The Best and Worst Winter Classic Jerseys

[Morgan33]

With the 4th annual Winter Classic being held tomorrow I thought it'd be appropriate to take a look back at the jerseys that caused the NHL to dive headfirst into the Throwback trend.

First up we have the 2008 Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Buffalo Sabres

Next we have the 2009 Classic from Wrigley field where the Chicago Blackhawks donned their Black retro fauxbacks against the Detroit Red Wings who dipped further into their history with their Detroit Cougars logo

Next we have last years winter classic where the Boston Bruins brought back their original Yellow and Black colour scheme to face off against the Flyers with their Broad Street Bullies era threads complete with Black contrasting nameplates

And lastly of course we have the jerseys that will be donned tomorrow in Pittsburgh. One an accurate throwback, the other a mashup of early designs.

So which of these retro themed jerseys worked the best? And which simply fall into the category of trendy cash-ins? Let the discussion begin!

[Don]

I'll rank my favorites:

1. Buffalo - the creme de la creme of throwback jerseys

2. Detroit - cannot go wrong with the old english D, just a solid look

3. Philly - beautiful jersey

4. Chicago - Not wonderful but its alright

5. Boston - The B ruins it for me. Too cartoony, the yellow was alright but it just didnt work for me

6. Washington - I hate the wordmark logo, even on the current jerseys, always have. I just lamented that the Caps have no beautiful throwback heritage to fall on. A fauxback would be better

7. Pittsburgh Pt. 1 - Do not like the baby blue

8. Pittsburgh Pt. 2 - The fauxback is just bad, the NOB font is awful. This WC may be the worst looking one.

[habsfan1]

1. Boston

2. Chigago

3. Pittsburgh Powder Blue

4. Washington

5. Pittsburgh Navy

6. Detroit

7. Philly

8. Buffalo

For the record, none of them are ugly even though someone had to be ranked last. Also, the top 3 were all close to being my absolute favorite.

[IceCap]

Pittsburgh's 2011 fauxback and Boston's 2010 fauxback are the two worst. Both these teams have deep histories with plenty of interesting sweater designs. They don't need to resort to wearing fauxbacks.

Plus I think the old curvy Boston B looks terrible.

[officeglenn]

1. Chicago

T-2. Everyone else.

[aci]

Plus I think the old curvy Boston B looks terrible.

It reminds me of something you'd see on a jersey worn by the Berenstain Bears.

That said, the navy Penguins jersey is butt-ugly, the black nameplate on the white Flyers jersey is stupid (isn't the one on the orange jersey like that because there wasn't enough contrast between orange and white/black?), and the Bruins jersey.

The best ones are the Chicago and Detroit jerseys, and the Penguins' baby blues.

[GMac]

As a pens fan i wish they would have went back to this as opposed to the navy... but i love the baby blues...

[Morgan33]

01) Boston Bruins

Absolutely love this jersey. Yellow is such an underused colour in the NHL and the off white compliments it perfectly (Unlike the Penguins latest WC jersey). I also like that they went with a really dark brown that looks almost black from distance. Don't see the problem with the curved "B" logo, especially since it was the first incarnation of their now classic logo. This jersey needs to come back as their current third. Its that good. A+

02)Philadelphia Flyers

The Contrasting nameplate knocks it down a bit but this jersey looks spectacular. Its such a clean, uncluttered design and I love bright shade of Orange. Really stands out on the ice. A

03) Pittsburgh Penguins 2008

Seeing this jersey in action under the snowy backdrop of the 2008 winter classic was a sight to behold. A nice, uncluttered look with colours that look great on the ice (Give them credit for not using vintage white). Unfortunatly the magic of this jersey was significantly reduced when they made it a full time alternate. A

04) Washington Capitals

Yesterday I probably would have ranked these lower but after seeing them on the ice, I have to say that this design is pure class. The red white blue looks great and the multicoloured stars are really unique. Overall a great look. A-

05) Chicago Blackhawks

Nothing wrong with this jersey at all, just fails to get me excited like the others. Don't think it works well as full time alternate either. Still a solid look. B

06) Buffalo Sabres

This jersey and logo has to be among the most overrated on these boards. Didn`t like the original and I don`t like this one either. Ditch the redundant shoulder logos and make the hem stripes match sleeve ones and this moves up. As it stands though its a C

07) Detroit Red Wings

They are the Detroit Red Wings not the Detroit Cougars and the shoulder logos look really tacked on, disrupting the vintage feel. Don`t like these at all. D

08) Pittsburgh Penguins 2010

Where to begin... these are just a mess. The Penguins original jerseys looked awful enough to begin with down to the ridiculous number font and swapping the Powder Blue for Navy doesnt help either. What really makes these hideous however is the use of Vintage White. It just looks odd paired up with a two colour blue scheme and reeks of cashing on the fad. The Penguins 2008 WC jerseys looked fine with regular white, why the change? F

[nash61]

I would rank the Red Wings higher, but I can't think of anyone to replace. I would score them higher, though.

[Littlem27]

1- Buffalo- best throwback out there

2- Pitt #1- solid throwback and a true 3rd jersey

3- Boston- I love the yellow

4- Washington- a great throwback and

5- Pitt #2- great look but should never have been used

6- Philadelphia- a nice looking jersey

7- Chicago- not bad but definitely not good at all

8- Detroit- solid throwback but I'm glad it's a one and done

HM- Calgary- great inspiration but not a good looking uni

NR- Montreal- get creative for god sakes use a throwback from last year or the trusty white jersey that has the same striping pattern as the home not just a different stitching pattern.

[Axis_of_Weasel]

whyyyyyyyyyy dont they sell the sabres jerseys???

[Sport]

1. Boston Bruins 2010

2. Buffalo Sabres 2008

3. Detroit Red Wings 2009

4. Chicago Blackhawks 2009

5. Pittsburgh Penguins baby blue 2008

6. Washington Capitals 2011

7. Philadelphia Flyers 2010

8 Pittsburgh Penguins fauxback 2011

[Michigan Dave]

1. Detroit

2. Boston

3. Chicago

4. Buffalo

5. Philly

6. Pitt 1

7. Washington

8. Pitt 2

[Sodboy13]

whyyyyyyyyyy dont they sell the sabres jerseys???

Why, indeed.

[north dakota]

1. Detroit

2. Chicago

3. Pittsburgh 1

4. Buffalo

5. Washington

6. Boston

7. Philadelphia

8. Pittsburgh 2

[Revis-Island]

1. Boston (Love the design, even nicer in person)

2. Pitt Powder Blue ( I love the powder blue jerseys, was always a big fan of that color)

3. Chicago (Love the back)

4. Pitt Navy Blue (Don't get why everyone hates these)

5. Washington (Decent but don't want to see these again)

6. Detroit (Never liked detroits jersyes, even currents)

7. Buffalo (They have a lot of better throwbacks they could have used than these)

8. Philly (Don't like any team in philly, which makes this ugly jersey even uglier)

[Bmac]

1. Boston- Love the overall design and the colors. Perfect WC jersey IMO.

2. Pittsburgh Powder Blue- They picked an awesome throwback to use the first time.

3. Detroit- Another great choice in throwbacks.

4. Philadelphia- No complaints about the design, but perhaps a fauxback would have been better.

5. Chicago- Liked the idea, but it would have been better modernized.

6. Pittsburgh Navy- Right idea, not executed properly.

7. Buffalo- Too many other great ideas, they went with a boring option IMO.

8. Washington- I dislike the design to begin with. I think they could have tried something more creative.

I guess overall I prefer it when the jersey is not a direct throwback, but not always.

[vman]

1. Chicago - Nearly perfect. would have preferred the new Indian in the circle, but otherwise awesome.

2. Pittsburgh Powder Blue - Not much wrong with this one either.

3. Boston - Near perfect as well, but I can't stand the logo. The shoulder patch would have looked better as the main.

4. Detroit - Nice but boring

5. Philly - Boring and too modern for a Classic, still decent though.

6. Buffalo - I've never understood the love for this logo or these jerseys. Yuck.

7. Pittsburgh 2011 - The striping pattern is hideous. They should have gone for something from the Mario era.

8. Washington - Second worst logo and jersey in NHL history after Quebec. Would have preferred anything to these.

[The_Admiral]

I only like the Buffalo white. Stop praising the Blackhawks' third; you're only further encouraging them.

[BBTV]

4. Philadelphia- No complaints about the design, but perhaps a fauxback would have been better.

Well technically, it was a fauxback, since they never had black nameplates before. I'd also wager that the orange is different, but that's not enough to call it a true fauxback.