Report: Pittsburgh Penguins getting new jerseys for next season

In an oft-rumored and expected move, the Pittsburgh Penguins might have new jerseys for their 50th season next year in 2016-17.

Yes, can confirm the #Penguins will have new uniforms next season https://t.co/l3KgUB4sM5

— Chris Creamer (@sportslogosnet) January 8, 2016

Seems fairly reputable, but no further details have come to light at this time.

Many have expected the Pens to go back full-time to their current alternate jersey into the full-time kit. More importantly, it woul mean the return of the white jersey in this style and pretty much the end of the "Vegas gold" that the team has worn for the past decade plus.

If you want to take a trip down memory lane, this 2014 Pensburgh guest post by Hockey By Design ranked the old (new?) jersey as the franchise's 3rd best ever, saying in part:

The jerseys that surround the existence of the gold jerseys (even though they're awesome) are slightly better. Mostly because they're more iconic and have raised a couple Stanley Cups. These things matter to the brand of the team, and that pushes these jerseys up. But there are other reasons too.

These jerseys are the first ones to use the black and gold colour scheme that the Penguins are now known for, and it actually (for the first time) matched the logo that was on their chest. It may have taken this long for the blue to leave the Penguins' jersey because, as was alluded to earlier in the post, another team. Namely, the Bruins. They wanted the black and gold for themselves and protested against the Penguins adopting it, eventually losing the fight. It also brought the Penguins in line with the entire city's sports branding, matching the Steelers and Pirates.

It also forced the Penguins into a black jersey, which is something we've already discussed about how black jerseys don't work well in hockey, on a clean white ice surface. But the Penguins slapped that black jersey with so much gold that you couldn't really call it a black jersey. Mimicking what started with the 1977–80 jerseys, by giving the sleeves a completely different colour base than the rest of the jersey allows the gold to play a much larger role than just in some striping, and it works great. It doesn't work quite as well on the white jerseys, but that's a small issue. An issue smaller than a baby penguin (but not as cute). The black and gold works when the gold is allowed to dominate like this.

There were some slightly variations in the striping of the jersey during this era. Most notably, in 1986, they changed the sleeve stripes back to a straight formation, away from the previous slanted ones. There were some slight changes to the bottom stripes as well over the years. Also, the numbers moved form the shoulders (in the shoulder yoke area) to the sleeve. Minimal changes and nothing hugely positive or detrimental to the overall design.

We'll see if and when a formal announcement is coming, but these jerseys are generally very popular among the fanbase and I'm sure this advance notice will be received well among most of the Pens faithful.