Boston Anniversary Mergers?

When the Bruins announced a few weeks ago that they were holding a special jersey unveiling for their 100th-anniversary jerseys, I had hoped that the Bruins were going to bring back their original look. We haven't seen a brown colour on jerseys for the Boston Bruins since the 2019 Winter Classic, but the Bruins haven't worn brown as a primary colour since 1935 when they wore white sweaters with yellow and brown stripes. With the unveiling of their 100th-anniversary jerseys today which will be worn during the 2023-24 season, would we see the Bruins merge back to brown-and-yellow?

Based on the design selected for the home jersey this season, it would appear that it is honouring the era from 1974 to 1995 as the Bruins wore a black design with differing styles of shoulder and hem stripes. I can't explain why they're wearing double the number of sleeve stripes that any of the Bruins teams wore in this era, but the hem stripes are closest to the 1977-81 and 1981-95 jerseys worn by the Bruins as they had the contrasting black stripes included to break up the white and yellow stripes. The spoked-B logo with a white background was present on the jerseys from '74 to '95, and it seems the Bruins are going to swap a metallic gold for the standard yellow that was worn during that era. The only other major change was the logo on the shoulder as the Bruins wore the bear's head on the shoulder from 1976 until 1995 when it was redesigned. This year's jersey will see the 100th-anniversary logo worn on the right shoulder only.

The road jerseys will be the reverse of the home jerseys despite the 1974-95-era white jerseys not looking like this. I don't necessarily have a problem with them simply taking the black jerseys and making them white, but these almost feel like they have too much white and not enough yellow or metallic gold on them. The 1974-95 jerseys had a black cuff on the wrist and lower forearm of the jersey and a black collar to help break up some of that monotone white, and that's something that is definitely needed here. The spoked-B logo copies that '74-'95-era logo in that it's black with yellow spokes, and the Bruins will opt to give the logo a metallic gold feel on these anniversary jerseys in place of the yellow colour. Just as they did with the bear head logo on the black jersey, it's also been removed for the anniversary logo on the right shoulder only. The shoulders do need more colour, though, so a second logo would help immensely.

The Bruins will also wear an alternate jersey during this 100th-anniversary season, and that design was inspired by the 1948-49 sweaters which marked the team's 25th-anniversary season along with the shoulder yoke and striping worn in the 1968-74 seasons. As seen on the chest logo, the Bruins have overlaid the team's founding year on the horizontal stripe's intersection with the outer circle. The left side has "19" and the right side has "24" just as the 25th-anniversary jersey had "24" and "49" on the logo to commemorate the 25th anniversary. The shoulder yoke during the 1968-74 seasons didn't have any patch on it, but the Bruins will wear the 100th anniversary patch on this alternate jersey which will only be worn for select home games and Original Six opponents this season.

For those wanting a clearer look at that 100th-anniversary shoulder patch that will be worn on the three jerseys this season, the image to the left is that patch. As you can see, the bear in the patch is the same one wornn on the original logo found on the 1924-25 sweaters that the Bruins wore, so it's a nice logo to tie the past to the present when it comes to the last 100 years of Boston Bruins hockey. I like this 100-anniversary logo due to its simplicity when the Bruins could have easily overcomplicated it.

The 2023-24 season for the Bruins will merge the past with the present as they celebrate their 100th anniversary in the NHL, but it won't quite merge the beginning in 1924 with the present of 2024. I imagine there will be many nights of honouring past achievements, past greatness, and many moments of history in which the Bruins played a part, and they'll wear the three jerseys and the patch shown above in those games this season.

While they may not be the striped yellow-and-brown sleeves that Eddie Shore wore nor the yellow sweater with black cursive "Bruins" on it that Dit Clapper wore, these three jerseys will represent the team that skated in the 100th season in which the Bruins competed as players such as David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, and Charlie McAvoy write the current history of the Bruins. Will they be memorable on the 125th anniversary of the team? ONly time will tell, but a big season out of the Bruins this year may make them unforgettable!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!