The National Hockey League has officially unveiled the uniforms for the Detroit Red Wings and Columbus Blue Jackets to be worn during the upcoming 2025 NHL Stadium Series. This season’s second outdoor game will be held at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, home of THE Ohio State Buckeyes football team, on March 1, 2025.
As is the case with all Stadium Series games, the uniforms feature a couple of unconventional elements for an NHL uniform.
Starting with the host Columbus Blue Jackets, the uniforms are. On the front is a red, navy blue, and silver version of the cannon the club has worn on their alternate jersey crest since 2010. Typically presented within a circle, the cannon has finally blasted its way out and lives on the jersey alone. On the shoulders is a new “CBJ” mark based on the unit designation pins worn on the front of soldier caps. The military connection to the team’s identity is further driven home with the inclusion of chevron sleeve stripes denoting rank. Inside the back collar is the Blue Jackets wordmark logo and a buckeye leaf pattern — a nod to Ohio’s state tree. The helmets are blue with an oversized player number in white on the side.
My favourite part might be the shape of Ohio as a holder for the captaincy patches, bringing back memories of the old Cleveland Barons, who similarly presented their sleeve numbers. Overall, it’s a reasonably sharp design and something I could see the Blue Jackets working into their regular rotation at some point (without those silly helmet numbers, I’d hope).
The Detroit Red Wings are going with a scripted “DETROIT” logo in red across the front of a white sweater. While the scripted look may remind us of the uniforms the hockey programs wear at Michigan and Michigan State, it, as well as the rest of the uniform, is an homage to the automotive industry. The front crest is “inspired by automotive insignias,” the perforations within the wordmark and the player numbers are seen on leather upholstery, and “debossed speed stripes” are “reminiscent of racing car aesthetics.”
Detroit’s not only focusing on the automotive industry with their uniform; the hem loop label (a quietly introduced feature we’ve started to see on the new Fanatics jerseys) features the team’s unofficial mascot, Al the Octopus, in purple, and the pants feature the team’s “Hockeytown” motto. The Detroit Red Wings logo is placed on the left shoulder. On the back, the player’s name will be arched (like all Red Wings jerseys should) but in white lettering placed on a red nameplate, similar to what the Philadelphia Flyers tend to do.
What people will notice most about this uniform isn’t on the jersey at all; it’s the helmets, which will feature the wings from the Red Wings logo on either side in white with a single white football-helmet-esque stripe (though they’re calling it a racing stripe) down the middle of the otherwise red bucket, complimented with a metallic flake finish.
First introduced in 2014, the NHL Stadium Series has become a staple of the league’s outdoor event lineup, complementing the annual Winter Classic and considerably less annual Heritage Classic games. The 2025 edition of the Stadium Series will be the first time the Columbus Blue Jackets have hosted or even participated in an outdoor game.
No information on when these jerseys would be available for sale was included in the release.
Take a look back at last year’s Stadium Series uniform reveal here
