The New York Islanders officially unveiled their fans’ pick for the team’s new third jersey, and one thing’s for sure: the Gorton’s Fisherman should have no trouble finding his way home.
The Isles are going with a Navy Lighthouse design as their new alternate sweater and will begin wearing it during the 2027-28 season. The sweater utilizes a retro lighthouse logo from the late 90s that the team wore as a shoulder patch from 1995 through 1998.
“This race for the last two jerseys was super close,” Isles star and generally handsome person, Mat Barzal, said in a video. “It came right down to the final hour, and the winning jersey concept is the lighthouse jersey. Can’t wait to see all the fans in the jersey. Can’t wait to wear it. Let’s go!”
The lighthouse logo was already making a comeback for the 2027 All-Star Game, which the Islanders are hosting, with changes to the lighthouse’s beam of light that ends as stars.
Young star Matthew Schaefer, the most important player on the Islanders, seemed happy with the pick, dropping two fire emojis over the release video on his Instagram.
The Islanders took an unconventional approach to arrive at their next alternate sweater, essentially handing the crayons over to their fans, which is always a good route. The team invited supporters to design the team’s 2027-28 third jersey using an online tool stocked with historic logos, official fonts, different jersey patterns, and more than 50 colors. The response was enormous: 80,490 designs were submitted before an Islanders committee — which included players and members of hockey operations — whittled the pile down to eight finalists.
From there, the Islanders turned the whole thing into a jersey playoff bracket. The eight concepts were paired in head-to-head matchups — Lighthouse vs. Lighthouse, Fisherman vs. Fisherman, NY vs. NY, and ISLES vs. ISLANDERS — with fans voting through three rounds to determine the winner. The Navy Lighthouse concept will now undergo a more extensive design process before players actually wear it on the ice.
“The Islanders would like to thank every fan who contributed a design, shared their feedback, and participated in the voting process to help shape the future of the franchise’s visual identity,” Kelly Cheeseman, president of business operations for the Islanders and UBS Arena, said in a statement. “This contest was launched to break down traditional barriers, giving the fans a direct voice in shaping our new look. We are excited to move forward and create the full uniform that our fanbase will be proud to call theirs.”
The Isles noted in their announcement that this was “the first time in National Hockey League history that a franchise has turned to its fanbase to assist in designing an official on-ice sweater” and that the designer of the winning concept will not be getting paid. Instead, they will receive a team-signed version of the new jersey and tickets to attend its official on-ice debut during the 2027-28 season.
