The NHL Teases New “Reverse Retro” Jerseys For Every Team- Part 2
Yesterday, I wrote about my thoughts and projections for the first half of the NHL’s reverse retro jerseys, which were finally confirmed to be coming via a teaser video on November 10th. You can find that here. Picking up right where I left off, here are my projections for the other half of the teams.
Nashville Predators
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/PYobuAbSzX
— Nashville Predators (@PredsNHL) November 10, 2020
Kicking off this article is the Nashville Predators. The Preds are heading back to the year they joined the NHL, which was 1998. It’ll be another yellow jersey, which, while the reverse of the ‘98 jersey, is the same color as their current one. So, I’m a bit surprised they aren’t going to try and change it up a little more, particularly given the logo is the same on one of the jerseys. However, the top one you see above has a triangle behind the main logo, which isn’t a huge difference, but at least it’s something. So, I suspect that’s the one they’re going to use, and then they’ll likely follow the general design of the jersey, which is a bit different than the current one and will give it more color.
New Jersey Devils
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/38ZiQP16fc
— New Jersey Devils (@NJDevils) November 10, 2020
To the delight of many, the Devils are throwing it back to their jersey from when they entered the league in 1982. Instead of the black we see today, this jersey had green accenting the red. I personally am not sure I like that look better than the black and red, but it’s still nice. The logo will remain the same as their current one, as that’s what it was in 1982 as well. The biggest and perhaps only difference we’ll see is the main jersey color. As we see from the teaser, this jersey will be mostly green with red accents, which makes sense since that’s the reverse of their original one.
New York Islanders
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/qhj1MSPt6h
— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) November 10, 2020
I’m not going to lie to you, the Islanders have me confused as to what they’re going to do. According to the teaser video, they’re throwing it back to 1980. But, those jerseys are nearly identical to their current ones. Add that to the fact that the teaser video doesn’t even show the colors are going to be reversed and you can see why I’m so confused. I thought they’d be going back to 1995 personally, as that logo and jersey design were much different. But, they’re not, so I really don’t know what’s going on here. But, because of that, it’ll be really interesting to see them once they’re unveiled!
New York Rangers
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/XJYJIMh9yG
— New York Rangers (@NYRangers) November 10, 2020
The Rangers are going back to 1996 for their reverse retro jerseys. Given the top two jerseys are nearly identical to their current ones, it’s almost guaranteed they’re basing these new jerseys off the bottom one. I’m happy they are, as I think the Statute of Liberty logo was a great look. As we learned from the teaser video, they’ll be keeping the colors the same too, as it’ll be mainly blue with red accents. That’s a little surprising, but I also don’t blame them, as a red jersey with that logo would look terrible. Plus, red jerseys would just look weird for the Rangers in my opinion. So, while it won’t exactly be a reverse of their retro jersey, I’m glad they’re doing it this way.
Ottawa Senators
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/fAADrUUbqr
— Ottawa Senators (@Senators) November 10, 2020
The current Ottawa Senators franchise (there was an unrelated one in the NHL from 1917-1934) has been in the NHL since 1992, and that’s the year they’re heading back to for their reverse retro jersey. Instead of a mostly black jersey like they had back then, they’ll have a mostly red one as they have currently. But, unlike the current one, it’ll almost certainly feature their original logo. I’m curious to see how that’ll look on a mostly red jersey, as there’s a big portion of it near the edge that’s red. So, that may look weird if they don’t do it properly, but we’ll just have to wait and see what they have planned I guess!
Philadelphia Flyers
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/CCr5jx2VmH
— Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) November 10, 2020
The Flyers will return to 1995 with their reverse retro jersey. It’ll feature the same logo that they currently have, as they’ve never used a different one. It seems like the jersey itself may end up largely the same as the current one too, as it’s mainly orange. But, instead of the current white accents, which were also used in 1995, it’ll be black. I think that’ll end up looking better than the white, so I’m excited to see how these ones turn out!
Pittsburgh Penguins
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/vNj3TFkQjy
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 10, 2020
The Penguins reverse retro jerseys were reportedly leaked several weeks ago. However, that jersey does not add up with the 1997 date. While they were worn in the 1996-97 season, every other team seems to be going with the season that started with the corresponding number. So, in this case, that’d be 1997-98. Given that leak was from an eBay seller, I’d be willing to bet it’s fake, and the jersey will be based on the ones you see above. But, that could be wrong, and the supposedly leaked ones could be correct even though the date seems a little wonky. So, we’ll just have to wait until the official unveiling to find out!
San Jose Sharks
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/cHjVlZJXwP
— San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) November 10, 2020
The Sharks are bringing it back to 1998 with their reverse retro jersey. Back then, they had a slightly different logo, which we’ll surely be seeing on the jersey. The biggest difference compared to their current one that we’ll be seeing is the design and color of the jersey though. There was a lot more black and also silver on those jerseys, and I expect this new jersey to follow that same pattern. The color of it will also be drastically different too, as the main color of the reverse retro jersey is silver as opposed to teal. I think it’ll be a great look, so I’m excited to see them once they drop!
St. Louis Blues
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/PymhlImtSH
— St. Louis Blues (@StLouisBlues) November 10, 2020
The Blues are heading back to 1995 for their reverse retro jersey. Those jerseys featured a drastically different design but the same logo as their current one (which is the only one they’ve ever really used). So, I think we can expect the same out of the reverse retro jersey. They will also be mainly red instead of mainly blue, which is obviously going to be a big difference. But, given that there was quite a bit of red on the ‘95 jersey even though blue was the main color, I expect there will be quite a bit of blue on these ones despite red being the main color.
Tampa Bay Lightning
#ReverseRetro /// @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/rolKbfZyQG
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) November 10, 2020
The Lightning are going back to 2004 with their reverse retro jersey, which is the most recent of any team. It features a different logo than they currently use, and it’s also a mainly black jersey with white and blue stripes as opposed to almost all blue with white accents. However, the reverse retro jersey will be mainly blue with black (and probably white) stripes. That’s to be expected given the point of these jerseys is to reverse/invert an old jersey. It should be a good look overall, but I am curious to see how they handle the blue letters on the edge of the logo being on a blue jersey. If not done right, that’s not going to look good at all, so hopefully, they planned accordingly with that.
Toronto Maple Leafs
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/D0XRf1Jd07
— Toronto Maple Leafs (@MapleLeafs) November 10, 2020
Moving on to the Leafs, they’re heading back to 1970 with their jerseys. It’ll feature their current logo, as that’s really the only one they’ve used. The main difference between the reverse retro jersey and their current one will likely be the introduction of more white. The 1970 jersey had a big white stripe across the top of the jersey and the sleeves, as well as towards the bottom of the jersey. The current one only has a thin white stripe towards the bottom and two other thing ones halfway down the sleeves. So, look for that to be the main and probably only difference between the two.
Vancouver Canucks
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/jZo0KoYlPm
— Vancouver #Canucks (@Canucks) November 10, 2020
The Canucks are going back to 2001 with their reverse retro jersey. It’ll most likely feature a very similar logo, expect the word Vancouver will not be above it, and there will be a thin red outline around the main part of it. As for the coloring, I’m a bit confused by it because the teaser shows it’ll be a mostly green jersey, but there was no green on the 2001 jerseys. So, unlike most teams, it does not appear as though the Canucks will even be using the same color that was on the old jersey, let alone inverting it. But, I think the green will be a great look, provided it’s not too bright and they design the rest of it right, so I’m excited to see it.
Vegas Golden Knights
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/nUPZ8MsWwy
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) November 10, 2020
Alright, here they are. Real images of the upcoming Golden Knights #ReverseRetro jerseys. pic.twitter.com/m4Oh10q6Er
— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) November 12, 2020
If you’re like most people, including myself, you were probably wondering what the Knights were going to do here. I mean, they’ve only been in the league for three seasons and have never worn a different jersey because of that. Luckily, that mystery has already been solved as the jerseys have been leaked, and I absolutely love what they did. They went back to the Las Vegas Thunder, which played in the now-defunct IHL from 1993-1999. They didn’t use the same logo or colors, instead opting to use their alternate logo and go with a red jersey, as you can see in the second embedded tweet above. But, they did base the design of the jersey from the Thunder’s in 1995, which you can see above. I think this is a really cool, creative idea from the Knights, who obviously needed to think outside the box for this one, and I really like the jerseys overall!
Washington Capitals
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/1PVYilRKhC
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) November 10, 2020
The Capitals are bringing it back to 1997 with their jerseys. There are two different logos that might be used, as you can see above. I’m not sure which one they’ll go with, as they both have their merits. I’m personally hoping for the eagle one, as I think it’s a cooler logo, but we’ll just have to wait and see on that. As for the jersey coloring, it’ll be mainly red like their current home jersey, which is a bit unusual given there was no red in the 1997 jerseys. So, that’s breaking the mold of most teams, just like the Canucks are. But, I think they’ll follow the overall design of those jerseys as another way to pay tribute to them. Overall, I think if you put the eagle logo on a red jersey, it’ll look great, so I’m excited to see how they turn out!
Winnipeg Jets
#ReverseRetro @adidashockey pic.twitter.com/iiBOZMv0Dh
— Winnipeg Jets (@NHLJets) November 10, 2020
In contention with the Minnesota Wild for the most interesting story behind their reverse retro jerseys are the Winnipeg Jets. They’re heading back to 1979, which is the first year the Jets played in the NHL. However, that was the old Jets team. They moved to Arizona and became the then-Phoenix-now-Arizona Coyotes starting in the 1996-97 season. So, like the Wild, they’ll be wearing a jersey based on another franchise’s heritage. However, at least they share the same name unlike the Wild and the North Stars, so I’ll give the Wild the title for the most interesting story of the bunch.
As for what the jersey will look like, it’ll feature the original Jets logo. The jersey design itself will be a lot different too, as the original Jets jersey was mainly blue with a big white stripe at the top and bottom of it, and a thin red one underneath that. The current one is navy blue with thin white stripes halfway down each sleeve and towards the bottom of the jersey, as well as a thick light blue stripe at the very bottom of the jersey. However, while the design is likely to be different, the jersey will mainly be silver, which is reminiscent of their current one, with what appear to be lighter blue accents, which will pay homage to the 1979 jerseys. I think it’s going to be a really interesting balance between new and old, so I’m excited to see it!
All in All, I’m Really Excited For These Jerseys
Just like the first half of the teams appear to have done, all these teams seem to have done a great job with their reverse retro jerseys. I hope that’s the case because otherwise, it’ll be rather disappointing for whichever team’s fans don’t. Overall, I’m extremely excited for these to drop. I hope the November 16th date that has been floating around there is true, and given how much they’ve been teased recently, it seems likely. So, let’s hope come Monday we get a massive jersey drop to mull over!
-Lydia Murray (@lydia_murray12)
Featured image courtesy of russianmachineneverbreaks.com