Report: Penguins to add a new retro jersey

From all places, a new jersey for the Pittsburgh Penguins apparently popped up on eBay recently. It has the Fanatics markings, meaning it could be a new offering from the NHL, though it hasn’t been officially announced.

Here’s more from jersey gurus Icethetics on the apparent leak:

[the] jerseys fit the description of the “reverse retro” alternate sweaters rumored to be coming to the NHL next season.

Seen in the photos are Fanatics-branded Breakaway jerseys. They are the lower-priced replicas, but the designs are accurate to the Adizero game sweaters made by Adidas. To my eye, these are legitimate NHL-licensed products. There are no obvious signs of being counterfeit. Plus, Fanatics jerseys are manufactured in Indonesia, which is the listed location for the ebay seller.

So what are we seeing exactly? These are not new home or road sweaters. And as far as I know, they aren’t new third jerseys either. Since early this year, Icethetics sources and others have been reporting on a new series of sweaters coming to the NHL.

This “fourth jersey” program has been described to Icethetics as “throwbacks with a twist”—as Icethetics reported in JerseyWatch 2020.

The reverse concept comes in, being as this jersey is a take on the famous and beloved often called “Snoop Dogg” jersey that the Penguins wore from 1992-97. The rapper and famous Steeler fan wore the Pens jersey in one of his music videos back in the day.

It’s a reverse since the new jersey is white where the old one was black.

Icethetics would continue with more information:

My understanding of these Reverse Retro jerseys is that each team will have one and they will be worn only once or twice per season—and likely between certain rivals. In other words, these Flyers and Penguins jerseys were designed to contrast so they could be worn opposing each other in the same game.

My take on this is that it’s a way for the NHL to capitalize on the popularity of the specialty jerseys used for outdoor games without having to stage outdoor games for every team. And it’s not a bad plan when you consider most of the same teams are selected for those games every year.

The mention was this would be a “fourth” jersey and special. There was also a leaked orange Flyers jersey that would pair up nicely against this special Pens’ jersey to give an extra added flair for games. The Penguins currently have an all yellow third jersey that presumably will remain — most recently the team has worn the yellow jerseys for all weekend regular season games.

Fans have clamored for the diagonal Pittsburgh lettering to return, it’s a popular design and concept that floats around. The league and their jersey manufacturers love to come out with new designs for the players to wear because fans love to buy these jerseys.

There has been some upswell of fans who like the so-called “Robo Penguin” design of the 1990s, and they might still be waiting. It’s been kinda rumor/urban legend that Mario Lemieux isn’t a huge fan of the “Robo Penguin” which infamously started in 1993 coming off of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles. After the switch, as no one needs a reminder, the Penguins did not win the Cup in 1993. Whether that’s true or not, who knows.

The Pens have done a LOT of branding in recent years around the skating Penguin logo, it’s in all their active trademarks and designs used everywhere and a big part of the all-important #branding and marketing strategy being used right now.

As you can see in the leaked image, it’s the skating Penguin on the shoulders, which replaces the Robo Penguin from the original ‘90s jersey. That gives a bit of credibility and credence that the team isn’t embracing or running back to the Robo Penguin since they’re replacing it on this new design, assuming the leak turns out to be the actual finalized design.

So for now it looks like the diagonal PITTSBURGH is in favor to be up next rather than the Robo Penguin, but what do you think about this leaked design?