Introduction

I was born in the mid 1990’s. While that means I got to live through the New Jersey Devils’ cup years, the Lewisnky scandal, and the Seinfeld finale, by time I was born the team had traded their red and green for red and black. Ever since then, the red and green have held a special place in franchise history. Older Devils fans talk about it all the time. “Back in my day, the Devils wore red and green and we’d walk to Brendan Byrne Arena uphill both ways in the snow!”

The old jerseys have become nostalgic. When things are “nostalgic,” it usually means people are willing to pay more money for it. Case in point, the Devils and the NHL as a whole really made a big business of selling retro jerseys. The Devils also advertise when they are going to wear their retro jerseys. While every NHL team is allowed an alternate jersey, which usually is one with a different logo and design, the Devils use that extra option to go vintage.

This year, instead of the regular retro jerseys, the NHL came out with the reverse retro jerseys. Instead of being mostly red and green, the new reverse retro jerseys are mostly green with red. Just like almost every other time in recent memory the team has gone retro, the Devils wore it in a losing effort. It might be time to finally retire the green jerseys. All of them.

Why Do You Hate The Green?

Look, I do not hate the green. Even though I prefer the red and black I understand the green’s place in team history. Now, I don’t want to sound dramatic, but I’m pretty sure the color is cursed.

“Well the Devils aren’t that good of a team so that’s why they lost!” I mean you’re not wrong, but whenever you see them come out in those Christmas tree colors don’t you start feeling the loss coming on? As much as I hate to say it, the green jerseys are ones Devils’ fans are starting to associate with losing.

Seriously, when’s the last time you remember seeing the team win with their red and green get ups? Two seasons ago (the 2018-2019 season) the team went 0 for 4 in the retros. The last time I saw the Devils win, in person, with green jerseys was the March 17th, 2015 St. Patrick’s Day matchup against the Pittsburgh Penguins. I’m sure we can get more in depth with their record in those jerseys, but hockey websites usually don’t keep those statistics.

Why Do They Even Keep The Green?

Look, I get the whole wanting to keep the historical look. I get that the older generation of fans has an attachment to the original jerseys. There’s still plenty of other ideas the Devils could use for a third jersey instead.

We, Devils, fans, have been practically begging for a mostly black jersey with red accents forever. I understand that this season was the “year of the reverse retro” as christened by the NHL, but maybe next year try something different. For a black jersey, I’d whip out my credit card faster than you can say, “Matt Tennyson should have started the season in the AHL”.

Come On, Jerseys Don’t Win Games

Now, I understand, the jerseys aren’t the reason the team is losing games. Still, every time they put on those jerseys they forget how to play hockey and end up on the losing end. May be it’s time we try a different alternate jersey. One that doesn’t include green.

Look, I’m not superstitious, I’m just a little stitious (that’s a blatant lie, as an Italian I’m an incredibly superstitious). I’m not saying get rid of the green jerseys forever. I’m just saying maybe let’s try one year with a different third jersey and see how it goes.