Report: Leaked Adidas practice jersey showcases possible uniform changes

The NHL will be moving from Reebok jerseys to Adidas uniforms for the 2017-18 campaign, and a leaked jersey shows potential changes that would pull from the World Cup of Hockey designs.

While a number of teams have modified their primary marks or made slight alterations to the design of their uniforms over the past decade, the base design of NHL jerseys hasn’t changed all that much in the past decade.

That’s set to change next season, though.

Ahead of the 2015-16 season, it was announced that Adidas would be taking over as the official jersey supplier of the NHL in time for the 2017-18 campaign, and fans might be able to get a taste of a few features of the jerseys they could come to expect, thanks to a report from SportsLogos.net’s Chris Creamer.

On Tuesday, Creamer reported that an auction on eBay seemed to have leaked the Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice jerseys for the 2017-18 campaign, and Creamer later confirmed that the jerseys are, in fact, what the team will be wearing during training sessions. The jersey, via SportsLogos.net, can be viewed below:

The most notable changes to the jerseys — and, keep in mind, this is just a practice uniform — is the collar design, placement of the Adidas logo on the back of the sweater and the Adidas-staple three-stripe design on the sides of the jersey.

The neckline, specifically, is interesting because it meshes with what was worn during the World Cup of Hockey, which was the first glimpse fans got of what Adidas jerseys may look like when they make their debut next season. The iconic brand designed jerseys for each of the tournament’s eight squads, and the Canadian, American, Finnish and Czech uniforms each had a similar design, with the block of color stopping midway through the collar instead of continuing down to the WCH logo. That is mimicked on the Penguins jersey, with the white portion of the collar stopping before it reaches the NHL logo. 

It’s also worth noting that the three-stripe deisgn found its way onto each of the World Cup jerseys. The Canadian jersey, for example, had three white stripes along the inside of their red sweater and three red stripes in the same spot on their white uniform.

Making that design a staple of each of the league’s 31 teams — remember, the Vegas Golden Knights will enter the league with Adidas jerseys — seems a tough ask, especially when it comes to iconic jerseys such as the Montreal Canadiens, Detroit Red Wings, Toronto Maple Leafs and Chicago Blackhawks. So when it comes to the Penguins’ practice jersey, there’s a chance, as Creamer explains, that it’s simply a design that will be used on all practice uniforms, regardless of the in-game jersey design.

The other obvious change on the jersey, at least as it pertains to this specific Penguins sweater, is the circle around the logo. Most likely that’s a practice design, though, and not something Pittsburgh will wear outside of practice. Creamer hypothesized that it could simply be a league-wide change on practice jerseys.

(All images via SportsLogos.net)

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