Minnesota Wild unveil sweater, look for Winter Classic matchup with St. Louis

The Minnesota Wild’s sweaters have had their share of fans and haters with each variant the team has sported over the years, including last year’s Reverse Retro ones . The team’s look for the Winter Classic will likely be met with the same split views from hockey fashion critics.

On Saturday morning, the Wild released their sweaters for the New Year’s Day matchup with the St. Louis Blues at Target Field, which, according to a team media release, is. designed to, “celebrate the state’s rich hockey pedigree, the rivalry of the Twin Cities and its legacy as the State of Hockey:”

Wild captain Jared Spurgeon modeled the uniform in photos that were part of the release, complete with tan gloves and breezers.

“With the game taking place at the home of the Minnesota Twins, we certainly channeled the spirit of Minnie and Paul for our Winter Classic sweater,”  John Maher, the Wid’s senior brand advisor, said in the release. “The striping, fonts, and fabrics used in the final adidas design all took inspiration from St. Paul and Minneapolis hockey teams of the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s.”

For now, fans can purchase the jerseys at hockeylodge.com or the team store at the Xcel Energy Center.

The release highlights aspects of the Wild’s look:

• Elements from famed Minneaolis and St. Paul hockey squads were combined into one uniform. The base jersey design unites the St. Paul Saints look from the 1930s with the traditional Minnesota Wild color palette. The lettering, numbers, and other design elements on the jersey all come from those early hockey clubs that helped make Minnesota the ‘State of Hockey.’

• The two stars in the crest are a reference to Gemini, the twins constellation. They represent the two cities – St. Paul and Minneapolis. The state shape between them symbolizes how the cities come together to represent the capital of Minnesota. Both city’s names are arched around these symbolic marks further emphasizing how they unite to rally around the sport of hockey and their team.

• Hockey’s origins on ponds are reflected in the vintage white in the jersey, the canvas breezers inspiration in the pants and in the leather gloves. Canvas brown colored elbow patches represent long hours of wear and tear on beloved hockey gear.

• Heritage embellishments like felt are used on the cresting, name and numbers. A special narrowed and shaped yoke was developed to nail a 1930s and 1940s hockey aesthetic.