Where's My De Lorean?

I'll admit I'm not Marty McFly in any way, shape, or form, but after seeing how Carolina kicked off the alternate jersey season once again like they did in 2008, the Arizona Coyotes nodded and asked Carolina to hold their beers. The Coyotes, whose most recent eye-catching news pieces involved trading away Max Domi and entering an ECHL affiliation, made a splash at their own draft party last night by introducing their alternate jerseys for the 2018-19 season and beyond, and it was a polarizing move by the team when it came to social media. I'll explain in a second, but if you were a fan of the Keith Tkachuk-Jeremy Roenick-Mike Gartner era of the Coyotes, you're probably going to be excited for what they'll be wearing this season.

Starting with their home opener on October 6 against Anaheim, the Arizona Coyotes will return to their roots and sport the Kachina jerseys as modeled by current Coyote Clayton Keller to the right. As per the release, the Coyotes will wear the Kachina jerseys for all 13 Saturday home games and one Friday home game which, coincidentally, is Black Friday. The design is identical to what the Coyotes wore from 1996-2003 after the Jets moved to Phoenix, right down to the shoulder patches and fonts. In August of 2016, the Kachina jersey was voted as the best jersey in Valley sports history out of the 48 jerseys up for votes as per fans of Arizona Sports 98.7 FM.

"But Teebz," you exclaim, "these are black alternate jerseys!"

Yes, you're right, but they are part of the team's history. Make no mistake that I love the brick red colour that the Coyotes wear at home, but there's something about the psychedelic Kachina jerseys that just feels right. Again, it could be because they wore the jersey for seven seasons when they first moved, but the black home jerseys feel right in this case because there's already a history there. This isn't a forced black alternate jersey like many other teams have done just to say they have an alternate uniform.

I own a white Teppo Numminen Kachina jersey, so you know I'm a fan of the design. It took me a while to warm up to the Coyotes after the Jets moved south, but I have to admit that the Kachina jersey is one of the most unique designs in the NHL. Count me in as a fan of the team bringing back the look, and I'm excited to see how they do in these jerseys that have had the names "Gretzky", "Tocchet", and "Hull" on them at one point.

If you're interested, the dates they'll be wearing the jerseys are:

• Saturday, Oct. 6: vs Anaheim Ducks
• Saturday, Oct. 13: vs Buffalo Sabres
• Saturday, Oct. 27: vs Tampa Bay Lightning
• Saturday, Nov. 17: vs Boston Bruins
• Friday, Nov. 23: vs Colorado Avalanche
• Saturday, Dec. 1: vs St. Louis Blues
• Saturday, Dec. 8: vs San Jose Sharks
• Saturday, Dec. 22: vs Colorado Avalanche
• Saturday, Feb. 9: vs Dallas Stars
• Saturday, Feb. 16: vs Toronto Maple Leafs
• Saturday, March 2: vs Detroit Red Wings
• Saturday, March 9: vs LA Kings
• Saturday, March 16: vs Edmonton Oilers
• Saturday, April 6: vs Winnipeg Jets

It's interesting that they'll wear them against the Jets this season, but I'm not going to blow that out of proportion. It's just the former Jets versus the former Thrashers, so let's not get too worked up about that one, ok?

In any case, seeing these jerseys back on the ice will be a howling good time!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!