Bruins centennial sweaters leak an hour ahead of reveal, feature 70’s-styling and a LOT of stripes

It wouldn’t be an NHL event without something being leaked far too ahead of time. It’s kind of weird it was the jersey partner who did it.

The Bruins were set to host a fashion show at Logan airport to reveal their centennial sweaters...and then just a mess of leaks began pouring out, from all directions. The one we’ll be taking from however...happens to be the Manufacturer.

The home and away are very obviously based on on the 70’s era designs; for reasons that a Bruins website probably shouldn’t have to explain in great detail. One noted addition that is frankly baffling is the inclusion of two extra elbow stripes, something that didn’t exist there before.

Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images

The alternate is of a similar cut to the 1948-49 sweaters, which themselves were an anniversary sweater for the B’s 25th season. Most controversially to be sure, is the inclusion of an update that year’s crest, with the team’s founding year set into the Spoked B.

Photo by Bruce Bennett Studios via Getty Images Studios/Getty Images

All of whom will have the updated 100th Anniversary Bear logo on the left shoulder:

As for my opinion?

They’re...fine.

A half-decent series of ideas that were, in my opinion, either soured by the manufacturer making a design choice, or having to acquiesce to a demand the organization made that I don’t believe were thought through very well.

The elbow striping is a little incongruous to their overall identity because the Boston Bruins, when their sweaters have elbow stripes, are generally grouped in three (generally as a black of black or gold with white in the middle) throughout the team’s history. The very closest you could say Boston has ever had to this kind of elbow striping that is thinner and at equal length like that is probably the 1920’s, but even then that was in a barber pole formation that was very popular at the time.

Really, my biggest gripe is the gold used on the Home and Aways.

The Bruins gold is a deeper, richer color than that used on the main set and it is distinctly noticeable to the eye when compared. The Prospect Challenge just wrapped up today using the old sweaters, and it became nearly impossible to ignore that the decision was likely made in an attempt to preserve the “Metallic” sheen they’ve added to it. That screams of a decision made by someone higher up on the totem pole to know better...because there’s already a team in the NHL that uses a distressingly similar gold fabric to this, and leaked photos of the Fanatics version of this jersey at the NHL store make it fairly obvious.

The Boston Golden Knights. Yuck.

So yeah, if I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably pick the Alternate, as it’s still true to Boston gold, I am a sucker for cream as a color in hockey sweaters, and it’s a generally faithful recreation of a sweater that was already celebrating the team’s existence.

If the Bruins plan on using this design going forward? I am...okay with it. If we’re treating this as a test run of a new sweater, I’m willing to give it a go.

But this metallic gold needs to LEAVE once the season’s over.

Anyway, what do you think?