PHILADELPHIA -- The NHL on Friday revealed the jerseys for the Penguins and Bruins Winter Classic matchup at Jan. 2 at Fenway Park in Boston.
The Penguins' jersey is a cream base with thin black stripes and a "P" logo, with the Winter Classic patch on the shoulder":
NHL
The "P" logo on the chest has what the NHL described as "extra special top stitch detailing meant to evoke the truss construction of Pittsburgh's bridges," and a blue and white checkerboard pattern on the inside collar that is a "reference to William Pitt and city of Pittsburgh."
I reported back in July that the Penguins would be going pre-1967 for their jersey inspiration, and that there was really only one former local hockey team that made sense: The Pirates, Pittsburgh's original NHL team.
The Pirates played their first game as a team on Nov. 26, 1925 in Boston, and handed the Bruins a 2-1 loss. The Pirates remained in Pittsburgh until relocating to Philadelphia and becoming the Quakers in 1930.
Wearing the Pirates' jerseys against the Bruins is especially fitting. When the Penguins wanted to change their colors from blue to black and gold in 1980, the Bruins objected, with Bruins general manager Harry Sinden saying that Boston had "exclusive rights to those colors in our league." The Penguins' response was to cite the Pirates, who wore black and gold in the league nearly a full decade before the Bruins switched to those colors from their original brown and gold.
The Bruins' jerseys are inspired by a number of different jerseys worn by the team in its history, and features the secondary logo worn by the Bruins from 1976 to the early 1990s.
Jerseys will go on sale on Dec. 1 at adidas.com, NHLShop.com, and all PensGear locations. PensGear has select jerseys available for pre-order now, as well as other Winter Classic gear available for purchase.
