Another NHL Winter Classic is in the books after the Seattle Kraken blanked the Vegas Golden Knights by a score of 4-0 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle. This matchup was a special one as it pitted the NHL's newest club in Seattle against the second newest club in Vegas. As always, this event gives gear manufacturers and players the opportunity to showcase some special event graphics and even sneak in some unreleased graphics of upcoming models.
Bauer
Days before the event, Bauer released images of special edition graphics to be used by both Seattle and Vegas. We hadn't seen this before done for both teams so needless to say we thought this was pretty sweet, especially seen here in the hands of Seattle's Brandon Tanev.
Pulling a complete 180 on the special graphics approach, Golden Knights forward Jack Eichel was seen using a blacked out Bauer with no graphics whatsoever. We still believe Eichel is using a Supreme 2S Pro XL, but it's a blacked out stick, so of course it gets a thumbs up from HSM.
Ivan Barbashev was also spotted using a Bauer with custom graphics, but the design didn't match any of Bauer's currently released models. We think Barbashev and Bauer might have been teasing a model to be released at some point 2024.
Lastly for Bauer, we have this unreal white AG5NT from Alexander Wennberg. The standard AG5NT graphic is great is, but we know Wennberg loves the all white look (S/O RBZ Revolution) so this seemed like a no-brainer if you think about it.
Warrior
Last but certainly not least, Warrior had there guys kitted out with a clean white look, seen here in the hands of Vegas' William Karlsson. While not as flashy as some of the other graphics we saw, it was still a great look for the special occasion.
The outdoor games give us a great opportunity to see how creative manufacturers and players can get with their designs. The next time we'll see these creative efforts on display again will be the All-Star weekend in Toronto. We can't wait to see what players will pull out of their sleeves this year.