Sweaters and hockey have been synonymous with each other since the infancy of the sport. Teams have been identified by their iconic colors 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 worse Carolina Hurricanes sweaters in team history.
Carolina Hurricanes 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 Carolina Hurricanes
The Cup-Winning Sweaters
There were a lot of hockey fans not happy seeing the team move to Raleigh from Hartford. However, the Hurricanes sweaters looked pretty good from the onset. The Hurricanes would win a Stanley Cup with these sweaters in 2006.Carolina would adopted the original design when switching to the Reebok Edge in 2007. It’s a classic design and the Hurricane warning flags on the bottom are an excellent touch. These warning flags are red and black and the logo incorporates that plus white and gray as well.
If we had to choose, we like the white ones just a bit better than the reds. However, both sweaters are classic. These original reds returned in the 2022-23 as an alternate sweater.
The Hartford Heritage
Before you come after us, let’s explain our decision. I know there’s a segment of the Hartford Whalers fan base that’s still sore about losing the team to Carolina. However, we’re counting these because they’re in the rotation for the Hurricanes.
The sale from Peter Karmanos to Ton Dundon has meant a return to the Whalers jerseys for special events. This first happened in the 2018 season and these sweaters have appeared a number of times. The team even busted out the Cooperalls a few times and those green pants are sweet.
The original green gets the nod, but the reverse retros of gray and white have been solid. And don’t worry, Whalers fans. We’ve got a feeling we’ll see your sweaters again.
The Black Flags
These ones started out as an alternate sweater. However, the black sweaters with hurricane warning flags on a hockey stick have become a great-looking sweaters.
These came into existence during the 2018-19 season. This sweater actually corrected an error according to NHL Uniform Database. “Their original alternate logo featured only one flag, which signifies a tropical storm and not a hurricane. Their new alternate logo fixes that. Also, if you look very carefully, between the two flags is the outline of the state of North Carolina.”
These have been the home sweaters for the Hurricanes and look pretty snazzy.
The Worst of the Carolina Hurricanes
The Candy Canes – Home Edition
It wasn’t only a dark time on the ice for the Hurricanes on the ice playing wise, but the team didn’t look good during this period. These red sweaters were pretty plan with very little bells and whistles on them. A no-frills jersey can work, but this is not one of them.
Our Hurricanes reporter Alec Roberson said they “actually look like candy canes” when describing the home sweaters. Carolina was in a stretch that saw them not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs from 2009-10 until 2018-19.
This was a nightmare stretch where the team didn’t look good or play good.
The Candy Canes – Road Edition
Getting away from North Carolina didn’t help the Canes look. The white ones had red yokes on the shoulders, but they still looked kind of plain.
These white ones eliminated the black stripe on the bottom, which didn’t help the look of these sweaters. It wasn’t as offensive as the red sweaters, but these ones still had the Christmas candy confection feel to them.
First Black Alternates
Carolina’s first foray into alternate sweaters came in the 2008-09 season. It had a hurricane warning flag on a hockey stick. There was also a triangle in the background of the flag and stick combo.
These black sweaters weren’t bad per se. However, they’re factual incorrect as we mentioned in the current black sweaters.
The design is good, but the error is too great to ignore. That is unless they’re the Carolina Tropical Storms.
Other Considerations
The current white ones are pretty decent with the red Canes wording going diagonally. The 2021 Reverse Retros honouring the Whalers are also pretty nice.
On the other side, there were people that complained the 2022-23 Reverse Retros gave off the “just don’t copy my homework” vibe.
