That's Mine and Imma Stick Beside Him: WAGs Playoffs Jackets 2023
Oprah voice: You get a bomber jacket, you get a bomber jacket!
Welcome to year two of The Official THWL WAGs Jacket Review!
Last year, the review was our most-read article, which was unexpected because, honestly, we just be doing shit. We like doing these reviews because they’re an interesting part of playoffs culture that we don’t really see in other leagues. Also, we genuinely like fashion, so this is just a fun research project.
As always, we use our Rigorous Academic Process to determine how they incorporate their team’s palette, originality, element placement, and font readability.
We also had to rename the categories, which are self-explanatory because there are only so many ways we can, you know, describe a bomber jacket. Lastly, as we noted last year, we don’t consider the quality of the leather because good leather is expensive, and it would be bonkers to drop over $300 on a jacket you then paint on.
Now that the rules have been set — let’s get into it!
The Statement Piece
Edmonton Oilers
LaurenKyle1 saw your comments from last year and said this would not stand. For the record, we saw the vision!! This year we got a feel for Gen-Z’s current revival of 90s fashion with a throwback track jacket. This would have gotten a 10/10 because there isn’t much to criticize other than the lettering, which, while being readable, looks awkward. Although, in their defense, we don’t know how else we would incorporate it. Still, they get a 9.5/10
To see the jackets, click here!
Minnesota Wild
Last year, the Wild’s WAGs gave us Master’s Greens, and they are continuing to give us Americana with some very traditional letterman jackets. Two-tone, wool lettering is all very classic, albeit a bit boring. They did that thing again where they put the team’s name on the back of the jacket instead of the player’s name, which, like… why? Once again very middle of the road, which feels very midwestern of them, lbr. - 6/10
Carolina Hurricanes
We gotta retire the red leather jackets because we haven’t seen a team do it justice yet. Since red is such an intense color, you can only add so much to it without making it look too overwhelming. In this case, the choice of the font and the logo on the back did not pay off. If they were really set on leather jackets, we would have suggested a racing jacket (e.g. F1 Ferrari team ones). Put color blocking to good use. For a team with such an easy color palette, they shouldn’t constantly be ranking this low. 2/10
Las Vegas Golden Knights
The color jacket worked out much better for them than for the Canes. The font used is a call-back to the casino culture in Las Vegas, which is fun, although unreadable at times - white on gold was a choice. The placement was good, and we saw the vision, but the final result was unexciting. 5/10
Florida Panthers
Of all the bombers jackets we got this year, this one gave the most High School Musical vibes #GoWildCats. However, the Panthers knew how to use the space on their jackets without making it too crowded. The incorporation of their fun slogan was well done, and the fact that they had two colors (navy or red) as a base created an excellent variety. 6/10
All Black Everything
Tampa Bay Lighting
Last year, we pretty thoroughly panned the Tampa Bay jackets, so this year was a definite improvement. We got a puffy black vest with a simple layout; name and number on the front and the lighting logo on the back. The logo on the back seems to be placed a little too high up, but that seems to be because there’s some cinch at the waist (maybe). Honorable (or dishonorable mention, we guess) to the hoodies they made. They would have gotten a 0/10 had we not seen the puffers first. 3/10
Los Angeles Kings
The King’s WAGS stuck with the team’s primary colors and gave us another mixed-fabric black bomber. They get a point because it’s easily re-wearable. However, the only thing particularly outstanding about this choice was the use of the crown logo. Much like Tampa, this was an upgrade, but our opinion remains the same; you have an exciting color palette. Use it! 4/10
Toronto Maple Leafs
This year, the Leafs and Kings battled for the “Go Girl, Give Us Nothing” award. The only difference in their case is that they used the team’s color palette, but other than that, the result is pretty similar (and dull). 4/10
To see the jackets, click here!
The “Minimalist”
Seattle Kraken
They really knocked it outta the park for their first-ever playoffs jacket - a proper varsity jacket, not completely oversized, and the lettering big enough for us to read it. However, the font choice makes some names crowded. The team’s primary color was well used as the contour. We’re usually not big fans of a signature on the jackets, but in their case, it works really well with the call-back to the Kraken red. Well done! 9.5/10
Side note: Are those some Alexandre Vauthier (or inspired by) boots we see in the front? 👀 If so, such a delightful way of introducing high-end designer wear into the sport. Give us more!
Dallas Stars
Compared to last year’s jackets, this one was a downgrade. The repetition of elements (number and logo) to fill up the space did them a disservice by making the jackets too overwhelming. The white patch on the back looked random and did the opposite of making the name pop. However, when you’re the blueprint, you can have an off-year. 5/10
Winnipeg Jets
The WAGs gave us varsity jackets for the Jets’ whiteout party at the first at-home game they’ve had in a while. We couldn’t tell if they were white, icy blue, or had some duo-chrome aspect going to them. There isn’t much to say here other than that we love the use of the retro logo and that the lettering is pretty standard. 6/10
Same, Same but Different
New Jersey Devils
The Devils have a specific theme going on, and the WAG jackets did it justice. Give us a gothic font! Give us flames! Give us catholic guilt! It’s the same artist who did the Dallas jackets, so we see some similarities, but it’s definitely its own take and very high quality. They lost points for the signatures. Also, the flames, while thematic, lacked the depth of the rest of the art on the jersey. 8/10
Colorado Avalanche
Colorado did a similar reiteration of last year’s jackets but in a white jean color instead of denim with a less prominent font. There’s not much to write about, but why do they insist so much on writing the Avs’ full government name on the jacket? Avalanche would have sufficed. 5/10
UNIQUE (that's what you are)
Boston Bruins
New York designer Kevin Leonel did this year’s jackets for the Bruins WAGs. Leonel is a streetwear designer known for “reimagining sports memorabilia and antique fabrics into clothing items such as hoodies, shirts, and jackets.” He has some pretty notable clientele, including a THWL fave, SZA. His take includes using (what appears to be) antique embroidered tablecloths and vintage Bruins patches. The project took over 300 hours, which is just mind-blowing. Undeniable cool factor if you can pull it off. 9/10
Side note: We saw comments mentioning how appropriately “tacky” the jackets are, which major side-eye. Leonel’s work is innovative, unique, and very respected by those blurring the lines between fashion and sport… say your pinnacle of fashionable is Hailey Bieber, and keep it pushing.
New York Islanders
They went the route of light denim vests with raw edges at the arms for their jackets. We couldn’t figure out if they had cut the sleeves off a regular denim jacket, but H&M and SHEIN have a similar style, so probably not. With a color palette similar to the Oilers, they could have done more. The font is readable, but placing the “Y” in New York on the front is weird unless everyone wears it buttoned up. 4/10.
New York Rangers
It’s Inspector Gadget meets American Girl Dolls. This year’s Rangers jacket gave off similar vibes to last year’s Penguins’ blazers with equally disappointing execution. Instead of a blazer, we got a long trench coat with NYC/Rangers patches placed throughout. We see the vision, but the font choices and colors gave it a comic sans feel. 2/10
This year, we each had a different favorite, that we made strong arguments for, so we’re going with co-winners. Shoutout to the Oilers and Kraken WAGs for being the 2023 WPJOY Winners (that’s WAGs Playoffs Jacket Of The Year for y’all, an award we just made up)!
As for the rest, better luck next year! We’d love to see more of the chaos and variety of 2022 with the quality of 2023.
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading our newsletter! Plus, tell us in the comments which jacket is your favorite - talk to y’all soon!
With love,
Perrye & Gaby
The Bruins jackets are next level. So good. I am a huge Kevin Leonel fan and was pumped to see they hired him!
I hope you didn’t see the fashion crime that were the Jets’ Masters Caddies jumpsuits…those were vomitrocious!!!