By Mark Lazerus, Scott Powers and Jeremy Rutherford
The NHL on Wednesday unveiled the Chicago Blackhawks’ and St. Louis Blues’ jerseys for this year’s Winter Classic, which will be played at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on New Year’s Eve.
Both jerseys, which are now on sale, go for the usual vintage look while incorporating some newer, city-specific elements.
For the first time in franchise history, the St. Louis Blues will wear a jersey that doesn’t feature their traditional Blue Note as the primary design element. The jersey features a typeface inspired by a never-worn prototype from 1966, with a yellow “St. Louis” emblazoned across a blue horizontal stripe on the chest. A shoulder patch showcases the vintage-stylized Blue Note. For an extra St. Louis touch, the inside of the collar and hem loop labels incorporate a fleur-de-lis design.
Chicago’s jerseys, which were leaked in August and confirmed to be authentic by The Athletic, incorporate the four stars of the Chicago flag onto the circular crest, which is placed above a series of horizontal black-and-white stripes. The crossed-tomahawk secondary logo covers the elbows. And the back numbers have a stitched pinstripe design in recognition of the city’s baseball heritage, given the site. In a promotional photo, Connor Bedard is wearing old-school brown gloves to complete the vintage look.
It’s the ninth alternate jersey for the Blackhawks in the last 15 years, including seven outdoor games (five of them Winter Classics) and two “Reverse Retro” looks. It’s the first, though, to be dominated by the team’s primary color, red.
(Top photos of Connor Bedard and Colton Parayko courtesy of Fanatics)
