Bad sweaters

Dave from Sidearm Delivery reminded me that the current Islanders third sweater is nowhere near as bad as their Gorton's Fisherman sweater from the '96-'97 season. Unfortunately, several teams took an opportunity to unveil third sweaters in the heyday of grunge, and there were some really bad ones. Let's take a look at some of those from the mid '90s and some others more recent as well.

My second least favorite third sweater is the female reproductive system Dallas Stars third sweater that they're wearing now. I was completely shocked and dumbfounded the first time I saw it. I think it's supposed to be a cow or something, but it looks retarded. The color scheme is all wrong, and the placement of the star logo on the sleeve doesn't help.

For the 1998-99 season, the Coyotes started wearing a really wretched third sweater with a stupid desert scene on the bottom. They didn't have the sense to do away with them until the 2002-03 season. That was the same year that they revamped their sweaters altogether, going with a different logo and a slightly different color scheme. I like the new sweaters much better than the old ones, and anything is better than this.

The Los Angeles Kings have a history of bad sweaters, thanks to their pre-Gretzky royal blue and gold color scheme. However, for the 1995-96 season, they introduced a bad idea for a third sweater, which they only wore for one season.
It almost looks like the
Portland Breakers logo from the USFL.

For three seasons, starting in 1996-97, the City of Tampa Lightning wore a really horrible looking third sweater that was supposed to resemble a storm at sea. Again, with the wave theme, it looks a little USFLish. I'm not sure what was up with those little lightning bolts on the sleeves, but they don't look good. And the rain drops? Yeah, not feelin' it. This one honestly looks like they let a nine-year-old design it. It isn't the slightest bit easy on the eye. The whole thing is just way too harsh.

The Nashville Predators current third sweater is um, not good. Something about it makes the animal seem more docile than dangerous. I think the color is just a touch too soft. There's something not quite right about the eyes, too. And I'm sorry, but mustard is just not a good color. On top of all that, the neckline is really boxy, and that's stupid.
This one, though, won't be the worst looking sweater that Paul Kariya has ever worn.

This brings me to my favorite bad sweater. Easily the worst sweater of all time. The 1995-96 Anaheim Mighty Ducks alternate sweater:


I don't even know how to comment on that. I don't know how many games they wore these in, but these should never have seen the light of day, let alone the ice of an NHL arena. How in the world did the league ever approve that?


For the record, I also hate Altanta's third sweater (left), and their normal home sweater (right). The blue on the third jersey is not even a color that's really in their scheme. Like the Philadelphia Eagles' or Duke Blue Devils third jerseys which are black despite the fact that neither one of those teams has black as one of its colors, the Thrashers third sweater is Carolina Blue¹, which isn't one of theirs. I think it's goofy that they only have the number on one shoulder of the third sweater and "ATLANTA" down the sleeve from the other shoulder, but there's nothing in the rulebook dictating that the numbers be on the shoulder at all.
As far as the normal home jersey goes, it also vaguely resembles the female reproductive system.

There are lots of current third sweaters that I really like. To name a few, Columbus, Edmonton, and Boston. Maybe someday in the near future, I'll do a write-up about the alternate jerseys I like.

¹. Technically speaking, Carolina Blue (for the University of North Carolina) is Pantone 278, whereas the color on the Thrashers third sweater is something closer to Pantone 279, or maybe Pantone 278.5. Nonetheless, it isn't one of their colors.