Ryan Smith, Ashley Smith and NHL commissioner Gary Bettman attend a media opportunity prior to the premier game for the Utah Hockey Club at Delta Center on October 08, 2024 in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
(Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – As the new Utah Hockey Club sweaters fly off the shelves at Delta Center, plans for next seasons jerseys are nearing the submission deadline. While nothing has been officially released, president of hockey operations Chris Armstrong provided some insight on what those may look like and even teased the idea of an outdoor game in the future.
There are more players available than originally anticipated this morning but here they are Utah fans!#UtahHC pic.twitter.com/BrJc85AJPn
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 15, 2024
As the newest franchise in the National Hockey League, the Utah Hockey Club absolutely nailed their original sweaters for the inaugural season. Featuring a diagonal “Utah” on both sweaters complimented by the rock black, salt white and mountain blue, fans have quickly fallen in love with the new look.
But what does that mean for next season?
According to Armstrong, they won’t deviate much from the current jerseys aside from introducing whatever their new logo is onto one of them. That means that the other will likely not change very much if it all and based on the fact that Armstrong has said they like to feature “Utah” on the road, that would likely mean the white sweater does not change.
Per Chris Armstrong,
The jerseys next season will be “substantially similar” to this season. There will be adjustments made and “one of them” will be adorned with their new logo.#UtahHC
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 15, 2024
“I would say substantially similar is where we are leaning right now based on the response that we’ve had. But there will be differences, there will be adjustments made. Obviously one of them will be adorned our logo which we land on…because of the feedback being as strong as it has been with these jerseys, we don’t want to dramatically shift the sands on them,” Armstrong said.
“This is about Utah, it’s for Utah, people have really connected with that season one identity, Utah across the front of the uniform so from our vantage point we want to make sure that’s a part of one of the jerseys. I think people can appreciate and speculate that when we’re away, we want to represent Utah,” Armstrong shared.
While most teams in the NHL feature an alternate third jersey, that’s not something that the Utah Hockey Club is focusing on for this season or next according to Chris Amstrong. With so many other tasks ahead of them including another new primary jersey featuring the team’s new logo among other tasks, an alternate jersey probably won’t be introduced for some time.
Chris Armstrong also said that it’s “hard to say” if they’ll introduce a third alternate jerseys next season.
However, he also said that as they start to “explore the possibilities of an outdoor game in the future” that presents an opportunity to introduce another jersey.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) November 15, 2024
“Hard to say. I don’t think with the timelines we’re still on being compressed as they are. We’re not really even back onto a normal timeline relative to other teams in the league so we don’t want to bite off too much too soon,” Armstrong said.
However, Armstrong did mention that as the team explores the possibility of other events like an outdoor game in the future, that would present a natural opportunity for another team sweater.
“What I will say that as we explore the possibility things like an outdoor game in the future and those kinds of things, those present a natural opportunity to introduce another jersey,” Armstrong stated. “But we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves.”
So, for now, plan on just one new jersey next season featuring whatever new logo the team decides on and the other remaining essentially unchanged. As for an alternate, that may take a few years but could be presented at an event like the Winter Classic as Utah explores those types of opportunities.
The Utah Hockey Club will continue their three-game homestand against the Vegas Golden Knights on Friday. The game can be viewed on SEG+. Fans can also tune in on air on the KSL Sports APP or on 97.5 and 1280 The Zone. Click here for the full schedule.
