, Iniguez: 6
Iniguez: All I can see here is Milwaukee Bucks jerseys. They’re clean, though.
Lazerus: You could have given me five guesses as to whose logo this is and I probably wouldn’t have picked Vancouver, but I love it all the same. This is twice now that the Canucks have passed on an opportunity to resurrect the best jersey in the history of the sport — the flying skate jersey of the Pavel Bure era — but this logo is so damn adorable that we’ll let it slide. High hipster appeal with that mustache, too. This one will play in Vancouver.
Gentille: This one hits every possible note. Johnny Canuck is an underutilized logo. The striping is classic. They even made the chest numerals work, which is easier said than done. I’d wear one of these, and I don’t wear jerseys.
Lazerus: 2, Gentille: 4, Iniguez: 2
Lazerus: I have young children so I’ve had a lot of deep, profound conversations about which colors are the best colors. Purple is the best color, and every other color pales in comparison. More purple, please.
Gentille: Sir, that is FORUM BLUE. Just kidding. It’s purple, anyway, I dropped it a little for that reason specifically. I like purple. I like when the Kings use purple. I like when the Kings use that version of their logo. It’s just a little … predictable for stuff like this. Overall, the design is perfect.
Iniguez: They don’t call them the Kings for nothing. Crown ’em.
Lazerus: 1, Gentille: 5, Iniguez: 1
Lazerus: Take away the chevron-style stripes at the end of the sleeves and this is utter perfection. Make it the primary uniform yesterday. Only South Florida can get away with the baby blue. (Is this baby blue, Sean? I’m all self-conscious now.)
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Gentille: Brother, that’s as much baby blue as the retinas can handle. I always thought the sun/stick/palm tree crest was underutilized on the shoulder. Now it’s the star of the show.
Iniguez: These jerseys make me want to sit on the beach all day sipping daiquiris. They’re fun, unique and make a strong local connection. Tough to do much better than that.
(Top photos courtesy Adidas)
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