The Minnesota Wild this morning unveiled the retro-flavoured uniform they’ll be wearing when they host the St. Louis Blues at the 2022 Winter Classic.
They were “designed to celebrate the state’s rich hockey pedigree, the rivalry of the Twin Cities, and its legacy as the State of Hockey”, read the official press release from the team.
The green jersey combines elements from amateur and semi-pro hockey clubs of yesteryear including the Minneapolis Millers and St. Paul Saints. Across the chest and up each arm are several horizontal red stripes trimmed in vintage white, these striping patterns from both club uniforms of the 1930s. The collar is vintage white and contains no laces, shoulders are red and much more thin than usual, the 2022 Winter Classic patch on the right shoulder.
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On the crest are two stars, a nod to the constellation Gemini (you know, the “twins”), another nod to the Twin Cities theme throughout this set (and the origin of the name of the ballclub that calls this stadium home). The state map of Minnesota is placed in between these stars in red with its MN abbreviation placed on it. Arched above and below this design is the names of both cities, “MPLS” (shortened from Minneapolis) and “ST. PAUL”.
Per the custom in the earlier days of the NHL, pants and gloves are coloured brown (hockey clubs didn’t wear team coloured pants until the 1930s, coloured gloves didn’t arrive until the late 1950s). On the pants is a red diamond logo which duplicates the jersey logo but now with the words “STATE OF HOCKEY” surrounding it.
“With the game taking place at the home of the Minnesota Twins, we certainly channeled the spirit of Minnie and Paul for our Winter Classic sweater,” Wild Sr. Brand Advisor John Maher said in the press release, perhaps in reference to the fact that both Twin-Cities were represented in the design.
As has been the case with the last several Winter Classics, the logos, striping, numbering, and other jersey embellishments are all stitched on using vintage-looking felt to give it a slightly more authentic feel.
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Also unveiled was the logo for the 2022 Winter Classic game itself, it shows a generic forest design within a shield and the usual Winter Classic typeface across it – a frozen pond with snow surrounding it in the foreground, the silhouette of navy blue trees with a light blue sky beyond it in the background.
The 2022 NHL Winter Classic will be held at Target Field in Minneapolis, home of baseball’s Minnesota Twins, between the Wild and Blues on January 1, 2022. It is one of three outdoor games we’re expecting in the NHL during the 2021-22 season, the others being a Stadium Series game between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Nashville Predators in Tennessee and the rumoured Heritage Classic between Toronto and Buffalo at Hamilton in March.
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