Canadiens officially reveal 2016 Winter Classic jersey
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All week the Montreal Canadiens have been teasing fans with sneak peeks of their new throwback sweater for the 2016 NHL Winter Classic.
Today, they officially unveiled it!
The Habs will wear white at Gillette Stadium on New Year's Day — which is no surprise since we learned two weeks ago that the Bruins will wear black.
Front and center on the jersey is the rare white "CH" inside a thick blue stripe that wraps around the torso. The numbers are red in an all-new style.
Perhaps most interesting is the globe on the sleeves, first seen on a Canadiens sweater in 1924. It means both teams in this year's Winter Classic were inspired by jerseys from the 1924-25 season — the first time Montreal and Boston would have ever faced each other in the NHL.
Actually, the Habs' press release puts it better:
The “C” is white and the “H” is red, as they were in 1923-24, the season the team won its first Stanley Cup® championship as part of the NHL.
An image of a globe on the sleeve borrows from the “World Champions” design worn by Montreal the following season to celebrate its championship, a season where the franchise also began its longstanding rivalry with the newly-founded Bruins, then playing in their inaugural campaign.
The only thing I'm not crazy about is the collar design. With Boston it was black and blended into the black jersey. With Montreal, it's more of a statement. I understand it's meant to be a throwback, but it just looks shoddy and unprofessional to me.
But that's really the only mildly negative thing I can say. Everything else about this jersey is excellent. The one open question seems to be the pants color. Will they go with beige or brown to really send home the throwback point? Or will they go with red or the traditional blue?
What do you think of Montreal's new look? And more importantly, the new Winter Classic look?