It didn't take goalie Matt Murray long to form an opinion about the jerseys the Penguins will wear for their Stadium Series game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 25.
It was love at first sight.
“I think it's cool. I think it's different. I'm all about the new jerseys. I just like trying out something new,” Murray said. “As soon as I saw the Stadium Series jerseys, I thought they were some of the coolest that I've seen.”
The uniforms are predominantly “Pittsburgh gold,” including the helmet, jersey and socks. There is a patch commemorating the Stadium Series and another identifying Pittsburgh as the City of Champions. The captain's “C” and alternate captain's “A” on the front of the jerseys are contained within a keystone shape.
The thing that struck Murray most, though, was how they would color coordinate with his goalie pads.
“My very first thought was that black pads would look amazing with those, so I went with it,” Murray said.
Murray also wore black pads when he played for Team North America in the World Cup of Hockey in September.
“I had all-black pads pretty much my whole minor hockey career. For whatever reason, once you get to junior and pro, there's this fear of black pads for whatever reason,” Murray said. “I just wanted to do something different. I really liked the way it looked at the World Cup.”
Although Murray is a little skeptical, black pads might be more than just a fashion statement, too.
“Some guys told me they have trouble finding the puck on rebounds coming out. They were slower to react to it,” Murray said. “And you might get a quick whistle or two from the refs if they lose it. Everybody will tell you something different, but at the end of the day, I just really like how it looks.”
The most prominent feature of Marc-Andre Fleury's Stadium Series uniform, meanwhile, will be a helmet with a new paint job featuring some of his former teammates. It includes drawings of Mario Lemieux, Max Talbot, Kris Letang, Jordan Staal, Pascal Dupuis, Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz and Evgeni Malkin.
“It was tough,” Fleury said. “I put the guys that are still playing here with me. We've played together for a long time. When I started, Mario was playing, too, so I thought I got lucky to have him, so I put him on. Staalsy and Max were close friends to me. Duper also.”
“I didn't overthink it too much. Just tried to get a few guys on there.”
Other former teammates, such as Colby Armstrong and Sergei Gonchar, are mentioned by name. Fleury apologized to the teammates who ended up getting squeezed out due to lack of space.
“There are guys that helped me out when I came in and guys that I played with for a long time, guys that were good friends,” Fleury said. “It's tough. I feel bad if I left out some guys. Just had this much room on it. I wish I had more. Maybe like a football helmet. I just tried to recognize a few. If guys are reading this, ‘Sorry.' I feel bad. But I was lucky to have great teammates for all those years.”
While the bright yellow uniforms are a departure from the standard NHL fare, they're nothing compared to some of the jerseys recent call-up Carter Rowney has seen in the minor leagues.
“I think we had a Star Wars one this year, and the jersey looked pretty good,” Rowney said. “I saw one down in Wheeling — I wasn't there, but I saw it — they did a NASCAR night, and that was pretty fun. … It was unique and different. It didn't look like a hockey jersey. It wasn't just a different logo. It looked completely different.”
Rowney said the Baby Pens will wear alternate jerseys three or four times a season.
“We don't do the full gear and everything like up here obviously,” Rowney said. “It's just the jersey and the socks. Some of them are unique and different. It's kind of fun to go out there and enjoy that game.”
Bill West contributed. Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter at @BombulieTrib.
