On Friday, Montreal released the sweaters it’ll be wearing for the 2016 Winter Classic, to be played against Boston on Jan. 1 at Gillette Stadium.
From the club:
The chest stripe is a shade of blue inspired by the first-ever Canadiens jersey worn after their founding in 1909. The central crest features a “CH” with colors inverted from what has been the norm for 90 years. The “C” is white and the “H” is red, as they were in 1923-24, the season the team won its first Stanley Cup championship as part of the NHL.
An image of a globe on the sleeve borrows from the “World Champions” design worn by Montreal the following season to celebrate its championship, a season where the franchise also began its longstanding rivalry with the newly-founded Bruins, then playing in their inaugural campaign.
The jersey also features a distinctive red collar originally is reminiscent of that worn in 1945-46, a season that culminated in the Canadiens, led by the “Punch Line” of Maurice Richard, Hector “Toe” Blake, and Elmer Lach, defeating Boston to earn their sixth Stanley Cup Championship.
“We wanted to underline and pay homage to our earliest meetings with our hosts,” Habs VP and COO Kevin Gilmore said in a statement. “Fans who tune into the 2016 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic will come from not only our two respective markets, but from around North America and the world.
“We look forward to sharing with them, through the story behind this new sweater, a look into what has helped shape unquestionably one of the most preeminent and storied rivalries in all of professional sports.”
Montreal won’t wear the jerseys prior to the Winter Classic, opting rather to debut them on Jan. 1.
Nous sommes prêts pour la #ClassiqueHivernale! / Ready for the #WinterClassic! #GoHabsGo 😍👌 https://t.co/D7UbO1yvLC
— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) November 6, 2015