Ranking New Jersey Devils New Jerseys This Season Including The “Jersey” Jersey

Pavel Zacha #37 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images)
Pavel Zacha #37 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images)
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New Jersey Devils
Jimmy Vesey #16 of the New Jersey Devils (Photo by Rich Graessle/Getty Images)

4. The black alternate jersey

We all HATED this jersey when it first came out. There are some people who said they “didn’t hate it as much as everyone else” now that we’ve seen it on the ice, but those people were few and far between when the jerseys were originally introduced. The first thing people saw was the Devils logo was changed. It was no longer the perfect interlocking N and J. It now just said “Jersey” on a jersey. Some said that people from New Jersey never call it “Jersey” (which isn’t true, we just don’t say it to people from the state). Others were very upset we finally got a new black alternate jersey, but they changed the logo. There was also criticism of the stripes, but we didn’t feel the same way.

The Devils did tell a story with this new jersey. They told the story of the Newark Bulldogs, a team that played for one season (although they did have some Hockey Hall of Famers on the team). There is lacing at the top of the jersey that’s made to look like a goalie net, a nod to the jersey’s co-designer Martin Brodeur.

The 21 stripes on the jersey are meant to represent 21 counties (Ocean County represent) in the state. It seems like a lot, but on the ice it’s not that noticeable. The five stripes on the shoulders represent the five retired numbers.

For all the negatives, the numbers and the name on the jersey are sharp. The piping around the details is immaculate. And again, the jersey looks really good on the ice. The players look great in the jersey. Maybe my frumpy body doesn’t look great in it, but Jack Hughes looks sharp when he’s wearing it.