The Columbus Blue Jackets and Fanatics unveiled the club’s grey Hometown Remix jersey on Monday, joining the rest of the NHL in the league-wide rollout of the collection. It’s the fourth one-off jersey the team has added since 2021, alongside the two Reverse Retros and the Stadium Series look.
The Hometown Remix concept is the NHL’s answer to the other major leagues’ City Edition uniforms, with each design built around local history and culture. Columbus took a pretty distinctive route here.
The jersey is grey, with navy upper-arm panels trimmed in white and steel blue accents carried over from the team’s third jersey. The blue body includes an embossed star-and-filigree pattern, and the shape is meant to echo the cablecar arches along the Short North.
There’s also a new number font, which wasn’t officially explained but appears to tie into the Arch City theme.
The front features the solo cannon first introduced in the Stadium Series, while the old kepi shoulder patch used before 2015 is back on the shoulders. The state-shaped captain’s patches from the Stadium Series return as well, and a red graphic honoring the 5th Line sits on the inside of the hemline. It’s the only red on the uniform.
All of that makes for a strong visual package on its own. But the grey base creates a strange clash with the team’s identity, given what the Blue Jackets name actually represents.
Columbus is named for the city and state’s Civil War connection, with Ohio supplying the most regiments of any state in the Union. William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S.
Grant were both from Ohio, and Sherman was born in Lancaster, about 33 miles down US 33 from Columbus. The city also hosted soldiers at Camp Chase and Camp Thomas during the war.
The Blue Jackets name itself comes from the nickname for Union soldiers stationed in Columbus, as well as the city’s textile industry, which provided their uniforms.
That’s why the grey choice stands out so sharply. The Union Army did wear grey briefly at the start of the war, but the color is far more closely associated with the Confederacy.
If that were the image people took away, the team would be the Columbus Grey Jackets. The design may work aesthetically, but the branding disconnect is hard to ignore.
Fans will see plenty of the jersey soon enough. It will be the Blue Jackets’ full-time home sweater for 13 of their 15 home games in November and December.
The only exceptions are the Saturday home games on November 14 and December 12, when the third jersey will still be worn as scheduled. The December 19 game against Los Angeles was changed.