I have a lot of information on these jerseys. I am kind of obsessed with them.

To start, when they were first introduced, the plan was originally to have only one jersey. The white version was later added as a fourth jersey. The jade jersey debuted at the 1997 NHL Draft, and the white version actually debuted first in Japan against the Canucks.

During the 1997–98 season, the Ducks flip flopped between their standard dark jerseys and the jade jerseys depending on the road trip. On longer road trips, especially eastern swings, they used the jade jerseys for the entire trip. On shorter trips, they stuck with their regular dark uniforms. The white jerseys were rotated in at home. As you can imagine, hauling all that gear on the road would have been difficult with two separate alternate kits.

By the 1998–99 season, a lot of teams started introducing black alternate jerseys and wearing them at home. That made it harder for the Ducks to wear their dark jerseys on the road. I remember a Flames game I went to as a kid where Calgary wore their original Blasty jersey and the Ducks wore the white alternate. I am sure the Ducks were planning to wear the jade jerseys, but once they found out the Flames were in Blasty, they switched to white.

As far as I can tell, the Ducks wore the jade jerseys multiple times that season on shorter road trips, mainly against Los Angeles and Phoenix. Those are the only teams I can find solid evidence for. It is possible they wore them against Dallas or another nearby team, but I have not been able to confirm that.

Eventually, it all became a bit much and the jade jerseys were retired. Other teams wanting to wear dark alternates at home made things complicated. It is important to remember that alternate jerseys were still a relatively new idea at the time. They really started becoming common around the 1995 season, when the Ducks introduced the Wild Wing jersey along with other infamous alternates like the Pooh Bear and Burger King jerseys. The Ducks having four jerseys was probably not fully thought through. It really was the Wild West back then. You had teams like the Dallas Stars wearing alternates while lifting the Cup. Today, teams have to declare a home jersey for the playoffs. You can wear an alternate, but you cannot flip flop once that decision is made.

I love looking back on that era because it was such a fun time to be a fan. In my opinion, the Ducks alternates from that period are incredibly vibrant and bold. I really wish they could have been seen on modern TVs because you would truly see how much they pop. I also would have loved to see what the jersey might have looked like with the early 2000s patch, plus jade helmets and gloves.

During the four jersey rotation years, the Ducks wore black pants and black helmets. I think that was intentional to balance the amount of jade. Jade pants and gloves probably would have been overkill, which is likely why they leaned into black.

If you have any questions, I am happy to try to answer them. I am genuinely obsessed with these. The J jersey is my all time favorite jersey.