Five other jerseys NHL teams should bring back after the Capitals’ ‘Screaming Eagle’ revival

Credit: Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Washington Capitals made their fans very, very happy on Tuesday when they announced the return of their popular black “Screaming Eagle” uniforms for six games in the 2024-25 regular season.

The Capitals first wore these particular jerseys in the 2022-23 season as part of the Adidas “Reverse Retro” program, but they’re based on the blue and white primary uniforms the club wore in the late 1990s, as well as the black alternate they donned around the same time period.

WE ARE SO BACK 🦅 pic.twitter.com/wg0mNanqtQ

— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) September 17, 2024

The “Screaming Eagle” won’t be replacing the Capitals’ long-standing “Rock the Red” jerseys … yet. But it’s safe to say they’re the more popular look both among fans in D.C. and jersey enthusiasts throughout the hockey world.

The Fanatics era of NHL uniforms is about to officially begin. The league still looks mostly the same as it did under Adidas, albeit with a couple of California-based exceptions. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have any suggestions!

Here’s a look at five more NHL fashion statements of years past that we’d love to see make a comeback through the league’s new uniform supplier.

All jersey images via NHLUniforms.com

Buffalo Sabres – “The Slug”

Now, before you get all upset over this, just know that it is our position that these should be brought back on a specialty or one-off basis. The Sabres’ existing primary and alternate uniforms are as close to perfection as it gets — no question.

But … there’s just something about the Slug that still beckons after all these years. Just look at it!

The squiggly vertical grey stripes that go all the way from the waist on the front to the armpit on the back. The vibrant yellow accents. The chest numbers. And, of course, the “Slug” itself.

At least the Sabres were trying to do something new and different when they came out with these back in 2006. And hey, they actually won the Presidents’ Trophy and even reached the Eastern Conference Final while wearing the Slug. Amidst their current 13-year playoff drought, the Sabres could use a jersey that brought them that kind of success.

Calgary Flames – “Black C”

Like the Sabres, the Flames have two classic-looking primary uniforms and a quintessentially ’90s throwback as their third jersey. Also like the Sabres, their existing uniforms are universally beloved by fans in Calgary and around the league.

If anything, it took the Flames way too long to ditch their Reebok-era “Black C” jerseys, replete with ugly vertical striping and piping, in favor of the simple red, yellow, and white uniforms they wear now. But the flag-adorned Reebok uniforms don’t hold a candle to the jerseys the Flames wore during their run to the 2004 Stanley Cup Final.

Both these jerseys are clean, simple, and striking, but the red one particularly stands out. It’s a perfect blend of the Flames’ classic look from the ’80s and their more angular uniforms from the late 1990s. And, like Buffalo’s “Slug,” it’s directly associated with success — the Flames came within one win of the Stanley Cup while wearing these particular threads.

The Flames don’t need to change a thing about their current three jerseys, but if the opportunity ever presented itself for them to introduce a fourth uniform, we’d love to see their 2004-era look make a comeback.

Dallas Stars – “1999”

The Stars’ old star-shaped uniforms drew their origins from the NHL All-Star Game uniforms the league used from 1994 to 1997. Of course, this design is now the most closely associated with the year 1999, when Stars forward Brett Hull scored with his foot in Dominik Hasek’s crease to win Dallas its first-ever Stanley Cup championship.

It’d be great to see the Stars bring either of these jerseys back as an alternate. It’d be even better if they brought them back on a full-time basis — the “Victory Green” has run its course.

It bears mentioning that the Stars did use a version of these jerseys during the 2020-21 season as their initial entry into the NHL/Adidas “Reverse Retro” program, although they were generally unpopular with fans due to the lack of contrast throughout the uniform.

However, Stars fans responded far more positively in 2022 when the club wore era-accurate versions of the green star-shaped uniform in warmups before Sergei Zubov’s number retirement ceremony. Those jerseys were made to true Adidas specifications and looked just fantastic.

New Jersey Devils – “The Classics”

Love him or hate him, Lou Lamoriello had it right when it came to the New Jersey Devils’ uniforms. They practically never changed during his tenure as GM, and that’s because they didn’t need to. They were perfect.

The operative word: “were.” For reasons known only to the Devils themselves, they elected to mess with their jerseys when Adidas took over as the league’s uniform supplier in 2017, shortening the shoulder yoke, making the stripes on the arms much thicker, and removing the waist striping entirely.

The result: The beautiful jerseys you see below started to look decidedly minor-league.

The Devils can keep their “Jersey Jersey” alternate look, by all means — it looks great. But for their primaries, they really ought to go back to what worked for them for so long.

New Jersey won the Stanley Cup three times in those classic threads. What better way to usher in the Hughes era than by bringing back those championship-calibre uniforms?

Ottawa Senators – “Silver O”

Unlike the other four teams on this list, the Senators don’t currently have an alternate jersey. Beyond that, their existing home uniform is mostly black, meaning their jersey lineup could use a splash of color.

Well, the best option for the Sens to fill out their uniform collection might just be a jersey that they already used as an alternate during the Adidas era. Ottawa deployed three different iterations of the “Big O” jersey during the 2010s, but the red one they used at the 2017 NHL100 classic (and in the years that followed) was the best of the bunch.

It’s a timeless look that harkens back to the Ottawa Silver Seven and makes full use of the contrast between the bright red and the black, silver, and white to create a vibrant but classic effect.

While it’s not quite as beloved among fans in Ottawa as the black and tan versions of the same jersey, it’s still popular in its own right and would fit in perfectly next to the Senators’ excellent (but somewhat monochromatic) home and away uniforms.

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