10 Brands Like Violent Gentlemen for Hockey Streetwear
The hoodie you wanted sold out before you'd finished reading the email, and the restock note says "sign up to be notified." Violent Gentlemen has worked that way for years out of Costa Mesa, California, printing skulls and rink iconography on tees ($36 to $45), snapbacks ($38 to $39) and work shirts ($65) for people who'd sooner wear a crossed-stick graphic than a team crest.
One label can only put out so many graphics a season. Here are 10 brands like Violent Gentlemen that sell the same attitude with their own artwork, at prices running from $19.99 tees to $259.99 jerseys.
Quick comparison: the closest matches on attitude are PUCK HCKY, Pajer Hockey and Buzz Hockey Clothing. For humor over menace, go to Sauce Hockey, Gongshow and Beauty Status Hockey Co. If you want a jersey rather than a tee, Bench Clearers holds the licences. Pacific Rink, Howies Hockey Tape and Warroad sell gear alongside the clothes.
| Brand | Price | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| PUCK HCKY | Tees $19.99 to $32.99, hoodies from $49.99 | Metal band collabs on hockey jerseys |
| Pajer Hockey | Tees $36, sweatshirts $60 | Heavyweight cotton with a hardcore streak |
| Buzz Hockey Clothing | Tees $42, hoodies $55 to $70 | Oversized city tees in thick cotton |
| Sauce Hockey | Hoodies $58 to $64, toques $35 | Locker-room jokes you can wear out |
| Gongshow | Hats CAD $39.99, socks CAD $24 for three | Canadian rink-rat slang |
| Beauty Status Hockey Co. | Fleeces $52 to $70 | Mighty Ducks and Minnesota references |
| Bench Clearers | Shorts $50, jerseys $115 to $199 | Licensed sweaters for defunct teams |
| Pacific Rink | Tees $19.99 to $34.99, bags $169.99 to $259.99 | A hockey bag with clothes to match |
| Howies Hockey Tape | Hats $38.99, hoodies $71.99 | Tape, laces and a hoodie in one order |
| Warroad | Apparel $32 to $129 | Cut-resistant kit for actual games |
PUCK HCKY
PUCK HCKY is a Detroit brand that puts metal bands on hockey jerseys, which makes it the closest thing on this list to Violent Gentlemen's design instinct. Slayer, Mastodon, Anthrax and Guns N' Roses have all had jerseys through it, and the store runs from Oak Park, Michigan.
The catalogue splits cleanly by budget. Tees start at $19.99 and top out around $32.99, hoodies begin at $49.99 for the Shoot Pucks Not People line, and the band and TOTEM pieces sit at $74.99. Jerseys are the investment at $139.99 to $259.99.
What separates it from Violent Gentlemen is the licensing. Violent Gentlemen designs its own iconography and keeps it in house, while PUCK HCKY's best work comes from borrowing someone else's album art and putting it on a sweater. If you own the records already, the appeal is obvious.
Free US shipping starts at $200, which is a high bar next to the rest of this list. Best for: hockey fans whose other wardrobe is band shirts.
Pajer Hockey
Pajer Hockey prints "Amplectere Brutalitatem" on its clothes, which translates as embrace the brutality, and the aesthetic follows the motto to the letter. Skulls, warriors and devils, all on heavyweight 100% cotton, all cut oversized with raw hems.
Prices are the flattest of any brand here. Almost every tee in the full catalogue is $36, sweatshirts and cut-off hoodies are $60, and the Brutal Skull Cut-Off Tee and Brutally Basic Distressed Black Cap are both $28. You can work out the cost of an outfit in your head.
The brand isn't aimed only at players. The founder describes writing for hockey players, farmers, construction workers and nurses, which is a wider target than Violent Gentlemen's rink-and-skatepark crowd and explains why the graphics lean on labor rather than the game.
Shipping is free over $75 to both the US and Canada. Best for: heavyweight oversized tees when $36 is your ceiling.
Buzz Hockey Clothing
Buzz Hockey Clothing sells the heaviest cotton on this list. The Detroit City Tee ($42) is 100% cotton at 285 grams per square metre with drop shoulders, a taped neck and a coverstitched hem, and the brand says outright that it's built to fade.
The city tees are the signature, covering Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, New York, Vegas and Florida at $42 each. Beyond those, the shop carries the Buzz Box Logo Hoodie ($70), the Vintage Buzz Hoodie ($55) and crewnecks at $45, across 47 products in total.
Buzz Bow Locks ($30) are the odd item and the most useful one. They're sleeves that go over elbow pads, so this is the rare lifestyle brand that made something for the ice rather than the parking lot.
The house line reads "no lame graphics, no cringe slogans", which puts it on the restrained side of Violent Gentlemen. Best for: boxy vintage-wash tees with real fabric weight.
Sauce Hockey
Sauce Hockey is player-owned and writes jokes instead of threats. Product names include Post Game Pint, Chuck N Duck, Captain Alphabet and 5 For Fighting, which tells you the register before you've seen a single graphic.
Hoodies run $58 to $64 across 37 designs, joggers are $58, sweatshorts $48 and toques $35. Tees sit between $32 and $45. The pricing tracks Violent Gentlemen almost exactly, so the choice between them comes down to whether you want your chest to be funny or intimidating.
Sauce ships worldwide and takes returns for 30 days, which is a better safety net than most of the small labels here offer. Collections rotate around themes rather than seasons, with Missin Curfew, Vail Yeti and Sauce Golf all running at once.
Best for: the beer-league player who wants the room to laugh at the shirt before puck drop.
Gongshow
Gongshow has been at this since 2002, which makes it the oldest brand on the list and the one that built the hockey-slang wardrobe the newer labels borrow from. Post Game Poutine, Tendy's A Rockstar and Rip To The Cotty are all hats, and they read as a language test.
Note the currency before you check out. Gongshow prices in Canadian dollars, so the hats across the catalogue are CAD $39.99, sock three-packs are CAD $24 and stickers are CAD $2. A USD toggle sits in the header if you want the American figure instead.
Headwear carries the brand. Where Violent Gentlemen splits its range across tees, jerseys and outerwear, Gongshow's strongest section is caps and toques, with apparel and socks filling in behind. Nearly 2,850 customer reviews sit on the site.
Best for: Canadian rink humor, and hats above everything else.
Beauty Status Hockey Co.
Beauty Status Hockey Co. was founded in 2009 in Minnesota and builds its graphics out of hockey films and state pride. Gordon Bombay Hockey School, Ducks Fly Together, District 5 and Cake Eater are all fleece designs, and the Minnesota Roots collection does the rest.
The fleece range runs $52 to $70, with the In The Clutch Hybrid Rink Jacket and the Signature Edge Zip Hoodie both at $75. Hats, tees and polos fill the $30 to $45 band. Free shipping starts at $100 USD or $250 CAD.
The design work is warmer than Violent Gentlemen's. Where the Costa Mesa brand reaches for skulls, Beauty Status reaches for a 1992 movie reference, so the same person can wear both without the wardrobe looking confused.
Stock moves in and out fast, and several fleeces sit sold out at any time. Best for: Mighty Ducks quotes and anyone who learned to skate on a Minnesota pond.
Shop Beauty Status Hockey Co. Now
Bench Clearers
Bench Clearers is the only brand here that can legally print a team logo. Joe Carson and Andrew Henson started it in 2014 making hockey tank tops, and after four years they landed an NHL licence. It now covers the AHL, the ECHL, Roller Hockey International and national teams.
Defunct teams are the draw. The Danbury Trashers, the Seattle Metropolitans and the Anaheim Bullfrogs all have current product, and the Bullfrogs alone run to jerseys and inline pants. Flyweight Premier jerseys are $115, Elite Pro embroidered jerseys are $199, jogger pants $70 and shorts $50.
The hoodie section lists 146 items, which is a different scale of catalogue to the small independents on this list. Sizing goes from XS to XXXXL.
Best for: a licensed sweater for a team that folded before you were born.
Pacific Rink
Pacific Rink started with a bag, not a shirt. The company spent over a year prototyping the Player Bag and the Pond Pack before selling anything else, and bags still anchor the range at $169.99 to $259.99.
The clothing came after and reads Californian, because the brand says its style comes from the surf, skate and snow culture it grew up in. Men's apparel covers the Supply Co Tee ($19.99), the League Lace Up Hoodie ($39.99), the Rustic Corduroy Flannel ($49.99) and board shorts at $34.99.
Prices sit well under Violent Gentlemen's for comparable pieces, and the trade is graphic intensity. Pacific Rink puts a small wordmark on a plain body where Violent Gentlemen fills the chest, so it works better as the layer under the loud thing than as the loud thing itself.
Best for: replacing a beaten hockey bag and picking up cheap tees on the same order.
Howies Hockey Tape
Howies Hockey Tape sells tape, laces, skate guards and shooting pads, and the apparel grew out of that. It's the practical entry on this list, and the one whose products end up in your bag rather than your closet.
The clothing holds its own. Hoodies are $71.99 across the Bubble Hockey, Vintage and Lights Out designs, The Tour Lid hat is $38.99 and The Roll Model Tee by MaxRak is $35.99. Sizing runs from youth up to XXX-Large, which is broader than most brands here manage.
The hoodie price is the highest on this list outside Warroad, so treat the apparel as an add-on to a tape order rather than the reason to visit. Custom team gear and wholesale accounts sit alongside the retail store.
Best for: restocking tape and laces and adding a hoodie to the same cart.
Warroad
Warroad was founded in 2018 by a group of hockey lifers and builds cut-resistant kit, which puts it further from streetwear than anything else here. The TILO line covers neck and wrist protection, with tops at $199 and the Flying Eagle cut-resistant socks at $44.99.
The lifestyle side is smaller but real. Men's hoodies include the Blade Tech Pullover Hoodie 2.0 ($129) and the Seeking Victory Hoodie in Gold Edition ($99), with tees, hats and joggers running $32 to $129 and the Boiler Down Parka at $499.
Nothing about the graphics competes with Violent Gentlemen. Warroad earns its place because a cut-resistant neck top does a job no graphic tee can, and plenty of adult-league players buy their protection and their weekend hoodie from the same place.
Best for: players who want cut protection first and the hoodie second.
How to Choose Between These Brands
Pick by graphic first. If the appeal of Violent Gentlemen is the artwork, PUCK HCKY and Pajer Hockey get you closest, and Buzz Hockey Clothing wins on fabric weight at 285 grams per square metre. Sauce Hockey, Gongshow and Beauty Status all trade menace for jokes, so the shirt reads differently at a family rink.
Then check the currency and the shipping floor. Gongshow prices in Canadian dollars, PUCK HCKY asks $200 before free US shipping, and Pajer Hockey clears the bar at $75 to the US and Canada. Those three numbers change the real cost of a $40 tee more than the tee price does.
If you want the wider streetwear picture around all this, our Hellstar alternatives cover the graphic-heavy end, Stussy alternatives handle the skate lineage, Kill Crew alternatives pick up the combat-sports side, and Dickies alternatives cover the work shirts that Violent Gentlemen sells at $65.
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Written by
Spencer Lanoue
