It’s a blast from the past in Carolina this season.
The Carolina Hurricanes became the latest NHL team to adopt a retro look this summer, as the club officially unveiled its third jerseys for the 2022-23 season on Thursday, commemorating the organization’s 25th anniversary by paying homage to the uniforms worn by the 2005-06 team that won the franchise’s first Stanley Cup.
After announcing earlier this off-season that the black uniforms, which previously served as an alternate jersey, will now become the Hurricanes’ primary home kit this season, the club is making efforts to ensure that the colors they donned upon their inception into the NHL back in 1997 will remain present moving forward. That color, namely, is red, with this alternate uniform ensuring that the branding that fans are accustomed to stays intact despite the change.
The Hurricanes will don their new alternate uniforms for 12 different games throughout the coming 2022-23 NHL season. As of now, however, a full uniform schedule has yet to be released.
“In celebrating our 25th anniversary in North Carolina, we felt there was no better time than now to honor our past and blend it with a modern Adidas cut by introducing our vintage-inspired red jersey which will serve as our third jersey this season,” said Hurricanes chief marketing officer, Mike Forman in a statement on Thursday.
“Our fans often note that this sweater is the organization’s most iconic and was highlighted by hoisting the Stanley Cup while wearing it in 2006. With the move to make our current black sweaters our primary home uniforms, the addition of this year’s vintage-inspired jersey has allowed us to round out our primary uniform collection consisting of our home black, road white and third/anniversary red. We hope our fans are as excited as we are to see these back on the ice this year.”
The uniform is not a carbon copy of its past iteration, however. While reincorporating the silver trim that was present on Hurricanes jerseys from 1997-2013, the back of the jersey also utilizes a curved pattern below the player numbers instituted by the club ahead of the 2017-18 season.
With a revamped roster and a fresh look that pays tribute to past champions, the Hurricanes are riding into the coming season with high hopes.
