One thing in sports that people talk about a lot are jerseys. No matter if they are from professional teams or house league, or good or bad, jerseys are a topic of discussion in all sports. Let’s look at some cool hockey jerseys in the minor leagues.

Danbury Trashers (UHL) Alternate Jersey 2004-05

The story of the Danbury Trashers is legendary and is going to be featured in an upcoming Netflix documentary. Long story short, the Trashers were owned by Trash Tycoon Jimmy Galante, who made his then 17-year old son AJ the team’s GM, they ran the team for two seasons before Jimmy went to jail for Racketeering in his Garbage Business. For more on the insane story check it out here. Danbury’s first professional sports team was a massive hit in the city. This jersey was only worn for the 2004-05 season, and it saw players like Mike Rupp, Brent Gretzky, Stephen Peat among others wear the uniform. The metallic silver goes well with the blue and the amazing trash can logo on the crest, which when together makes one of the many cool hockey jerseys from the history of minor league hockey.

Columbus River Dragons (FPHL) Alternate Jersey 2019-20

The Columbus River Dragons play in Columbus, GA, and are set to enter their second season in the Federal Prospects Hockey League. These jerseys are definitely clean enough to be on this list. Designed by General Manager Scott Brand (who is known for being the mind behind the NHL’s hybrid icing rule), the teal, red, and black work well together. In addition, the diagonal Columbus wording across the front gives a nostalgic feel and the dragon shoulder patch is a nice touch. All three uniforms, but especially the alternate shown above, that the River Dragons have can definitely be considered cool hockey jerseys.

Columbia Inferno (ECHL) Road Jersey 2001-02

The fire pattern on the Inferno’s road jersey in the 2001-02 season gives the jersey a unique design based on their team’s nickname. Not to mention that the logo which includes a firehouse dog inside of a flame with the team’s name is also one of the better logos in hockey. The Inferno played in the ECHL from 2001 to 2008 in South Carolina, giving a rival to perennial league favorite in the South Carolina Stingrays. Notable former members of the Inferno include former Islander Eric Boulton, Alex Burrows, and former Sound Tiger Brandon Nolan, son of former Islanders Head Coach Ted Nolan.

Colorado Eagles (ECHL) Dark Jersey 2017-18

This was a historic season for the Colorado Eagles. In their final season in the ECHL, the Eagles won the Kelly Cup after winning the season prior. The notable omission from that sentence is the fact that they never returned the Kelly Cup. Afterward, they were transitioned to become an American Hockey League franchise. This jersey was a classic look, and one of the notable cool hockey jerseys of the ECHL during their time in the league, and now in the AHL, they aren’t using much of the same color scheme of what they had previously.

Utica Comets (AHL) Alternate Jersey 2016-Present

For a team whose traditional home and away uniforms copy their NHL affiliate, the Vancouver Canucks, their green third jerseys are a welcome addition and are among the most popular uniforms in the AHL. The “U” logo with the puck flying across is one of the more notable logos in the league, and many Canucks fans even wanted their team to take this look with the lumberjack on the front. Pretty clean look for the Comets, a team that already had great jerseys to start.

Orlando Solar Bears (IHL) Road Jersey 1996-2001

The Orlando Solar Bears have made a comeback within the last eight years, returning professional hockey to Orlando after an 11-year hiatus. The Solar Bears had just won the 2001 Turner Cup, and the team would raise a banner during their second incarnation in 2012-13 to honor that team. Onto these jerseys for the original Orlando team, the purple and teal go together really well and the font on the back is different in the fact that the last name is printed, partially lowercase. The current look of the Solar Bears is also really nice as they added orange to the colors.

Amarillo Rattlers (WPHL) Home and Away Jerseys 1996-97 

I didn’t want to put two jerseys in one for the recognition of cool hockey jerseys, but these have to be an exception. The Amarillo Rattlers played in the old Western Pro Hockey League, which ran from 1996 to 2001 and had teams from Arkansas to New Mexico. The logos in this league were all awesome and the same for the jerseys. The pattern is underrated on this and the colors work together so well. Also, that font on the numbers and name are beautiful.

Cleveland Lumberjacks (IHL) Home Jersey 1995-2001

Another old IHL jersey from the late-90’s, the Lumberjacks changed locations, moving from Muskegon to the surrounding areas of Cleveland. The Lumberjacks were a solid team in the IHL but these jerseys are much more than solid. The mix of colors with the alternate shoulder patch logos and the buzzsaw across the front helps give the jersey its style. The Lumberjacks would fold due to the IHL-AHL merger, but a new team would join the AHL in 2001-02 in the Cleveland Barons, who would stick around until 2006, followed by the Cleveland/Lake Erie Monster. Overall, these jerseys can be classified in the cool hockey jerseys category as they are one of the nicer-looking jerseys on this list of a ton of nice jerseys.

Tucson Scorch (WPHL) 2000-01 Road Jersey

The Tucson Scorch were set to play in the WPHL in 2000-01, but an out-of-town investor had failed to make payments to the WPHL and couldn’t start play. But their uniforms were showcased and the color scheme is glorious and the logo is awesome. It would’ve been interesting to see if the Scorch would’ve stuck around for a few years in the CHL which absorbed the remaining members of the WPHL excluding the Tupelo T-Rex.

Trenton Titans (ECHL) Alternate/Dark Jersey 2002-2007, 2011-2013

When the ECHL expanded to its home turf of New Jersey, the Trenton Titans were born in 1999 and played as the Titans from 1999 to 2007 until the New Jersey Devils bought the team and changed their name to the Trenton Devils until 2011. Then, the Titans came back, but it would be a short run as they would close up shop following the 2012-13 season. This look started as an alternate jersey in the 2002-03 season but would become the team’s primary dark uniform when the Titans came back. As is the case with the white and original black uniforms for the Titans, there is a steel bridge texture commemorating the Lower Trenton Bridge, as it is also shown in the team’s logo. It is a really unique look and that capitol building of New Jersey being featured on the crest is also a nice touch.

Adirondack Frostbite (UHL) Road Jersey 2004-2006

When ESPN’s Steve Levy and Barry Melrose bought the UHL’s Adirondack IceHawks in 2004, they wanted to change the look of a team that had a cartoonish IceHawk chewing a stick, which came over from Winston-Salem. They wanted to change the name of the team, and out of six concepts, including the Axemen, Attack, and Mulleteers, the Frostbite was chosen as the name and the color scheme is perfect. The blizzard-like graphics on the bottom are cool and the colors all work well. The Frostbite would wear Mulletteer jerseys for one night only honoring their co-owner. The Frostbite had insane battles against the Danbury Trashers including a memorable brawl including the late, great Frostbite Head Coach Marc Potvin (Cousin of Denis and Jean Potvin) on WWE Night at the Danbury Arena.

Beast of New Haven (AHL) Road Jersey 1997-1999

The final American Hockey League club to come from the City of New Haven was the Beast of New Haven. The logo was a Gargoyle, commemorating the many statues of the creature at Yale University. While the logo was not the best, the jerseys were really nice and the secondary logo was a great touch, not to mention the fantastic color scheme. A cool look for the Beast, who included future Islanders Oleg Kvasha and Mark Parrish. Vice Sports called the Beast of New Haven’s logo, the most haunting logo in the history of sports.

Rochester Americans (AHL) Home/Alternate 1960-65, 1995-96 2010-11

Thanks to Bill Bird for the submission on this one as for uniforms worn originally in the ’60s, these are really cool. The Americans brought them back for the team’s 40th anniversary in 1996, where they would win a Calder Cup in these uniforms defeating Barry Trotz and the Portland Pirates. They would bring them back in 2010-11 to commemorate the AHL’s 75th anniversary. The Candy-Stripe pattern is very unique and the stars on the top show that this is the Americans’ look.

Muskegon Fury (UHL) Home 2001-2006

The Muskegon Fury joined the then Colonial Hockey League in 1991 as one of its charter franchises, after the aforementioned Cleveland Lumberjacks moved from Muskegon to Cleveland. The Fury’s logo is really interesting, and the color scheme works really well. The look is very unique and was iconic for the UHL at the time. Since the jersey overall works so well, it can definitely be considered one of the cool hockey jerseys on the list.

Jersey Rockhoppers (EPHL) Home 2008-09

You are probably asking, what was the EPHL? Well, it was a short-lived league that had many, many problems in its only year of existence. While three franchises thrived, the fourth and fifth franchises couldn’t get off the ground, so a quick sixth team was founded. But I love this look for the Rockhoppers, who had minor league legends in Nick Niedert and Matt Puntereri (more commonly known as the guy who took the beer out of his skate in a fight in a live FPHL game). The Rockhoppers were one of the best attending teams in the league. The jersey itself is clean with the orange trimming, and their logo is really nice.

San Francisco Spiders (IHL) Home Jersey 1995-96

Another short-lived team. A team that based their jerseys off of Spiderman. The webs present in the red on the jersey are interesting, and this is another example of how the mid-’90s IHL uniforms are mainstays on the list of cool hockey jerseys. The Spiders were a short-lived team that only played one season Despite them not having much success in that one year, NHL Hall-of-Famer Rod Langway played his final season of professional hockey as a player-coach with this team.

Milwaukee Admirals (IHL/AHL) Dark 1998-2006

Our final jersey on this list of cool hockey jerseys is this Milwaukee Admirals jersey from the end of their IHL days and beginning of their AHL days. The Waves on the arms and the bottom are a great touch, and the color scheme is fantastic. This was a great look and the sword is an awesome alternate logo.

Christian Gardecki

A Native of Danbury, CT. Christian is one of the longest tenured Drive4Five writers, Christian Gardecki began writing for Drive4five In May of 2017. Christian covers Minor League Hockey and the Bridgeport Islanders for Drive4Five. Outside of Drive4Five, Christian was the captain of his High School Hockey team and currently attends Hofstra University with a major in journalism. Christian was the play by play broadcaster for the Danbury Westerners summer collegiate baseball team during their 2021 NECBL Championship. Christian also was the Public Address Announcer for the Danbury Hat Tricks Minor Pro Hockey team in the Federal Prospects Hockey League and NAHL Junior team from 2019-21.