Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Best and worst sweaters of all-time: St. Louis Blues

T.J. Oshie, Alexander Steen, Ian Cole, Kevin Shattenkirk, T.J. Hensick, Keith Tkachuk, Red Berenson, Gary Unger, Joe Mullen

St. Louis Blues legends that wore the jersey No. 7 mingle with the starting lineup during the national anthem before the first period of an NHL hockey game between the Blues and the Columbus Blue Jackets, Monday, March 7, 2011, in St. Louis. On the ice are Joe Mullen, from left, Gary Unger, T.J. Oshie, Alexander Steen, Keith Tkachuk, Ian Cole, Kevin Shattenkirk, Red Berenson and T.J. Hensick. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

AP

So the Blues don’t have a Stanley Cup in their history, but they do have a history of classic sweaters with an era in the mid-1990s that made everyone wonder just what in the world they were smoking. We’ve all been there. If you’re familiar at all with what the Blues have done in the past, you’ve got a good idea how this list will looks.

Best: The Blues have a long history dating back to the late 1960s, but their best sweater in franchise history dates back to the early 1970s. It’s simple, it’s to the point, and it doesn’t have a nonsensical circular logo. That’s about all we can ask for out of a sweater and the early effective simplicity of just having a blue music note mixed in with white and yellow is perfect.

Worst: Just about the last color you’d like to have dominate a jersey when your team is called the St. Louis Blues is the color red. Red is the color of division rivals Detroit and Chicago and yet while red was a minor highlight of the Blues’ sweaters during the 90s, from 1995-1998 the Blues made red a much bigger factor of their look. Adding a prominent trumpet logo to the shoulders didn’t help the look much and to top it all off, it helped make Wayne Gretzky look like a chump.

Old-timey favorite: The Blues’ current third is nice in that modern vintage look but it’s been done to death by now. The old timey one I’m digging on is the one the Blues broke out in the mid-80s that featured the blue note as well as an arching word mark. It was like a vintage jersey that existed in an era where it was entirely out of place and before it was chic. I’m OK with that.

Disaster averted: During the 1995-1996 season, the Blues were also going to join the third jersey crush and the design they had cooked up would’ve made theirs, by far, the worst NHL sweater to ever see the light of day. It was highlighted by a cartoon mascot, Cool Cat, that touted how “cool” it was going to be. Instead of being awesome, it was more like Poochie the dog from The Simpsons.

The night the Blues were to take the ice in these monstrosities, then head coach Mike Keenan said there was no way his team was taking the ice adorning a jersey made up of music notes, trumpets, and sweeping team colors. Say it with us folks, “Thank you, Mike Keenan.”

Assessment: Their current sweaters are nice. They’re very blue, they highlight the blue note logo perfectly and if nothing else, they’re a little dull. That’s OK though because after the red era of the mid-90s they had to bring the excitement level down a few notches. Their third jersey is striking and honors the team and the city nicely and I’m a fan of it myself, but it was the jersey that unleashed the fury of circular logo third jerseys upon the NHL the last couple years. What was sort of original once became tired looking later on. That’s unfortunate.