Article Archive #52 - NHL 100 Classic

This post originally appeared on Hockey Jersey Concepts on March 17th, 2017.

Hello folks, and happy St. Patrick's Day!

This is normally the part of the post where I say "there's no news today, so let's get right to the concepts," but there actually is news today so I should probably do that first.

Image from @PR_NHL on Twitter

For a while now there had been rumours that an outdoor game would take place in Ottawa in late 2017, and the NHL made it official today announcing the NHL 100 Classic.  The Senators will face of against the Canadiens at Lansdowne Park in Ottawa, on December 16th.  It will be the Senators second outdoor game (first time hosting), and the Canadiens fourth (all on the road).

The logo for the event uses the same general style and colour scheme as the NHL's Centennial Classic logo, so I'm guessing that the jerseys will also be a bit more modern like the Centennial Classic jerseys were.  Honestly I was hoping this game would be a retro event like a Heritage Classic (and maybe it still will be), with the Senators throwing back to their old barber pole jerseys, but I'm still exciting to see what they come up with.

As for the name "NHL 100 Classic", I think it's a bit clunky and it definitely doesn't roll off the tongue as nicely as "NHL Centennial Classic", but I also think it would be a bit confusing having two events with the same name in the same calendar year.

Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

Now getting back to St. Patrick's Day, the New Jersey Devils wore their beautiful red and green throwback jerseys last night.  They were matched up against the Philadelphia Flyers, who were wearing their regular road jerseys, so it was a great looking vintage game all-around.

I love the Devils tradition of wearing their vintage jerseys for St. Patrick's Day.  It's especially special since they only wear these jerseys once or twice a year, if they were used more often the novelty would wear off and it would become a less memorable event.

Photo by Ernest Doroszuk/Toronto Sun

Lastly, don't forget the Toronto Maple Leafs will be wearing their throwback St. Pats jerseys tomorrow when they host the Chicago Blackhawks (that should be another beautiful match-up).  The players have already been practicing in their green pants and gloves (shown above), and I can't wait to see how everything looks together.

Hopefully the Maple Leafs follow the Devils lead, and bring back this jersey annually for St. Patrick's Day.  It's the perfect jersey for this holiday, it literally says "St. Pats" right across the front.