Editor's note: The Sharks have been in existence for 28 years and have worn a variety of jerseys in that span -- teal, black and white. NBC Sports California ranked the five best sweaters since San Jose first took the ice in 1991. We continue with the second-best Sharks jersey: The original white sweater.
The Sharks did not play their first game in their original white sweater, but they did win their first game in it.
The third time was the charm for San Jose during its inaugural 1991-92 season, as the Sharks picked up their first-ever victory in their third-ever game. Goals from David Bruce, Pat Falloon, Craig Coxe and Kelly Kisio were enough to seal a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames at the Cow Palace, and the Sharks did so wearing their white jerseys.
San Jose did most of its winning in its then-home set in the early days of the franchise. Home teams wore white in the NHL up until the 2003-04 season, and the Sharks won 94 games at the Cow Palace and SAP Center in the first seven years of the franchise, compared to just 67 on the road.
The Sharks wore their original set of sweaters for all seven of those seasons, and the white duds were fresh. San Jose's first white sweater featured a teal strip underneath the original Sharks logo on the chest, with a gray stripe in between black piping in the center of the strip. The alternating strip dominated the sleeves, too, giving an abundance of color to an otherwise-neutral base.
The teal numbers really popped in contrast to the white sweater, too. Plus, the fin-featuring shoulder crest stood out in greater detail on the white sweater than it did on the teal jersey, thanks to the white background
The result was a sweater with a color scheme screaming "1990s" and a jersey design screaming anything but. It's no wonder that the Sharks' best results -- if not the most iconic moments -- of their early history occurred while wearing their white sweaters.
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[RELATED: Why Sharks' current teal sweater is their third-best ever]
The only thing holding it back in our rankings? The white jersey is not the more iconic part of the Sharks' original set, and white certainly isn't the color most fans -- whether they follow the Sharks or not -- associate with the team.
That leaves only one possibility as the sweater that tops NBC Sports California's rankings. Check back Friday to found out why.
