2022 NHL Heritage Classic jerseys revealed by Maple Leafs, Sabres ahead of their faceoff in Hamilton

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Published February 17, 2022 at 9:03 pm

Leafs classic jersey

The Toronto Maple Leafs and Buffalo Sabres have chosen their wardrobes for their clash in the 2022 Tim Hortons NHL Heritage Classic next month in Hamilton.

The Leafs revealed their uniform tonight (Feb. 17), 24 days ahead of the outdoor game at Tim Hortons Field, which will be the first NHL regular-season game in Hamilton in almost 30 years. Toronto will wear a jersey that pays homage to the original iteration of the franchise, the Toronto Arenas, with a simple and straightforward white T on the crest, framed by “Arenas” in blue lettering. The shade of blue is also darker than Toronto’s traditional colour.

Toronto went by the name Arenas during its nascence after the formation of the National Hockey League in 1917, since the team played at a building called the Arena Gardens. They won the NHL’s first Stanley Cup in 1918 (until 1926, the NHL champion played a championship series against the representative from a western pro league). The Toronto franchise became the St. Patricks in 1919. In 1927,  new principal investor Conn Smythe’s group bought the team and changed the name to Maple Leafs.

The Sabres’ jersey reveal was posted earlier on Thursday. The Sabres’ “heritage white-based uniform” features a front crest made with vintage felt, which is intended to show off the embroidered charging bison crest that the team introduced in 2019.

The most prominent Hamilton connection to both franchises is a hall-of-fame player. Hamilton native Dave Andreychuk, who has an arena named after him on Hamilton Mountain, scored the bulk of his 640 NHL goals with the Sabres and Leafs during his 23-season career.

Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas is known to be a long-time season-ticket holder of the Hamilton Tiger-Cats. On the Sabres roster, depth forward Mark Jankowski is a native of Dundas, who also played youth hockey in St. Catharines as a teenager.

The Heritage Classic has been held periodically in Canadian markets over the last two decades. Hamilton will be the second Canadian city without a team of its own to host one. In 2019, the Calgary Flames and Winnipeg Jets played at Mosaic Stadium in Regina.

The first Heritage Classic was held in Edmonton in November 2003, when the Oilers hosted the Montreal Canadiens at Commonwealth Stadium. It has also been held in Calgary (2011), Vancouver (2014) and Winnipeg (2016). In 2017, the Ottawa Senators also hosted an outdoor game at TD Place Stadium in the nation’s capital, but it was called the Centennial Classic to mark the league’s 100th birthday.

The Heritage Classic in Hamilton will be the NHL’s 35th outdoor game.

The NHL played seven neutral-site games in Hamilton at Copps Coliseum (now FirstOntario Centre) over two seasons from 1992 to ’94. Toronto went 1-1-1 in three starts at Copps, including a tie against the Florida Panthers in their last appearance there on March 23, 1994. (Until 2005, NHL regular-season games could end a tie.)

The Sabres were 0-2-0 at Copps, while the Montreal Canadiens and Winnipeg Jets each lost in their lone appearances. The league’s first lockout under Commissioner Gary Bettman in 1994-95 led to neutral-site games in North America being dropped from the schedule.

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