Technically Not A Military Tribute

When the new version of the Winnipeg Jets moved from Atlanta to the Manitoba capital, it was expected that the team would adopt the name "Jets". There have been countless people hoping that the team return to the heritage logo and jerseys, but the Jets have forged themselves a logo and look that calls upon the logo of the Royal Canadian Air Force - a group that owner Mark Chipman paid so that a variation of the RCAF logo could be used by the Jets. Since that logo debuted for the Jets, they honoured the military every year by wearing different versions of military looks prior to select games, but the Jets will wear the pictured military-themed jersey for three games this season to commemorate the RCAF's 100th anniversary being celebrated this season!

In honour of the Royal Canadian Air Force Centennial, the Jets presented "the Forty-Eight" jersey to their fans at their FanFest today. The jerseys honour the 1948 jerseys worn by the gold-medal winning RCAF Flyers who captured the Allan Cup in 1942 and won the 1948 Olympic gold medal at St. Moritz, Switzerland at the first Olympiad held since 1936 thanks to World War II.

"It is a great honour and privilege for True North and the Jets to be able to take part in celebrating the RCAF's centennial," said Mark Chipman said today. "We have been grateful to wear our pride and appreciation for our country's military, literally over our hearts and on our sleeves, over the past 12 years through the emblem of our Winnipeg Jets. We are humbled to further share our appreciation for the selfless service of the men and women working and fighting for our country through our RCAF Flyers inspired specialty jersey for the upcoming season."

The Jets have plans to wear the jerseys three times this season with the first date being Canadian Armed Forces Appreciation Night on Monday, December 4 when they host Carolina. That game serves as a kickoff for the RCAF's centennial celebrations for the military organization. The jerseys will be worn for two additional home games as well: Saturday, January 27 when the Jets host Toronto, and Monday, April 1 when the Jets host Los Angeles which marks the actual 100th anniversary of the RCAF.

Before people start losing their minds, this jersey technically isn't a military-tribute jersey as per the NHL. Practically, it certainly is as the Jets honour and celebrate the 100th anniversary of the RCAF, but, because they aren't being worn solely for warm-ups prior to games, they don't fall under the "tribute" jersey rule as the NHL outlawed the wearing of tribute jerseys during warm-ups this season moving forward. Does that make any sense? No, but that's the NHL for you.

The other thing that bothers me about these jerseys? True North Sports and Entertainment has used them before.

Some will say "those aren't exactly the same", and that would be a correct assessment. The new Forty-Eight jerseys are being made by Adidas while the Moose military tribute jerseys were made by CCM. That could account for the minor differences seen between the two jerseys, but there's no mistaking that the TNSE is using the same template for the new Forty-Eight jerseys. I get that recycling is admirable, but this is literally taking that idea to a whole new level.

The Jets have stated they will still wear their heritage jerseys on select nights as alternate jerseys this season, and the three games with the Forty-Eight jerseys will be incorproated into that schedule. If you're a fan of the original 1980s Jets logo, those aren't going away thankfully. Adding this new Forty-Eight jersey seems like a way to skirt the military tribute jerseys they likely would have worn to celebrate the RCAF Centennial, but the NHL is going to allow it because it technically doesn't break the rules.

Had this been a new original jersey, I'm not certain I'd dislike it as much as I would tolerate it. Being that TSNE has used this jersey before for their AHL team, though, it seems like they could have found a less-recent design to use. Of course, the military doesn't change their uniforms all that often, so I get there are limited designs that the Jets could have selected, specifically for one branch of the military, but the Jets already honour the RCAF every time they wear their regular jerseys as Chipman said in his statement. Do they need something special for the RCAF Centennial? That's debatable.

If the Jets are wearing these jerseys for just three games, I can tolerate them. I wouldn't want to see these used as an alternate jersey by any means, and I honestly think they could have done something better. In stating that, they won't look terrible on the ice as proven by how the Moose looked in 2022, so the Jets will be fine for three games as long as no one complains about the military getting a tribute when every other group isn't allowed to have the Jets wear jerseys celebrating those groups.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!