The entire Eastern Conference has been covered in the retro jersey conversation! In the last edition of the series, I discussed the Atlantic Division and their possible retro uniforms. We now jump to the Western Conference and the Central division to talk about potential central throwback jerseys that can take the NHL stage again. All uniforms and logos from a team’s history will be allowed consideration, including one-time uniforms in outdoor games.

Chicago Blackhawks-2009 Winter Classic

This was the jersey that the Hawks donned at Wrigley Field for the second Winter Classic in 2009. The jersey is primarily a reference to the 1930s, with black as the main color with red and white stripes in the middle of the chest, sleeves, and socks. The logo is similar to the Winter Classic jersey from 2019, with the team name written in a circle with an older version of the chief logo inside.

While the jersey is a callback to the team’s distant past, a lot of the Blackhawks current players were on the team at the time of the game. The team was on the rise, and the then emerging Blackhawks featured Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, Duncan Keith, Marian Hossa, and Brent Seabrook all taking part in the newly embraced tradition.  As a result, the jersey has a lot of ties with the past and present of the Chicago Blackhawks, and with the team possibly being on the decline soon, it would be a nice touch to see some of the older faces of Chicago’s run in the 2010s in that uniform one more time.

Colorado Avalanche-Nordiques

For this selection, the past and present of the Colorado Avalanche would collide back to the early days of the franchise. The inspiration for this pick is largely due to the success of Carolina with Hartford Whalers Night. The Avalanche franchise spent their first 16 years of their franchise history in Quebec before moving to Colorado in 1995. Also, in 1996 after the Avs arrived in Denver, they won the Stanley Cup in their first year over the Florida Panthers, so a lot of what they won championships with was drafted and developed as the Nordiques, including cup winners Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, and Adam Foote.

All of these players have their numbers retired by the Avalanche, so a night to don the Nordique jerseys would be a nice callback to the beginnings of all of their great careers. Not to mention, to see the stars of Colorado in Mackinnon, Landeskog, Makar, and Rantanen in the jersey would be fun to watch.

Dallas Stars-The Original

These were the uniforms the Dallas Stars wore in 1999 when they won the Stanley Cup. The crest on the uniform is also their original look, with the city name “Dallas,” printed on top of “Stars” with a gold and green star underneath the “A” in the middle of the uniform. Add some black with gold and white stripes surrounding it, also in a star-like formation, and the uniform is a very sharp look. They used this jersey as an alternate from 1997 to their cup year in 1999 and made the jersey their main road uniform the next season until 2007.

Not only is the jersey arguably the best looking they’ve had outside of the current look, but there are also historical ties to the Stanley Cup winning team. A lot of their greatest players of all time and NHL greats were on the team and wore the crest during their early years and cup year, including Mike Modano, Conn Smyth winner Joe Nieuwendyk, Brett Hull, Jere Lehtinen, and Sergei Zubov, as well as another all-timer in Neal Broten between Minnesota and Dallas. Modano, Lehtinen, Broten, and Zubov will all have their numbers retired by next season, as the recently inducted Hall of Fame member Zubov will be honored at a later date next season.  As a result, the historical ties with the uniform are very strong between the Stanley Cup victory and their first years in Dallas, and bringing this back as a throwback would be a wise choice to welcome back a few of those cup winners, especially with Zubov being honored next season.

Minnesota Wild-North Stars

While the North Stars are now the Dallas Stars and have made their mark in their new home, Minnesota has recovered nicely and has another NHL franchise in the state of hockey. This selection would see the return of Minnesota’s NHL roots and harken back to the days of Brian Bellows, Bill Goldsworthy, and Dino Ciccarelli with the Minnesota North Stars. The jersey itself is nice, with green remaining the primary color with white shoulders, stripes, and waist, and yellow piping on shoulders and stripes on the arms, with the iconic North Star logo would also make a return. With Minnesota’s 20th anniversary fast approaching next season, the team may want to honor the roots of the state’s passion for the game, and honoring the former players of the North Stars before them would be a good place to start. As a result, it would be fun to see the team do a Heritage Night similar to what Carolina did with the Whalers and see the past and present collide.

Nashville Predators-The Original

The Predators were a hard team to choose for the central throwback jerseys largely since they’ve stuck with the same type of logo for their entire history. The initial play on the logo had gray as an additional complementing color and used less yellow than the logo of today. The uniform used navy blue as the base color, yellow piping down the arms and at the waist, and gray shoulders and sleeves.

While the logo on the jersey may not be as good as the logo today, it would be nice to see them honor the early days of the team with a return to this look for a few games. Also, if the team wants to honor their original players, such as their first ever draft pick David Legwand (pictured above), it would be the right move to let these take the ice one more time.

St. Louis Blues-Clown Jerseys

This pick is easy for me. The Blues brought this jersey back this season and wore it for 3 games this season, including once against the Islanders in February. After watching it for a game, I can safely say it was beautiful. The uniform harkens back to the days of the 90s and the great players of the past such as Wayne Gretzky, Al MacInnis, and Brett Hull with the Blues logo taking the center with “St. Louis” written inside the upper section of the logo and yellow, red, and white outlines surrounding it, along with red and white surrounding the yellow numbers. 5 yellow diagonal stripes also provide a gradient to the red solid stripe that comprises the waist and sleeves. The old trumpet logo from that era also makes a return as the shoulder patch. Add all those elements together, and you have a throwback jersey recreates the past and helps make the present look awesome on the ice.

Winnipeg Jets-The Old Jets

While the new Winnipeg Jets have stuck with the same primary logo since their return in 2011, it’s the old Winnipeg Jets logo that hits home for a lot of people, myself included. The team revived the look for the 2016 Heritage Classic against the Edmonton Oilers, and it looked excellent. The balance between the white base, navy blue stripes and shoulders, and red stripes all around the uniform and gloves is excellent, and it’s always nice to see the old Jets logo on the ice. While a similar uniform was used for the 2019 Heritage Classic for the Jets matchup against the Calgary Flames, the white primary color works better with the logo than the navy blue base of the newer version.

Even if the Jets have a newer logo that may look better than the old, the retro is a perfect callback to the original Jets that played in the World Hockey Association from 1971-79 and the NHL until 1996 when they moved to Arizona. Also, with how the Jets have honored many of those old Jets, the use of the jersey more often would be a welcome decision by their fans. It looks great and is the perfect way to not only honor the past, but use the past to help the future of the Jets grow further into a stronger NHL franchise.

This concludes the central throwback jerseys. Only one more division remains, the Pacific division. Be sure to stay tuned for my final installment of the series!

Matthew Page

I am a first year student at Hofstra University and an avid Islanders fan. I have been writing for Drive4Five since March 2020. My family has been season ticket holders for the team since 2016, and hockey is my favorite sport. As I expand my knowledge in the field of Journalism, I am writing to express my love for the Islanders and the NHL.