The Islanders’ “Reverse Retros” will be navy blue, and there’s nothing wrong with that

The Islanders are going the simple route for their new uniform for this coming season.

After much speculation, it was revealed yesterday the Isles’ reverse retro outfit will have them sporting a navy blue jersey.

Adidas Hockey showed a preview of all the colors the 31 NHL clubs will be using for the special program to be implemented this coming season when it begins.

The Islanders’ sweater having the number 80 on the back prompted fans to believe the jersey could feature the aesthetics and logo worn during the dynasty era. This was also pointed out by the New York Post’s Mollie Walker.

I had speculated a few weeks back whether the Isles would go the direction of paying homage to those championship teams of the early ‘80s, albeit with orange as the primary base. Clearly Adidas and the organization would be better suited with navy blue. And as much as some of the fanbase will find that color boring — they’ve made those thoughts well known since the clip dropped yesterday — it sticks to what this organization is about now: not being flashy.

We’ve seen what has happened in the past when the Islanders have tried to be that way. It didn’t work out, some way worse than others.

But it’s ok the Isles aren’t looking to have a jersey that pops.

The franchise hasn’t shown any sense of that kind of pizazz under the Lamoriello-Barry Trotz regime, so why start now? That’s not the way a Lou Lamoriello-esque organization operates and it’s not the kind of image he wants people to think of. Even when the franchise introduced their current third jersey back in 2018-19, it was a simple design and didn’t have an overwhelming “wow factor” to it.

Those jerseys might I add, are pretty damn nice and have sold well.

Regardless, the navy blue can be considered as a retro color in the annals of the franchise. The team donned the tone as both a home and road thread from 1998 until 2010 before it was replaced by the royal blue shade the team sports now.

Who doesn’t remember the famed getup being worn by Alexei Yashin and his trademark turtleneck or dare we say John Tavares in the Reebok-Edge threads?

Those might have not been the greatest days for the franchise, but there was some success.

Fans will get to see the full Isles look a few days from now when Adidas is expected to have an event where every team’s jersey is unveiled.

It should be an unassuming yet hopefully a solid look. That’s just what the Islanders are now.

And there’s nothing wrong with that.