Latest news with #WinterClassic
Time of India
22-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Time of India
From legends to laughs, every NHL team's best and worst jersey moments, from Connor Bedard to Alex Ovechkin
NHL-Anaheim Ducks' original 1993–2006 'Mighty Ducks" (Credit: Getty Images) Every team has that one jersey, the one that sticks in memory, sells out in stores, and becomes part of hockey lore. The Anaheim Ducks' original 1993–2006 'Mighty Ducks' eggplant and jade combo was bold, playful, and became a cult classic. Similarly, the Boston Bruins' 2021 Reverse Retro, with its striking gold and black design, perfectly fused heritage with flair. Connor Bedard, the Chicago Blackhawks' new face of the franchise, looked every bit the modern legend in the team's 2019 Winter Classic kit. With its throwback black-and-white stripes, it felt like a nod to history made new again. The Colorado Avalanche's 1997–2000 jersey, complete with the iconic Yeti foot on the shoulder, stood out during the team's Stanley Cup climb, with Nathan MacKinnon channeling vintage greatness. The Seattle Kraken, still young but visually ambitious, made waves in their 2024 Winter Classic look a striking nod to the city's Metropolitans roots. Not to be outdone, the Vegas Golden Knights lit up the rink literally with glow-in-the-dark numbers in their 2022–23 Reverse Retro jersey. Mighty Ducks: Once Upon A Time In Anaheim | E60 Fashion faux pas, the worst NHL jerseys we wish we could forget Not all jersey experiments go well. Just ask Alex Ovechkin, who wore the 2015 Winter Classic maroon fauxback for the Washington Capitals a design more dull than nostalgic. The Buffalo Sabres' 2013–15 alternate yellow jersey became infamous as the 'turd burger' no explanation needed. Even the mighty Bruins fumbled with the 1995–06 'Pooh Bear' jersey, a cartoonish mess that still gets laughs. Then there's the unforgettable Dallas Stars' 'Mooterus' (2003–06), an attempt at a cow-themed bull motif that failed both anatomically and aesthetically. And let's not forget the Vancouver Canucks' 1978–85 'Flying V,' an aggressive mustard-yellow ensemble that made players look like traffic signs on skates. Retro renaissance, why fans love a throwback There's something about retro that feels right. When the Carolina Hurricanes revived the Whalers' green and blue, it sent fans into a frenzy. The Colorado Avalanche, meanwhile, nailed their tribute to the Nordiques, complete with snowflake patterns. Even expansion teams like Seattle have adopted a historical approach, while modern rebrands, such as Florida's current look, have brought clarity and class back to the ice. Ranking My ENTIRE Hockey Jersey Collection… (45+ NHL/IIHF Jerseys Ranked & NHL News Today 2023) Jerseys that tell a story: a legacy stitched in fabric The lesson? Nostalgia sells, but only when it's tied to a legacy. NHL jerseys are more than just uniforms. They become symbols of a franchise's identity, triumphs, and low points. The best ones celebrate tradition and individuality. The worst? They haunt team photos and meme pages. FAQs Why do NHL teams redesign their jerseys so often? Teams update or redesign jerseys to reflect new branding, commemorate anniversaries, or generate fan interest through fresh merchandise. What's the most popular NHL throwback jersey? The Mighty Ducks' 1993–2006 jersey remains one of the most iconic, frequently reissued due to fan demand and nostalgia. Which player is most associated with a memorable NHL jersey? Players like Wayne Gretzky in Oilers blue or Connor Bedard in classic Blackhawks stripes often become synonymous with iconic designs. Can bad jerseys affect merchandise sales? Yes, poorly received designs can harm merchandise sales and lead to online backlash, which often prompts teams to revert to classics or make improvements quickly. Whether it's Connor Bedard making headlines in stripes or a misstep like the Dallas Stars' ill-fated bull, jerseys leave a permanent mark on fans, players, and the game itself. Also Read: San Jose Sharks' Michael Misa stuns fans by calling Islanders' Matthew Maggio his toughest rival Catch Rani Rampal's inspiring story on Game On, Episode 4. Watch Here!
NBC Sports
17-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
NHL schedule release: What to watch for next season, from Matthew Schaefer to more Alex Ovechkin
The NHL released its 2025-26 schedule on Wednesday, 1,312 games set to be played from Oct. 7-April 16 before the chase for the Stanley Cup. Soon, there will be 1,344, with each of the league's 32 teams playing 84 games starting in 2026-27. But until that happens, here's a look at some of the best hockey has to offer next season: Schaefer's debut? No. 1 draft pick Matthew Schaefer is no sure bet to make the New York Islanders out of training camp. If he does, Schaefer would be in line to make his NHL debut on Oct. 9 in Pittsburgh against Sidney Crosby and the Penguins. Crosby, 38, is entering his 21st season. Schaefer turns 18 just a little over a month before opening night. Schaefer would be the second top pick in three years to start his pro career against Crosby on the road. Chicago's Connor Bedard also did so in 2023 on the way to winning the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year. Full slates The back-to-back defending champion Florida Panthers are set to raise their second consecutive Stanley Cup banner as part of an opening night tripleheader on Oct. 7, and it will not take long for fans to see way more games on the same day. There are 16, with every team in action, for the first time this season on Saturday, Oct. 11. That happens again on Tuesday, Oct. 28 with game times staggered from 6 p.m. until 11 p.m. EDT. Each of the three final Saturdays of the season features 15 games. Special events The Penguins and Nashville Predators face off in a pair of games in Stockholm on Nov. 14 and 16. The New York Rangers visit the Boston Bruins in the 'Thanksgiving Showdown' on Black Friday, Nov. 28. The first Winter Classic in Florida takes place Jan. 2 when the Panthers host the Rangers at the Miami Marlins' ballpark with a retractable roof. A surefire open-air game across the Sunshine State comes roughly a month later when the Tampa Bay Lightning play Boston in the Stadium Series at the home of the NFL's Buccaneers. The Islanders' UBS Arena is expected to hold a pre-Olympic sendoff event when the season pauses Feb. 6 for players to participate in the Milan Games. The event is in lieu of All-Star festivities, which are being rethought for future years after the success of the 4 Nations Face-Off tournament in February. Milestones in reach Alex Ovechkin is three goals away from 900 after breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record in April. Whatever number Ovechkin finishes at — he turns 40 in September and this is the final year of his contract with the Washington Capitals — will become the new 894 that seemed unapproachable until the successful 'GR8 Chase.' Ovechkin has not closed the door on playing beyond his 21st season, but if this is it, game 81 is against Crosby in Washington. The finale is at Columbus against the Blue Jackets, against whom Ovechkin debuted in 2005. Crosby is 13 points away from becoming the ninth player in league history with 1,700. Ovechkin would be the 10th if he records 77. Three-time MVP Connor McDavid, coming off another Edmonton loss in the final to Florida, is far and away the leading scorer since entering the league in 2015. He's 18 points away from 1,100, while longtime Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl needs 53 to get to 1,000.
USA Today
16-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
When does the NHL season start? Key dates in 2025-26 schedule
The NHL will play its final 82-game schedule in 2025-26 before the new collective-bargaining agreement increases the number of games to 84 the following season. Next season will start on Tuesday, Oct. 7, with an ESPN tripleheader, including the Florida Panthers raising a Stanley Cup banner for the second year in a row. The season will end on April 16. There is a break in February so the NHL can send its players to the Olympics for the first time since the 2014 Sochi Games. There will be two outdoor games – in Florida for the first time. Here are the highlights and key dates for the 2025-26 NHL season: When does the NHL season begin? The season opens on Oct. 7 with three games, all of which will be broadcast by ESPN. Chicago Blackhawks at Florida Panthers, 5 Pittsburgh Penguins at New York Rangers, 8 Colorado Avalanche at Los Angeles Kings, 10:30 NHL teams' home openers What is Alex Ovechkin's opening game? Capitals star Alex Ovechkin, who broke Wayne Gretzky's goal record last season, has a chance to break another this season. He needs 43 goals to break the Hall of Famer's record of 1,016 combined regular season and playoff goals. Ovechkin, who had a combined 49 goals last season, opens the season on Oct. 8 at home against the Bruins. He is entering the final year of his contract. What days do all 32 NHL teams play? All 32 teams will play on the same day twice this season: Oct. 11 and Oct. 28. When does Brad Marchand return to Boston? The longtime Bruins star was traded to the Panthers in March and won a Stanley Cup there. He re-signed with Florida for six years and will return to Boston on Oct. 21. When is the Hall of Fame game? The Bruins will visit the Maple Leafs on Nov. 8. Two former Bruins, Zdeno Chara and Joe Thornton, are among the Hockey Hall of Fame inductees. When is the NHL Global Series? The Penguins and Predators will play at Avicii Arena in Stockholm, Sweden on Nov. 14 and 16. When is the Stanley Cup Final rematch? The Panthers, who downed Edmonton in the Stanley Cup Final the last two years, will host the Oilers on Nov. 22. They teams will also play in Edmonton on March 19. When is the Winter Classic? The Winter Classic will be held on Jan. 2 at the Miami Marlins' LoanDepot Park. The Panthers will host the Rangers. When does Jonathan Toews play in Chicago? Jonathan Toews is back in the NHL after taking two seasons off for health reasons. The three-time Stanley Cup champion and former longtime Blackhawks captain plays in Chicago on Jan. 19. When does Mitch Marner return to Toronto? Mitch Marner went to the Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade. He visits his former team, the Maple Leafs, on Jan 23. When is the Stadium Series game? The Lightning will host the Bruins outdoors on Feb. 1 at the Buccaneers' Raymond James Stadium. When is the Olympic break? The NHL will take a break from Feb. 6 to 24 for the Olympics. When does the NHL season end? The season is scheduled to end on April 16 with six games.
Miami Herald
26-06-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Winter Classic prep, season tickets, arena upgrades keeping Florida Panthers busy
While the Florida Panthers were busy on the ice during their run to a second consecutive Stanley Cup title, Matt Caldwell was equally as busy behind the scenes. There's a lot on the plate of the team's president and CEO. In addition to handling the business side of things on the playoff run — including the eventual parade that took place last weekend on Fort Lauderdale Beach that reportedly cost more than $2 million — Caldwell had a slew of other operational duties to take care of. Continued preparation for the 2026 Winter Classic, set to be held at Miami's loanDepot park on Jan. 2. Season-ticket renewals. Upgrades to Amerant Bank Arena that are about to get underway for next season. 'It's a good problem to have,' Caldwell told the Miami Herald earlier this month, while the Panthers were still in the midst of their Stanley Cup Final series with the Edmonton Oilers that they won in six games to secure their second consecutive title. Fortunately for Caldwell, the Panthers being on extended runs like this have become common. This year marked Florida's third consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final. Florida also hosted the All-Star Game in 2023 ahead of their first Cup Final run and had the trip to Finland this regular season as part of the NHL's Global Series. That year-over-year experience, Caldwell said, has helped him learn to manage all the moving parts that come with his job when his team has an elongated postseason run and multiple priorities to handle at any given time. He has a good support group to lean on as well, mentioning chief revenue officer Shawn Thornton and chief strategy officer Mark Zarthar among people he has been able to delegate responsibilities to in order to better manage this busy stretch that now also included planning to host one of the league's biggest annual events in the Winter Classic in just more than six months. 'These last three years, it feels like one gig, you know, one big year altogether, like nonstop,' Caldwell said. 'It really feels like one big dream. ... These big events, these tentpole marquee events that the NHL has, we're blessed to participate in them. I think if we didn't have the experience of the last three years, it would be tougher as we can prepare for the Winter Classic.' Where things stand with Winter Classic prep As for specifics of those preparations, the league has already visited loanDepot park four times, including between Games 3 and 4 of the Cup Final when the series was in Sunrise, to begin surveying the stadium and get initial preparations done for the game between the Panthers and the Rangers. Steve Mayer, president of NHL events and content, and Dean Matsuzaki, NHL executive vice president of events, said the real ramp-up to getting specifics for the Winter Classic in order will come following the NHL Draft, which takes place in Los Angeles on Friday and Saturday. 'This summer will be a big, busy time for us,' Matsuzaki said. 'We're at a fairly good spot with the visits we've done so far to understand some of the real key operational pieces, like where the ice truck is going to go and how we're going to run the piping to the floor, where the route for the Zamboni to get to the ice will be. Once we have that in place, then we can start layering on some of the pageantry and things like that and the entertainment.' The Panthers' Winter Classic will be the first of two outdoor games held in the state during the course of a month, with the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the Stadium Series against the Boston Bruins on Feb. 1 at Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. There is a 'slight advantage,' Mayer said, in terms of preparing for the Panthers' outdoor game than the Lightning's because loanDepot park has the retractable roof. 'We'll be risking just a little bit when we open [the roof] up,' Mayer said, 'but we are doing a night game. We are playing [at a time of year that's] probably an ideal weather for the ice. You never know if there's gonna be a heat wave. You never know if it's gonna be pouring down rain, all of the above, but we feel pretty confident. And what a beautiful ballpark. It's amazing.' Caldwell said that sometimes he still has to pinch himself to know that what's going on is actually happening. Even just a few years ago, before this current run of success, the Panthers struggled to fill the arena during the season. They had gone nearly two-and-a-half decades in between winning playoff series. Now, they're on top of the hockey world. 'It certainly is real,' Caldwell said. More Panthers updates And that has led to some real changes that the team has had to make. That included increasing season-ticket prices, a move that Caldwell said was necessary after the team's consistent success and the fact that they had kept prices low relative to the rest of the league for so long. And while not everyone was happy about the decision — 'I don't think people were cheerleading us; there were definitely a lot of questions and feedback,' Caldwell said — more than 90 percent of season-ticket holders renewed for next season, Caldwell said, adding that the wait list for potential new season-ticket holders is almost at capacity as well. The Panthers did a town hall with Caldwell, coach Paul Maurice and president of hockey operations and general manager Bill Zito in January to explain the reasoning behind the price increase. 'You guys have been so loyal to us and we've kept pricing low for a very long time,' Caldwell said. 'We explained that many people will be getting, at least on a percentage basis, a pretty steep increase but when you step back and look at the rest of the NHL, given our team performance and given the demand for tickets, our average ticket price was still in the bottom five of the league. I think people understood the logic.' The team is also in the process of upgrading the arena for the start of next season. The team's scoreboard at center ice, which has been in place since 2013, is being replaced, as are the LED ribbon boards throughout the arena. Additionally, a portion of the the 300-level of the arena will go through a makeover as well. About 1,400 seats will be removed to create a viewing deck similar to what the Tampa Bay Lightning constructed in 2011. Caldwell said that area will be able to fit about 800 people, so arena capacity will drop to about 18,650 once it's complete. 'I think the fans will be excited to see the upgrades next year,' Caldwell said.
Boston Globe
25-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Here's what the redesigned Bruins uniforms for the 2025-26 season will look like
Now, it's time. The team will bring back, with a twist, its dual-use, spoked-B uniforms it wore from 1948-85. The black home jerseys will have a gold 'B' crescent and the road whites will use a black 'B,' with each 'B' keeping serifs that were added in 2007. Advertisement The Bruins' road white uniform for the 2025-26 season. Courtesy of the Boston Bruins The team used the logos in its 2023-24 centennial season, Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up All the talk about a 'new' look began when the club's season-long 100th year celebration ended. 'Obviously, we've had a number of different uniforms, whether it's from the Winter Classic or the Stadium Series or out in Tahoe for the Winter Classic, and we always have looked back deep into our rich history and what was worn in the early years,' said Neely. 'I really feel like this is a jersey that a lot of people will be able to relate to and are very fond of.' Related : With the exception of the centennial season, the Bruins' black home jerseys have featured the single black 'B' since 1995. Advertisement Neely believes the return of the gold 'B' will not go unnoticed. 'The first thing we all notice is the color of the 'B' — that's very prominent on the jersey, right in the middle of the jersey and the crest, so my feeling is they'll pick up on that right away,' said Neely. The Bruins did not forget to include a video that accompanies every brand or uniform refresh in the 2020s. Some of the details of the Bruins' uniform change for the 2025-26 season. Courtesy of the Boston Bruins Neely, his longtime friend Michael J. Fox, and a current Bruins player who's almost unrecognizable under several pounds of makeup and a garish shirt, ham it up in the slickly produced clip that leans hard into the time-space continuum themes of the 'Back to the Future' franchise that starred Fox. Fox phones Neely to tell him 'how cool it would be to go back,' which Neely somehow thinks is a suggestion that Neely should return to the ice. 'I've got four joint replacements, I can't see — seriously,' says Neely. Fox corrects him, and texts him a picture of the gold 'B' black jersey. 'People love going back,' says Fox. That prompts Neely to get on his office phone and order in the Bruins player to make Fox's wish come true. Related : Without giving away every second of the spot, after some flashing lights and smoke, the heavy-breathing Bruins star hobbles into Fox's office with a cane and presents him with the new black jersey, 'a special delivery from your good buddy Cam.' Advertisement The spot ends with a famous but altered Emmett 'Doc' Brown quote and the new Bruins logo. A look Back. With an eye to the Future. — Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) 'We have so many wonderful uniforms from our history, and if you look back, our uniform changes in history often signify a more significant transition, like from era to era, for example,' said Cam Neely (left), Ray Bourque, and Terry O'Reilly (right) all wore the Bruins' sweater as players the new version is modeled after. John Tlumacki Also among the uniform changes: a new shoulder patch with a bear silhouette filled in by the word 'Boston' on the road whites, and 'Bruins' on the home blacks. There's a new hem loop and a throwback stripe on the sleeve. The Rapid 7 sponsor patch stays on the right front of the jersey. Looking ahead, that should do it, for a bit, on the Bruins' uniform front. 'I can't see a change any time soon, but if we're involved in some other outdoor games, we'll probably introduce something else,' said Neely. Michael Silverman can be reached at
