Top 5 best and worst extinct jerseys

Some jerseys should have never gone away. Some should never come back. Here are five of the best (and worst) jerseys that are no longer used in the NHL.

1. 1993-94 Anaheim Mighty Ducks
This one is a classic (see above). Usually a green and eggplant color scheme wouldn’t work; but for some reason, it did with this jersey. It was their first jersey before changing things up in 2006-07, the year they won the Stanley Cup. The sweater was used in The Mighty Ducks 2 movie. Count me as one that was upset to see these jerseys go away.  The Ducks should bring these back once a year for kicks and giggles.

2. 1996-97 New York Rangers (3rd jersey)
In my opinion, this is arguably the best third jersey ever used in the NHL. It was a perfect changeup to the historical home and away sweaters. The inclusion of the Statue of Liberty was nice. The white version of this jersey was slick, too. Overall, this was a great looking sweater.

3. 1980-81 Quebec Nordiques
I am a sucker for baby blue jerseys, and Quebec’s home jerseys looked great. They were simple and featured the fleurs-de-lis. The home jersey in the picture here was a bit brighter than what was really used, but they were still nice sweaters. If the Colorado Avalanche ever play in a Winter Classic, they should most definitely use these. (Here’s what the jerseys would have looked like had it not been for the move to Colorado.)

4. 1999-00 Dallas Stars
In the late 90’s, the Stars featured this green jersey as a third jersey. Soon after, they became the regular sweaters. This is one of the handful of great jerseys that was taken away by the Reebok change in 2007. The star shape on the jersey, in my opinion, was really cool and fit the Stars perfectly. These truly were unique sweaters.

5. 1955-56 Boston Bruins
Over the years, Boston has had different variations of these jerseys. But these were simple and sharp at the same time. The gold sweater looks really good and is close to what the Bruins wore in the 2010 Winter Classic. Sometimes, simplicity is the way to go.

The following are some jerseys that we are glad teams have stashed in the closet for good!

1. ‘Barber shop’ jerseys – 2009-10 Canadiens and 1921-22 Senators
These are by far the most hideous jerseys ever used in hockey. The 1917-18 Ottawa Senators started it, but what made things worse in 1921 was the inclusion of the ‘Champions of the World’ logo on the chest. Montreal followed suit in the 2009-10 season with their own version (see above) as part of the 100-year anniversary. Put simply, these sweaters should stay in the closet forever.

2. 1995-96 New York Islanders
These jerseys were so bad that even the Islanders fan base hated them! The Islanders shifted away from the traditional blue and orange look that they had since arriving in the NHL. There is way too much going on with the jersey’s design, and the teal makes it that much worse. They used this fisherman sweater for just two seasons before using the old school logo on the same design… which, of course, didn’t work either.

3. 1978-79 Vancouver Canucks
Some people like the giant ‘V’, some don’t. Count me in the latter. These were horrible jerseys (and, not to mention, the pants), especially the gold one. They were only used for six seasons. Luckily the Canucks have reverted back to the classic blue and green look; but even before then, they had the navy and maroon sweaters, which also didn't look very good.

4. 2003-04 Dallas Stars (3rd jersey)
I’m still trying to figure out the point of this third jersey, which was only used for one year by Dallas. First of all, the color red doesn’t fit in the green, gold and black color scheme. The logo, which represents the constellation Taurus, is equally as bad. This jersey failed miserably, hence the reason why it was worn for only one season.

5. 1983-84 New Jersey Devils
Like Vancouver above, you either love or hate New Jersey’s ‘Christmas’ jerseys from the 80’s. The current red and black scheme fits the Devils much better than red and green. The red sweater, with the bold green stripes and shoulders, just looks awful. Nonetheless, the team has brought them back for one game in each of the last two years. Hopefully it's the last of that.

Photo credits: Getty Images / NHLUniforms.com