The Vegas Golden Knights' Uniforms Are Pretty OK

Last night’s unveiling ceremony gave us our first look at the uniforms for the expansion Vegas Golden Knights, and my official verdict is: Not That Bad.

The biggest danger of new uniforms is the potential for soon appearing dated: Think of the teals and purples and the fonts of the 1990s, which within a decade were basically the mark of Cain that your team didn’t have a ton of history. I think the Golden Knights have avoided this by using largely muted colors—the steel gray and the black will age fine, and even the gold is understated. (It’s actual gold, unlike in Nashville and Pittsburgh. Those are yellow, despite what the marketing materials say.)

Honestly, if I have a criticism, it’s that these are so unflashy they look like like create-a-team jerseys from a video game. But I think they come in just beyond the risk of genericism.

I’m still a little hung up on the logo—these feel like they could be alternate jerseys for the Ottawa Senators—but I’m open to the possibility that it will grow on me. The “V” in the negative space of the helmet is still a nice tough.

Here’s a look at the full home uniform, and I think it’s a nice package. (I’d wager that the white gloves, unique in the NHL, will be changed within a couple years as the Golden Knights take more holding penalties than anyone else.)

(For good breakdowns on the VGK uniforms, as well as the minor tweaks made to the other 30 jerseys under Adidas’s new role as jersey supplier, check out Chris Creamer’s SportsLogos.net and Paul Lukas’s Uni Watch.)

There are some Easter eggs on the jerseys, though I’m unsure if they’ll register on TV. I hope not; this pattern on the gold elbow striping is pretty bad. But if it’s the only truly gaudy thing for a team that could have embraced the gaudiness of its surrounding, it could have been much worse.

Much better is the raised embroidery on the chest logo. I like this a lot, and while it again may not show up on TV, it’ll look great in ice-level photography, and on the chests of fans who buy them.

I’ll want to see these on the ice, but I believe I could learn to like them. We’ll see them on actual hockey players tonight, as the Golden Knights reveal their expansion draft roster.