- Rangers swapped the captain’s C and the A for red badge-style plates on their Hometown Remix jerseys
- The plates are inspired by FDNY and NYPD badges and honor New York’s first responders
- Read below for how the patch fits the NHL rulebook and what the Rangers’ reveal video shows
The Rangers took the captain’s “C” off the front of their new Hometown Remix jerseys.
In its place is a red, badge-style plate on the left chest that reads “CAPTAIN.” Alternate captains get the same look with “ASSISTANT” on it. The design is inspired by FDNY and NYPD badges, and the NHL’s jersey notes say the patch honors first responders.
New York debuted the sweater Thursday at Madison Square Garden and beat the Flyers 3-2 in regulation. Here’s the Rangers’ own reveal video:
The film features Jim Becker, captain of the FDNY hockey team, and George Antzoulis, captain of the NYPD hockey team. Both talk about what a uniform means to them, and the captaincy patch is the link back to that.
The NHL also posted a close-up of an assistant captain’s plate, with the Lady Liberty crest sitting right above it:
That is a real change from how the league usually does things. The NHL rulebook has the captain wearing a “C” about three inches tall in a contrasting color on the front of the sweater, and alternates wearing an “A” the same size. The Rangers’ plates ditch the letters entirely, so this jersey changes how captains are marked altogether.
The rest of the sweater leans on the city too. The front crest reads NEW YORK in stair-step lettering instead of RANGERS, with Lady Liberty over the heart. The sleeve stripes carry a debossed pattern inspired by the base of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, and silver accents nod to the metalwork on New York’s skyscrapers.
We covered the full league rollout when the NHL unveiled Hometown Remix jerseys for all 32 teams. The Rangers aren’t the only team to add a local touch, either. The Predators added a Dolly Parton patch to theirs.
The captaincy plate is the detail fans are going to keep talking about, and it came from a video built around two hockey captains who wear the badges for real.
