With the Washington Capitals’ current jerseys having been around for nearly two decades and the team’s captain likely to retire by the time that design hits the 20-year-mark in fall of 2027, it’s probably not a surprise that the team is apparently sniffing around and asking its fan base which direction to go next.
The team began conducting a survey via social media, asking fans to rank some of the team’s current and recent looks, which color they most identify with, and how they feel about the various designs in use over the past 20 years.
Is It Time For A Change?
The current base model in red-white-and-blue with a modernized version of the original logo has been around since 2007, and first used for the season Washington made the playoffs in the Alex Ovechkin era of 2007-08. The Capitals have been mostly competitive, missing the playoffs two times between 2014 and 2023, and the look remained a constant despite a stream of alternate and specialty jerseys during that time, and given in a healthy boost in sales thanks to Alex Ovechkin.
Since the team’s unveiling at the team’s practice facility in 2007, the Capitals have also introduced a throwback white jersey for the 2011 Winter Classic which became a third jersey for road games until 2015, and then changed to the red version for use at home. Washington also used a shorter-lived fauxback for the 2015 Winter Classic, Stadium Series sweaters for the 2018 and 2023, as well as the team’s Reverse Retro uniforms based on the team’s “Screaming Eagle” jersey introduced in 1995.
This season, the team introduced a mash-up of the franchise’s original sweater and the one that followed, which debuted Friday in Washington’s 5-1 win over the Minnesota Wild.
Do You Want To Go Backward Or Forward?
So, what can we expect from the Capitals in the coming years?
The team’s original sweaters lasted from 1974 to 1995, a span of 21 years. The next model – which wasn’t one of owner Ted Leonsis’ favorites but has since gained a lot of traction in sales – was used from 1995 to 2007, with the current models having been used since.
With the changeover from adidas to Fanatics last season, a pause was put on new designs for the brand’s rollout season, meaning what likely would have been the team’s 50th Anniversary sweater was made into a third jersey for this season and the next two, and a black Reverse Retro design was adopted for the actual anniversary season.
Teams need a significant amount of lead time to create and brand another jersey design for testing and design, so quite likely, any major change at earliest for the 2027-28 season, or what certainly seems to be one after Ovechkin’s retirement from the NHL, unless the team opts to pull an old design out of the closet for its base set.
While the survey doesn’t really touch on potential new designs for a logo or jersey, it does bring up several different logos from the past, from the team’s initial stick and puck logo and its modernized one in use today, the Screaming Eagle and Capitol Dome logos from the 1990s (in current Washington colors), to the now-discarded W with three stars and the club’s current secondary logo, the Weagle.
What Is The Survey Looking For?
The survey also asked fans to rank almost every Capitals design in use in the Ovechkin era, with the exception of the old Screaming Eagle whites and the red Reverse Retro design, and asked where they think the current set ranks among the NHL designs.
Washington is in a bit of an identity crisis logo-wise, as it still uses its original logo in places despite not having used it in a uniform since 2020, and has brought back the logos from its late 1990s uniforms in three different designs since putting away the 1970s throwbacks.
Longtime Capitals fans may remember the team’s Tommy Hilfiger-designed look that featured a postage-stamp style eagle that quietly appeared in a hockey supply catalog in 2000 but never made it any further. There was talk that the team’s original uniform could return full-time after the 2017-18 season, but that quickly went away once the team won the Stanley Cup in the current design.
The 1980s have come back into vogue in the NHL recently as well, as the Boston Bruins introduced sweaters similar to their designs from that decade, the Colorado Avalanche are bringing back truer versions of the Quebec Nordiques look this season, and the Carolina Hurricanes are once again bringing back the Hartford Whalers designs, not to mention several other teams bringing back elements in logos and looks from that decade for primary or third jerseys.
While in many regards the Capitals are looking to life after Ovechkin, it also seems the team is preparing to move on from its current look once their star departs back home for good.
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