The improving Arizona Coyotes are looking to reign in purple for the next two months. The club will be donning their brand new Reverse Retro jerseys during every Saturday home game in February and March. The Reverse Retros are Adidas products, featuring the Coyotes original alternate logo on a purple game sweater.
Judging by pre-sales, fans are already in love with the look. They’ll get to see the Yotes skate in them the day before Valentine’s Day when the St. Louis Blues come to town. In addition to that Feb. 13 contest, Arizona will also be clad in purple on Feb. 20 and 27 as well as March 6 and 27.
The uniform will consist of purple jerseys and matching socks along with black helmets, pants, and gloves. The eye-catching attire is all part of the team’s 25-year anniversary celebration.
Everything Old Is New Again
So far this season, the Coyotes have worn the black Kachina jerseys on home ice. Just like the alternates, the Kachinas are old and new. The classic Kachina logo is the same as it was back in the 1990s, but the numerals on the jersey are trimmed in silver to commemorate the organization’s big birthday. The Coyotes will continue to sport the Kachina look at home except for those five days of purple.
Arizona is wearing their regular red and white “primary” jerseys on the road this season. Usually, the team will wear the whites for road games except on Feb. 6 and 7, when they will wear the red versions against the Minnesota Wild.
While the purple, black, white, and red jerseys are all different, all four share a 25th Anniversary patch. The home patch has a Kachina design, while the road patch features the Coyote head logo.
The Coyotes unveiled their new purple jerseys back in November, but there’s a renewed buzz because the team just announced this past week when they would actually wear them. All of the NHL teams rolled out new Adidas Reverse Retro alternate jerseys this season, but the Coyotes ones are even more special because they coincide with their silver anniversary in the desert.
Look Good, Play Well
The purple alternates pay homage to the Coyotes green third jersey they wore from 1999-2003. The choice of purple comes from the club’s popular crescent moon logo. The moon is emblazoned on center ice at Gila River Arena this season as part of the 25th celebration.
They first wore the alternate green jersey in a game on Feb. 6, 1999, against the Chicago Blackhawks. The Peyote Coyote head from the Kachina logo coupled with a trim of two saguaro cacti and the Coyote moon rising over the desert mountains gave the team a unique look, to say the least. A gecko on each shoulder, matching socks, and black pants completed the ensemble. The new jerseys will basically be the same, except for the purple replacing green.
Adidas worked closely with the NHL and all of the teams to create designs that look back on unique and historical moments in each team’s history, but with an updated look. This marks the first time in NHL history that all 31 teams have participated in a league-wide alternate jersey campaign.
The Arizona helmets are also different this season depending on whether the team is home or away. This has nothing to do with the anniversary; it’s just rather good, old fashioned advertising. At Gila, financial institution Mountain America sponsors the Coyotes. On the road, the team’s helmet entitlement partner is care provider Dignity Health AZ.
After notching a victory over the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday, the Coyotes are now 3-4-1. They’re off until a date with the Blues in St. Louis on Feb. 2. Arizona sits in seventh place in the West. They’ll need to climb to at least the fourth spot to earn a playoff bid. The Yotes and their fans are hoping for a purple reign the rest of the winter to help get them there.