SJ Exec Casts Doubt on Leaked 4th Jerseys; NHL to Release in November

For the past several weeks, there have been numerous leaks across Twitter of new team jerseys, including a Vegas Golden Knights “fourth” sweater and a Pittsburgh Penguins fourth jersey. Most of the leaks have been retro jerseys paying homage to a team’s past, but with inverted colors.

And many have been for sale.

However, according to San Jose Sharks President Jonathan Becher, the alternate sweaters were a hoax. Becher tweeted:

“Entertained by the alternate jerseys designs on social media labeled as based on inside info. We have creative fans! None of these designs are real.”

It would appear Blecher went beyond the Sharks jerseys and referenced the weeks of leaks, but that is a matter of interpretation. The source of the Penguins fourth jersey was an eBay seller. Are the Penguins fourth jerseys fakes, discarded prototypes, or real? Until another team comments, either way, we have reason to wonder.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, who have been busy with front office changes, do not comment on unofficial news, such as the reverse retro sweaters, which would be an inversion of the 1990s Penguins jerseys immortalized by Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, and in a Snoop Dogg’s “Gin and Juice” video.

So, we are left to absolutely wish the Penguins would bring back the real retro Snoop Dogg jersey. The black with gold letters were cool. The white sweaters … not so much.

What brought about Becher’s reaction was a sweater floating around Sharks social media, which paid homage to the 1970s California Golden Seals.

For those who fell for the antics of a troll, the "leak" being desperately circulated is a @icethetics #SJSharks concept from 3 years ago. The photo you've been trolled with is from a China knockoff site. Do your homework, kids. pic.twitter.com/knroVS0Pkh

— TEAL TOWN USA – A San Jose Sharks Podcast (@TEALTOWNUSA) October 22, 2020

The Dallas Stars are teasing a jersey launch on Wednesday, so we could know a lot more. The Dallas tweet merely showed a piece of a black jersey. In the past, Dallas did have black-based sweaters with bronze and green accents, but perhaps an official jersey launch will clue us in what is coming next.

Earlier this offseason, Colorado Avalanche star Nathan MacKinnon caused a stir when he tweeted a photo of his new mitts, which just so happened to be Quebec Nordique blue. For those not old enough to remember, the Colorado Avalanche were once the Quebec Nordiques, until hockey’s economics forced the Fleur-de-lis worn by Joe Sakic and Peter Forsberg to bail on Quebec for American dollars.

Tuesday morning, The Sports Business Journal tweeted:  Sources: The #NHL and @Adidas are planning for a broader mid-November unveiling of the widely-rumored reverse retro-style jerseys. The fourth jerseys, as they’ve been referred to online, will be worn by teams in select games (@markjburns88).

So, we can’t say for certain which jerseys are real, and now we have some proof there are fakes among us. We’ll find out in November.