50 Silliest Jerseys in Hockey History
The worst NHL jerseys of all-time are palm-to-face inducing atrocities, but there have been some very bad and ugly jerseys in hockey outside the world's premier league as well.
In Disney's 1992 film The Mighty Ducks, it took peewee hockey coach Gordon Bombay roughly 90 seconds to convince his team to wear a duck on their chest.
Even children know when something is not fit to be worn on the ice.
As symbolic as any team name or jersey design might be, nothing stops a jersey from looking downright silly on the ice.
50. Ottawa Senators
1 of 50The Senators swiftly replaced this black "Sens" design with a vintage-inspired alternate this season.
49. Quebec Citadelles
2 of 50This AHL team played from 1999 to 2002 with a goat on their chest.
48. Youngstown SteelHounds
3 of 50The thought process that went into this:
Sheet music on a hockey jersey? Sure! Just throw in some silhouettes and it should look fine.
47. Tampa Bay Lightning
4 of 501. Take Red Wings home jersey.
2. Replace with Maple Leafs colors.
A jersey does not need to be ugly in order for it to be silly.
46. Atlanta Thrashers
5 of 50Remember when Atlanta had a hockey team?
45. Salt Lake Golden Eagles
6 of 50Taking the animal mascot display too far can go very, very wrong on a hockey jersey.
44. Philadelphia Flyers
7 of 50Maybe the Flyers thought adding metallic detail to their logo and uniforms would make them look tougher or more futuristic...but all it looked was awful.
43. Phoenix Coyotes
8 of 50The Coyotes' original logo and jersey set did not look right.
The redesign, which brought about today's jersey set, has the franchise looking like a hockey team.
42. Richmond Renegades
9 of 50This ECHL team is now defunct.
No wonder why.
41. New York Islanders
10 of 50The Islanders' recent reversion to a jersey set reminiscent of the club's original look was just fine.
New York was a well-dressed hockey club.
So to restore equilibrium, the team started wearing this mess of black and grey.
40. Nashville Predators
11 of 50The Predators tried using yellow once before this season.
The second try has been much more successful.
39. San Antonio Iguanas
12 of 50Are there even enough iguanas in San Antonio for this team name to make sense?
38. San Antonio Iguanas
13 of 50Maybe this is why the team went with the Iguana mascot.
37. Pittsburgh Penguins
14 of 50The RoboPenguin was the worst logo in Pittsburgh's history.
36. Pittsburgh Penguins
15 of 50...but copying the New York Rangers' diagonal typeface was not any better.
35. Vancouver Canucks
16 of 50Look at that logo.
Was your first thought, "That looks like a hockey skate!"
Or was it, "Look, a neon circle with lines!"
34. Milwaukee Admirals
17 of 50The AHL's Milwaukee Admirals wore some atrocious jerseys for charity, but it was by no means easily-earned money.
How many hockey players want to wear tie-dye?
33. Milwaukee Admirals
18 of 50A surfboard is the most sensible thing that could ever be put on a hockey jersey.
32. Milwaukee Admirals
19 of 50Looks like someone accidentally dropped their flannel on the design board for this jersey.
31. Calgary Flames
20 of 50The Flames only wore this for the Heritage Classic.
Though it fit the occasion, not many people would want to see them wear it as a regular jersey.
30. Dallas Stars
21 of 50At least the Citadelles didn't play hockey with a logo that shares striking similarities to the female reproductive system.
29. California Golden Seals
22 of 50With a name like "Golden Seals," looking ridiculous was actually quite fitting.
28. Laredo Bucks
23 of 50In order to show the festive spirit of New Year's, this Central Hockey League team felt compelled to sport this thing.
27. Orlando Seals
24 of 50The Southern Professional Hockey League's Seals (now located in nearby Kissimmee) were not missing out on the holiday spirit
26. Buffalo Sabres
25 of 50Let's go Slugs!
25. Wichita Thunder
26 of 50Lightning is not blue.
The design on this jersey looks more like a diagram of the circulatory system's deoxygenated blood vessels.
24. San Francisco Spiders
27 of 50This was an alternate jersey of the old IHL's San Francisco Spiders.
Whoa.
23. Cleveland Lumberjacks
28 of 50It was only a pregame jersey, but still...
22. Calgary Flames
29 of 50When a single logo has worked for a franchise throughout its entire history, there is no need to change it.
Calgary learned that the hard way.
21. Utah Grizzlies
30 of 50The best part of this pregame jersey might be the "Smoking is butt ugly" patch on the chest.
20. Indianapolis Ice
31 of 50Once again, just a pregame jersey, but the 15-minute warm-up was probably way too long for anyone having to wear this.
19. Boston Bruins
32 of 50The Bruins have had a long history of good-looking jerseys, but the Little Bear yellows were downright terrible.
18. Phoenix Roadrunners
33 of 50This was a pregame pajama top (or jersey...it's really hard to tell) for the Phoenix Roadrunners.
17. Phoenix Roadrunners
34 of 50This, unfortunately, was not a pregame jersey. This was an alternate actually used in games.
16. Tampa Bay Lightning
35 of 50For anyone who dislikes the new blue and white Tampa Bay Lightning jerseys, take a moment to reflect on where the franchise was once before.
15. Columbus Chill
36 of 50This disaster used to call the ECHL home.
14. Phoenix Coyotes
37 of 50Because the Coyotes' original jerseys weren't ridiculous enough, the team needed to introduce this alternate.
13. Topeka Scarecrows
38 of 50This is the type of stuff that goes on in the minors.
12. New York Islanders
39 of 50It's a shame that the Islanders did not get sponsorship money from Gorton's seafood for this atrocity.
11. Syracuse Crunch
40 of 50When Batman, Superman, Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and every other reliable superhero collaboratively take a day off, you can count on the Syracuse Crunchman to save the day.
Or at least ruin a hockey jersey.
10. Los Angeles Burger Kings
41 of 50It is very questionable as to whether or not this design was actually reviewed before the jerseys were made.
It only takes one look to be distraught at the appearance of the Kings' 1995-96 alternates.
9. Quad City Mallards
42 of 50Unfortunately, this is not the Mallards' last appearance on the countdown.
8. St. Louis Blues
43 of 50Mike Keenan saved the franchise a lot of embarrassment by not allowing this to be used.
7. SCL Tigers
44 of 50This team from Switzerland took their "Tigers" moniker a little too far.
6. Madison Monsters
45 of 50This is a look that anyone with a terrible sense of what looks good would actually go for.
5. Vancouver Canucks
46 of 50This was an absolutely ridiculous jersey.
It did not look good.
It did not make sense.
4. Peoria Riverman
47 of 50Yet another disco night gone wrong.
These jerseys were auctioned off for a benefit after being used in an ECHL game.
3. Montreal Canadiens
48 of 50It is good that such a storied franchise would not allow themselves to take the ice in something that looks as awful as this.
Oh.
Never mind, that's exactly what the Canadiens did with this throwback.
2. Quad City Mallards
49 of 50These men got to live out a lifelong dream of playing professional hockey in a five-year-old's sheriff-themed pajama top.
1. Mighty Ducks of Anaheim
50 of 50What makes the Wild Wing jersey top this list is the fact that it actually managed to find it's way into NHL games.
This was once the battle attire of a team playing in hockey's most elite league.
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B/R Featured Columnist Jason Sapunka is available on Twitter.
