We're approaching the two month mark until the start of the National Hockey League's 2026-27 season and the Montreal Canadiens are hoping that it'll be another memorable one after reaching the Eastern Conference Final this spring.
For the Canadiens, and all other clubs in the league, there's some noteworthy changes coming this fall. An 84-game regular season and shortened preseason schedule are among the highlights in the new collective bargaining agreement (CBA), which officially goes into effect on September 16th.
Aside from the new CBA, fans of all 32 teams will have something else to look forward to in the coming months - new uniforms. Remember Adidas' Reverse Retro and Reverse Retro 2.0 programs? Something similar is coming this season with a new league-wide jersey program between the NHL and Fanatics.
Montreal Canadiens to reportedly wear new jersey as part of league-wide program
In early January, a post circulated on Reddit which revealed details about a new league-wide jersey program, which will reportedly be called Hometown Remix. The jerseys will tie into a teams location/city. This theme has been used by other major sports leagues in North America as well, including Major League Baseball with their City Connect uniforms.
According to the initial Reddit post, the primary colour of the Canadiens' Hometown Remix uniform was expected to be navy blue. Montreal Canadiens fans have mixed feelings about blue uniforms after their first Reverse Retro, which was the same shade of blue that the club wears through the middle of their home jerseys.
Then in 2022-23, when the NHL and Adidas released the second round of Reverse Retro jerseys, the Canadiens went a bit off the board and donned a uniform with a powder blue base, a nod to the Montreal Expos, a Major League Baseball team that played in the city from 1969 until 2004, when they were relocated to Washington D.C.
While I personally don't buy into the whole success or lack of on-ice success based on the jersey a team wears any given night, Canadiens fans could not wait for them to pack up the blue sweaters for good. In 2021, the Canadiens won just once wearing their first Reverse Retro jersey and in their 2.0 uniform, the club went 1-6-1.
Thankfully for Canadiens fans, it appears that the initial post on Reddit featured some conflicting information, with Chris Smith of Icethetics revealing in late-May that he's hearing white will be the base colour for Montreal's Hometown Remix jersey.
"The last one in this group is more of a question mark. Some reports have had the Montreal Canadiens base colour as a dark blue, but I have a report that it's white. That's an odd conflict, but what if it's not that clear-cut?" Smith said.
In an update video on his YouTube channel last month, Smith gave some more details into Montreal's Hometown Remix jersey, saying it won't look like anything the club has worn in their nearly 117-year history and that the colour blue won't feature much on the uniform.
"The Montreal Canadiens will go with a look absolutely unlike anything in their history, according to multiple sources. I've recently been told it's mostly white and red, with a bit of silver and very little blue. This contradicts an early report that the Habs Remix jersey would have a blue base." Smith said.
The Canadiens haven't strayed far from their classic look over the last 90 years, so they have a unique opportunity in front of themselves to get creative with the Hometown Remix program.
It's unclear when the National Hockey League and Fanatics plan to unveil all 32 Hometown Remix jerseys, but I would assume we'll start to see some teasers, along with the announcement, closer to opening night in late-September.
Four jerseys for the Montreal Canadiens next season?
In addition to their traditional home and away jerseys, along with the Hometown Remix, the Montreal Canadiens are likely going to wear four different uniforms this coming season. In late-October, the Montreal Canadiens will face the Winnipeg Jets in the 2026 Heritage Classic and with every outdoor game comes a new jersey.
There hasn't been any information or leaks regarding the Heritage Classic jerseys as of today - July 28th. Much like the Hometown Remix, I'm expecting an unveiling around opening night, especially just 26 days between then and the puck dropping on the Heritage Classic in Winnipeg.
Assuming that happens, which I don't see why it wouldn't, it would mark the first time since the 2009-10 season that the Montreal Canadiens will wear four jerseys in a single campaign. That season was the second year of Montreal's 100th anniversary celebrations, with the club bringing back several uniforms from the past.
During that season, the Canadiens wore five in total - their home, away, 1909-10 blue uniform, 1910-11 red uniform with a green leaf on the front and their 1912-13 barber pole jersey.
Stay tuned to Hockey Buzz for more information about Montreal's upcoming Hometown Remix and Heritage Classic jerseys in the months ahead.