The NHL’s Reverse Retro jerseys were a sensation two years ago, creating significant sales and conversation among hockey fans. Adidas felt the pressure to create a sequel to that blockbuster with their retro jerseys for the 2022-23 season.
“How many amazing remix combinations are there?” said Dan Near, adidas Senior Director of Hockey. “We spent a lot of time debating whether the franchise should evolve into something else or is it a sequel. We went with the latter.”
Like any sequel, there are some differences from the original. The 32 new Reverse Retro jerseys include more white jerseys than the 2020 collection. Please note that due to the COVID pandemic, the 2020-21 season was played without interdivisional games. Now, Adidas hopes to see more retro and throwback games, such as the Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Buffalo Sabers game on November 2nd.
This line also features more embroidered and embossed elements on the team logos, which came when adidas started making jerseys with 50% recycled materials.
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Another big difference was the level of expectation. Near said adidas is aware of all the speculation, mockups and social media buzz about this jersey collection.
“We’re excited about the speculation. I think if you look back when we first launched 2020, it came out of nowhere. Nobody knew what it was,” Near said. “We didn’t announce it was coming back this time, but it seemed like people knew it was coming. The rampant speculation and energy makes this unique and exciting. We keep track of it. We see what people say. Sometimes they’re right . on the mark. Other times they’re on a whole different planet. Nothing’s official until it’s not official.”
But it wasn’t just fans who were anticipating the next wave of Reverse Retro shirts. NHL teams were too.
“There was a lot of meat on the bone to do it again,” Near said. “What made it unique the second time around is you have teams thinking, ‘I want to win Reverse Retro.'”
Who were the winners? Here’s our ranking of the 32 NHL Reverse Retro jerseys for the 2022-23 season. Note that we’ve based this on the shirts only; some very interesting elements will be revealed with the full uniform kits, but they have not been considered here.
Courtesy of adidas
What a concept: It’s only taken nearly 30 years, but a team that plays in South Florida finally has a jersey that evokes South Florida.
It’s a mix of the team’s secondary stick and palm logo it’s worn since the 1990s and the light blue of the third jerseys it rocked in 2009. The sun’s rays rise slightly to give the shield a 3D quality. The colors of the stripes pay homage to the Panthers’ current primary colors. The rest looks like you’re looking at a frozen blue Hawaiian through expensive sunglasses.
Of course, seeing the alternate logo makes us realize how close that hockey stick looks to a golf putter… but that’s also kind of thematic for the franchise, if we’re being honest.
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It was inevitable that the Sharks would honor their Bay Area ancestors with a reverse retro jersey. The biggest legacy of the California Golden Seals might be their aesthetic, including a spin on teal 17 years before the Sharks swam into the NHL.
These are basically 1974 Seals home jerseys with “Sharks” emblazoned on them, and they’re sublime: a little California love, a little Jackie Moon. This Seals team won 19 games. Given what we’ve seen from San Jose this season, it might just be about dressing the part.
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The Youppi! of reverse retro t-shirts.
Montreal claims this is to honor their look from 1979, when they won their fourth straight Stanley Cup. Adidas claims the light blue is “inspired by the colors of the city of Montreal.” But for the love of Tim Raines and Larry Walker, we know what’s up with those sweaters: They’re the Habs like the Montreal Expos, and we salute them like Andrés Galarraga admiring a home run.
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The great thing about this Reverse Retro Kings shirt, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the ‘Miracle in Manchester’, is that you swear it’s been around before. But the crown logo in the 1980s was on a gold shirt or “Forum Blue”.
This is the first time the iconic jersey has been run in white and it looks stunning. Bonus points for creating raised gems on the crown for a 3D look.
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The Avalanche topped the 2020 rankings with their ode to the Quebec Nordiques. This year’s model could be seen as a tribute to the NHL’s Colorado Rockies, but its logo inspiration was the same as this retro jersey: the Colorado state flag.
Nothing will beat the remixed Nords sweater. But this looks clean and crisp, and like other Avalanche alternate logos it’s an improvement over the main one.
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The Golden Knights had a Reverse Retro jersey last year inspired by the defunct Wranglers minor league franchise. This time, they’re inspired by a team that doesn’t exist.
This jersey “imagines what a Golden Knights third jersey might look like in 1995.” The font and numbering are inspired by vintage hotel signage on the Strip. Oh, and just to make sure you get the full Vegas swagger, there are hidden glow-in-the-dark stars built into the crest that can be seen in the dark and under a black light.
“When you think about the glitz and glamor of Las Vegas, it takes some ingenuity,” Near said.
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The Blues made a bad choice last season, resurrecting a nauseating jersey design and inexplicably making red the primary color. This time, they understood the assignment.
The Blues’ Reverse Retro is based on a 1966 prototype used by team ownership a year before the expansion franchise hit the ice, which is like giving a teaser trailer an Oscar. Despite being the second most prominent color, this is the first predominantly gold jersey worn by the Blues. It incorporates the light blue seen on the classic winter jerseys.
Trumpets sound: these rules.
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This is the most “meta” Reverse Retro shirt in the collection.
In 2020, the Coyotes honored their much-maligned 1998 thirds by raising the head of the “jersey kachina” logo, making green the primary color and ceding the waistband to “a painfully obvious desert landscape with cacti “, like the Five For Howling. noted block Their first Reverse Retro jersey swapped the green for the purple of the team’s alternate crescent moon logo, and was one of the best of the lot.
Now they’ve gone Reverse Retro on their Reverse Retro, swapping the green for Sienna, marking “the first time any NHL team has worn this earth-toned trend color,” according to Adidas. The million dollar question: Are they supposed to abstractly evoke the colors of Arizona State athletics or is it just a coincidence?
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Pooh Bear is back!
The Bruins wore this logo from 1995-2006 on a third jersey. The Stanley Cup of Chowder blog called it “the greatest jersey in Bruins history.” Pooh Bear originally appeared in a golden T-shirt. This time it’s a white background, all the better to see Marchand’s kind eyes, parted hair, and smile in the bear’s blurry mug. Put one on and curl up with a pot of honey.
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I once asked comic book artist Todd McFarlane about the creation of this logo, which Edmonton used as their third jersey from 2001 to 2007.
“What’s the design I could do that could pay homage to the Oilers but also be cool to look at?” he reflected. “Selling it to someone in Edmonton is preaching to the choir. How do I sell it to someone in Miami?”
We’re not sure how he played in Florida, but his early run in Edmonton wasn’t unanimously loved. But this version could be an improvement.
Its ‘dynamic team around a drop of oil’ logo has been enhanced by being raised in some areas and with that splash of orange in the middle. Each radio represents a different Oilers Stanley Cup championship, and unfortunately, this hasn’t needed to be edited since it debuted in 2001.
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The Islanders have slowly reclaimed the unfortunate legacy of the “Fishsticks” logo that reigned from 1995-1997, selling gear with that logo and color scheme in their official store in recent years.
In celebration of the team’s 50th anniversary, Adidas has added “the most requested uniform” for its Reverse Retro series.
Here’s the thing: the slight tweaks they’ve made to the logo, like the orange TRON looks and current color scheme, tone down the kitsch and charm. It could be argued that the Aquafresh palette of the original Fishsticks T-shirt and nauseating waves are more in line with the Reverse Retro aesthetic.
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There’s an interesting divide between Canucks fans and outsiders when it comes to this Reverse Retro jersey. It’s inspired by his Western Hockey League look that featured Johnny Canuck, only this one has embroidered gloves and suspenders.
But the Canucks Army blog notes that Vancouver fans (a) feel this look is too close to that of the Abbotsford Canucks, who also use Johnny Canuck, and (b) were hoping for a less predictable experiment as “an edition green and blue of the Flying Vee or Flying Skate shirts.”
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In 1995, the Capitals went from red, white and blue to blue, black and bronze. They had a third black jersey for 10 years during that fad, with the capitol dome logo seen on the shoulders of this Reverse Retro jersey.
Now they’ve turned the “Screaming Eagle” into another black alternative sweater, with some very nice tweaks to the formula. This shirt features metallic copper and ‘Capital Blue’, giving the whole thing a more stylish look.
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You can’t improve on perfection, which is why the Red Wings’ first attempt at Reverse Retro looked like a practical version of their iconic jersey. But give the Red Wings credit for taking a swing at version 2.0.
A tribute to his 75th NHL 1991…