The Washington Capitals had a different look during their practice at MedStar Capitals Iceplex, Wednesday morning.
Players broke in new red helmets ahead of their first game in their Screaming Eagle third jerseys on Friday against the Minnesota Wild. After wearing the Screagle in black and bronze for their 50th anniversary season, the Capitals will don their new red, white, and blue alternates 15 times during the 2025-26 campaign.
This year’s version of the Screagle is a refresh of the Capitals’ original Reverse Retro design from the 2020-21 season. As in all previous versions of the jersey, the shoulders will feature Capitol Dome logo patches, first introduced in 1997.
“Nice, nice,” Brandon Duhaime said of the helmets. “I have seen the jerseys, but it’d be nice to see it on players and see it live. That would be cool.”
While players typically like to break in new gear before throwing it on for the first time in a game, Duhaime admitted that doing so with modern helmets, while fun, is not really necessary.
“No, I think just tightening a chin strap,” Duhaime said. “I don’t think it’s too much with the new helmets nowadays. It’s pretty molded to your head, so it’s an easy transition.”
The Capitals typically wear navy blue helmets at home and white helmets on the road. They have worn red helmets on special occasions in the past, most recently for the 2015 Winter Classic against the Chicago Blackhawks at Nationals Park.
“Different, I like them,” head coach Spencer Carbery said. “More than the navy? Yeah, I’m going to say yes. I’m going to put the reds in front of the navies. I like the look of them.”
The Capitals plan to wear the sweaters as their primary alternate jersey for two more seasons after this one. Multiple fan giveaways this year, including a rally towel on Friday, will be themed around the new look.
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