San Jose wins PWHL jersey day, and Vegas walked into Boston's green

San Jose won jersey day by a mile, Hamilton finished a close second, and Las Vegas picked the one color the league already had covered. The PWHL's four expansion clubs showed their first sweaters Thursday, and they tell you more about how each market wants to be seen than any name reveal will.

The format is the one every PWHL team has worn in its debut season: the city stitched diagonally across the chest, with no nickname and no logo. Names and crests arrive before the season starts, but they don't go on the ice until 2027-28.

So these are the jerseys the first-year rosters will actually play in.

My order, best to worst

1. San Jose. Mandarin orange with sky-blue accents, pulled from the region's old orange groves and the city flag. It's the first time Bauer has used that shade as any team's primary color.

Nobody else in the league looks like this, which is the whole point of a new team. It'll pop on a broadcast, and it'll sell.

2. Hamilton. Gold at home with burnt orange and deep red, built to look like forged steel, with a cream road set. It nods to the Tiger-Cats, the old OHL Bulldogs and the NHL's Hamilton Tigers, which is a franchise announcing exactly which town it plays in.

My only knock is that gold is hard to pull off on TV, and this one will have to earn it.

3. Detroit. Black at home with silver metallic trim and white, silver and red stripes that reference the 313 area code.

It's handsome, it's smart, and it plays it a little safe for a city with this much hockey history. Ally Financial is already signed on as the patch partner, so the business side is sorted.

4. Las Vegas. Green at home, with a custom desert gold and navy stripes, and "VEGAS" across the front because that's what locals call it. The palette has a real idea behind it. The problem is the neighbors.

Here's the Ferda number: by our count, the 12-team league now has two green primaries. Boston's deep green has been the Fleet's color since the league's first season, and the two teams will meet in the cross-conference games everybody plays. Someone in the league office signed off on that.

The schedule hides one more detail

By our count, two of the four new teams play their first game ever at home. San Jose opens Dec. 5 against Minnesota, and Las Vegas hosts Detroit on Dec. 6.

Hamilton starts in Montréal on Dec. 5 in the cream road set, and Detroit waits until Dec. 12 against New York for the black jerseys' debut.

That's a tough first week for Hamilton, opening in the champion's building. It's also the best possible stage for a new sweater, if the gold holds up under real lights.

Why it matters

The original six played their first season as "PWHL Boston" and "PWHL Toronto" and became the Fleet and the Sceptres the next September. Expansion fans get that same in-between year now.

The clubs that leaned hardest into their towns, San Jose and Hamilton, gave people a reason to buy in before they know a single player's name.

Replica and home jerseys go on sale the week before opening weekend. Player name-and-number shirts are available now.

The W read: San Jose's orange is the best first look the league has produced, and Las Vegas will be explaining its green every time it plays Boston.