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Best and worst sweaters of all-time: Anaheim Ducks

Paul Kariya

Going from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim made famous by Paul Kariya and Guy Hebert to the Anaheim Ducks who became more professional and won a Stanley Cup with Chris Pronger and Jean-Sebastien Giguere made for a drastic change in looks. As for what looked best and what didn’t pull the trick off so well... That’s a bit easier to figure out.

Best: The Ducks’ sweater history is fascinating. From their opening years as the by-product of a Disney movie to their current days with a logo that doesn’t exactly do a whole lot for everyone, the ones that did it the best were the home whites they had during their 2003 Stanley Cup finals run. The menacing duck goalie mask logo on the front, a more stylized circular logo on the shoulders and all the plum and teal coloring you can handle.

Worst: Yeah, yeah… We know their “Wildwing” third jersey from the 1995-1996 season is the kind of horror inflicted by some ad wizards hoping to capitalize on their cartoony mascot and Disney roots. It was a terrible jersey, but in their Disney era there’s another third of theirs that makes even less sense. Their dual third jerseys from 1997-1999 that saw them have differently styled thirds for both home and away were just deviations from their already perfect uniforms. Their road thirds, however, are hideous. With more color being blasted across them and amplifying the amount of teal and plum your eyes could handle, it was as if someone told the Mighty Ducks that more color was needed to make more money. Brutal.

Old-timey goodness: The Ducks don’t have a long history, but one of their thirds tried to evoke that old time style. The Ducks broke out a very dark sweater from 2003-2006 with “Mighty Ducks of Anaheim” in bold script across the front and an interlocking “MD” on the shoulders. It could’ve been nice if it made any damn sense at all for what the team had going on with their regular jerseys. It was a third jersey for third jersey’s sake and not very memorable or necessary.

Assessment: Their current black, gold, and orange set up that features a word mark logo on their home and away jerseys is plain as plain could be. With new ownership came new colors and no sign of the Disney days… Until their third jersey arrived. I like the newest third. Embracing a crest logo with the webbed-foot “D” and then the oval-shaped shoulder logo with the old duck mask logo involved in it is a great touch. Adding more orange makes it even more bold too. They might not escape the black jerseys ever again, but it gives them a more professional look.

(Photo credit: LegendsOfHockey.net)