The NHL in partnership with Adidas have launched a one-of-a-kind league-wide alternate jersey reveal! The "Reverse-Retros!" Taking some of the more wacky one-off jersey designs from each team's relatively recent past and reversing the colours to make something new! These jerseys will only be worn once or twice this season against rivalry teams. We aren't sure if these jerseys will stick around for future years but we doubt they would go to this much trouble for only one (shortened) season. Never before has the NHL released a NEW alternate uniform for EVERY team ALL AT ONCE! So if you're a jersey nerd like us, be ready to control yourself because you're about to experience a pleasure unlike anything you've ever felt before! And these are just the teasers images!
They started off with a teaser video showing the backs of every teams jersey in a simplistic cartoon design style giving fans two pieces of information on each team's new jersey: the colour scheme and the year that the jersey is based off of is from.
Then, in the four days following, each team released 3 teaser close-up photos of their new retro sweater, one division each day. Today, the final round of teaser photos were released for the Atlantic Division. All leading up to tomorrow's big reveal!
First up, the Pacific Division teasers released on Thursday!
See the teaser photos below. We will go through a quick run-through of what we are predicting for each team. The Anaheim Ducks are going with a white version of the wacky wild wing jersey. The Arizona Coyotes are going all purple for the first time in their history as they reverse the colours of their cactus jersey with the kachina coyote head as the crest. The Calgary Flames will be bringing back the black Stallion jersey with possible reversal of the striping colours. The Edmonton Oilers are bringing back the royal blue with a primarily orange and white version of their current jerseys. The LA Kings are blending two of their past jerseys together with a purple and gold version of their Gretzky era jersey. The San Jose Sharks are bringing back their old teal, black and silver colour scheme with their original logo in a silver version of their 1998 jerseys. The Vancouver Canucks are bringing back navy blue with a green and blue version of their absurd gradient alternate jersey from 2001. Lastly, the Golden Knights are reaching back to Vegas hockey history with a red, gold and steel-grey version of the Vegas Thunder jerseys, with their star/sword logo as the crest.
Winners & Losers: We're most excited for the purple Coyotes jersey, the orange OIlers jersey and the return of the flaming Stallion! I wouldn't say there's any losers here, they're all gonna be sweet!
Next, the Metro Division teased their jerseys on Friday.
The Washington Capitals will steal the show with a red and blue version of their early 2000's jerseys. The Pittsburgh Penguins are doing a white version of their 1997 black jersey with their diagonal "PITTSBURGH" logo going down the chest. The Philadelphia Flyers are taking their 90's orange jersey and reversing the black and white striping. The New York Rangers are bringing back their Lady Liberty jersey with the colour reversal part of the jersey still up in the air. The NY Islanders are simply going with a navy version of their current home jersey (boring!). The NJ Devils are going back to their red and green throwbacks but with green as the primary colour. The Columbus Blue Jackets are doing a red version of their original jerseys when they entered the league in 2000, featuring their original logos that bring back vibrant green into the mix again. Finally, the Hartfor... I mean the Carolina Hurricanes are reaching back to Hartford Whalers history once again with a silver version of their throwbacks.
Winners & Losers: It will be great to see Caps back with those classic logos in their current colours. And I think the red Blue Jackets jersey will be a cool look we haven't seen from them yet. I wish we could have seen the return of the Robo-Penguin jersey instead of the diagonal "PITTSBURGH" crest that seems more like classic throwback look instead of a wacky retro. But the Islanders are by far the biggest losers here, electing to go with a boring colour reversal of their current jerseys instead of bringing back their teal Fisherman throwbacks which are exactly what these Reverse-Retros are all about. They could have at least went with an orange version of their jerseys!
On Saturday, NHL & Adidas released the Central Division teasers.
The Chicago Blackhawks seams to be going with a black version of their white 1940 jersey and will likely replace the giant jersey number crest with their vintage roundel logo. The Colorado Avalanche will be reaching back to the Quebec Nordiques era of their franchise with a version of the Nordiques white sweater recoloured in Avs burgundy and blue. The Dallas Stars are taking their original white jersey with the giant star shaped stripes and recolouring it in their current pallet of victory green, silver and black. The Minnesota Wild are grabbing from their Minnesota hockey history with a North Stars themed jersey despite them being part of the Dallas Stars history - similarly to what the Winnipeg Jets have done. The question is will they use the North Stars logo as the crest or one of the Wild's logos. The Nashville Predators are taking their 90's navy jersey and making it golden with silver arm striping. The St. Louis Blues are going way out there with their first ever red jersey, recolouring their 90's blue, red and yellow trumpet jersey. Lastly, the Winnipeg Jets are once again using a sweater design from the original Jets era, recoloured with a silver base and navy blue arms.
Winners & Losers: It will be cool to see the North Stars colours back in Minnesota, and the Nordiques logo and jersey design in action again. It will also be great to see the classic Stars jersey back as well. I would've much preferred the Preds go navy instead of gold again, but they may have a navy third jersey in the works so we'll have to wait for that. Also, the Jet's dark grey jersey seems quite underwhelming and it doesn't really scream neither old Jets or new Jets... just grey jets I guess. We've seen so many jerseys from them that's inspired by the original Jets history that I was hoping for a callback to the Atlanta Thrashers for this one-off jersey. Like the Thrashers, they could have the arm striping going down just one arm with "WINNIPEG" written down the arm... Could have been more interesting I think!
Finally the Atlantic Division Reverse-Retro teasers were released today!
The Buffalo Sabres are going back to the early 2000's with their Buffalo head jersey recoloured in royal blue, gold and silver. The Boston Bruins are going with a gold version of their black 90's jersey with their wacky bear head shoulder patch. The Detroit Red Wings are doing a all-white direct reversal of their current home jersey while mixing in some silver though we aren't sure how just yet! The Florida Panthers are taking their red 90's jersey and remixing it with their current colour palette and a navy base. The Montreal Canadiens are finally doing a blue version of their classic red jersey. The Ottawa Senators are going to their past... which is now their present... so basically a red version of their current set that likely will become their new third jersey if they're smart. Coming off of their 2nd Stanley Cup Championship, the Tampa Bay Lightning will bring back a blue version of the jersey they wore when they last one the Cup. Last but not least, the Toronto Maple Leafs are resurrecting their 1970's jerseys with a silver and blue version and their previous "Harold Ballard" logo.
Winners & Losers: The Lightning will finally have a jersey with both black AND blue, together, side-by-side, in unison, embracing one another... anyways... for the first time since removing their "BOLTS" third jersey in 2014. This is something many fans are longing for as they currently are a twin to their divisional opponents, the Toronto Maple Leafs. I'm also loving the recoloured version of the old Sabres sweaters and I think that will look very cool. To be honest, I don't think there is a dud in this group... all of them should be turn out really good!
And that's that! What an awesome unexpected jersey series that we once thought was only possible in our fan-made concepts! Our hats are off to the NHL & Adidas! Stay tuned for the big reveal tomorrow!