The Devils haven’t always been the entertaining team on the ice, but they’ve been winners. That sort of attitude applies to their sweaters over the years, as they haven’t always been entertaining or controversial but they’ve always been great. From guys like Pat Verbeek and Chris Terreri to Scott Stevens, Scott Niedermayer, Martin Brodeur, and Ilya Kovalchuk they’ve had the names but the same look on the ice. But what about those sweaters?
Best: Well, there’s not a lot of room for error here when examining the Devils’ sweaters of the past. They’ve had two different types of sweaters and, depending on your preference in colors that determines which way things fall here. Given that I’m just north of 30 years-old and spent my formative years watching hockey in the 80s and early 90s… I’m a big fan of the “Christmas” color jerseys the team adopted from the moment they arrived in New Jersey in 1982 that lasted until black replaced green in 1992.
Worst: The Devils haven’t done anything egregious at all in their history and I’m not about to call anything they’ve done to be the “worst” of anything. Some of you might take issue with the old days wearing green and red, but those sweaters still looked nice. Switching to black, while predictable in the early 90’s, made a ton of sense considering they’re named the Devils. After all, what colors do you see devils wearing in artistic representations most often? Yup.
Old-timey favorite: The Devils weren’t always in New Jersey. They were born originally in Kansas City as the Scouts and moved to Denver to become the Rockies. Of those previous iterations, the Kansas City Scouts sweater from 1974 is iconic for its wild striping, funky colors, and logo that paid homage to a Kansas City landmark and history as a western outpost.
Assessment: The Devils are about as boring with their sweaters as they were back in the mid-90s under Jacques Lemaire and the neutral zone trap. The difference here is that people reflect upon the Devils sweaters and its interlocking “NJ” with love and admiration. After all, it was featured prominently in the film “Clerks” and if you don’t love “Clerks” you’re either not a child of the 90s or Kevin Smith himself. The Devils have avoided the third jersey plague and they’ve even brought back the green and red jerseys once a year for St. Patrick’s Day. What’s not to appreciate about that?