When NHL players first began wearing jerseys, which was during the 1917-1918 season, the home team would always wear dark. This standard would continue all the way until the 1970, when the league mandated that the home team wear their white jerseys.
However, the new “white” standard changed during the 2003-04 season, when the home team would once again don their dark jerseys at home while the visiting teams would be dressed in white.
Going into the 2007-08 season, there were rumors that the league would once again change their jersey standard that would see the home teams wear white and the visiting teams wear dark. However, this has yet to be seen as most teams have been wearing their dark jerseys at home during the pre-season.
Was this simply just a rumor that the league was throwing out for marketing purposes or will the NHL actually turn back the clocks and have teams wear white at home? For the Ranger organization and the team’s fans, this is a very important question because it may dictate how the club does this year. Well, only if you believe in that sort of thing anyway.
While the Rangers had some of their darkest seasons while wearing white at home, they also had some of their best. For example, in the 1989-90 and 1991-92 seasons, the team won the Patrick Division title. In the 1993-94 season, the Blueshirts won the Stanley Cup for the first time in 54 years and in the 1996-97 season, the team advanced all the way to the Eastern Conference Finals on the backs of Ranger standouts Mark Messier, Wayne Gretzky, Brian Leetch and Mike Richter, only to lose to the powerhouse Philadelphia Flyers in five games.
No matter what the team wears at home on opening night and throughout the regular season, the team will do everything it can to have a successful year. However, would you rather see them do it in style and going retro by wearing white at home or would you rather see them do it in the standard blue uniforms?
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