The Washington Capitals had two of the most popular Reverse Retro jersey designs in the NHL, utilizing the Screaming Eagle logo on red and black during two separate drops by Adidas.
Now, with their 50th anniversary season upcoming, the Capitals could be bringing back the Screagle on black as the team’s new third jersey.
The news comes from an Icethetics’ Flash Report video on YouTube.
Check this out. A photo posted by that account earlier this month shows the Washington Capitals’ black Reverse Retro jersey from two years ago with Fanatics Premium branding, which you would not expect to see unless the Caps were bringing it back, right?
With unannounced plans to introduce a special third jersey for their upcoming 50th anniversary season, is Washington reviving the Screaming Eagle? I’m sure that would be a huge hit among fans.
Reviving an earlier design is one way I can see a team getting away with adding a new third jersey, with Fanatics asking clubs to hold off on new work while they take the reins from Adidas. If the design and tech pack work has already been done, it saves the production team a lot of time and effort. And it makes sense as Alex Ovechkin’s career winds down, even while he targets Gretzky’s goal-scoring record, the club might want to bring back the old colors that Ovi first wore as a rookie in Washington.
No confirmation on any of that just yet but the signs are strong. And the timing is right for these jerseys to start emerging from the factory. The new Fanatics jerseys are due to go on sale in September though I haven’t heard a specific release date just yet.
The Icethetics report is based off an Instagram photo posted by @95takengive (an account that has since been taken down), featuring a Capitals’ TJ Oshie jersey with the team’s Reverse Retro 2.0 design, but with the Fanatics Premium branding that will be utilized on sweaters this season. Icethetics describes the account as “an Indonesian-based reseller of sports jerseys.”
A look through their account shows a lot of very obvious counterfeit products but there are also plenty of genuine jerseys as well. Whether this company acquired them legitimately may be another story. That said, what they have in terms of Fanatics NHL jerseys is not the Authentic Pro styles, but rather the Indoensian-made Premium tier. You can see the labeling right there in the collar. If you need a reference, it’s the product we used to know as the Adidas Authentic line. The account also shows photos of a few other Fanatics Premium NHL jerseys: the green Dallas Stars, the black Boston Bruins, further confirming the return to the pre-Centennial design, the new orange Anaheim Ducks, which has the new interior hemline branding, and the Blackhawks red home sweater customized with Connor Bedard’s number 98. So while I’m not sure if this seller is legitimate, I am confident that the jerseys pictured are.
The move back to the Screaming Eagle would make sense: the design was very popular among Capitals fans and after the team officially retired their blue ‘W’ alternate sweaters last season, they are without a third jersey for the 2024-25 season.
On top of that, Alex Ovechkin — who is going into what may be his final two seasons with the Capitals — loves the Screagle.
“I like the retro,” Ovechkin said in social media video for the Capitals earlier in the year. “Always retro.”
We first learned of Ovechkin’s love for the old designs when he asked the team to bring back the Screaming Eagle in 2020.
“@capitals the best one my 1st year 🙏🙏❤️️❤️️” Ovechkin wrote. In a second comment, he added, “lets make it happen… say yes pls… we all want it.”
Ovechkin scored in every game he wore the Capitals’ black Reverse Retro 2.0 jersey during the 2022-23 season. He later made a plea to bring it back for the 2023-24 campaign.
“Yeah, it sucks that it’s going to be our last game with this jersey,” Ovechkin said. “I hope they gonna think about it and put it back next year.”
Now, Ovechkin may be getting his wish.
We’ll see.
