Since the rumors of a retro-inspired jersey series cropped up, we’ve been wondering what look the Anaheim Ducks will opt for in this nostalgia driven bit of capitalism. They’ve got plenty of iconic looks to draw from, as the inspired eggplant and teal color palette of the 90s was updated several times over its lifetime before the club switched to a black, orange and gold color scheme in 2006.
This new series, however, isn’t just retro — it’s “Reverse Retro,” an insane phrase that is apparently defined as “retro, with a twist.”
Earlier leaked jerseys from this series are the Philadelphia Flyers and Pittsburgh Penguins, both of whom did some color-swapping and slight alterations to jerseys the teams wore in the 80s and 90s, respectively.
Thoughts on these leaked reverse retro jerseys? pic.twitter.com/menWyibUhO
— KOHO HOCKEY (@KohoHockey) October 19, 2020
Playing on a similar theme, Icethetics created a mock up of the rumored design for the Ducks, using the team’s third jersey design from 1995-96 and updating it with the current color palette:
More 4th jersey leaks? Here’s what to expect for the @GoldenKnights and @AnaheimDucks when the Reverse Retro series becomes official. Details on the blog.https://t.co/btEIDG89P7
— icethetics (@icethetics) October 21, 2020
These jerseys are apparently just for specific events, given that 20 of the 31 teams already employ a third jersey design, including the Ducks.
As far as where the leaks are coming from, Icethetics has been at the forefront of breaking jersey-related news. According to the site, the Flyers and Penguins jersey shown above are authentic Fanatics breakaway replica jerseys. Fanatics produces the lower cost replicas of the authentic Adidas Adizero sweaters and these designs match up with that style and have no obvious signs of being counterfeit.
The Ducks’ design, however, is a mock up, based on reports from eBay seller benhsports, who specializes in NHL jerseys. Here’s what he said:
The orange part I don’t know anything about. The Wild Wing part however, my Adidas distributor said, “duck breaking through ice,” so I take that to be a variation on the Wild Wing. Again, what color the jersey will be, I don’t know. I’ve not heard orange or not orange. No idea. And by the way, I have a ton of Ducks secured and allocated to me so it had better be Wild Wing.
He adds that nothing has been confirmed and this is just how he understood the description, but given how small the tweaks have been with other leaked jerseys, “Wild Wing, but orange,” makes sense as a direction for the Ducks to go in with this series…except that they’ll have four jerseys all in the team’s less popular color palette.
But perhaps all is not lost. There’s also a report that the team is opting for a black base, with eggplant and jade details.
A source confirms the Ducks will indeed be bringing back the flying Wild Wing jersey, but it will be a black base (not orange or the original white). There will be matching pant shells with the logo, and we will see the return of eggplant and jade gloves to go with it.
— CJ Woodling (@CJWoodling) October 21, 2020
In that case, it may look more like the Ducks’ 25th anniversary alternates they wore in 2018-19, with a Wild Wing logo instead of the original Mighty Ducks crest.