The NHL has introduced a new jersey promotion.
Every team in the NHL has designed a new jersey for the upcoming season.
The jerseys have been labelled reverse retro jerseys and are modern takes on classic sweaters.
The promotion has garnered quite the stir on social media, with many fans either hating or loving their team’s choices.
As a Canucks fan, I’m feeling pretty lukewarm about their choice of design.
It’s fine, but that’s about all I can say about it. I do commend the Canucks in turning one of their most hated jerseys into a decent alternative.
Samuel Spencer, a die-hard Colorado Avalanche fan says he’s happy with his team’s jersey, but that some of the other teams made terrible decisions.
“The Avalanche jersey is gnarly and the Coyote’s one is pretty amazing as well, but Detroit may have the worst jersey I’ve ever seen. Apparently, you can’t have nice things in Detroit.”
The general consensus online seems to be there are a few great jerseys and a few terrible ones with most of them ending up in the middle.
“I love that the Canucks brought back the gradient jersey, but it’s super lame that next season they’re going to have four jerseys with the same colour scheme,” says Spencer.
With the reverse retro jerseys came infamous and well-loved logos from past generations, like the Boston Bruins’ old logo referred to by fans as “Meth Bear,” the Wild Wing jersey, the Coyotes Kachina logo, and the Florida Panthers original logo.
“The Florida jersey is pretty cool. I’m definitely happy to see that logo back,” says Spencer.
Fans on Twitter are expressing their outrage mostly pointed at Detroit’s choice of design.
One hockey fan on Twitter @DGonzo_GRQ23 says the jerseys remind him of an ugly practice jersey.
It doesn’t stop there with another Twitter user @T_Kiehl26 having quite a few choice words for the team.
“Someone literally got paid to slap that piece of trash together. They should be fired before the end of the day. I could draw up a better jersey in two minutes with a box of broken crayons.”
I have to agree with them on this, the Red Wings jersey looks like a cheap knockoff I would be able to find on eBay for $20.
Detroit isn’t the only original six team under fire for their choice of retro jersey, the Toronto Maple Leafs are also hearing it on Twitter.
A hockey fan on Twitter @RealPaulRoss expressed his take on the social media platform Twitter of what fans should do.
“Can we cyber bully the Maple Leafs into making a new reverse retro?”
Another Twitter user @TnTBrewer responded to the tweet saying he doesn’t normally condone bullying, but he’s willing to make an exception this time.
The NHL has said the promotion was to honour past teams and eras throughout the NHL’s history.
In an NHL press release published on Nov. 16, Brian Jennings, NHL chief brand officer and senior executive vice president, says the promotion and partnership with Adidas was a way to celebrate hockey history.
“NHL team jerseys have long carried deep historical significance for avid and casual hockey fans. Through the years, the design of each team jersey has evolved to balance history and authenticity with cultural touchpoints. The reverse retro program is a celebration of the hockey jersey’s confluence of nostalgia, style and broad appeal. As a brand, Adidas sits at the epicentre of youth, sports and lifestyle and is the ideal partner for this exciting initiative.”
Let’s be honest, this is just a huge money grab by the NHL, but I think they did it in the best possible way.
With revenue down due to COVID-19, this was an easy way for the NHL to make back some of their profits.
Although it’s a money grab, it’s a money grab most fans have been wanting for years, so it ended up being a perfect opportunity for the NHL and Adidas to finally get this done.
For fans that do want to pick up one of these new jerseys, they drop on NHLShop.ca on Dec. 1 and will set you back $200-$250.