Usually any NHL outdoor game creates a lot of anticipation for fans. The Winter Classics and the Stadium Series are an event almost every fan, regardless of what team you cheer for, take interest in. The one thing that piques the most curiosity on these games is always the grand, jersey reveal.

There’s just one problem:

The Flyers jersey was leaked. Not once, but twice. Also, the Penguins jersey was leaked along with the second time the Flyers jersey was leaked. Ouch! Someone was way too excited to show these off! The leaks soured any excitement fans had left about the official reveal. It was a bad kept secret.

It is clearly stated that these Stadium Series jerseys are supposed to resemble the “black and yellow construction signs” of Steel City to honour Pittsburgh’s history and all of those bright yellow bridges the city is famous for. What came out was an NFL colour rush jersey which is coincidentally similar to the Pittsburgh Steelers jersey they wore this season. The fade between the yellow and black along the detailed parts of the jersey is a nice touch to modernize the look. The “A Great Day For Hockey” punchline along the neckline is unoriginal for two reasons: 1) The font used for the lettering is the same as the letter font as the name lettering used for the 2017 Stadium Series jerseys. 2) The punchline itself is very generic and doesn’t pay tribute to anything connected with anything Pittsburgh specific at all. The Penguins would of made up for the blandness of the sweater by adding a patch honouring their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships during the 2016 and 2017 cup runs. That is missed opportunity because there isn’t knowing when the Pens will get another chance of participating in an outdoor game.

Besides the differing shades of yellow and the striping, there isn’t much of difference between the Steelers Color Rush and Penguins Stadium Series jerseys.

POSITIVES:

• The fade of the logo is a nice touch
• Modernization is apparent and distinguishable
• Letter kits are simple and match the jersey seamlessly

CRITIQUES:

• Slanted yellow sleeves makes the overall pattern of the jersey awkward
• Punchline along neck is generic and cheesy
• Missed opportunity to utilize patch for back-to-back Stanley Cups (stripes along sleeves don’t count)
• Looks too much like the Steelers Color Rush jersey

To go with the theme for the 2019 Stadium Series, the Flyers added a nice fade along the logo cutting out the white between the wing and orange dot in the middle of the logo. It’s clean and the orange and black were utilized the right way. The black name plate is a great touch to with the Flyer’s unique theme of adding offsetting name plates on most off their jersey designs. The black stripes along the sleeves are simple yet welcome feature about the jersey. The “Philly” signature along the neckline is used with an original font and it’s crisp. That feature might be used in future marketing efforts on how to effectively use it as a shoulder patch or along somewhere on the neck for a new jersey in the future.

POSITIVES:

• Orange and black go well with modern twist on the jersey overall
• Black stripes along lower sleeve fit in nicely
• Fade along logo is clean
• Capitalized opportunity of the off-setting nameplate
• “Philly” along the neckline is a good touch

CRITIQUES:

• A patch or punchline along the neck commemorating the “The City of Brotherly Love” would of been a great add-on since the Flyers are hosting.