The History of the Boston Bruins Sweater

BOSTON – Here's a look back at the evolution of the Bruins' uniform, which has included the most iterations in the history of North American professional sports.

1924-25

The Bruins are founded in 1924 and open their existence donning brown uniforms, with a turtleneck-type collar. The primary logo is a bear in between the words 'Boston' and 'Bruins,' and remains the same until 1932. This iteration of the B's sweater lasted just one season.

1925-26

In their second season, the Bruins go with a flashier white sweater that contains gold and brown stripes. Once again, these jerseys survived just one season.

1926-33

Boston switches things up again in 1926 and dons the sweaters during their first Stanley Cup title in 1929. This white sweater features gold and brown stripes along the entirety of the sleeves and a wider brown stripe towards the bottom of the jersey.

1932-35

The Bruins' primary logo changes to a brown, blocked 'B' with a gold outline. The striped pattern also becomes less intense, as two brown stripes sandwich a gold stripe on each sleeve around the elbow, surrounding the neck, and at the bottom of the sweater.

1935-40

In 1935, another major change is made as the primary logo is replaced with the player's number. The 'B' transitions to the sleeves, making it the first time the Bruins' jersey had a secondary patch. All of the brown was also changed to black, the stripes became thinner, and the gold stripe expanded.

1938-41

The Bruins introduce a second "number" sweater with the gold shoulder yoke replacing black. The arm stripes become one black and one gold. The 1939 Stanley Cup championship team wore these sweaters.

1939-48

A third "number" sweater which retains the gold shoulder yoke but changes the numbers and arm B from black to gold appears. The arm stripes switch order. The 1941 Stanley Cup championship team wore these sweaters.

1940-41, 1943-44, 1944-45

Boston debuts its first alternate jersey, an all-gold sweater with Bruins written across the front. It lasts until 1944.

1948-49

In honor of the team's 25th anniversary, the numbers on the front of the sweater are switched out for a Spoked-B, the logo that has now become synonymous with the franchise. The numbers '24' and '49' are inserted on each side of the 'B'. A secondary black jersey is also introduced with the blocked B as the primary logo.

1949-51

The Spoked-B becomes more of a block. The black sweater has its stripes tweaked and gold added around the neck.

1951-55

More stripes are added to the sleeves of the white sweater.

1955-58

The primary sweater is switched to gold. The black sweater has its blocked 'B' switched out for the Spoked-B and is used until 1958.

1958-59

Numbers are added to the sleeves of both the gold and white sweaters. The gold jersey has its sleeve stripes reduced.

1959-67

The stripes on the gold sweater are thinned considerably. A black jersey is re-introduced in 1959-60 with two large, gold stripes outlined by black and white along the bottom of the sweater - it lasts just one season.

1967-74

As the league prepares to expand, the Bruins switch up their sweaters. The gold jersey is eliminated, while black and white sweaters take over. Two gold stripes sandwich a white stripe with a black outline along the bottom of the sweater and around the elbows. There is one white stripe below the gold shoulder yoke, where laces are also added. Slight variations to the stripes and laces are made in 1968-69 and 1973-74, while, in an NHL first, a mesh jersey was used for a few games in the 1972-73 season.

A tie-collar was introduced for the 1967-68 campaign.

1974-76

The gold shoulder yokes go away, as do the laces. A V-neck style collar is introduced, while the Bruins also used nameplates for selected games. The first time was for a road game in New York City on Jan 4, 1974.

1976-77

A secondary logo - a bear's head - is added on the shoulders and nameplates on the back of the sweaters became permanent.

1977-95

Nameplates are added to the backs of the jerseys for the first time in 1977-78. Only slight changes to the numbers are made over nearly a 20-year stretch.

1991-92

The Bruins wore a special vintage jersey to mark the NHL's 75th anniversary.

1995-2006

New uniforms debut in 1995-96 as the Bruins move from Boston Garden to the FleetCenter (now known as TD Garden). These sweaters include a thicker gold outline along the Spoked-B, as well as a black Spoked-B on the black sweaters. The stripes at the bottom of the jersey, as well as around the elbows also change. An updated bear's head is added to the shoulders.

Boston also premieres a third jersey - affectionately known by some fans as the 'Pooh-Bear' sweater. It is gold with the bear's head as the primary logo and Bruins written on the shoulders. (We know you remember this one.)

2006-07

The gold bear sweater is retired, in favor of a new third jersey - a vintage black sweater based off Boston's traditional 1970s uniform.

2007-17

Reebok takes over as the NHL's uniform partner and Boston adds a serif to its Spoked-B. The bear shoulder logos are also replaced by a play off the Bruins' inaugural primary logo - a bear surrounded by the words 'Boston' and 'Bruins.' The stripes at the bottom of the sweater and around the elbows are switched from white-black-gold to gold-black-white.

2009-10

Boston also wears a gold jersey for the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park. The sweater has a rounded Spoked-B, reminiscent of the inaugural Spoked-B from the 1948-49 season.

2008-16

The primary black and white jerseys remain the same, but a third sweater is added. The 'Men in Black' jersey, as many fans called it, featured a V-neck collar with no laces. The logo from the shoulders of the black and white sweaters is placed on the front of the third jersey, while the Spoked-B is moved to the shoulders. There are no stripes along the bottom of the jersey.

2016-17

Boston switches up its third jersey, replacing the 'Men in Black' sweater with its jersey from the 2016 Winter Classic at Gillette Stadium. The sweater, with Boston Bruins and the team's original bear across the front, is based off of the Bruins first uniform.

2017-23; 2024-25

The National Hockey League and adidas debuted their partnership by unveiling the league's new ADIZERO jerseys. The Black & Gold's new threads contain only subtle variations from the sweaters they have worn since 2007, when Reebok took over the NHL's uniform design. The biggest difference was the removal of the extra outline in between the letters and numbers.

2019

The Bruins, set for yet another outdoor game, debut another specialty jersey for the 2019 NHL Winter Classic at Notre Dame Stadium. Similar to the sweaters from the 1932-36 seasons, the brown and gold uniform featured heritage materials and striping. Highlighting the throwback look, the crest featured the classic "B" logo from the team's home and away sweaters during those years, created with a carpet-like, two-layer felt application. To complete the theme, the player names and numbers also featured two-layer felt materials.

2019-23

The Bruins unveiled the sixth alternate jersey in team history, an homage to the uniforms of the 1940s and 50s. The jerseys were Boston's first permanent alternates since the 2016-17 season when the 2016 Winter Classic sweater was adopted as the team's third.

The all-black alternate, which was highlighted by a gold block-B as its centerpiece, featured single gold and white stripes around the elbows and bottom of the sweater, and an all-gold collar with gold lettering that matched the Bruins' primary jersey.

The sleeve and hem stripes were inspired by the Bruins unique numbered front jerseys from 1940-48.

2021

For the fifth time in team history, the Bruins went gold. Boston's first-ever Reverse Retro sweater was a remix of its home uniforms worn at Boston Garden from 1981-1995 during the Ray Bourque-Cam Neely era. It featured the non-serifed Spoked-B and the fan-favorite bear crest on the shoulders with a gold base instead of the traditional white. The Reverse Retro marked the first gold Bruins jersey in nearly 15 years.

2022-23

The Bruins' second Reverse Retro jersey focused on the original 1995 gold third jersey, which was worn in the first NHL third jersey game. The hem, sleeves, and stripes stayed authentic to the 1995 jersey, with the current NHL shield logo remixed in vintage orange and black colors. The original color of the third jersey, a gold base, was instead featured in a bright white.

2023

For the Bruins’ fifth outdoor game, their second NHL Winter Classic at Fenway Park, the team paid tribute to a number of different eras in club history all at once. The black jersey with bold, gold trim and stripes also included touches of "Vintage White" throughout, chiefly on the numbers, name plate, and 'Boston' lettering.

The light beige was "meant to evoke aged textile as if this garment was found in a trunk deep in the back of an old skate shop. The numbers, letters, and crest are a "vintage felt" with "decorative top stitch."

2023-24

The Bruins celebrated their Centennial with three new jerseys, a home, an away, and an alernate. The full details on each can be found here.

December 1, 2024

The Bruins marked their Centennial Game with a special jersey to be worn 100 years to the day of the franchise's first-ever game. Full details are here.

2025-beyond

The Boston Bruins unveiled a refreshed tandem of Spoked-B logos that will serve as the Club’s primary marks beginning with the 2025-26 season. The revitalized crest will be featured on the team’s new primary home and away uniform kits, developed in partnership with Fanatics and the National Hockey League.

It's termed by the team as a "a modern interpretation of a classic look, the revitalized crest combines the vintage spokes repped by Bruins legends such as Bobby Orr and Ray Borque with the contemporary serif varsity ‘B’ that has been featured on Causeway Street since 2007."

(Editor's note: this story was orginally published following the debut of the Bruins' new ADIZERO jerseys in 2017. The article has been updated to include all of the added jerseys Boston has worn since then. Some information from nhluniforms.com and Hockey Hall of Fame volunteer Jeff Miclash was used in this report.)