Alternates in the NHL and NFL playoffs

[ruttep]

Out of the four major US sports, I didn't include the NBA and MLB here because they allow any uniform in a team's line up to be worn at any time. However, the NHL and NFL are typically more strict. How many examples are out there of teams wearing their alternates in the playoffs for the latter two leagues?

 

I'll start with a couple examples:

 

The Hurricanes in the playoffs every year

 

The Rams in Super Bowl LVI

[spartacat_12]

In their final season as the Mighty Ducks, Anaheim wore their old wordmark alternate during the playoffs.

 

 

The Sabres wore throwbacks during the playoffs in 2007.

 

 

Minnesota broke out the green alternates for the playoffs when they were still using the red jersey as the primary home look.

 

 

The year the Lady Liberty jersey was introduced the Rangers wore it during the playoffs.

 

[wildwing64]

On 12/11/2023 at 2:26 PM, spartacat_12 said:

In their final season as the Mighty Ducks, Anaheim wore their old wordmark alternate during the playoffs.

 

Even before that they'd pretty much swapped it with the home jersey around midseason, relegating that to alternate status.

 

In the 2011 playoffs the Ducks wore their then-third jersey which they introduced earlier in the season, and then once more in 2014 before switching to it full time.

 

 

[simtek34]

The San Diego Chargers wore their Powder Blue alternate jersey in the 2008 Playoffs, after getting permission from the NFL. I believe this is the only other time it's happened besides the 1994 49ers and 2021 Rams. The 2018 Rams Throwback was their primary uniform of that doesn't count.

 

[kiwi_canadian]

I think back in the late 90's early 2000's, the Flyers wore their black alternates in the playoffs before they made them their permanent home jersey.  As well, the Canucks started the 2007 playoffs in their regular jerseys but switched to their alternates (the blue stick in rink) for game 7 vs. Dallas and stuck with them for the 5 games against Anaheim... Actually I think that might be the only time a team switched jerseys mid playoffs.

[M4One]

 

Oilers in 2017 and 2021

 

 

[wildwing64]

Sharks in 2011 with their black alternates

 

 

The Penguins with their throwbacks in 2016, before switching to them full time

 

[ruttep]

6 hours ago, M4One said:

 

That Oilers uniform has to be one of the ugliest uniforms to ever be worn in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. I can't believe that that uniform made it to a Conference Final.

[YelichGraphics]

2 hours ago, wildwing64 said:

The Penguins with their throwbacks in 2016, before switching to them full time

Sabres also did something similar to this in the last year of their slug uniforms. I know it was said previously that they wore their 2007 royal in the playoffs, however they did the same thing when the navy "classic" alternate was introduced. They wore them as their primary dark uniform in the 2010 playoffs during their first round exit to Boston, only to switch to them full time the next season.

[throwuascenario]

The NFL doesn't allow alternates at all in the playoffs with rare exception, while the NHL merely mandates that you wear the same home uniform the entire playoffs, regardless if it's an alternate or not.

 

For the life of me, I do not understand this rule. Teams should wear their primaries as much as possible in the playoffs. Why force teams with bad taste (Hurricanes) to completely shun their primary uniforms? What purpose does that possibly serve?

 

Of course last year it worked out for the Hurricanes, wearing their should-be-forever-primary reds. Winning a cup in black would be sacreligious. Same for the Rangers-South CANES whites. That's part of why last year's ECF loss stung so bad. Even if they come back and win it this year or next year, there's a 95% chance it wil be in one of those two.

[ruttep]

53 minutes ago, throwuascenario said:

The NFL doesn't allow alternates at all in the playoffs with rare exception, while the NHL merely mandates that you wear the same home uniform the entire playoffs, regardless if it's an alternate or not.

 

For the life of me, I do not understand this rule. Teams should wear their primaries as much as possible in the playoffs. Why force teams with bad taste (Hurricanes) to completely shun their primary uniforms? What purpose does that possibly serve?

 

Of course last year it worked out for the Hurricanes, wearing their should-be-forever-primary reds. Winning a cup in black would be sacreligious. Same for the Rangers-South CANES whites. That's part of why last year's ECF loss stung so bad. Even if they come back and win it this year or next year, there's a 95% chance it wil be in one of those two.

 

I love the NHL playoff uniform rule. I think they do a great job of maintaining uniform integrity in the playoffs. If the Canes want to make sacrilegious uniform decisions in the playoffs, that's not the NHL's fault. The NHL can really be the dumbest league in the world in tons of different areas, but uniforms aren't one of them. I blame the Canes themselves for any and all moronic uniform ideas.

[ruttep]

The 2001 Kings wore their primary black uniforms on the road throughout the playoffs until Round 2 Game 7 against the Avs, when they broke out their purple alternates

 

[RyanMcD29]

57 minutes ago, ruttep said:

The 2001 Kings wore their primary black uniforms on the road throughout the playoffs until Round 2 Game 7 against the Avs, when they broke out their purple alternates

 

When doing research for past playoff brackets for some graphics I made for Twitter, I noticed there was some loose following of the one-alt rule in 2001. Sabres also wore their red alts for one game and one game only against the Flyers and otherwise had the black primaries the other games

[tBBP]

Completely off to the side but...that early 2000s LA Kings branding is some of my favorite ever.

[dont care]

49ers won the 1994 Super Bowl in fauxbacks

[throwuascenario]

On 12/15/2023 at 6:51 PM, ruttep said:

 

I love the NHL playoff uniform rule. I think they do a great job of maintaining uniform integrity in the playoffs. If the Canes want to make sacrilegious uniform decisions in the playoffs, that's not the NHL's fault. The NHL can really be the dumbest league in the world in tons of different areas, but uniforms aren't one of them. I blame the Canes themselves for any and all moronic uniform ideas.

 

I'm just saying IF they are going to allow alternates at all, they shouldn't require teams to wear them for all home games. In an ideal world, they simply don't allow alternates at all and force teams to wear the primaries for all games.

[wildwing64]

Technically it wasn't an alternate anymore as they'd already retired the original dark uniform, but in their one and only playoff appearance in 2007 the Atlanta Thrashers wore their powder blue jerseys against the Rangers.

 

[ruttep]

 

Someone already mentioned the 94 49ers, but the 94 Cowboys also wore an alternate in that NFCCG.

 

(Side note) I prefer them in royal blue, but if the Cowboys ever commit to navy blue as their one shade of blue, I'd like them to use this uniform and the navy version they introduced a year later.

[Kirill_The_Thrill97]

Capitals throwbacks on the road during the 2015 playoffs

 

 

[ManillaToad]

 

In the 1973 AFCCG and Super Bowl some of the players on the Dolphins wore the "Dolphin through the Sun" logo instead of the "Dolphin in the Sun" that the team had been using since 1969. Miami officially switched to the former the next season.

 

 

 

 

Both decals were used in Miami's inaugural 1966 season as well. This may be a supply issue thing or something of that sort, but I figured it fits here well enough