Penguins "Las Vegas Gold" Had a Good Run

The minute the Pittsburgh Penguins announced their new third jersey for the 2014-15 season, I knew it was the beginning of the end for the Penguins "Las Vegas gold" look.

The 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs will do just that.

The jersey on the left below will be worn for all home games for as long as the Penguins are in the playoffs. If you follow the team, you know that the "Pittsburgh gold" third jersey is the old road jersey from when the team went from blue and white to black and gold in 1980. It was the look until the 1992-93 season, when the team went with a different look that lasted a decade.

Since Monday morning, the Penguins have been promoting the jersey and that "Pittsburgh gold" for the playoffs.

We love GOLD! Details on the #Pens “Gold Rush” for the Stanley Cup playoffs: https://t.co/LBMrJLQysR pic.twitter.com/nxloivUGHR

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 11, 2016

Yeah, we do.

Sweet shirts, @PensGear! pic.twitter.com/i8Tm6PDhP9

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 11, 2016

Even the teams official website has turned Pittsburgh gold.

"Pittsburgh gold" which you can't find in any box of crayola, does look amazing, especially on the updated jersey. Also, keep in mind that Pittsburgh is the only sports city in America where all its professional teams have the same color scheme. Well... from 1980 to 2002.

The Penguins kept the "Pittsburgh gold" in their color scheme until 2002, when the popularity of their then third jersey, which has been the teams home jersey for the last 14 seasons, led to the Penguins adopting the "Las Vegas gold" look as their main home and road uniform.

LEFT: The Penguins first rendition of the "Las Vegas gold" from 2003-2007.
RIGHT: 2007-Present: Same jersey with the Reebok design.

The Las Vegas gold was popular when it became permanent. The Penguins were looking for a new persona (remember the "X Generation") and seeing the skating Penguin logo again caught the eyes of fans young and old, so changing the gold scheme a little bit would add an edge (and more profits with people having to buy new apparel, which will continue to happen as they go back to the old gold).

From 1992-2002, the Penguins wore these jerseys. If most franchises regret one thing from the 1990s, it would be their jersey designs.

There was "Pittsburgh gold", but it fell flat with the updated logo, and the road jersey on the far right could have been better. Like I said, 90s uniforms. Take a look, and realize how lucky you are to live in this current age of hockey jerseys.

LEFT:  Home jersey (1992-2002) MIDDLE: Road Jersey (1992-1997) RIGHT: Third Jersey (1996-1997) Road Jersey (1997-2002)

While the Penguins have not officially announced that they are ditching "Las Vegas gold" for 2016-17, they are slowly phasing it out by incorporating more "Pittsburgh gold" in their team store and promotions.

When the Penguins unveiled their 50th Anniversary logo, it probably made many think that "Pittsburgh gold" was coming back permanently.

When the Penguins qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs, here was their official playoff logo.

Yeah. It's over for "Las Vegas gold". It was a good run.

I do have one question. Will the Penguins rip out the "Vegas gold" seats at Consol Energy Center and replace them with "Pittsburgh gold" seats?