Embraced by millions of fans across North America, an integral part of a city’s identity and the core of a profitable industry, the hockey jersey has become a modern-day staple. With that in mind, what exactly makes a “good hockey jersey”? It is based on three things: uniqueness, wearability, and attention to detail. 

Uniqueness is a factor that will set a team apart from everyone else. A great example of this would be the Los Angeles Kings’ use of purple on their jerseys, as they are the only team that uses it as a major colour. 

Wearability is a fan’s willingness to buy the jersey to wear to a game or to the ODR on a cold winter’s night. An iconic jersey like the Habs (Canadiens) or Bruins is quite wearable since it can be styled with most outfits, and the team will most likely never change the jersey’s main design. Other teams, such as the Columbus Blue Jackets, have gone through multiple logos and jersey styles in their short time in the league, making their jerseys less durable and desirable. 

Lastly, attention to detail is the jersey’s effectiveness in using its design to tell a story and convey significance. For example, for the Buffalo Sabres’ 50th anniversary, their specialty jerseys featured 5 stripes on each arm and the bottom to represent each decade of the team’s existence.

From 2007–2017, American fitness/clothing company Reebok had their hand at making NHL jerseys; however, at the start of the 2017-2018 NHL season, Reebok’s lease with the NHL expired, and Adidas took over the jersey rights. Most teams’ home and away sets have remained very similar, but Adidas has done a great job at creating new jerseys for teams across the league. Below, I will be analyzing Adidas’ best projects since 2017.

The Rebranding of the Arizona Coyotes

Although far from being the best team in the league, the Coyotes are one of the best-dressed squads. In 2021, Adidas worked with the team to leave the coyote head logo and go back to the late 90’s look of the fan-favourite “Kachina” jersey, which features local Indigenous American inspired artwork. The modernized vintage work pops out on the ice and differentiates itself from any other team’s home and away set. Additionally, in 2023, in collaboration with artist Rhuigi Villasenor and Adidas, the team came up with the “Desert Night” jersey, a simplistic Kachina design with a simple wordmark. Although the jerseys were not worn a lot, they were a favourite among fans.

2023 All-Star Jerseys

One would think that it can’t be that hard to design an All-Star jersey, right? Well, Adidas has failed at this time and time again, but things changed for the 2023 All-Star game in Florida. Using the 1996 All-Star jerseys as design inspiration, Adidas used iconic neon colors from the Miami nightlife to create these unforgettable jerseys. They weren’t boring like past years, but also weren’t over the top and gimmicky like the 2024 jerseys.

Reverse Retro Series 1.0 and 2.0

On two separate occasions, Adidas has run a program called “Reverse Retro”, where they designed a jersey for every modern team using a mix of present and past colours and designs. This created some nasty pieces but also some masterpieces, such as fan-favourites in both years for Minnesota and the Kings. Most jerseys in these programs have been decent, but some were remarkably close to exact copies of current or previous jerseys, undermining the entire point of the project.

Overall, Adidas’ impact has been positive since the signing of their contract with the NHL in 2018. It will be interesting to see how Fanatics will be able to work alongside Adidas in this new era of jersey production. I can guarantee fans are hoping things do not go south as they did with the 2024 MLB jerseys alongside Nike, which have not been well received by fans and players alike due to their poor quality.