What Could an Islanders 50th Anniversary Jersey Look Like?
The 2021-22 NHL season is a big one for the New York Islanders organization. The primary highlight is that it will be the team’s first year at UBS Arena in Belmont Park. The organization and its fans are very excited for the new venue and can’t wait for the inaugural game in their new home. However, the season is also the Islanders’ 50th anniversary. With the two falling in the same season, New York will be looking to honor the franchise’s storied history and look toward the future in Belmont Park.
Some of the festivities are easy to predict. The team will likely honor the past with nights to honor alumni from various eras and potential themed nights will be made around those occasions, along with a special anniversary patch. However, an interesting piece to watch for heading into the milestone season is how the team will celebrate with its appearance on the ice. Several teams, including the Philadelphia Flyers, Buffalo Sabres, and Vancouver Canucks all celebrated their 50th season in the recent past, and each one made a special jersey for the occasion. The teams each took various routes with their respective jerseys, so, based on these uniforms, how may the Islanders’ 50th anniversary jersey look?
Revive an Old Look:
The easy way that the Islanders can go with it is to revive a look of the past. Aside from the Fisherman logo, the team has made various plays on the current logo in the past. However, the concept of bringing back an old jersey is not that extreme, as the Vancouver Canucks went down this path with their 50th anniversary jersey. With this choice, they brought back the Flying Skate from the 90’s, and the jersey was a hit. It was a stark contrast to the team’s current look that was great on the ice. The Anaheim Ducks also followed this path for their 25th anniversary jersey, as the original Mighty Ducks crest returned as well, although slightly modified with extra silver. As a result, the team can very well find success with reviving a jersey from its past.
With this field, there is a wide range of possibilities. Even though the team only used one other logo outside of its current one, the Fisherman, the team has made several plays on the original. Examples include navy blue in the 2000s, as displayed on the team’s Reverse Retro, teal on the Wave jersey from the late ’90s, and orange on an alternate during the early 2000s as well. All of these jerseys are solid looks, and the team can very likely revive one of them for the occasion. However, the possibility of the Fisherman coming back may not be all that great, as the look was not used for the Reverse Retro and several players from the team’s ’80s dynasty have spoken against it. Either way, the team can very well bring back an older jersey for a few select games, and there are several fine candidates available.
Golden Jersey:
The other way the Islanders can go is to incorporate gold into the jersey for a season. With the 50th anniversary often being referred to as the “golden anniversary”, the choice makes sense for the season is represents. Also, several team’s have taken advantage of the trend to make a jersey for the occasion. Most recently, the Buffalo Sabres made a white jersey with navy blue and gold complements to honor their 50th anniversary and did so very well. The jersey maintains the primary look of the team and adds a unique dimension with gold as a complement instead of bright yellow.
Also, the Philadelphia Flyers made a jersey in 2016 to honor their 50th season in similar fashion. The team kept its primary color scheme and didn’t emphasize too much on the gold. The team placed a gold outline around the primary logo and added gold numbers to the sleeves and the back. Even with orange and yellow not being tremendous complements, the team found a way to make it work very well. With the success of these two jerseys, the Islanders may also follow this route as well, but it will be difficult.
*Jersey Concept from AthleticKnit.com
The gold and blue may work well together, but the orange will make it difficult to create a balance. However, in this instance, the Islanders can make a bit of a crossover between these two variations. In this concept, most of their current white jersey will remain consistent: white base color with blue and orange stripes on the sleeves and waist. However, the gold touches will be first apparent on the logo. The gold acts as an outline around the current logo and, potentially, on the “NY” and hockey puck parts of the logo. A small gold stripe can also be found on the sleeves between the two colored stripes near the wrists and on the waist.
On the back, the jersey features blue letters with gold outlines, and the colors are inverted on the numbers below them. As a result, it may be an odd color pallet to work with, but the team can certainly make it work following the layout of prior 50th anniversary jerseys.
As a result, it’s an exciting time for the Islanders organization. The team will be celebrating its 50th season in 2021-22 and look toward its bright future in Belmont. With the Islanders’ 50th anniversary festivities, a special jersey can very well be in the works. While the team has a wide range of options available, whether it is something old or new, any jersey has a lot of potential. The team’s jersey history is interesting with various plays on the orange and blue, and the team can find a way to squeeze some gold onto a new jersey to celebrate for a few games. No matter what they do, it will be interesting to see the uniform touches that come when the Islanders’ 50th anniversary comes around.
I am a first year student at Hofstra University and an avid Islanders fan. I have been writing for Drive4Five since March 2020. My family has been season ticket holders for the team since 2016, and hockey is my favorite sport. As I expand my knowledge in the field of Journalism, I am writing to express my love for the Islanders and the NHL.
