It’s been rumored for quite a while that the New Jersey Devils were going to be getting a third jersey after years of only having their traditional home and away that are red, black, and white. Since last weekend, there were leaked images of the third jersey on social media that were not officially confirmed yet to be true if they were real. Well, the New Jersey Devils shared pictures and confirmed that the leaked third alternate jerseys designs are in fact the real deal. Team executive and Devils legendary goaltender Martin Brodeur helped worked alongside Adidas, the official outfitters of the National Hockey League, in the designing of the brand new Devils jerseys. Below are pictures of the jerseys, announcement from the team, and my reaction to the first alternate jersey in franchise history:
Pictures of the NJ Devils alternate jerseys
Announcement from the team
My reaction to the Devils new alternate jersey
Plain and simple, I absolutely hate these jerseys! I saw the leaked images over the weekend. I was hoping and praying that they were fake and a figment of my imagination. Unfortunately they were the real deal. These jerseys look absolutely terrible and show a complete lack of effort in design as they look pretty much just like the Chicago Blackhawks jerseys from 2017 Winter Classic. The only difference is the primary logo is the word “Jersey” with Devils colors around the wording. The word “Jersey” on the front of the jersey is supposed to be a nod to what New Jerseyans and outsiders affectionately call the state of New Jersey. There are 21 stripes on the jersey which is supposed to represent the counties of the state and five of them are on the left shoulder that are supposed to pay tribute to the five Devils legendary players who’ve had their jersey numbers retired. In general, the look of the jersey is inspired by the Newark Bulldogs, a semi-pro team that played in the Canadian-American Hockey League during the 1928-1929 season. The stripes on the jersey were also used by another former local team: the 1960-61 Jersey Larks of the Eastern Hockey League.
As someone who was born, raised, & grew up in New Jersey and as a Devils fan…I’m very disappointed and disgusted in the team and especially Devils legend Martin Brodeur for this awful design. It shows a total lack of effort in general and it just looks bad from the word “Jersey” as the front and center logo all the way to the striping on the jersey. “Jersey” as the primary logo looks terrible and would have been better to be put in the collar of the jerseys instead. When you see pictures of the jersey, it just screams awful looking. The look of the jerseys provide different ways for opposing fans to make fun of them in person and all over social media. I would like to have seen something similar to what the Tampa Bay Lightning had did with black as the primary color but with red as the secondary coloring and the Devils logo still playing some sort of role in the design. There were so many design concepts out there of what a black Devils jersey could look like that are actually very good compared to these awful looking jerseys that were released today. Obviously, I won’t be buying one of these ever. I get that they wanted to pay tribute to the past in someway and acknowledge hockey history in New Jersey but, this was not the way to do it. You are more than welcome to disagree with me if you happen to like them however, most Devils fans I’ve spoken to and have seen reactions from on social media are not happy with these jerseys at all. Last but not least, shame on the New Jersey Devils, Martin Brodeur, and Adidas for this god awful piece of trash of a jersey. The very first alternate jersey in team history deserved much better and much more effort than what was released today.
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