One of the coolest things to me about sports at any level is the uniform. When I was a kid, I’ll never forget the first jersey I ever received with my name on the back. As far as I was concerned, every day was game day and I wore that jersey until it literally fell apart at the seams.

Thirty years later it’s still pretty cool to see my name on the back of a jersey. A subtle reminder of the once great athlete who was just a few dozen bad breaks and a mountain of skill from making it to the big time.

I collect jerseys now, with other players’ names on them. I consider it a personal homage to their talents that they may grace the hallowed walls of my man-cave, hanging within mere inches of my retired college and beer-league sweaters. (You’re quite welcome, Steve Yzerman)

With no hockey in the foreseeable future, I wanted to do a power ranking of the top jerseys by division. I’ll rank them overall by division too, for the ultimate divisional rank. There will be some unfortunate casualties of this ranking system. Teams like Montreal and Boston, Chicago and Detroit will unfortunately eliminate one another when any of those four could constitute a valid top four by themselves. For purposes of inclusion, I’ll throw in a runner-up in each division.

6. Southeast Division-Winnipeg Jets-I love the Jets jerseys with a nod to the Washington Capitals in second. Winnipeg went with a new and modern design to announce their return to Manitoba last season. The result was a very crisp and cool design. Good colors and great logo.

5. Northwest Division-Edmonton Oilers-I’m sure to catch some grief for this but I love the old is new blue and orange Oiler jerseys. Minnesota and their new jersey are a close second here. If Vancouver brought back their black, red and yellow jerseys from the late 1980’s and early 1990’s they could be in the conversation.

4. Pacific Division-San Jose Sharks-Not a close decision here as the Sharks have one of the better jerseys in the league. I’ll give Anaheim the second spot here because I like the color scheme the Ducks use.

3. Atlantic Division-New York Rangers-This is the beginning of the toss-ups. I love Philadelphia’s black and orange, but have to appreciate the classic look of the Ranger’s jersey

2. Central Division-Chicago Blackhawks-As a lifelong Detroit Red Wing fan, it pains me to acknowledge that Detroit has the second best jersey in their division. The Blackhawks iconic sweater is an Original Six classic and holds up today as one of the very best in the league.

1. Northeast Division-Montreal Canadiens-Ok Boston and Toronto fans put away your pitchforks and vitriol. Your jerseys are just as awesome, just slightly less than Les Habitants. Feel free to disagree and post your own personal favorite. It doesn’t seem fair to have arguably three of the top five jerseys in one division, but it’s my power ranking and I made the rules.