NHL
Get ready to see colorful NHL games more often. John Jones / Imagn Images
The aesthetic on display during a Nov. 16 game between the Detroit Red Wings and New York Rangers — each team wearing its colored jersey on the ice at Madison Square Garden, with no “away whites” to be seen — inspired a few different strains of social-media reaction.
People likened the visuals to hockey photographs from the 1950s. The popular “Art But Make It Sports” account compared a post-scrum mass of red and blue to a work by the American abstractionist Ad Reinhardt.
Red and Blue Composition, by Ad Reinhardt, 1941 (flipped), 📸 by Andrew Mordzynski pic.twitter.com/x3pUHUD4N2
— ArtButMakeItSports (@ArtButSports) November 17, 2025
Others asked some version of a simple question: “Why don’t we see this more often?”
If the NHL has its way, we will.
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On Wednesday, the Rangers and Chicago Blackhawks — another pairing of Original Six teams in blue and red centennial anniversary jerseys, respectively — will give TNT viewers the second color-on-color game of the regular season. After that, we’ll see orange vs. black (the Anaheim Ducks vs. the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 16) and gold vs. blue (the Boston Bruins vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Feb. 1 outdoor game at Raymond James Stadium).
It’s the latest, clearest push by the league into making color-on-color matchups a regular occurrence, NHL chief branding officer and senior executive vice president Brian Jennings told The Athletic. The next step, he said, was a presentation at the league’s Board of Governors meetings this week, aimed at selling decision-makers with all 32 teams even further on the notion.
More color-on-color games this season are possible, Jennings said. The process is simple enough: ideally, a team president would look at their schedule, identify a matchup that’d make sense and reach out to their team’s general manager. If both GMs sign off, the work is largely done.
“If you look at our jersey sales, the majority of the jersey sales are dark-color jerseys. And so it’s good for business on top of it being really good for the viewing audience, because that contrast, I do think, makes a better television product and a better in-arena product,” Jennings said.
“The fan always decide what the choice is, and overwhelmingly, they like the dark-based jerseys.”
The response from broadcast partners, uniform partner Fanatics, business operations with the 32 teams and equipment managers has been “really positive,” Jennings said.
“We’ve been pushing it along. I guess you would say sometimes the process has been slow and steady, but that’s OK. We also don’t want to rush something and have it look like we didn’t do our homework.”
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In recent history, color-on-color matchups were limited to outdoor games, such as the 2014 Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs, or random one-offs, such as a 2018 matchup between the Ducks and Carolina Hurricanes. More recently, it has become a priority. In 2023, the league’s general managers approved wearing helmets that contrast with the color of the jerseys. That decision, Jennings said, has helped lay important logistical tracks — equipment staffs are more accustomed to packing an extra set of helmets, for one — and provide proof-of-concept that more on-ice color doesn’t make games more difficult to officiate.
“The game on the ice needs to be sacrosanct, and the officials need to be able to call and there can’t be any confusion,” Jennings said, adding that he texted NHL director of officiating Stephen Walkom during the Rangers-Red Wings game to be certain. Walkom approved, Jennings said, and enjoyed the visuals himself.
Color-on-color matchups wouldn’t be appropriate for every game, Jennings said, but even when eliminating matchups that would cause problems for viewers with color blindness and others featuring two sets of dark jerseys (such as black against navy blue), the option would be viable for nearly 60 percent of the games on the league’s schedule.
Alternate jerseys are eligible, Jennings said — which makes sense, given a planned league-wide influx of fresh looks for 2026-27 in the vein of the 2020 “Reverse Retro” program, spearheaded this time by Fanatics.
There are still some logistical considerations when it comes to the color-on-color games, Jennings said. Teams will need to make sure they’re fulfilling commitments to jersey ad partners — some of those deals, for example, are based on advertisements appearing on jerseys during 41 home games. There’s also, of course, a gambling element in play; a team with a casino ad on its colored jerseys could not wear those jerseys in a state where gambling is illegal.
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Collegial courtesy, Jennings said, also needs to be considered: “We’ll also make sure that we tell the teams, ‘Listen, if you’re gonna request one of these games and you’re noticing that it’s on the tail end of a long road trip, just realize that you’re requiring that team to be carrying an extra trunk of jerseys and helmets and things like that. So try to be mindful.’”
Beyond that, though, most options are on the table. For the 2026-27 season, Jennings said, the league plans to suggest possibilities for nationally televised games and encourage teams to do the same for their local broadcasts. White jerseys aren’t getting mothballed, either.
“If we could have it all be color-on-color, it would quickly lose (specialness),” Jennings said. “I’m very mindful that the Rangers and the Red Wings were very rich and really complementary, contrasting colors. We want to roll this out in the right way.”
Sean Gentille is a senior writer for The Athletic covering the NHL. He previously covered Pittsburgh sports with the The Athletic and Pittsburgh Post-Gazette and the NHL for Sporting News, and he’s a graduate of the University of Maryland. Follow Sean on Twitter @seangentille
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