Arizona Coyotes Introduce New “Desert Nights” Alternate Uniform

Nighttime in the desert isn’t black; it’s burgundy.

I mean, I don’t know that for sure; in fact, I’d be surprised if that was the case. However, the Arizona Coyotes dropped their brand new “Desert Nights” alternate uniform earlier today, and there isn’t a trace of black anywhere on it. Burgundy, burgundy, and more burgundy… with a little bit of sand, because desert.

Silly name aside, the uniform itself is pretty good, though this colour scheme would’ve worked far better alongside the uniforms the team *just* got rid of.

This new Coyotes uniform was designed by Rhuigi Villaseñor, founder and creative director at Los Angeles-based streetwear brand Rhude, as well as the creative director at Bally and, as of just a few months ago, the Coyotes Creative Strategist.

SHOP: Arizona Coyotes new “Desert Night” third jersey available now!

“My inspiration for the third jersey came from the environment, the community, the colours, and the clay – roots of the AZ Culture,” Villaseñor said in the press release. “I feel honoured to pioneer with the Coyotes the reimagining of the sport alongside culture and design.”

The new sweater features an “Arizona” scripted wordmark with a star dotting the “i”, the star represents the desert nights (which is when coyotes are on the hunt) it also doubles as a nod to the star in Arizona’s state flag. The messy “Arizona” lettering is being explained away as a tribute to “the rough and raw desert.”

The sleeve and waist striping is a simplified single-coloured version of the club’s Kachina-style striping. There are no shoulder patches. The inside back collar is sand-coloured with a series of small geckos, these originally featured as the shoulder patch on the Coyotes’ original alternate uniform first introduced back in the late 1990s.

Player name and numbers will be single-coloured sand and, my favourite part of this whole uniform, the captain’s patch is the Coyotes’ crescent moon logo — alternate captains get an “A”-shaped cactus. Now we’re having fun.

“We are so excited to introduce our new third jersey, which complements our already classic Kachina sweater, and provides our amazing fans with even more to be excited about,” said Coyotes Chief Brand Officer Alex Meruelo Jr. “Rhuigi did an incredible job capturing the essence of Arizona with this design, and we can’t wait to see our players and fans wearing these great jerseys the rest of this season, and beyond.”

Helmets, pants, and socks will all be burgundy completing a matching look from head to ankle. The right side of the pants will feature a large cactus in lieu of a traditional stripe. Socks will feature the same Kachina striping as the sweater.

Arizona will début the new uniform this coming Sunday against the Vegas Golden Knights, the Coyotes will wear this fourteen times in total over the second half of the 2022-23 season, as this is officially classified as a “third uniform” it will be sticking around for multiple seasons and will be worn regularly during that time.

Here’s the complete schedule for this season: