Vegas Golden Knights
The NHL unveiled its Reverse Retro sweaters on Thursday. The Vegas Golden Knights’ first ever black jerseys pays homage to Las Vegas in the 1990s, with the “VEGAS” crest resembling the font of the Excalibur Hotel and Casino, while the cosmic font on the numbers draws parallels to the Stardust.
Thursday, Oct. 20, 2022 | 12:50 p.m.
The Golden Knights are taking it back to 1995 with their new jerseys.
The NHL, in partnership with adidas, unveiled its Reverse Retro sweaters for the 2022-23 season, with the Golden Knights having their first black sweaters that will be worn at eight home games this season. The diagonal Vegas crest on the front is inspired by the Excalibur, which opened in 1990, and the numbers draw parallels to the cosmic font used by the Stardust.
Vegas' newest threads will debut Nov. 26 against the Vancouver Canucks.
"Beautiful," forward Jonathan Marchessault said. "I think a black jersey is always nice. The numbers are nice, too."
In addition, this is the first sweater to feature a glow-in-the-dark element, woven into the Vegas crest on the front. On the nights these are worn, the Golden Knights will create unique game presentations to show off the full effect.
The Vegas Golden Knights will wear their Reverse Retro sweaters eight times during the 2022-23 season, starting Nov. 26 against the Vancouver Canucks.
The idea behind the design dates to 1995, when the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League had a league-best 122 points during the 1995-96 season. The red and gold also celebrate the opening of the Fremont Street Experience during the mid-1990s.
"First time seeing ours, you're kind of speechless," said defenseman Zach Whitecloud. "It's quite incredible what the design crew was able to come up with."
The diagonal crest on the front of the Vegas Golden Knights' new Reverse Retro sweaters will be the first of its kind to feature a glow-in-the-dark element.
Along the side of the pants is a sword that reflects the Excalibur sign.
The Golden Knights made the switch to having their gold sweaters as their primary threads this season as an ode to their new "Golden Age" campaign. Vegas' original steel gray sweaters remain in the rotation and will be worn nine times, starting Monday against the Toronto Maple Leafs.
This is the second go-round with the NHL and adidas doing a Reverse Retro concept. The 1.0 version debuted during the COVID-shortened, 56-game season in 2021. The Golden Knights had a red jersey that year with the alternate sword logo on the front. The red was in homage to the Las Vegas Wranglers, formerly of the ECHL, as well as the Thunder.
"When our light show goes on, there's a lot going on," Whitecloud said. "Being able to have that aspect for fans to see, even for the guys in here, it's going to be sweet to see that."
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
