Blues’ Winter Classic logo celebrates 50th anniversary, Blackhawks also go old-school

The St. Louis Blues are preparing to head outdoors for the first time in franchise history, and hosting the Winter Classic falls in line with the team’s 50th anniversary. In honor of the milestone, the Blues are going back to their inaugural season for the outdoor game logo. The Blackhawks’ logo looks back to the past, too.

The St. Louis Blues may not yet have a Stanley Cup in their trophy case, but the franchise has been one of the most steadily competitive in the NHL over the past several seasons. And with the Blues continuously on the rise, the NHL will head to St. Louis this coming January for the Winter Classic. Having the Blues as the host of the Winter Classic carries more significance than simply playing one of the league’s showcase events in St. Louis, though. It also offers an opportunity for the franchise to celebrate a major anniversary in style. The coming campaign will be the 50th for the Blues, and the logo for the outdoor game has been selected with that in mind. The logo the Blues will wear for the outdoor contest, which can be seen in greatest detail below, is the exact crest the team wore during its inaugural season. At first glance the logo may not look much different from the one the team currently wears, but the bolder base, more prominent yellow outline and more pronounced points make the mark standout from the one currently worn by the club.

If this is the logo the team is going with for the game, it’s hard to imagine the jerseys will differ much from 

the ones worn by the franchise in their first season. Unlike the modern-era jerseys worn by the Blues, the blue uniforms worn by the team in the earlier seasons featured a yellow neckline, as well as and a solid yellow bar between two white stripes on each arm and the base of the jersey. Only one shade of blue was used on the inaugural season jerseys, not the two shades which have become a staple of the jerseys over the past decade. The Winter Classic contest will see the Blues take on the Chicago Blackhawks, who have become veterans of the outdoor games. For several of the team’s players, the outdoor game will mark their fifth in a Blackhawks uniform. This will be the first time, however, any of those players don a jersey boasting the logo from the 1950s era Blackhawks. The 1950s jerseys marked the beginning of the Blackhawks’ current style logo, though it has been modified through the years to reach its current form. The shape and style of the logo is similar, but the face markings and design of the feathers differ from the present-day crest. That said, the Blackhawks’ Winter Classic logo doesn’t appear to be plucked from the 1955-56, but rather a mashup of the design from that era mixed with the current logo. If the Blackhawks are going with the 1950s-style logo and jersey, expect the current shoulder patch — the ‘C’ with crossed tomahawks — to make another appearance on the sleeves of the sweater when they’re unveiled. The Blackhawks wore a similar design on their Stadium Series jerseys this past season, and

it was a main feature of the jersey from 1955-56 until 1958-59.

Want more in-depth features and expert analysis on the game you love? Subscribe to The Hockey News magazine.