We have launched a new permanent page that will keep track of VGK’s records wearing each jersey and helmet. Also, there will be records for each color the opposing team wears. The page will update monthly and a full statistical breakdown is available on a Google Sheet.
The page will be listed along the main menu of the site and can always be found by visiting this page.
Here’s a taste, check out the page for all of the numbers.
**Stick tap to NHLUniforms.com for the images of the jerseys.**
Gray Jersey (2017-2020 Home) Overall: 131-59-14 (.676) Gray Helmet: 117-54-14 (.670) Gold Helmet: 14-5-0 (.737) Playoffs: 22-12 Stanley Cup Final: 1-2
White Jersey (2017-Current Away) Overall: 165-116-32 (.578) Home: 5-4-3 (.542) Playoffs: 25-21 Stanley Cup Final: 1-3
Gold Jersey (2021-Current Home) Overall: 66-30-3 (.682) Road: 3-0-0 (1.000) Playoffs: 10-5 Stanley Cup Final: 3-0 *Won Cup*
As the Vegas Falcons prepare for their 6th season in the…
Wait, that doesn’t sound right.
As the Vegas Desert Knights prepare for….
Nope, still feels a bit off.
Six years ago now, a real discussion somewhat similar to this was being held in the conference rooms of the Fidelity National Investments building just off Summerlin Parkway. While the permanent home of the NHL’s 31st franchise was still under construction a team of designers from Adidas headed up by Jeff Eagles met and presented various team names, logos, fonts, colors, jerseys, and more with The Creator, George McPhee, and a few others representing what would eventually become the Vegas Golden Knights.
In a recent YouTube video from jersey fanatics, Icethetics, Jeff Eagles, the Adidas Design Director at the time, shared some of the early team names, logos, and jersey designs for the team that were eventually tweaked or abandoned completely.
The final three names that were presented to the team were Falcons, Desert Knights, and Golden Knights (Silver Knights was also considered as the NHL team name for a time).
Interestingly, a secondary logo seemed to have made it fairly far into the process and was consistently used in the late jersey mockups. It utilized the phrase found on the Nevada state flag “Battle Born.”
The Golden Knights have played 264 regular season games in franchise history. That includes two full 82 game seasons, last year’s 71 game COVID shortened season, and the 29 this season. The majority of those are night games that are aired on ATT Sportsnet with the Golden Knights wearing grey jerseys at home and white jerseys on the road.
But, sometimes there are abnormal situations, like yesterday. The Golden Knights played a nationally televised game, on the road, in an early timeslot yesterday, and came out a bit flat.
A few tweeters mentioned they thought the Golden Knights struggled when the game is aired on NBC or NBCSN and they also believed early road games are a challenge as well. So, I looked it up, and they were right on both accounts.
National TV 2021: 3-3-0 (4 left) 2019-20: 2-2-0 2018-19: 3-5-1 2017-18: 2-2-1 TOTAL: 10-12-2
Early Road Games (Before 4:00 PM PST) 2021: 0-2-0 2019-20: 0-2-0 2018-19: 3-6-1 2017-18: 4-0-1 TOTAL: 7-10-2
In fact, the Golden Knights have lost five straight early road games and haven’t won one since December of 2018.
Another hot topic this season has been jersey and helmet colors. After three seasons of grey and white jerseys and helmets, the Golden Knights unveiled gold jerseys, gold helmets, and red Reverse Retro jerseys. They’ve been pretty darn good in everything but the helmets.
The Golden Knights made quite the splash this offseason with the release of their much anticipated third jersey. The third jersey became the first metallic gold jersey in professional sports history.
But, the jersey releases for next season aren’t done yet!
The NHL is introducing a new “Reverse Retro” jersey line that will be unveiled for all 31 teams sometime before the beginning of next season. A few have already leaked out and we’re now able to share the exact design of the Golden Knights version.
Through a source close to the design of the jersey we were able to get a long look at the design and have recreated it to show it off before it’s released for sale.
The jersey is mostly red with the Golden Knights’ secondary logo, the sword star, across the chest. The primary logo is on each shoulder. The jersey numbers, both on the back and the sleeves, are mainly white with a gold and black border. The nameplate is red with white letters. The design includes a “V” shaped pattern of grey, gold, and black at the bottom of the jersey. Those same colors are along the sleeves. The collar is mostly gold with a black border.
Without further ado, here it is…
The “retro” in reverse retro is a nod towards the Las Vegas Thunder. The Thunder had various versions of the “V” pattern at the bottom of their jerseys during their six seasons in the International Hockey League. (Examples – 1, 2, 3, 4)
Per Icethetics.com, the jerseys are expected to be worn in games.
My understanding of these Reverse Retro jerseys is that each team will have one and they will be worn only once or twice per season—and likely between certain rivals. In other words, these Flyers and Penguins jerseys were designed to contrast so they could be worn opposing each other in the same game. –Chris Smith, Icethetics.com
The jerseys are expected to be available in both Adidas and Fanatics versions like all other VGK game jerseys.
These jerseys are also similar to ones worn by the 2000-06 Calgary Flames. (Examples – 1, 2, 3, 4)
Though we still have no idea how many games the Golden Knights are expected to play in the 2020-21 season, we now know for sure how many jerseys they’ll wear during the year and that number is four.
**Stick tap to our guy Drew Goldfarb for working with us to re-create the design.”
Right now if you head down to The Armory at T-Mobile Arena, you can become one of the first to pre-order a Golden Knights jersey. The tough part is deciding which name to choose to put on the back. We’re here to help aid in that process.
The Safe Picks Marc-Andre Fleury and Deryk Engelland
The Flower is already the fan favorite in Vegas, and will almost certainly be starting in net on Opening Night. Engelland is the hometown hero who is the only free agent that decided to join the Golden Knights (I know there were others, but c’mon). Both are safe because we are pretty darn sure neither are going to be traded before the season begins. Short term, these are safe and good options. Long term might be a bit riskier.
Fleury has two years left on his contract and the Golden Knights are already lining up options to take over behind him. Odd are Fleury will be around for the entire inaugural season, but his second season and beyond gets tough. He’s going to be a candidate for a deadline deal in 2019 and will likely not remain with the Golden Knights after he hits free agency. Similarly, Engelland will be in Vegas for this season, but the future beyond 2018 is a major question mark. Really can’t go wrong with either, but chances are, you’ll be needing a replacement sooner than later if you go this route.
The Names You Know James Neal, David Perron, and Brayden McNabb
You can expect every guy on this list to be on the first 23 man roster the Golden Knights release, but they are all going to be dangled to other teams as the season progresses. Here’s the biggest problem with having a jersey with any of these names on the back of it, the better he plays, the more likely he is to be shipped out. So, you are either stuck with a jersey of a guy playing poorly or a guy playing great (for a bad team) who is probably getting traded. Not exactly ideal for your first Golden Knights jersey.
The OGs Reid Duke and Vadim Shipachyov
Both are great options but come with major concerns. With Duke, the concern is right away in the fact that he’s probably not going to make the team out of camp (and possibly ever). But, he’ll always be the first Golden Knight, he’s an awesome guy , and everybody loves a good underdog story.
