Bring back the pants!

Brian Propp models the best-ever NHL uni...


Here is an excerpt from the unparalleled NHL uniforms website, regarding early '80s unis (also referenced in the link). Those "pants unis" first worn by the Flyers and then the Whalers had to be the best departure from traditional unis in any sport, ever (compare them and their classy look to Bill Veeck's hideous White Sox "shorts" unis in 1976). Though I did not know that wearing the pants was rather dangerous!


For the 1981-82 season, the Philadelphia Flyers introduced the decade's most radical idea -- long pants, as modeled here by Brian Propp. The idea behind the new pants, manufactured by Cooper under the name Cooperall, was to create a faster, lighter uniform, with lighter padding underneath. The pants did make the skaters faster; unfortunately, they were also faster whenever they took a spill and would crash very hard into the boards. The Hartford Whalers joined the Flyers in wearing long pants the following season. At the end of the 1982-83 season, the NHL outlawed the long pants, causing both the Flyers and the Whalers to revert back to the old faithful, time-tested short pants.