After a two weeks of watching hockey playoffs every night, I managed to reacquaint myself with many of the teams and players again. I also saw many teams that I normally would not see in the course of the year on the Versus network which seems to focus on just four or five teams during the regular season. I was reminded on how garish some of the team uniforms looked in particular the uniform of the Nashville Predators: big image of an animal and rather unattractive colour combinations. In that respect, I think the Nashville is one of the worst looking uniform in the league.

I think that is a trend of late with many teams in different leagues especially with the newer teams trying to carve out a distinctive identity. Bold modern colours and and a stylized animal real or imagined on the front like the purple jerseys of the Toronto Raptors of the NBA.

Sport uniforms do change over time. Looking back at the vintage uniforms of the past in many sports reveal a simplicity in design, sometimes just the team name, and a basic colour scheme revolving around a colour set of red, blue, and black. Now, the entire colour spectrum is used and logos, very large, aggressive in tone are prominent on the jersey fronts. Much of the changes we have seen is usually done in concert to revive fading fan interest, a desire of new owners trying to establish their own tastes on the team’s look or just trying to stay contemporary with the times. Technology changes have traditionally played only a small role in uniform design but the advent of a new uniform and equipment standard to roll out in the 2007-2008 season, uniforms will be updated once again and this may give some teams an opportunity to roll some uniform changes perhaps minor, perhaps more substantial.

Having considered all of this, who has the best-looking uniforms in the NHL these days?

First on my list would the white Montreal Canadiens jersey. This is a classic design that has successfully resisted fashion trends in the past decade. Accented with the red shoulder epaulets and the large CH on the front, it should be the home jersey of the team that it traditionally has been. I think that was one of the worst decisions in the past few years in switching the default home colours to the color unit jerseys instead of the home whites. Anyways, growing up as I did in Newfoundland, if you had a NHL Jersey, it usually was either a blue and white representing the Toronto Maple Leafs or the red and white of th Canadiens and I had the latter. However, at the time I was not a fan of the team mainly because they were so dominant at the time. I was rather decidedly neutral on the teams until the Quebec Nordiques came along and became the number one opponent of the Canadiens.

Next on my list would the successor to the Quebec Nordiques, the Colorado Avalanche. Their away whites with the purple shoulders and the logo a large A and a stylized snow avalanche. Very clean looking and while the purple colours could be potentially garish, it seems to be muted and recedes into the uniform rather than overwhelming it. I also appreciate that it does not have a wild animal on it to denote how aggressive the team is. I find it a bit silly that teams have to use such ferocity in their team names and logos or otherwise they would be considered soft. At the very least though, this uniform is a significant improvement on the first incarnation of the Colorado team when it used to be the Rockies and one of the worst looking team logos in the 1970’s, an era noted for bad looking uniforms.

Last year’s dominant team but now one of its also-rans after the defection of so many of its plays, the Buffalo Sabers do have one of the more striking of uniforms. Their home jerseys in the team’s traditional blue colours is a bit different than the one I knew growing up with the white buffalo perched on top of crossed sabers. The jersey is more stylish now with the white panels on the side and the hourglass outline to give the impression of a tapered waist. It is one of nicer uniform updates I have seen for what can be considered to one of the old school teams. The leaping buffalo is nicely in the orange colours though the red eye colour is I guess their concession that this is a fierce buffalo rather than a mild one that nearly were extinct at the turn of the 20th century.

After years of trying out different patterns and colours (who can not forget the horrid orange and black of the early 80’s), I think the team has found a good combination of the classic style of the early 70’s along with the realisation that logos have to be contemporary. The Orca image is a good one and fitting with Vancouver’s maritime location. There is on the shoulder the original hockey stick logo which in the day was not a very good choice even in the 70’s. The green and blue colours are a tie to the water and forests that surround the city and are the original team colours. Done very well.