Stripes at the rink were usually reserved for referees, but no more!
When you think of Adidas, you think of a brand synonymous with soccer, basketball and athletic apparel. But with the World Cup of Hockey (WCH) , the world has seen Adidas begin its first brand foray into professional ice hockey in the brand’s 92-year history.
Adidas and the National Hockey League struck a deal in 2015 making Adidas the official supplier of all NHL jerseys, replacing Reebok. That’s essentially what gave Adidas the shot to enter the WCH, since the global tournament is a product of the NHL and the NHLPA. More fun facts here: Adidas is actually the parent company of Reebok too – I learned this when I was doing my homework for this blog post!
The full-time implementation of the iconic three stripes will begin at the start of the 2017 season. The WCH was just a taste of what’s to come.
The whole move is quite interesting because it is still unclear how much future iterations of NHL jerseys will actually change. People have begun to hypothesize that Adidas may use the same “FitTech” technology they currently use in many college football jerseys and bring it to hockey. However, that would drastically alter the look, as the jerseys would become much more form fitting and thinner. Guess we will wait and see…
Who knows what the NHL jerseys will look like in a year, but I can say that I love the move both as an Adidas fan and as a hockey fan. NHL jerseys are in need of a bit of a facelift and Adidas, as the trendy sneaker of the moment, is the perfect brand to step up and bring the heat to the ice.
