NHL Uniforms Dot Com!

Bruce wasn't kidding about the NHL Uniforms site! Although the site's author doesn't address it directly, if you go to the 1970's and then the 1979-1980 season link, you will find an animated gif file in which the old dark blue/light blue/touch of gold Penguins uniforms are superimposed on the new black & gold. The logo always had a golden triangle background, but that was the only gold in the old unis.

If you click on the uniform box itself, a pop-up gives the exact date of the change: January 30, 1980. I also find it amusing that the Bruins protested that they alone had a right to a black and gold color scheme!

There's more good stuff at the site, including the Maple Leafs attempt to resist the addition of names on jerseys for fear of losing income (who would buy a scorecard if they could tell the player by reading the back of his sweater, went the uniquely Canadian logic): they put blue letters on their blue sweaters and white letters on their white sweaters! The league was not amused and mandated contrasting colors.

I also must admit total ignorance of the fact that the Capitols wore white shorts initially - I can't believe the Broncos vertically striped sweatsocks were a worse fashion offense than the Caps mighty whities!