Penguins, Bruins Unveil 2023 Winter Classic Uniforms

Today the Boston Bruins and Pittsburgh Penguins both unveiled the jerseys they will be wearing when they take the ice outdoors at Boston’s Fenway Park for the 2023 NHL Winter Classic on January 2, 2023.

As is the custom for the Winter Classic, both teams looked to the past for the inspiration behind their uniforms.

The Bruins are combining several eras to create their sweaters, paying tribute to the origins of their iconic “spoked-B” logo and a popular shoulder crest from a generation ago.

The Bruins 2023 Winter Classic uniform is black with yellow shoulders and thick, alternating yellow and black stripes down each sleeve and around the waist. The collar is black with a lace-up collar, and the NHL shield logo is placed above the laces.

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On the chest is “BOSTON,” arched in a vintage white in a font inspired by the original “Spoked-B’ logo from 1948, originally created as a 25th anniversary logo for the team. Below this wordmark is the Bruins’ bear head shoulder patch worn from 1976 until 1995; the logo has been recoloured here from its original yellow and black to more of a brownish colour. This logo is centred and positioned below the BOSTON wordmark. The club says the idea of an arched wordmark on the front of the sweater is a tribute to New England Amateur Hockey.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are also looking back into the past for their design, going even further back than the Bruins (and the Penguins franchise altogether).

For the 2023 Winter Classic, the Penguins will be wearing a tribute to the original NHL team to call Pittsburgh home — the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates, named for the baseball team, began to play as an expansion team during the 1925-26 season, joining the NHL alongside the New York Americans. The Pirates were the first pro team in Pittsburgh to use the city’s now-commonplace colour scheme of black and gold and lasted five seasons in the NHL before an absolutely dreadful relocation to Philadelphia for the 1930-31 season.

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The Penguins 2023 Winter Classic jersey is vintage white with two black horizontal stripes across the chest and each sleeve. Shoulders are black, as is the collar, and an additional single stripe is added to the end of each sleeve as well as around the waist. On the chest is the italicized yellow “P” logo trimmed in black, similar to that worn by the 1926 Pirates team.

A matchup between the Bruins and a Pirates-inspired Penguins team is appropriate as the first-ever game in Pirates hockey history was at Boston (a 2-1 victory on November 26, 1925). Additionally, when the Penguins switched their colours from blue and white to black and gold in 1980, the Bruins protested — the Penguins pointed to the uniforms of the 1925 Pirates as an example of the colours being used in Pittsburgh before being adopted by the Bruins. The protest was dropped. A story I go into detail about in my book Fabric of the Game: The Stories Behind the NHL’s Names, Logos, and Uniforms, co-authored with Todd Radom.

Jerseys for both the Bruins and Penguins are available as of December 1, 2022. Click here to shop now using our affiliate link

The 2023 NHL Winter Classic will occur at Fenway Park in Boston on Monday, January 2, 2023; puck drop is scheduled for 2 pm ET.