The “Screagle” has landed!
This morning, the Washington Capitals announced they would be bringing back their “Screaming Eagle” uniform for a series of games in 2024-25 as part of the franchise’s 50th anniversary celebrations. This is not a permanent third jersey (which must be used for at least three seasons) but a one-season anniversary special.
It’s essentially the Reverse Retro 2.0 uniform the Capitals wore in 2022-23, which combined their late 1990s home jersey design (“screagle” + sash stripe) with their road jersey colours of black and bronze.
As that original home uniform did, the shoulder of this jersey also features the club’s secondary logo (and later their primary logo), which shows the U.S. Capitol building with two crossed hockey sticks and stars with the team’s name across it.
“The screaming eagle preying in the downward design direction is meant to evoke an eagle’s energy, power, and speed, chosen for its symbolic status as the national bird of the United States,” reads today’s release from the Capitals. “The shoulder patch includes the Capitol building in front of two crossed hockey sticks. The logo was completed with two stars in the background and a hockey puck nested between the blades of the sticks.”
Washington will wear the black and bronze uniform six times this season, all of which will be played at home:
- November 6 vs Nashville Predators
- November 29 vs New York Islanders
- December 31 vs Boston Bruins
- January 18 vs Pittsburgh Penguins
- February 1 vs Winnipeg Jets
- April 13 vs Columbus Blue Jackets
The Capitals first introduced this logo on June 22, 1995 (on the very same day the Islanders unveiled their infamous “Fisherman” logo), the first rebrand in team history. They moved away from their classic red, white, and blue colour scheme with a lowercase “capitals” wordmark across the chest, which had been worn since their debut in 1974, and replaced it with a very modern black, bronze, and almost teal-like blue with an eagle logo.
“The new logo and new uniform represents a whole new era for the Washington Capitals,” team owner Abe Pollin said back in 1995. “This eagle depicts what we’re going to be about — aggressive, hard-charging winners.”
Three years later, with the new uniforms on their backs, the Capitals made their first trip to the Stanley Cup Final, getting swept by the Hall of Fame-stacked Detroit Red Wings in 1998. They dropped the uniform following the 2006 season in favour of their traditional colour scheme with a heavily modernized version of their original logo and uniforms. In the new colour scheme, the “Screagle” logo returned as part of the Reverse Retro uniform series in 2021 and then again in the same colourway in today’s release for 2022-23.
Jerseys will be available for purchase starting October 10, 2024, at the official NHL Shop.