2024-2035 Fanatics
Jerseys |
Manufacturer: Fanatics
Material: Authentic Pro Home (Red): Nick Foligno Size 52 Away (White): TBD Winter Classic (2025): Teuvo Teräväinen Size 52 Alternate (2024-2025): TBD Size 52 |
Jersey History |
Well Fanatics must know where the bodies are buried as they have swept through the North American sports market taking up contracts for every major league possible. In March of 2023, the NHL would announce that Fanatics would be taking over as the main jersey manufacturer until the 2034-35 season. Fanatics would go the Reebok route and start off using the same factory Adidas did so the first iteration of these jerseys would be nearly identical to the previous Adidas jerseys. There were multiple minor changes with Fanatics getting rid of the dimpled shoulders (which really grew on me), they changed the look of the NHL shield ditching the chrome and making it holographic (doesn't show well in the picture), and the Adidas logo was replaced with the Fanatics logo on the back neck. In terms of naming conventions these have been labeled as Authentic Pro, but the material would be the same as the previous Adidas years. The jerseys still included a reinforced tie down fight strap, player tracker slot, and the reinforced elbows would be even more reinforced as board burns were a main issue with Adidas jerseys.
Fanatics would change up the tagging a bit here, while still having a neck line tag to denote authentics, they would also include a heat-pressed tag right below which would include a numerical size and the country of manufacturing. The hip tags included material and washing information as well as manufacture date.
Well Fanatics actually listened to fan feedback and have reintroduced authentic jerseys at retail! As cool as game worn and team issued jerseys are, my wallet does not feel the same way. To also help fans out pricing wise, they would still include a level down from the authentics, the Indo-zeros from Adidas, which would be labeled as "Premium" and would still have their replicas, labeled as "Breakaway", they sold during the Adidas era as well. All three tiers would be sold at Hawks retail stores. Fanatics gets a lot of bad press with the quality of their products, for very good reason, but I'll give them a lot of respect with the steps they've made here. With no sign of the Blackhawks Convention continuing, game worn jerseys (labeled as team issued) would continued to be sold through the team store.
Since Fanatics went the Reebok route of using Adidas' facilities for manufacturing, teams would have alternate jerseys in their first season. You know, it's like Chicago is a big hockey market or something because the Hawks are yet again selected to the Winter Classic in 2025 and again against the Blues and again at Wrigley Field. With all these outdoors games the Hawks have used up most of their older jersey styles, so they decided to design a jersey based off the older styles while giving it a modern, Chicago feel. Best part of these jerseys is the numbers on the back have pinstripes through them as a baseball reference. Similar to the 2019 Winter Classic, the fans would respond very positively to these jerseys and the Hawks would introduce them as an alternate jersey, without the patch, for three games to finish off the 2024-25 season.
My worst nightmare has come true...the Hawks have announced...an ad...a sports betting ad...from a sports book not even in Chicago!! I hate that I have to include these now, but luckily they're just patches so I don't have to wear them. The Hawks would announce Circa Sports to be their ad on their home jerseys for the 2024-25 season. With the Winter Classic, the Hawks would also wear the 2025 patch on these jerseys for the game. With the Hawks introducing their Winter Classic jersey as an alternate, a Circa Sports ad patch would be worn on these in the off white color.
Team History |
2024-2025: Well the start to this season had some pretty big changes. The Coyotes would unfortunately not make it under the ownership of Alex Meruelo and would be bought out by the NHL, who would then go on to sell it to Ryan Smith, owner of the Utah Jazz. Because of this the NHL has marked the Arizona Coyotes as inactive and are considering Utah an expansion team with the ability for the Coyotes to be reactivated as a team with a new owner down the line. Utah would not choose a name or brand this season though and would be dubbed Utah Hockey Club. They will be building their brand throughout the season. Another big change sees the All-Star Game being replaced by a new tournament named 4 Nations Face-Off. This would be a preview to the Olympics with NHL players representing Canada, Finland, Sweden, and USA. Otherwise the salary cap would increase this season. There would also be some minor rule changes regarding delay of game, icing off the face off, and players dislodging the net. The season would start again with the Global Series in Prague, Czechia between the Sabres and Devils on October 4th and 5th, 2024. The Stars and Panthers would also go overseas to Tampere, Finland on November 1st and 2nd, 2024. The Winter Classic would yet again have the Blackhawks hosting the Blues at Wrigley Field on December 31, 2024. The Stadium Series would be hosted at Ohio State University on March 1, 2025 with the Blue Jackets taking on the Red Wings. For the Blackhawks, Nick Foligno would be named the 35th Captain for the franchise most likely as a waiting period for Bedard to take over when he's ready. Well after another terrible start to the season, Luke Richardson would get the axe after 26 games. Anders Sorenson, Rockford's head coach, would be named interim head coach for the rest of the season. Now coached by Anders Sorenson and now captained by Nick Foligno.......will add more once the season progresses.
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Player History |
Nick Foligno: Nick Foligno is the crazy drunk uncle of the Blackhawks and I was very excited to hear he was being announced as the next captain. His work ethic and toughness make me want to run through a wall for him. I won't though because I'm a frail boy. Born in Buffalo, NY, Foligno would be drafted 28th overall by the Ottawa Senators in 2006. After a great junior career with the OHL Sudbury Wolves, he would join the AHL Binghamton Senators before making his debut with the Ottawa Senators for the 2007-08 season. He would quickly solidify himself as a bottom 6 energy forward and continue with the club for five season before being traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Marc Methot. He would have some of his best years points-wise with Columbus and eventually was named team captain after former captain Rick Nash left after the 2014-15 season. He would spend almost nine seasons with the Blue Jackets before being traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs, after being traded through the Sharks for Stefan Noesen, for a 4th round pick in 2021. He would get injured up north though and would miss most of the season. As a free agent, he decided to sign with the Boston Bruins where he earned his nickname of Uncle Nick by Jakub Lauko for his leadership skills. Foligno played for two season before then being traded with Taylor Hall to the Blackhawks for Ian Mitchell and Alec Regula. Uncle Nick would continue his leadership with the Hawks helping mentor Connor Bedard and eventually earning the captaincy after the 2023-24 season. He plays for the Hawks today.
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My favorite thing about Foligno is that he's tough without turning into a full goon. His physical ability and energy mixed with his leadership makes him a valuable asset that any team would want. Over his 17 seasons in the NHL, Foligno has played 1155 games while scoring 232 goals and 562 points. He's only hit the 20+ goal season once, but has also hit 30+ goals once in his best career season scoring 31 goals and 73 points in 2014-25. He's done just as well in the post season playing in 68 games while scoring 10 goals and 27 points. While he hasn't won the cup yet, he has collected some hardware and accolades. He was selected to the 2015 All-Star Game during his career best season. With his leadership abilities, he would collect the King Clancy Memorial Trophy and the Mark Messier Leadership Award both in 2017.
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Foligno is actually a dual citizen, US and Canada, and comes from a hockey great in his father Mike Foligno, who is from Canada. His brother Marcus Foligno also plays in the NHL, but with their dual citizenship, Marcus has selected to represent Canada while Nick represents the US. For the US, Foligno has played in the World U-17 Hockey Challenge and the IIHF World Championship in 2009, 2010, and 2016. Foligno seems like just a good guy on and off the ice, well maybe not as much on, but a good story about him, besides the amount of charities he's involved with, is that he would wear the number 71 as an inverse to his dad's number 17 until he joined the Bruins where he would let Taylor Hall keep his number 71 even though he had seniority. For those who don't know, a players number can be sacred to them so letting a player keep their number even though you could make them change it shows some respect. Also probably doesn't hurt he was able to wear his dad's number 17.
Teuvo Teräväinen: It's Turbo Time!! Who doesn't love this Finnish baby face! Well there's plenty of haters out there, but I'm not one of them. Born in Helsinki, Finland, Teuvo Teräväinen would be drafted 18th overall to the Blackhawks in 2012. Teräväinen would be a product of Jokerit's youth system and would eventually join the top team in 2011 at 17 years old. After being drafted, he would stay with Jokerit, even becoming captain for a short stint, for two more seasons before joining the Blackhawks towards the end of the 2013-14 season. He would quickly get sent to the AHL Rockford Icehogs and would start with them the next season before getting called up to the Blackhawks full time in 2014-15. He would make an immediate impact here helping the Hawks win the Stanley Cup! For some reason, Teräväinen kept ending up in Quenneville's doghouse though, never agreed with it, and after his second season with the Hawks he would be traded with Bryan Bickell to the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for the Ranger's 2016 second round pick and the Hawks 2017 third round pick. Teräväinen would have his best seasons with the Hurricanes, achieving career highs in points and having deep playoff runs. After 8 seasons with the Hurricanes, he would sign back with the Blackhawks and continues to play for them today.
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Teräväinen is the perfect middle six winger and supporting role to just about anyone. His vision and hands are lethal! He has currently played in 10 seasons in the NHL, playing in 670 games while scoring 155 goals and 459 points. He has scored 20+ goals in four of these seasons with a career high 76 points with the Hurricanes in 2018-19. He's done just as well in the post season playing in 90 games while scoring 23 goals and 50 points. For the Liiga, he's playing in 3 seasons playing 133 games while scoring 33 goals and 93 points. Similar to the NHL, for the Liiga post season he's played just as well playing 17 games while scoring 3 goals and 8 points. While Teräväinen hasn't won any personal accolades in his career yet, he has won the ultimate trophy, hoisting the Stanley Cup with the Blackhawks in the 2014-15 season.
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Teräväinen has represented Finland internationally at almost every level. Here's hoping he can join the team for the 2026 Olympics! In 2011 he would participate in the World U-17 Hockey Challenge, the IIHF U18 World Championship, and the Hlinka Gretzky Cup. In 2012, he would again participate in the IIHF U18 World Championship. As he got older he would go on to participate in the IIHF World Junior Championships in 2013 and would finally win gold in 2014. In 2016, he would be selected to the World Cup of Hockey Team. He would again join the men's team participating in the 2018 World Championship and would also participate in the 2025 4 Nations Faceoff. Like a lot of Finnish people, Teräväinen is pretty soft spoken, but also has no filter. One funny story about him is when he first came over to the Blackhawks. After spending the season with the team, he would be interviewed by a Helsinki news outlet who asked him about his experiences in North America. His reply would be that the "Female fans (in Chicago) are quite horny. They come really close." Here's hoping he enjoys his second stint with Chicago just as much!
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