Team USA Hockey’s best and worst uniforms of all-time

This has been a big week for jerseys.

The New Jersey Devils made waves when they dropped their extremely literal interpretation of what the front of a jersey should say. Up next, a few different uniforms for the upcoming 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing were leaked, including this set from the United States.

Reply with a GIF that sums up your reaction to Team USA's Olympic hockey uniforms 👇 pic.twitter.com/n4kfKRtgKf

— Daily Faceoff (@DailyFaceoff) November 24, 2021

Given the replies to DFO’s tweet, the opinions on Team USA’s new threads range from meh to vomit.

With that in mind, let’s take a look back at some of the best uniforms that the United States has ever brought to the ice, along with a look at some of their strange, failed experiments.

THE BAD ONES

I’ll have to see the 2022 uniforms on ice before deciding whether they actually fit in this category or not. I find that hockey jerseys often look bad when modeled in photos and then they wind up looking significantly better when on the ice, so we’ll see.

There’s quite a paradox when it comes to the memories associated with these uniforms from the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

On one hand, the women’s team captured its first-ever gold after defeating Canada by a score of 3-1 in the deciding game. On the other hand, the men’s team went 1-3 and lost in the quarterfinal. They also attracted the wrong kind of attention after being accused of trashing rooms at the Olympic village.

The uniforms themselves were a complete mess. Somehow, these manage to be busy and boring at the same time, with a very plain front featuring a small, ugly logo and a bunch of unnecessary action under the sleeves.

Perhaps it was the result of another frustrating finish, but the USA’s look at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi left quite a bit to be desired.

This uniform represents the beginning of the shift to a tight-fitting, streamlined, almost soccer-goalie-esque style from Nike. This isn’t just a USA thing, a lot of the uniforms from this era look quite strange, but outside of the stars on the shoulders, this jersey is devoid of any kind of personality.

The unfortunate thing is that Nike could have pulled off a very nice minimalist USA look if they had used the right shade of blue. Imagine how nice a re-done version of the 1936 Olympic uniforms would have looked.

Okay, I don’t want to be too critical here because this was a pretty cool thing to do. At the 2018 World Juniors, USA and Canada played an outdoor game in Buffalo and the Americans wore football-style jerseys as a nod to the NFL’s Buffalo Bills.

Honestly, the jerseys themselves look pretty nice and this is a gorgeous shade of blue. The problem here is that these uniforms weren’t complete, as the gloves and socks don’t match what’s going on with the helmet, jersey, and pants.

This could have been an all-time look for the USA.

THE GOOD ONES

You can just feel this jersey chanting “USA USA USA” at you.

The United States rocked this gem at the 1976 Canada Cup and there’s absolutely a lot to like about it. From the patriotic eagle on the crest to the star-spangled shoulders to the red stripes, I’m not sure there’s been a jersey to better capture the aesthetic of the red, white, and blue.

The 1990s were littered with hockey teams trying to do unique things with their jerseys. We saw strange color combinations, swirls and patterns at the bottom of the body and on the shoulders, and eye-catching logos.

Many are hilariously bad, like the New York Islanders fisherman jersey and the L.A. Kings burger king jersey, but there are also quite a few that are incredible. One that stands out from this era is the uniform that the United States rocked when they won the 1996 World Cup of Hockey.

These uniforms do the trick of having that unique 90s flare while not going over the top just for the sake of being different. You have a great color scheme, a strong logo, and some fun stuff, like stars embedded on the arms and a wave at the bottom.

The USA logo with the flag coming out of the S and the star in the A is among the best in the program’s history. I don’t know how they managed to go so sideways with it just two years later in Nagano.

And then there are the classics. Simple and elegant.

Nothing beats the United States’ Miracle on Ice uniforms from the 1980 Olympics at Lake Placid, New York.
Not only are these iconic because of Team USA’s shocking victory over the Soviet Union, but they’re also gorgeous on their own merit. The simple and bold USA on the chest and the red pants with the stars down the side — this is USA hockey’s best look.