Bruins Go Old-School

Today was an interesting day in that the Boston Bruins made a major announcement in unveiling their 2016 Winter Classic jerseys, as shown to the left, and I have to say that I'm quite impressed! The Bruins have a long history, and it appears they dipped into that history to come up with the uniform seen on Chara, Krejci, and Rask. Honestly, it's better than the flaming tire fire that Colorado unveiled, and I cannot wait to see these uniforms on the ice against the Montreal Canadiens at Gillette Stadium!

The Bruins, as you may know, are the first team to host the Winter Classic twice as they played host to the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Stadium in 2010. They wore brown and gold as a tribute to the original Boston Bruins that night, but it appears that this new jersey is a direct homage to 1924 Boston Bruins. The only change is that the brown colour of the original jersey is black on these Winter Classic jerseys.

The first thing that I noticed? No lace-up collar. Honestly, it's getting to be a bit much when it seems that every team has a handful of looks with lace-up collars, so kudos to the Bruins for going with a traditional collar on this jersey. The 1924 Bruins wore a sweater with a serious collar, as seen to the right, so let's give credit to the Bruins for honouring that team's sweaters and not giving into the "stylish" idea that some may have wanted to see. The closer to history they get, the better the Bruins will look.

Secondly, I love the use of the old logo! Even better is the textured logo! Check out that picture to the left a little more, and you'll see that the logo actually looks like fur on the bear! The Bruins decided to use felt and chenille materials similar to the original crest in 1924 for this year's Winter Classic jersey, and I immediately loved this decision. The logo looks fantastic, and the materials really give it some great depth and texture. Excellent work in making this choice, Bruins.

Lastly, the Bruins add an off-white number and lettering font similar to what was seen in 1924. The off-white colour is supposed to give the font a vintage look, but I think it's time we retire the vintage colouring for a while and just stick with white. Nevertheless, the font looks good and easily readable. Obviously, there were no sleeve numbers for TV purposes in 1924, but that's the reality that we live in as of 2016. While the shoulders appear to be free of clutter, the right shoulder will have the Winter Classic logo on it on these Bruins jerseys, so there will be less clutter on the chest which will allow the logo to stand tall. Personally, this is also a good decision by the Bruins to position the Winter Classic logo away from their great retro logo.

I have to say that, overall, this is a great jersey. Sure, there are always things that can be improved or changed, but the Bruins have put together a solid look for their second Winter Classic in the Massachusetts area. While we wait to see what Montreal will wear, half of these two dance partners is looking good prior to the big dance on January 1.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!