2012 NHL Winter Classic: Potential Rangers Winter Classic Jersey Pops Up on Web

Every sports fan knows that Twitter is not the most reliable source when it comes to sports news. Yes, we all know that many sports writers, players, agents and even some owners tweet their musings to millions of followers around the world, but regardless, it is often better to have a secondary source other than Twitter when citing breaking news.

Regardless, Twitter was abuzz this weekend over this tweet in regards to information about a Rangers Winter Classic jersey being up for sale on the Internet.

This photo is a very interesting one because it claims to be the jersey of choice for the Rangers at the 2012 NHL Winter Classic.

Before reading too much into this, this article is simply taking a look at the jersey for what it is and how it would be an interesting choice for the Rangers to wear. I am not saying that this will be the jersey chosen by the Rangers; I am just critiquing the jersey for laughs.

I personally like the look of this jersey and I could care less whether or not it is a hoax or in fact an early-production leak.

There are a couple of aspects that make me think that this could be a direction the Rangers would go in. 

The first aspect of the jersey that indicates it could be a real design is the color. The white base color would be accurate as the Rangers will be the away team in the Winter Classic. The shade and complexion gives the feel of an old-time hockey classic. 

There have been many incarnations of the Rangers logo and this one is very interesting. It is a simple yet elegant logo that clearly displays the signature red, white and blue of the Broadway Blueshirts.

The next element of this jersey is the navy blue shoulder trim that is very similar to the design of the 85th anniversary heritage jersey. The color continues into the lettering on the back of the jersey and in the numbering. Lastly the heritage blue continues on the striping on the arms of the jersey.

Overall this jersey appears to be a cheap knock off made by an online jersey retailer. This could be a concept the Rangers decide to take a look into if they wanted to create a road heritage jersey,

Ultimately I believe they will choose to have the classic New York lettered diagonally across the front of the jersey.

Regardless, this is a pretty awesome jersey if it happens to be a fake one. If this were the real jersey, as a fan, I would be pleased and would buy one as soon as it hit the market.

This twitter story helped to break up the monotony of the summer months for Rangers fans who have just been starving for some hockey news.

Tom Urtz is an NHL Featured Columnist and is a member of  Bleacher Report's Official 2011 NHL Free Agency Coverage Team. For more NHL free agent news, updates and alerts about players:

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