Worst to First Jerseys: Vegas Golden Knights
As we went through the prolonged 2019-20 season, we’ve been updating all of the Worst to First Jersey posts every Monday, as almost all the teams in the league have unveiled new jerseys since their original posts. And there’s always been one we’ve left out. Well today, it’s time for the Vegas Golden Knights to get updated finally get their own Worst to First treatment.
Also, a huge thanks to SportsLogos.net and NHLUniforms.com for most of the jersey images and references.
There was a rumour floating around the Vegas was going to get their first third jersey this season at some point, which would make their very own Worst to First treatment suddenly a possibility. I think that, at this point, that with the way the 2019–20 season has gone down, it will be postponed until next season. Which means, we have all of two jerseys to look at, and they’re not really that different. But, what’s a site like ours to do except just go ahead and rank them anyway.
Here’s how this works: I’ll count down, from worst to first, all the jerseys the Golden Knights have ever worn. Homes and aways will be lumped into the same category (so, more of a jersey “era”) and I won’t worry about small changes (like slightly changed positions of piping for example). Third jerseys generally stand on their own. (Not so much that particular part for Vegas.) And we’re focusing on the jerseys only, not the entire uniform. For the Golden Knights, there’s, well, one set of jerseys/eras, but for this entry, we’ll split it into two. And we’ll start with the worst one:
2. 2017–present Away Jersey
We had lots to say when the Vegas visual brand was first unveiled, dedicating two entire posts to it. After all, it’s not everyday that a new entity enters the NHL, and Vegas had been the first in 17 years, since Minnesota and Columbus in 2000.
• More: HbD Breakdown: Vegas Golden Knights (Name and Wordmark)
• More: Hbd Breakdown: Vegas Golden Knights (Logo and Alternate Logo)
Obviously, some of what I’m going to say here applies to both their home and away jerseys, as they nearly identical aside from the obvious swapping of some colours. And on both jerseys, there are some elements that work, as well as some more innovative and unique elements that give the jersey some interesting subtleties and push hockey jersey design in general into a new and more modern direction. It that sense, it’s a compelling jersey.
The filigree elements depicting sagebrush (the Nevada state flower) in the golden stripes on the sleeves – and on the logo crest itself – are nice touches, as are the little details like the rivets on the logo crest. And of course, the metallic gold fabric that they’re using throughout gives the name “golden” a little more weight, as opposed to the Beige Knights, or something like that.
There’s also the holes in the numbers on the sleeves and back which, sure, why not. They don’t seem to serve any specific purpose other than to create more texture on a jersey that already has some unique textures. If it wasn’t so small a detail, it might detract from the texture elsewhere.
The larger chunks of colour stripes are definitely becoming a modern (or at least, an Adidas) approach to jersey design, and they’re mostly fine here.
But the integration of some of those elements with the chosen colour palette just don’t mesh well together and leave a jersey that’s surprisingly flat given the shiny new things on it.
There’s the unnecessary and superfluous red stripe that doesn’t seem to serve any purpose to the overall jersey, making it unbalanced. And this is what puts the white jersey in last place.
The white, in combination with the gold and red stripes comes across more like a Vegas circus act than a refined jersey design. Then, throw in the grey, which just adds too much contrast overall, forcing the white and red and gold to pop even more, making it look worse.
• More: HbD Breakdown: Vegas Golden Knights Jerseys
Jersey Recommendation: #18 Neal. James Neal was on the inaugural Vegas team and scored their first two goals ever, as well as being an integral part of their Cup Finals run that season. Sure, he didn’t last long with the Knights, but hey, the team is only a few seasons old.
1. 2017–present Home Jersey
Go back up and re-read everything that was written about the white jersey until about the last paragraph. It’s all relevant to this jersey as well.
But what sets these grey home jerseys above is the grey/black combination actually tones down the intensity of the red and gold elements on the jersey, making it a more refined look overall. The inclusion of the red stripe is still unnecessary, but it’s less detrimental here.
And, thankfully, the decided not to go with white gloves on these jerseys, which seemed to be the case during their jersey unveiling. Woof.
Jersey Recommendation: #61 Stone. He’s probably the best player to ever put on a Golden Knights jersey, and considering their unprecedented runs of success for an expansion team, that’s no small feat.
Agree? Disagree? Let us know in the comments below or join the conversation on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram!
I have the exact same criticism: a sleek design that is broken up by a glaring red stripe. It really draws attention away from the rest of the jersey.
. . . Aaaand they just released their third jersey, so it’s already time for an update. 🙂