Bruins, Penguins unveil jerseys for Winter Classic

BOSTON — The Winter Classic is always an annual celebration of hockey and the outdoors. It’s also an annual opportunity for some creative new sweaters to enter the mix for the teams involved.

The Bruins and Penguins, a little more than a month away from their Winter Classic meeting at Fenway Park on Jan. 2, revealed their jerseys for the game on Friday. Both jerseys pay homage to the past.

On the Bruins’ sweater, the word BOSTON on the chest has a typeface inspired by the original spoked-B worn in 1948. The bear logo underneath BOSTON was worn on the shoulders of Bruins jerseys from the ’70s through the ’90s.

The Penguins’ history only goes back to the late ’60s, but their Winter Classic jersey goes back much farther. The logo on Pittsburgh’s Winter Classic sweater is that of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were the first NHL franchise in Pittsburgh, operating from 1925-31. The hockey team took the same name as the baseball team, which had been named the Pirates since the 1890s.

Interestingly enough, the first NHL game for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925 was played against … the Boston Bruins.

The game has changed in a few ways since that game was played. But this year’s Winter Classic will clearly include a celebration of history in the midst of the modern game.