| The history of the NHL jersey dates back almost 100 | | | | Americans red, white and blue color scheme. |
| years. With it's long sleeves, large numbers and | | | | During the 1940s, the New York/ Brooklyn Americans |
| stunning logos, the hockey jersey has long been a | | | | folded and the NHL was reduced to only six teams. It |
| statement of pride for hockey fans of all ages. NHL | | | | is now that we see the emergence of more and more |
| fans buy NHL gear including jerseys and wear them to | | | | colored pants, as well as a variety of home and away |
| games and at home to show their support for their | | | | NHL jerseys. |
| local team. While all 30 NHL teams now have home, | | | | In 1950, the Black Hawks moved from a barber pole |
| away and sometimes alternate jerseys to wear and | | | | appearance in their black NHL jerseys to a red jersey |
| sell, that was not always the case. | | | | with an Indian head on front. This is the start of the |
| The NHL started in 1917 with five teams. Their uniforms | | | | official NHL merchandise we see associated with the |
| were originally made of heavy wools and cottons to | | | | Black Hawks of today. It was in 1955 that the Bruins |
| keep players warm and they were not very appealing. | | | | became the first team to introduce the color gold in |
| For the first decade of league play, teams only had | | | | their NHL jerseys. |
| one uniform they wore for both home and away | | | | In 1951, the NHL mandated white jerseys at home |
| games. | | | | getting the Rangers to create a new uniform. |
| The main characteristics of their NHL jerseys were | | | | However, that changed four years later, and colored |
| long sleeves and stripes. The Toronto Arenas were | | | | uniforms became home jerseys until 1970, when it |
| the only team to sport a solid blue jersey with white | | | | changed again. It would change several times during |
| trim. | | | | the next few decades. |
| The league slowly made its way to the United States | | | | The league expanded in 1967 to 12 teams and kept |
| in 1924. The first team in the states was the Boston | | | | adding teams every few years until the mid-1970s, |
| Bruins. The NHL jerseys associated with this team | | | | leading to more styles and more colors being added to |
| was a solid brown color with gold trim. At this time, the | | | | the NHL collection to the joy of fans who buy NHL |
| Hamilton Tigers wore an NHL jersey with thin lines of | | | | gear in support of their team. |
| black and gold on their sleeves. | | | | Names first appeared on the back of jerseys in 1971, |
| In 1927-28, the Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled a new | | | | but only home teams wore them. However, by 1978, all |
| blue-and-white logo that included a heavily striped | | | | teams were wearing names on the backs of the |
| jersey for home games and a rather simple white | | | | jerseys. The Toronto Maple Leafs were the last team |
| jersey with a blue leaf logo for away games. | | | | to conform, but did so with protest. The team put |
| As the 1930s rolled around, ultra-skinny lines of | | | | white letters on the white jerseys and blue letters on |
| alternating color were seen in teams, such as the | | | | the blue jerseys, because the team's owner, Howard |
| Chicago Black Hawks and the Detroit Falcons. Stars | | | | Ballard, feared he would lose revenue from game |
| highlighted the NHL jerseys of the New York | | | | programs if fans knew the names of players. |