Ranking every Calgary Flames jersey

The Calgary Flames have some of the best uniforms in the NHL. Their clean, timeless logo presents well in white, red, or black and in a 32-team league, they’ve managed to land on a unique colour scheme that also looks sexy as hell. The Flames have built a brand that represents the city of Calgary and that has remained fairly consistent since 1980. And for the most part, that brand has translated well to the ice in the form of a hockey sweater. As a bit of a hockey jersey head, I’ve ranked every Calgary Flames jersey from 10th to 1st.

Please keep in mind that this order is of course my subjective opinion and you’re more than welcome to disagree with me. Note that I’ve also grouped matching home and away sets together as one “jersey” to keep the list to 10 versus 14. Before jumping in, thanks to the (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database for the reference info throughout this piece.

Let’s get into it with the worst Calgary Flames jersey of all time…

10th: 2013-16 Alternate Calgary Flames Jersey

These sweaters were a dumpster fire. From the cheap script font nestled behind an awkwardly placed Flaming C, which together served as a “crest”, to the bat-wing shoulder yokes, to the long black collar, to the font used for the jersey numbers and nameplates, this Calgary Flames jersey was outright bad. I hated it then and I hate it now.

Perhaps this Flames jersey’s only slightly redeeming element was its secondary logo used on the shoulders, which still wasn’t anything special.

9th: 2011 Heritage Classic Calgary Flames Jersey

I don’t dislike the jerseys as much as some fans do. The uniform served as a fairly well done ode to the Calgary Tigers and the usage of burgundy wasn’t horrible. But, while I don’t mind the cream coloured logo, it’s as ugly as Milan Lucic on the pants. At least this was prior to the white – or cream – glove trend.

8th: 1995-98 Home & Away Calgary Flames Jersey

This is the uniform that’s become known as the “Pedestal” jersey. It marked the introduction of black to the Flames’ primary uniform (pants, gloves, helmet and striping). It used a number and name font that still holds up today, but overall, it lacks a sense of timelessness that doesn’t allow it to hold up well over time – probably due to the diagonal striping that serves as the “pedestal” beneath the crest (not visible in this photo, but it’s hard to find images I’m licensed to used from the 90s) and the sublimated striping that doesn’t look as good as properly stitched striping.

The red version shown here is better than its white counterpart. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to find a shot of the white one in action (that I’m allowed to publish on this site).

7th: 2007-20 Home & Away Calgary Flames Jersey

In addition to grouping the home and away jerseys here, I’ve also grouped together uniforms that did have some minor iterations during their lifetime. The socks changed from the original Reebok Edge version, some piping was removed along the way, and when adidas took over the NHL’s jersey rights, the numbers and nameplates were changed from the original italicized typeface.

Overall, the best parts of these Calgary Flames uniforms are that they’re the last time the club wore a black Flaming C on a red sweater, their resemblance to the prior set, and I didn’t dislike the Alberta and Canadian flag shoulder patches, although I was done with these after well over a decade of service.

On the other hand, the Flames 2007-20 home and away jerseys remained in circulation for too long (they looked modern at first and dated by the end of their shelf life) and the vertical striping just didn’t do it for me. I prefer a classic looking hockey jersey most of the time and to me, horizontal striping is the way to go in order to achieve that.

6th: 2023 Heritage Classic Calgary Flames Jersey

The newest Calgary Flames jersey on the list, the 2023 Heritage Classic looked good, but it didn’t blow anyone away. They were clean, classic, used the vintage off-white well, and had fantastic details – especially the felt and stitching on the numbers. The circular crest worked fairly well, too.

They were also way better than the Oilers’ Heritage Classic uniform – those brown pants and gloves are hideous.

5th: 2022-23 Reverse Retro 2.0 Calgary Flames Jersey

The NHL/adidas Reverse Retro program returned last season for the second time. The idea with this uniform program was to create single-season alternate uniforms for every team in the league with certain elements “reversed” or altered in some way.

For the Flames, their second Reverse Retro uniform marked the return of the Pedestal. In my opinion, which I understand is counter to a lot of Flames fans’ opinions, these uniforms scratched an itch for me. The fact that they were intentionally 90s throwbacks versus an attempt to be modern, like the original Pedestals, just did it for me. The final kicker was the black base with the white Flaming C – it popped and I thought these jerseys looked phenomenal for their one season of action, especially on TV.

4th: 2020-21 Reverse Retro 1.0, Current Alternate Calgary Flames Jersey

In November 2020, the Calgary Flames brought back their “cult-classic Blasty jersey” as part of the first generation of the Reverse Retro program.

After a year off, the Flames added subtle sublimated black-on-black flames to the lower sleeves (as well as some other minor tweaks) and announced that the jersey would be back as an alternate/”third” jersey for several seasons.

Most Flames are either a Blasty guy/gal or an anti-Blasty guy/gal. In my opinion, Blasty is the perfect alternate uniform. The black aesthetic, the logo change-up, the modernized throwback appeal – it all just works for me. I think Blasty looks absolutely fantastic and I’ll be a sad lad when the Flames retire it.

And Black Jersey Dubé is electric…

3rd: 1998-2003 Away, 2003-06 Alternate Calgary Flames Jersey

The original “Ol’ Blasty” as Blasty was orignally called was met with a heap of controversy. For many fans, this rendition of the horse-head uniform represents a period of darkness. For me, it represents the emergence of Jarome Iginla.

This jersey goes hard. It has more red than the current version, but I think it’s mostly nostalgia that has it bumping the current version off of the podium.

1st: 1980-94 Home & Away, 2021-Present Home & Away Calgary Flames Jersey

The current versions of the Calgary Flames home and away jerseys are the best uniforms the club has ever worn. While removing black entirely from the set was a tough pill to swallow, these are too clean, too classic, too timeless, and too outright gorgeous not to hold the top spot on the Calgary Flames jersey history podium for me.

The Flames current look represents what the team wore upon their arrival in Calgary, it matches their 1989 Stanley Cup Championship attire, and fans league-wide agree that the Calgary Flames have the best home uniform in the NHL:

Perhaps my favourite part about the Calgary Flames current uniform set – above their simplicity and everything else I mentioned – is the fact the white roads and red homes are equally visually pleasing. Typically, teams’ away jerseys are overly white and bland, but the Flames away uniform – with red shoulder yokes, pants, and gloves – strike a harmonized balance of hockey beauty that no team in the NHL can compete with.

The Calgary Flames wear the definition of “hockey sweaters” and fans are fortunate to be blessed with such elite style points.