NHL Sweaters: The Best and Worst of the Toronto Maple Leafs
Sweaters and hockey have been synonymous with each other since the infancy of the sport. Teams have been identified by their iconic colours and patterns. Some of them are classic while others are classically awful. This summer our annual series focuses on the best and the worst sweaters in each team’s history. Today we have the best and the worst Toronto Maple Leafs sweaters in team history.
Toronto Maple Leafs Sweaters: The Best and Worst
How We Did It?
We at Last Word on Hockey used a variety of methods to compile this list. Polling came from social media, our writers, and fans. We wanted to get a variety of opinions when we put out our list. This compilation will likely spur debate. However, we wanted to see who had the most memorable sweaters in each team’s history. Let’s put our best foot forward with the best sweaters.
The Best of the Toronto Maple Leafs
The Blues
Toronto had been known as the Arenas and St Pats before settling on the Maple Leafs name in 1927. The Leafs actually kept the green of the St Pats until changing to blue in 1927.
Some wonder why the Leafs would be blue and use the Canadian national symbol that’s associated with the colour red. According to NHL Uniform Database, the current flag of the country was not adopted until 1965. This is nearly four decades after the christening of the franchise.
After some initial experimentation with striping, Toronto would find the sweet spot with their sweaters in 1934. There was a time that blue sweaters would have a white shoulder stripe in the 1970s and 80s. However, the uniforms restored to factory settings in 1992 and have rarely changed since.
The Current St Pats Sweaters
Toronto has started to honour its St Pats at times since 2002. The Leafs would wear green and white on games close to St Patrick’s Day in 2019. Toronto from 2019 to 2023 would have replica jerseys of their 1922-25 St. Pats.
