Please don't call them ''the Rangers' new jerseys,'' said Neil Smith, president and general manager of the hockey team. The phrase sounds like an oxymoron, he said, especially when the Blue Shirts play the New Jersey Devils, which they will tonight.

So let's go with ''uniform shirts.'' Or, better yet, ''sweaters,'' as they say in Canada, where hockey germinated in cold weather on frozen ponds. Now, the game is played inside large arenas filled with luxury boxes, and even the shirts are marketed as fashion statements. The Rangers have joined the crowd. Their ''third'' jersey, to be worn for nine games this season, will make its debut tomorrow night against the Islanders at Madison Square Garden.

Nowhere to be seen is the diagonal lettering of ''R-A-N-G-E-R-S'' across the front. The new look probably won't meet with the derision that greeted last season's switch by the Islanders to their fisherman logo.

But it is sure to stir debate. How many other teams in this macho sport put a picture of a woman's head on their chests? It's not just another pretty face or even Lady Byng. It is the strong, handsome visage of the Statue of Liberty, which stands in New York Harbor. What if somebody punches her or bleeds on her?