Penn State’s men’s hockey program is honoring their deep roots with new throwback alternate uniforms, which they unveiled this week.
The Nittany Lions launched the uniforms on their website and social media channels on Wednesday, November 13, and will wear them on the ice for the first time against Big Ten rivals Wisconsin on Friday, November 15.
The jerseys borrow heavily from the Nittany Lions’ look in the 1940s, when Penn State’s hockey program was first founded. The white base has navy blue shoulders and a navy blue “PS” monogram on the front. Navy barberpole-style stripes adorn the sleeves and the socks. The navy blue numbers on the sleeves and back “mimics the number font used on the Generations of Greatness football jerseys,” while the contrasting nameplate on the back is navy blue with white lettering.
The retro look is rounded out by brown pants and gloves. The pants also feature an interlocking “PSU” logo used in the 1970s that has a puck between the P and the S. The helmets are navy blue, with a raised white “Penn State” logo on the sides and white player numbers on the front. For captains, the C appears in a navy blue keystone on the right chest.
“Penn State’s ice hockey tradition began well before we ever had a Division I program and we owe a debt of gratitude to those previous eras for establishing the foundation of Hockey Valley,” Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky said on the team’s website. “These throwback uniforms represent the different periods that helped build our program into what it is today and it’s our way of giving those teams a stick tap to the shins to express our appreciation to everyone that laid the foundation for the modern era of Penn State Hockey.”
Penn State played its first varsity hockey game on December 6, 1940, against Carnegie Tech. The program continued for four seasons until it was cut — along with cross country, swimming, gymnastics, tennis and golf — as part of cost-cutting measures during the Second World War. It returned for one season in 1946, but limited facilities meant it was once again dropped.
In 1971, 3,000 people signed a petition to bring hockey back to Penn State. The team — dubbed the Icers — played 41 seasons and won seven national championships before the Division I era began in 2012.
As a pure “start-up” team, it seemed too gaudy for them to display the name Penn State on the first jerseys. Thus, a custom logo was designed as a unique moniker for the front of the jersey. A creative, stylized amalgamation of letters and hockey imagery, the logo features the initials of Penn State University with two hockey sticks surrounding a puck in the negative space between the letters. The artist responsible for the design, a Penn State student, has remained anonymous despite multiple efforts.
— GoPSUSports.com
Following Friday’s game against Wisconsin — the first of a six-game homestand for Penn State — these alternate uniforms will enter their jersey lineup “as a true alternate to be worn multiple times throughout the next few seasons.”
