The Blues won’t have a third jersey next season

You know all the excitement about the Blues’ Winter Classic jerseys and how they could be a prime candidate for a new third next season?

Slow your roll, Blues fans. It’s not going to happen, and you can thank Adidas.

The new NHL jersey manufacturers for the 2017-2018 season have stated that there will not be any third jerseys next season in order to streamline the new gear that’s rolling out. Apparently applying the new design and “cutting edge technology” in the new jerseys is just easier when you’re dealing with two jerseys a team instead of three.

There are 18 teams with third jerseys, and six who will have outdoor jerseys that they’ll be wearing only for this season. That’s probably a plus when you consider how awful the Stadium Series jerseys usually look with their large numbers and “futuristic” designs, but it’s unfortunate when you consider that the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Blackhawks, and Blues had some very sharp outdoor jerseys that could be rolled out as a third if the teams wanted them to be,

The third jersey concept is one that exists mainly for making some extra cash, but it also gives teams an opportunity to be creative, or to do what Calgary and Anaheim have done - call back to retro jerseys that people love. That’s part of the reason why the Winter Classic jerseys were so successful. They’re pretty, yes, but they’re a direct reference to the early days of the franchise. It’d be a shame to lose that.

Adidas hasn’t mentioned if thirds will be available after the initial rollout of the new jerseys. It wouldn’t be shocking if the company began adding them once the initial re-designs were completed. For now, we’ll just have to satisfy ourselves with looking at the pretty Winter Classic jerseys for a few more games.