Icethetics: NY Islanders Reverse Retro Fisherman to be blue and orange; no teal

The NHL is bringing back the Reverse Retro initiative for the 2022-23 season and it appears the NY Islanders will be bringing back the fisherman sweaters the franchise wore for a short while from 1995-1997. Whether you love it or you hate it, it's been long rumored that the Islanders would bring back the short-lived 90's sweater as an alternate, and it appears the organization has figured out the perfect way to resurrect the controversial uniform.

Stefen Rosner of NYIHockeyNow reported a few weeks ago that the Islanders Reverse Retro jersey will "encompass the Fisherman logo and style." Interestingly enough, he followed up the report with a fan poll gauging the fanbase's desire to see the fisherman jersey return, and the results were shockingly lopsided.

Almost 70% of 1,286 votes voted in favor of bringing back the Gorton's Fisherman crest as an alternate jersey. Following Rosner's report, Icethetics is also reporting that the Islanders are moving forward with the Fisherman logo and style, however, there is a surprising twist.

"After 25 years in exile, he's coming back. Multiple sources tell me the Isles' Reverse Retro design is based on their 1995 rebrand, which was wildly unpopular at the time, but has gained kind of a cult status in recent years. The twist is that the jersey will use current team colors only. Blue and Orange. No teal."

Icethetics

That's right, the teal is reportedly going to be eliminated from the cult classic jersey. Interestingly enough, when digging through the portfolios of former Adidas designers, Icethetics came across Alex English's portfolio containing an interesting unreleased black version of the original Reverse Retro concept.

The black design was seemingly pitched by Adidas, however, the Islanders turned down the idea and ultimately went with the dark blue uniforms we saw in the 2021 Reverse Retro initiative.

Maybe it shouldn't come as such a surprise that the Fisherman crest is possibly making its return. The Islanders team store, named Isles Lab, has been filled with Gorton Fisherman merchandise, and it appears possible that the team store has even released a sneak-peek of what the crest could look like with just current team colors:

Much like the smoke around a possible Nazem Kadri signing, there appears to be just as much smoke around the Islanders Reverse Retro 2.0 and the Fisherman jersey. For now, it's all speculation but the heat indicates this smoke leads to fire.