The Chicago Blackhawks’ new Hometown Remix jersey didn’t just draw attention when the NHL and Fanatics unveiled the full 32-team collection on Monday. It also drew the harshest possible verdict from Sportsnet.
David Morassutti put Chicago’s green sweater at the very bottom of his rankings, giving the Blackhawks the worst spot in the league.
The Hometown Remix rollout quickly became a talking point across social media, with fans weighing in on the designs and media outlets offering their own takes. Several teams had already debuted their new looks by the end of the night, including Chicago.
For the Blackhawks, the jersey is a sharp break from the look most fans know. The franchise has long been tied to red, black and white, but this release reaches back to a different part of the team’s past. The organization used the design to highlight a side of its history that dates to 1961, the last time the franchise won the Stanley Cup before 2010.
The team also leaned into St. Patrick’s Day imagery for the new threads. Chicago described the jersey this way on social media: “from the Chicago stars embossed on the sleeve, to the motto stitched inside the hem, this jersey carries our city's story down to the last detail 🪡”
“take a look (a thread 🧵) pic.twitter.com/3XRx7YFuew”
That green look, though, is a major departure from the Blackhawks’ usual identity and, according to Morassutti, that was enough to sink it to the bottom of the list. The concern is that the jersey may not sit well with longtime fans who are used to seeing the team in its traditional colors at the United Center.
The broader reaction around the league has followed a familiar pattern whenever the NHL rolls out another jersey series: some fans embrace the new designs, while others see them as more of a cash grab than a celebration of history. In Chicago’s case, the hope may be that the unfamiliar color scheme gets people asking which team they’re looking at - even if it looks a lot closer to the Dallas Stars than to the Blackhawks most fans know.
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