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BCHL reverse retro jerseys?

Written by Eric Clarke on

 

(This article was originally published on Dec. 21, 2020.)

The National Hockey League came out with a set of reverse retro jerseys for all 31 of its teams earlier this fall. Some came out fantastic, others not so much. It got me thinking about what BC Hockey League versions of these might look like and what teams could pull off given some of the long histories.

I’ll look at possible reverse retros that all 18 teams could come up with if this were to become the next big thing to hit the BCHL.

Keep in mind, this is just my opinion on what teams could do.

Alberni Valley Bulldogs

Alberni Valley doesn’t have a long history of jerseys. They are still a relatively young franchise compared to some of the others in the BC Hockey League.

If I were to give them a reverse retro, it would be the very first jersey they wore as the Burnaby Bulldogs, but with the current red, black, and white colour scheme.

Photo Credit: Chilliwack Progress / Black Press Media

Chilliwack Chiefs

Unlike the Bulldogs and Express, the Chiefs have a jersey they can reverse without a colour change.

This reverse retro would be their iconic “Rage” jersey with the black body switched for the yellow at the bottom of the jersey.

Coquitlam Express

The Express have already come out with a third jersey that could be considered a reverse retro jersey. It incorporated all three jerseys they wore.

However, if I were to come up with a new one, it would be the cartoon train logo they used from 2001 to 2005 and have the jersey in the Express’s current black, gold, and white colour scheme.

Cowichan Valley Capitals

The Capitals have pretty much followed the National Hockey League’s Washington Capitals design over the years.

The jersey they could reverse comes from the early to mid-2000s with the liberty jersey featuring the bird “CV” logo. The reverse could be a red jersey with blue cuffs with white and silver strips to separate.

Cranbrook Bucks

Since the Bucks are the BCHL’s newest team, they only have one set of jerseys thus far. This reverse taps into their old Rocky Mountain Junior Hockey League days and brings back a Cranbrook Colts jersey.

They could reverse the red and black or use the current green, silver, and white colour scheme.

Photo credit: Black Press Media / Chilliwack Progress

Langley Rivermen

Langley hasn’t changed its jersey much at all since becoming the Rivermen back in 2011.

This reverse retro is inspired by a former Langley team, as it’s the Langley Thunder jersey in the navy blue, light blue, silver, and cream colours of the Rivermen.

Photo credit: Merritt Centennials

Merritt Centennials

The Cents could tap into the 80s with a reverse of the 1985-87 Merritt Warriors jerseys. The originals are gold, black, and white.

They could reverse them and use the current red, black, and white colours on the jersey.

Nanaimo Clippers

Nanaimo has had a lot of jerseys dating back to the 1970s. I think with this one, it would be the 1985 road jersey with the white shoulders switched to black and the black switched to white.

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Photo credit: Penticton Vees

Penticton Vees

This is one I want to see in a non-reverse. It’s the Penticton Panthers jersey from the early 1990s. It’s the jersey Hockey Hall of Famer Paul Kariya wore.

It would look similar to the Montreal Canadiens reverse retros with the Panthers logo red with a blue outline.

Powell River Kings

Thanks to the Kings’ media relations staff, they beat me to the punch as they posted what they could wear as a reverse retro. It’s actually what inspired me to look at the other 17 teams.

They took their old Paper Kings red, white, and blue jersey and changed it to the current colours. The end result is stunning.

Photo credit: NHL.com

Prince George Spruce Kings

Similar to Trail, PG could go with the Royal City Outlaws jersey but feature the Spruce Kings logo.

This follows what the Minnesota Wild did for their reverse retro, in using their logo with the North Stars colours from the late 80s and early 90s.

 

Salmon Arm Silverbacks

Salmon Arm has very nice first jerseys with the purple and the big bold Silverbacks logo. This jersey taps into the Shuswap Totems that preceded the Silverbacks in the 1980s.

They could take their red jersey and use the Silverbacks colours of black, purple, and silver to make it look really sharp.

Surrey Eagles

Photo credit: Surrey Eagles

The Eagles jerseys are a hard choice given there are so many to choose from over the years. They have come out with retro jerseys before, but I think reversing the old South Surrey Eagles jersey with the blue shoulders would look good. They could switch the shoulders to white with a blue outline and a green base.

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Photo credit: Surrey Eagles

A second option for the Eagles is to use the above third jersey they wore in 2005. It is a grey base with blue bands on the arms with green trim.

I would swap the grey with green and make the bands grey with blue trim.

Trail Smoke Eaters

This jersey will probably make a few people mad given the Smokies’ jersey history. This reverse taps to the team that moved to Trail back in 1995.

It’s the Bellingham road jersey but with the Smoke Eaters logo on it in the Ice Hawks colours. This is a very unconventional choice, but I think could be a very cool look.

Vernon Vipers

The Vipers came out with their own possible reverse retros with an old jersey featuring the current colours.

It didn’t turn out very well, but they could take their 1999 Centennial Cup-winning jerseys and swap the red with the navy blue to achieve a solid look.

Victoria Grizzlies

Victoria has brought back the original Salsa jersey on several occasions.

They could go back further and use a late 1980’s Victoria Warriors jersey, but I think they should reverse the late-1990s Salsa jersey with the current gold, black, and white colour scheme.

Wenatchee Wild

Wenatchee is a bit difficult given the Wild don’t have a long history of jerseys. If approved, they could bring back an old BCHL jersey from a past team like the Abbotsford Flyers, Williams Lake Timberwolves, or Quesnel Millionaires.

They could swap the old team colours for the Wild’s current colours of blue, black and white. Of course, Wenatchee going off the board would have to be approved by the BCHL as the above teams all have a history in other locations.

Photo credit: Justin Bourne

West Kelowna Warriors

This retro comes from the old Kelowna Spartans. I would take their black jersey worn by former NHLers Bill Muckalt and Jan Bulis and make it red with black and silver stripes.

The Warriors could also keep the original Spartans logo and make their current logo a shoulder patch on the reverse retro jersey.