Intercollegiate athletics in Canada have a rich history. Dating back to 1902, the formation of the Canadian Intercollegiate Athletic Union marked the start of what we know today as the Ontario University Athletics (OUA).
1902-03 marked what would be the first Queen’s Cup, which is now the OUA’s hockey championship. McGill, who at the time were inappropriately called the Redmen, were the first ever Queen’s Cup victors.
With a century of growth, identity and pride comes rich values across campuses, promoting institutions to increase their dedication and care towards their jerseys and logo designs. With this, I’ll rank and critique the top five jerseys from the 19 university hockey teams in the OUA, alongside some honourable mentions, of course.
My grading criteria for the jerseys is simple, with the first category being its design. I’m looking for creativity, a nice colour scheme, and clean logos—jersey that could evolve into a nice vintage piece decades down the line.
I’ll be researching the logo or jersey’s heritage, and consider its historical significance and how well it relates to the university’s identity.
Before we begin, I’ll be ranking each school’s jerseys individually. Their home and away jerseys will be judged separately, and one school can occupy multiple spots on this list.
5. Carleton Ravens (Back in Black alternate jerseys)
The Carleton Ravens’ “Back in Black” alternate jerseys stood out to me as a highly creative and innovative jersey design.
Electing for a black and white colour palette, the Ravens contested conventional jersey designs. By using the black background to flood their black logo into the jersey, they created the image of only a raven’s eye and beak.
The “raven” name comes from an old Carleton College student-run newspaper. Supposedly, they started calling the players, who at that time had no real moniker, the ravens by associating the dark bird with the largely black jerseys worn at the time.
4. Concordia Stingers
The Concordia Stingers’ maroon jerseys are, in my opinion, some of the best-looking jerseys in the OUA.
Any time you put maroon and yellow together on a jersey it’s bound to stand out, and the Stingers’ jersey is no exception. Although the use of stripes is more effective on Concordia’s white jerseys—being able to showcase the yellow and maroon together against the white background—I love the way their reversable logo floods out into the maroon jersey. It provides a seamless look that ties the jersey together nicely without giving you too much to look at.
I’m sensing a trend of my iration for teams neglecting to use a badge for their logo, and instead playing into the contrast of the logo against primary jersey colour.
3. Royal Military College (RMC) Paladins
The RMC Paladins’ red jerseys remind me of one of the most iconic jerseys in hockey: the Detroit Red Wings.
With red and white being the only colours used on their jerseys, the Paladins didn’t worry about doing too much with their design or colour choices, which helps them attract attention without becoming and eyesore on the ice.
With the Paladin logo in all its glory in the centre of the jersey, the Paladins elected for a centre bar which is only seen on the front. The logo lines up perpendicularly with bars that wrap the sleeves of the jerseys, creating a fluid and dynamic aesthetic.
2. Wilfrid Laurier University Golden Hawks
Though Laurier and their Golden Hawks’ purple jerseys fall on the flashier side of the spectrum, I still think they nailed the design.
Using a yellow outline of their current badge logo, the Golden Hawk crest pops against a royal purple that’s reminiscent of the Los Angeles Kings jerseys from the 70s to the 90s. Unlike the Golden Hawks’ yellow jerseys, the yellow trim prevents their badge from washing out into the purple jersey. Though I still like the yellow jersey, this sweater doesn’t flow as nicely as the purple-on-purple with a vibrant yellow border.
With this, you’re left with a clean, flashy jersey that would probably look best if paired with pants that weren’t black, which is something the Golden Hawks have yet to accomplish.
Honourable Mention: Queen’s Gaels
Although I bleed tricolour, the use of the Queen’s colours and the selected logo is just a huge disappointment for me.
The Q logo, which the Gaels used to sport, would have provided a much cleaner look. Although the deep blue jersey is most likely to wash out any light-coloured logo, the Q would provide the Gaels with the freedom to slide the tricolour stripe at the bottom of the jersey to the middle.
Though the yellow jerseys are more intriguing, I can’t help but think the current jerseys could be more creative. Even rotating the “Gaels” logo on the front of the jerseys to be running diagonally across the jerseys—like the New York Rangers did with their sweaters—might help add some character to the Gaels’ uniform.
1. University of Toronto Varsity Blues
The University of Toronto Varsity Blues’ classic white jerseys are timeless.
Immensely clean, their jerseys are as iconic in OUA hockey as the University of North Carolina Tarheels’ baby blue men’s basketball jerseys are to National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) basketball. Sporting the classic double navy bars on both the bottom of the jersey and its sleeves, the focal point of the jersey is on its crest, where you’ll see the classic navy blue ‘T”, with a small red maple leaf sticking to the bottom right-hand side.
Contrasting the red of the maple leaf with the navy blue and white found everywhere else on the jersey really does something for me. They’re able to accomplish a lot while not doing too much and have truly constructed a jersey that will be recognizable through future generations.
Another thing I like about the Varsity Blues’ jerseys is that they haven’t strayed too far from their original jersey and have maintained the same colours with only minor changes to their logo.
Overall, the OUA offers several flashy jerseys that catch your eye, or more subtle jerseys working to paying homage to their predecessors.
While nothing stands out in the OUA as abysmal or atrocious, I think many teams, including our Gaels, would benefit from implementing some changes when it comes to jersey designs. I’d love to see a Boo Hoo the Bear comeback someday, whether that be on an alternate jersey or as a small decal, a shoulder patch, or even reincorporating the classic Queen’s tartan someday.
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