Penguins Unveil Third Jersey

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When the Pittsburgh Penguins took to the ice last season for the inaugural NHL Winter Classic, one of the elements that made it so memorable were the undeniably sweet alternate jersey they wore that day. Like it or not, the image of Sidney Crosby celebrating in that sweater after beating Buffalo's Ryan Miller in the shootout that day has become an iconic one.

Knowing a good thing when they see it, the Penguins have officially adopted the powder blue and white sweater as their official third jersey. Icethetics has all the details:

The only difference I can see from the Winter Classic jerseys is a slight boldening of the outline on the sweater numbers. Otherwise, the striping and shoulder yoke appears to be the same. Looks like whoever said it was going to be different was trying to throw us off.

I know there's a line of thinking out there that third jerseys are an abomination because they're designed to do nothing more than separate fans from their hard-earned cash, but this jersey is one of the best of the lot, alternate or not. In fact, if the Pens ditched their regular duds and went with this one instead, I don't think I'd miss the black and gold one bit.

And if you still have moral objections to the third jersey, here's an easy solution -- don't buy one.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

11-06-2008 @ 12:17PM

Sportz Assassin said...

It looks even better on Elizabeth Banks in "Zack and Miri"

11-06-2008 @ 1:49PM

kilroy said...

They should keep those Hollywood uniforms! The Pittsburgh Penguins stole the Boston Bruins' uniform colors back when the Penguins were a new franchise and the Bruins were the best team in the league with Bobby Orr, Phil Esposito, Derek Sanderson. The Black and Gold were the Bruins' colors since the 1920's which the Penguins blatantly and illegally copied. Let the Penguins now wear these powder blue effeminate uniforms! Serves then right.

11-06-2008 @ 3:01PM

Budman said...

You sir are full of beans (Boston Baked Beans?). The Pens stole nothing. The black and gold is by no means copyrighted colors. The Steelers and Pirates were wearing black and gold during the seventys (and winning championships) so the Pen's adopted their colors at the request of their fans. It worked! The only campionships in the teams history were after they adopted the Pittsgurgh black and gold! The powder blue and black was the original color from the inception of the team.

11-13-2008 @ 6:12PM

J C said...

The pens didn't copy the bruins. They were piggy backing off of the Steelers and Pirates success. The were trying to earn a spot in the local fans hearts in their own years of mediocrity while Pittsburgh was a city of champions. It's really cool that all three profesional teams share a color scheme, but as a life long fan, I love the blue sweaters too much. They should go with the white, powder blue, and navy blue scheme full time.

11-06-2008 @ 1:50PM

Adam Gretz said...

The Penguins switched to black and gold so they would match the colors of the other teams in Pittsburgh (Steelers, Pirates) who also wore black and gold. Plus, Pittsburgh has an extensive hockey history that goes back to the 1900's where the black and gold colors were prominent.

Actually, this website outlines the Pittsburgh's hockey history quite well:

http://www.pittsburghhockey.net/PiratesPages/PiratesLOBBY.html

11-06-2008 @ 3:00PM

Mike said...

To kilroy:

If the Bruins colors are black and gold, why do they have yellow on their jerseys instead of gold? At least the penguins actually have their real colors on thier jerseys.

Really!?!? No one is going to comment on how absolutely ridiculous these jerseys look.

It's a boy! Oh, wait it is the Penguins....

Go Wild!

whoes on first said...

IF PEOPLE CAN REMEMBER THIS WAS THE PENGUINS ORIGINAL COLORS BACK IN THE DAY . POWDER BLUE THIS IS GOING RETRO AND ITDOES LOOK GREAT . I REMEMBER THE OLD DAYS AND MY BROTHER HAD HIS OWN PENS SWEATER LIKE THIS AS A KID . MINE WAS THE OLD BLUE AND GOLD BUFFALO .

11-06-2008 @ 8:45PM

Mike - The Bruins yuppie marketing department started playing around with their colors in the early 1990's. A big mistake. Most Bruins fans hated it. You're right, they look yellow. Every now and then they wear their original since the beginning of the 1920's (before the Pittsburgh Pirates and Pittsburgh Stealers existed) black and gold uniforms, the best looking in the league. For all you unknowing Stealers and Pirates fans who can't remember back to the late 1960's and early 1970's when the Big, Bad Bruins were the best and most charismatic team in hockey, the fledgling Penguins imitated the Bruins colors because the Bruins were the best team and the best looking! The Bruins issued a complaint to NHL headquarters but the powers-that-be were more interested in helping a brand new franchise that definitely needed help! So they lost their appeal. But we Bruins fans have never forgotten it.

11-07-2008 @ 12:22AM

hockeh said...

Believe whatever you want... The NHL decided that the Penguins could also wear the Black and Gold, because the Pittsburgh Pirates, a professional hockey team dating back to 1907 wore Black and Gold. They joined the NHL in 1925 and played for 5 years. No one seemed to complain about their jerseys back then.

Even the Pittsburgh Steelers were called the Pittsburgh Pirates at the start (irrelevant, but some bonus trivia for you).

11-09-2008 @ 8:22AM

amy said...

Kilroy,

while your big, bad bruins of the 60's and 70's were supposedly the best team in hockey. we were a little busy winning championships with the Pirates and Steelers.

11-11-2008 @ 12:44AM

Nick Port said...

You don't mention in your article that this powder blue jersey is the original jersey the Penguins wore when they first came into the league in the 1960s. They switched to black & gold in the 80s. Shoddy reporting, sir.

brian said...

I think those powder blues are an amazing looking jersey. Even as a third jersey, they look better then 90% of the NHL teams regular jerseys.

11-12-2008 @ 4:44PM

JH said...

I personally think it is ridiculous that the NHL is constantly bringing out these 3rd jerseys. I know it is a quick fix for solving revenue issues as they will sell, but I think it is more important for teams to stick with a logo and create a brand around it instead of often changing it so often. my thoughts: http://jib-sports-culture.blogspot.com/2008/11/nhl-third-jerseys.html