The NHL will have what they’re calling ‘Hometown Remix’ alternate jerseys for their teams next year. In essence (and in classic NHL style) it’s taking ideas from other leagues and making it their own. The MLB has City Connect and the NBA has City Edition jerseys they break out from time to time.
Based on recent leaks of the Florida and NYI jerseys, we might expect something loud for the Penguins.
The news might not be welcome and popular for the Penguins, who reportedly are getting a design in navy blue. Exact details or a mock up of the jerseys have not yet been released or leaked.
Navy blue is a natural in franchise history, given the team wore various versions of that color from the team’s inception in 1967 until the colors were changed in early 1980. The concept of navy blue jerseys has been a controversial one since its last use starting at the 2011 Winter Classic where Sidney Crosby was injured. Later in that season, Evgeni Malkin tore his knee wearing the dark blue jerseys and they were phased out of the regular rotation in quick order due to association with those events.
It remains to be seen for the Pens on just what their hometown remixes will look like. It could be something simple and tasteful like what the team wore in the late 1970’s. Given the leaked jerseys so far, it doesn’t look like those adjectives are the objective for these loud, festive type of jerseys.
Something to keep in mind as the summer rolls along, we’ll have to see how it goes. This concept may well go the way of the 2021-22 ‘reverse retro’ jersey that was worn a few times and then fortunately never seen again, but the NHL season is expanding to 84-games next year and to help keep things fresh and no doubt make some more money in merchandise sales, we know something new is coming down the pike soon for the Penguins to occasionally wear next year.
