Golden Knights, Kraken use imagined approach to Winter Classic jerseys

Greg Wyshynski, ESPNNov 22, 2023, 01:01 PM ET

CloseGreg Wyshynski is ESPN’s senior NHL writer.

Creating Winter Classic jerseys for the Vegas Golden Knights and the Seattle Kraken provided a unique challenge for the NHL and Adidas.

Usually the jerseys for the NHL’s annual outdoor game — which will be held at T-Mobile Park in Seattle on Jan. 1, 2024 — are influenced by nostalgia, mining the history of the teams involved for their designs. But Vegas and Seattle are the two most recent NHL expansion franchises, with the Golden Knights entering the league in 2017-18 and the Kraken in 2021-22.

NHL history they do not have.

The solution: The NHL and Adidas imagined what these teams might have worn had they existed in the 1910s or 1920s and worked with them on refining these looks.

“It’s a challenge to design products around these events that really come across as being authentic because it’s not just for the players but we’re really talking about the fans,” said Nic Corbett, director of sports marketing and hockey at Adidas. “They have to recognize Las Vegas or the Kraken when fans see these jerseys, and we believe that they will. We’re excited to hear what the conversation from the fans will be around these jerseys, because we know that the players are excited about them.”

Jerseys to be worn by the Vegas Golden Knights and Seattle Kraken during the Winter Classic on Jan. 1, 2024. NHL

The Kraken had an advantage: There was a team playing in Seattle — the Metropolitans — from 1915 to 1924. The Kraken’s Winter Classic sweaters are inspired by the jerseys the Metropolitans wore in 1917 when they became the first U.S.-based team to win the Stanley Cup.

The barber pole striping on the jersey was updated to Kraken Midnight Blue, Ice Blue and Red Alert, with an off-white meant to evoke the kind of textiles used a century ago.

The Kraken logo has been augmented to resemble that of the Metropolitans. The tentacle that’s found within the negative space of their “S” crest has been…


Source link : https://www.espn.com/nhl/story/_/id/38959166/golden-knights-kraken-use-imagined-approach-winter-classic-jerseys

Author : Greg Wyshynski

Publish date : 2023-11-22 18:48:56

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