The New Jersey Devils have had the classic look as far as their sweater for a very long time with only a few minor changes. Well, what could be next?
The New Jersey Devils have had some sweet threads over the years. Some people like the small changes made on their AdiZero jerseys and some don’t. Well, the color scheme of red and black remains one of the coolest in the National Hockey League and the Devils always take the ice looking sharp. They could see another addition to their road and home combo over the next few seasons and they could very well not as well.
The New Jersey Devils and the Detroit Red Wings (the Vegas Golden Knights don’t count yet) are the only two franchises in the National Hockey League to never have had an alternate jersey in their existence. They have each had throwbacks for different occasions but neither has had a true alternate jersey that they wore once every three home games or so.
The Devils have a history with their color combination. When they were first born, they wore green and red sweaters. They weren’t very good with their green sweaters, but they started to grow their brand as a franchise. In the 1990s, they made the change from red and green to red and black. Success followed on the ice after the change.
A lot of people associate the green and red color scheme with losing. That exists even today when the Devils wear their throwbacks because of the fact that they don’t have a great record with them. Well, the truth of the matter is that the Devils have a lousy record while wearing them because they weren’t a great team in general while wearing throwbacks. The 2012 season is pretty much the only good Devils season where they dawned green throwbacks at any point. They have been pretty awful since.
There are a lot of ways to handle the sweater situation for the Devils. They have two really cool color combinations that are pretty unique to them. The Chicago Blackhawks, Ottawa Senators, and Carolina Hurricanes all use red and black but in drastically different ways. The Minnesota Wild uses green and red but green dominates red for them and red dominates green for New Jersey.
The Devils have plenty of ways that they can take advantage of these colors. They should really still honor their heritage and use the red and green combo from time to time. Another idea that lots of fans would like to see exist someday is a black jersey. It would be up to them if they incorporate green in it but it would certainly need to have some red. A black alternate would really be a cool way for this team to debut one. All in all, the play on the ice is the most important thing but the jersey game is fun to discuss as well.