Classic Uniforms of the Future
We kicked off our week with the unveiling of the new Maple Leafs jersey, but there are still more big unveilings to come. Today I've put together a brief rundown.
Caps to unveil Winter Classic uniform
The Washington Capitals will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic uniform at the 2010 Capitals Convention on Oct. 2.
The announcement made on the Caps' website offers no details about the design of new sweaters, but traditionally teams look to past jerseys for inspiration at this event. The Capitals have two distinct design eras prior to the 2007-08 rebranding.
From 1974 to 1995, the Caps wore the red, white and blue they have today, but the logo and uniforms come straight out of the '70s — as you would expect. They are most noted for wearing white pants with their red jerseys early on in their inaugural season. In 1995, the Capitals adopted a darker blue and dropped the red in favor of bronze and black.
My bet is that both the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, who are hosting the New Year's Day game at Heinz Field, will select something from the '70s or '80s for their outdoor game threads. But don't expect to see Washington wearing white pants. (As funny as it might be.)
Flames to don special Heritage sweater
Canada is finally getting its game back! By now, we all know there will be a second outdoor game during the 2010-11 season called the Heritage Classic. The Calgary Flames will host the Montreal Canadiens at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20, 2011.
On Friday, Flames president Ken King said his team will be donning a special sweater for the big game. Details by way of the Calgary Herald:
A new jersey is a certainty.
“We’re going to have a very special heritage uniform,” King said. “We’re not going to tell you what it is, but I think people will really like it.
“It will be tied to the history of Calgary long before the Flames were here.”
Long before the Flames, you say? Interesting. Major league hockey was first played in Calgary in 1921 when the Calgary Tigers were formed. They won a few WCHL championships, including one in 1924 after which they challenged the very same Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. And lost.
Fifty years later, in 1975, the WHA's Vancouver Blazers relocated to the Stampede City and became the Calgary Cowboys. They were significantly less successful than the Tigers and folded after just two seasons. Calgary developed a proclivity for taking other city's sloppy seconds (just a joke!) when the Atlanta Flames were relocated in 1980. So there's some interesting history there.
The 2011 Heritage Classic will be the first time Canada has hosted an outdoor NHL game since 2003 when the Edmonton Oilers challenged the Canadiens. (Is it just me or should the Flames be playing the Leafs in this one?)
King did not say when this jersey would be unveiled, but one would expect it to be well prior to February.
Chris
One more thing I just came across. While no logos have been publicly unveiled for either outdoor game, there is a temporary logo being used on the Penguins and Capitals' websites to promote the 2011 Winter Classic.
It's by no means final artwork, but it does bear the traditional look with WINTER in a script type and CLASSIC in something a little more futuristic/gothic. Just wanted to throw that out there. I have no information on when logos for either the Winter Classic or Heritage Classic will be made public. But it shouldn't be long.
Reader Comments (15)
The Flames should be playing the Canucks, not the Habs or Leafs. Spread the wealth (and this is from an Edmonton fan that would love nothing more than another outdoor game!)
of course they should be playing the leafs, the bigger question is why are the little brothers getting a game before the original 6 ers.
The Heritage Classic should be Calgary v Vancouver. It's a real rivalry, unlike Calgary-Montreal, and the Habs already played in one.
I'm really hoping to see the Flames play in Tigers jerseys. Maybe we could convince the Habs to wear Wanderers or even Montreal AAA jerseys. Here's hoping.
I think Calgary chose the Habs as an opponent because they have gone to the Stanley Cup finals twice against them and won their only Cup against them also. Flames are the only visitors to ever win the Cup on Montreal's home ice.
and the sabres are switching to their kind of classic jerseys
Let's hope the Flames don't go with the Calgary Cowboys look. That logo was really amateurish and a short lived team the city never embraced. Not worth commemorating at all.
@Blades: Calgary has played Montreal 3 times for the Cup (if you include the Tigers), so it seems like an obvious choice.
That said, I agree that the Vancouver Canucks would make for a better match up. My only hope is that they copy the format of the original Heritage Classic and an alumni Heritage Game. Would be great to see Lanny MacDonald, Theo Fleury, Gary Roberts, Mike Vernon, Al MacInnis, and Joe Nueiwendyk in Flames colors.
That Logo Is Sweet! Just Put It On A White Background!
A photo of the old Calgary Tigers jersey can be found in the following link
Change the jersey to red, switch some of the stripes to white and you have a good looking Flames-eque version of the jersey IMO.
Wow, considering those jerseys are from the mid-20s, the Regina Capitals logo is pretty futuristic! It's actually not a bad logo
For once, it would be refreshing to see two colored jersey sets in either the Winter Classic or Heritage Classic. Instead of wearing white, maybe the Caps could wear red and Pens go with their powder blues, or yellow (it'd work for the Flames too) jerseys if they want to try something new. Just a thought; I'm quite sure we all have color televisions by now.
The Flames and habs have a long history as they were the last two Canadian teams to battle for the Stanley Cup in 1986 when the habs won and in 1989 when the Flames won. The leafs have no history really with any team in Canada except for the Habs.
Any word on what the Habs are planning on wearing for the game? Or have they had enough special jerseys in the last two seasons?
"For once, it would be refreshing to see two colored jersey sets in either the Winter Classic or Heritage Classic."
NHL Shop would be thrilled. The Pens baby blue is a hot seller, and despite the fact that its less visually appealing than its white counterpart, the Caps home jersey outsells their away jersey by a landslide.
Or maybe they figure they'll sell even more my changing "rock the red" to "wear the white."