The NHL lockout has been in effect for more than two months now, and so, with no actual games to report on, we’re going to link to a different hockey video every day until a new CBA is reached. Today: remembering the Ducks’ Wild Wing jerseys.
When it comes to sports-related aesthetics, we tend to prefer classic and simple to modern and loud. But we have a confession to make: We sort of love the nineties Wild Wing Mighty Ducks jerseys shown in the video below. If any team could pull off a cartoon-y jersey like that, it’s one that at the time was owned by Disney. (Wayne Gretzky was wrong: The eighties Devils weren’t a Mickey Mouse operation. This was a Mickey Mouse operation.)
When the NHL started rolling out third jerseys in the nineties, some teams opted for variations of their regular jerseys. Others went with entirely new logos using a relatively straightforward jersey template. But some teams went with something totally different. (Legend has it that Mike Keenan refused to let the Blues take the ice wearing these.) As for those Mighty Ducks jerseys, sure, the font is pretty terrible. And it would have been neat if they’d worn this as their alternate jersey instead. But whatever: We dig those things. As for the Kings jerseys in the clip below — the asymmetrical ones with the Burger King–like logo? Let’s pretend those never happened.
And so on Day 83 of the NHL lockout, prepare to get your 1996 on.