New Third Jersey Image Leaks

Apparently, there's a guy or some illegitimate company selling bogus Rbk EDGE third jerseys on ebay. How do we know they're fake? Well for one thing, Reebok hasn't started shipping them yet. But that doesn't mean there weren't legitimate pictures of them.

The listings included six teams in all: the Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning. That's three teams that have officially unveiled them and three that haven't. Let's start with those.

There's nothing that we haven't already seen, but there are pics from different angles than what we've already seen. This is most helpful with the Coyotes in seeing what those sleeve stripes look like. But what makes me think these pictures show us what the actual jerseys will look like? Because of three others we've seen officially that were right.

Among the plethora of pictures were some close ups of the crests. First, the new ones...

...and then Atlanta's just because I thought it was a cool shot.

Thanks to Charlie for the tip on these pictures.

Hope that satisfies your itch for third jersey news tonight. I'll have more tomorrow, plus an announcement regarding the new banner some you have already noticed at the top of the page.

Freak Out Friday XLIII

Another short edition of Freak Out Friday is upon us. We'll dive right in, starting with the St. Louis Blues. Here's an interesting alternate jersey.

And what has the Detroit Red Wings' jersey been missing all these years? Wings?

I don't really get this one but someone obviously put at least 10 minutes into making it.

And finally, our buddy Dave Delisle from last time is back with more. What do all of these jerseys have in common?

Keep all your odd artwork coming so Freak Out Friday can continue!

Icethetics Season Preview, Part IV

NEW NHL LOGOS

The Icethetics Season Preview is winding down. All week I've been getting you caught up with what's new in the world of hockey as it pertains to the right side of your brain.

Unlike last season, no NHL clubs are introducing new primary logos this season. However with the re-introduction of third jerseys this fall — and I'll go deeper into this tomorrow — a handful of teams will have new marks for their new duds.

There's no better team to start with for this topic than the Buffalo Sabres. I know a number of tradition-loving fans are thrilled at the prospect of the team's original logo making its' return — even if it is on a part-time basis.

The updated classic logo with a darker blue and silver lining will be worn on the Sabres' third jersey this season. Some are even hoping this logo will eventually be promoted to full-time status. It's not unprecedented for a third jersey logo to eventually become a team's primary. The Blue Jackets and Blues both did it.

Speaking of the St. Louis Blues, they've also unveiled a new logo to go on their new third jersey. The main feature is the use of the Gateway Arch imagery but it's also got the classic circle style — similar to what the Wild did when they introduced their first and only third jersey in 2003.

It's a beautiful design and use of color and stays true to the original Blue Note. You have to hand it to the Blues for really getting this one right.

Technically, the Carolina Hurricanes also have something new on their new third jersey. This dark version of their primary logo can be found on the shoulders. It's nothing spectacular, but it sure is a nice touch. And I assure you it looks much better in context, on the black jersey.

But that's all for new NHL logos — officially. But leaks happen and there's no group in the world that can really keep a secret — except the ones that kill people. So over the course of the summer, a few logos have make their way to those of us interested enough in finding them.

We'll begin with the Los Angeles Kings, who will be unveiling a new third jersey next month. The logo seen here fits the description for what we've heard about this particular sweater. It was discovered on a governmental trademark web site. And while those web sites generally tend to use only black and white images, it's believed this logo as well as the jersey will be black and white — and maybe silver.

So I trust this image and fully expect to see it on the front of the Kings' new third jersey in November.

Another team with leaking logos is the Phoenix Coyotes. Two brand new logos turned up over the summer.

The logo on the left is expected to be on the front of the Coyotes' new third jersey — also expected for release next month. The one on the right, if I were to guess, will probably be on the shoulder of this jersey — if they use it on a uniform at all. It could just be one of those alternate logos that only gets used on a handful of merchandise. The Canucks, Senators and Sharks all have logos like that.

Along with these other leaked logos were a couple of new scripts that turned up for the Coyotes and the Boston Bruins.

This new script logo for the Bruins matches much better with the new logo they unveiled last year.

The New York Islanders and Edmonton Oilers are expected to go retro with their new third jerseys this season.

Technically, these aren't "new" logos but they are new additions for this season.

And that's that. We're expecting to see something new when the Thrashers, Lightning, Stars and Senators unveil their new third jerseys, but rumor has it they'll simply be text logos across the chest.

If you think I missed anything, shoot me an email and I'll be sure to add it. Otherwise, that does it for the this edition of the Icethetics Season Preview. Tomorrow is the last day of the Icethetics Season Preview (or is it?) and it's all about third jerseys. It's all the intelligence we've gathered this summer wrapped up in one big post.

Monday Afternoon Notes

I've got a few things to talk about this morning. I'll start with the IceHL. I had to disqualify a bunch of team names that were up for rating in the Central Division. It was pointed out that several of them have already been used by obscure or defunct pro teams.

I asked that you guys not submit ineligible names since I don't have the time to search everything submitted. Anyway, some of you may want to go back and adjust your ratings based on the names that were disqualified. There are links to those pages in the pollbar.

In other Icethetics related news, we surpassed the million-hit mark. Did it in under three months too. Thanks for continuing to check in, everyone. According to my stats, we've had over 400,000 unique visitors following Icethetics in the last three months. You guys are the reason I do this every day. Thanks again!

...
SANFORD'S MASK GETS PAINTED
Vancouver Canucks goalie Curtis Sanford decided to wear a fan-designed goalie mask this season. And after choosing his favorite last week, it's now been painted. The team's official web site had photos of the new mask.

It doesn't quite look how I thought it would, but I think it's still a great looking mask. I like the green eyes at the top.

...
REBRANDING THE NHL & PROJECT: IHA
Been getting a lot of questions about both of these. First, I can tell you I've talked with Matt and since school and work — designing logos — have him very busy and without much free time, it may be about six weeks before we see his Blues rebrand. Hope you don't mind waiting a little longer. If you do, too bad.

Nicolas, creator of the IHA, will have a statement for everyone later in the week regarding the future of the league we designed logos for here at Icethetics. At that point we'll also begin accepting logo submissions for the league itself. The IHA will need its own logo as well.

...
NO THIRD JERSEY NEWS
Over the weekend, the Sabres and Blues unveiled their new third jerseys but I was keeping an eye on the rest of the league to see if anyone else would have theirs on display at various fan events. The Senators, Coyotes, Blackhawks and Lightning all held festivities over the weekend but none showed a third jersey. We'll probably have to wait until November for most of them....
FAKE THIRD JERSEY NEWS
I've been getting a lot of emails from people saying they've found pictures of all the new third jerseys on various message boards. Well, what they're seeing are the concepts created by JerseyDatabase.com based off Howard Berger's descriptions. I'm writing this hoping to get those emails to stop.

Let's take a look at the concepts JB.com did versus the actual jersey — all of which they have on their site. We'll start with the Hurricanes.

Berger wrote about stars across the bottom but we know the images he had were really bad quality so it was probably difficult to make out. Though I think seeing dots around the sweater, it would've been a better guess to stick with the storm flag design. Next, the Bruins.

It seems this concept wasn't based entirely off Berger but maybe a little wishful thinking. The main differences are the drawstring collar, the gold stripe at the bottom and the word BRUINS in the logo. Berger never said it would be the BOSTON logo and the earlier images we saw kind of confirmed that. Now the Sabres.

Berger did say it would be a throwback but the low quality images probably precluded him from noticing the slight modifications. And finally, the Blues.

For this, I'm betting Berger was looking at something similar to the image I posted on Saturday. Because of the terrible quality of the image, the jersey appears to have black stripes on it and the gold's been washed out entirely. It's also hard to tell that the ends of the sleeves are white.

So there it is. JerseyDatabase.com appears to be basing their concepts off of good descriptions but these are by no means the actual jersey designs. For that, we'll have to keep an eye out the next few months. I'll be here keeping track of all of it.

Blues Unveil Third Jersey!

Today, the St. Louis Blues became the fourth team to unveil their third jersey for the 2008-09 season.

The team posted a photo gallery on their official web site shortly after the unveiling ceremony at FANfest. It features Brad Boyes wearing his brand new sweater.

Below you can see shot of the complete uniform and a close-up of the crest — a new logo featuring the iconic Gateway Arch.

From what I can tell, they kept the same pants but got new socks to match these sweaters. They've also dropped the lighter blue from their color scheme for this jersey. They have a very classic yet not retro feel to them.

The third jersey features the same numbering and lettering style as the regular home and road jerseys.

For what it's worth, it looks like the sneak peek I posted yesterday was dead on — just really terrible quality.

To the right you can check out the full photo gallery which now includes several pictures sent to me by folks who attended today's FANfest in St. Louis where the jersey was unveiled and on display.

As with all of the photo galleries, I'll add game action photos when the jerseys finally hit the ice.

Sneak Peek At Blues Alternate

I got an email from a reader earlier claiming to have scans of all of the new third jerseys. He's sent along what he says is the St. Louis Blues' new sweater. I can't say one way or another whether it's legitimate, but what could it hurt to share it?

We'll see the real thing tomorrow straight from the source anyway. So here's what was sent to me.

It's terrible quality. Nothing I can do about that, I guess. But if you squint and sort of tilt your head you can kind of make out the logo on the front. It's a white circle with the Blue Note and the Gateway Arch over it. It could also be the Virgin Mary.

Anyway, just a little something for you while we wait for the Blues to show us the actual jersey.

Official: Blues Tease New Third

The St. Louis Blues news keeps coming. According to the team's official web site, it's official. The Blues will unveil their new third jersey on Sunday at FANfest.

They even teased us with a new photo of the jersey itself.

Ok, so it is just the shoulder of the sweater, but it's still something. St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jeremy Rutherford did say they original Blue Note will appear on the shoulders. He got a chance to see it privately yesterday and wrote about it in his blog Morning Skate.

Naturally, the Blues have even more information for us. The jersey will go on sale November 19, two days before it is first scheduled to hit the ice. But at FANfest, there will be merchandise for sale with the new Gateway Arch logo that will don the front of the new sweaters.

Here's the team describes the new jersey.

In contrast to previous Blues uniforms which were (and are) primarily accented in royal blue and gold, the new third jersey and matching socks lean toward navy blue and white. Features of the third jersey include:
• A powerful base color of navy blue trimmed in white gold.
• A new logo on the crest of the jersey featuring the time-honored Blue Note against the Gateway Arch, the iconic symbol for the City of St. Louis, captured within a gold circle highlighted by the words St. Louis Blues.
• The Blue Note, in navy, trimmed in gold and white on each of the shoulders.
• Uniform numbers on the back and sleeves in white — a first for the Blues — trimmed in gold and navy.
• A classic, old-school draw string — another first for the team — at the base of the white-trimmed collar.
• Navy socks trimmed in white and gold will complement the on-ice look, resulting in a navy blue combination from head to toe – helmets, jersey, gloves, pants and socks.

They're certainly going to be blue. Can't wait to see it!

Freak Out Friday XLII

Freak Out Friday is finally back! After taking six weeks off, everybody's favorite series is making its' big return today. For those of you who just joined us in the last six weeks, take a look at some past Fridays. Some of the best ones were on the old blog. Basically, I take the opportunity every couple of weeks to showcase some of the weirdest and craziest concept art that turns up in my inbox.

Now, we're starting back up with an easy one. What did we last make fun on Freak Out Friday and what do we make fun of the most? Could it have been the Mighty Ducks' mid-90s third jerseys? What if they mated with the Kings?

Sticking with California for a moment, imagine if the Sharks went in an entirely different direction with their logo design.

That's not even the best one, and you'll notice that the majority of today's Freak Outs come by way of David Delisle who, while doing excellent work, sure ends up with some odd stuff.

Last month I featured a blog that was holding a competition to design the best Hurricanes/Whalers hybrid jersey for the franchise's 30th anniversary.

That's so scary it's actually good. And to all of you who think the Hurricanes' logo looks like a toilet flushing... this logo brings back memories of when my first goldfish died.

The Flames will be our next topic of discussion.

Check out that logo in the middle. The more astute among you will notice some things hiding in plain sight. The less astute will just be amused by this.

The Blue Jackets are next on our hit list. All this time and no one's ever made a concept showing jerseys that look like blue jackets. Until now.

How would that not get your team laughed off the ice?

Finally, a combination of odd designs by our new buddy Dave.

Yes, we get it. There are a lot of cabs in New York. By the way, the record needle on the end of a hockey stick is pretty funny.

One more thing, which isn't related to hockey but still funny. Kurt Snibbe of ESPN.com's Page 2 had some fun messing with NFL logos last week. I highly recommend a look even if you don't like football.

And that's all there is for this 42nd edition of the Freak Out Friday. I hope to be back in two weeks with a new crop of the ridiculous so make sure you guys keep them coming.

Blues To Unveil Third On Sunday

The St. Louis Blues will unveil their new third jersey this Sunday at FANfest, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Jeremy Rutherford wrote in his blog Morning Skate tonight that the new jersey was actually shown to him and he described it in detail.

The jersey is Navy blue with a circular logo on front. In the logo is a silver-stitched Arch with the Blue Note positioned inside the legs of the famous St. Louis monument. Above the circle, it reads “ST. LOUIS” and below it “BLUES.”

Upon further exploration, I noticed that the Blues’ new jersey (which will be worn at least 15 times this season) has the old-school draw-strings near the neck with white numbers, trimmed in Navy blue and gold. There is also a Bluenote crest on the shoulder of the jersey.

It’s hard to please everyone, but the team’s hard work appears to have paid off.

I won't post the entire write-up here but I highly recommend giving it a read. As for the vitals, the most important thing...

Fans will be introduced to the jersey this Sunday at FANfest, where five of the Blues players (Brad Boyes, Lee Stempniak, David Backes, Eric Brewer and Paul Kariya) will be showing them off on the ice. They will be available to order on Sunday but won’t be delivered until mid-November.

They will first hit the ice on November 21 when the Blues face the Anaheim Ducks. (Which team is going to look better? It's a landslide.) The Blues will wear the new sweaters for 10 home games and 5 road games — for an interesting change of pace. I'm assuming a schedule will be released at some point.

Another interesting note.

The Blues toyed with the idea of powder blue (which the team wore earlier in the franchise’s history), but the ‘Powers that be’ decided they want to move forward. Davidson reportedly was in favor of the Navy blue.

And also the Thrashers wear powder blue jerseys at home and the Penguins will supposedly wear powder blue thirds this year.

Finally, my thanks to everybody who got on top of this almost immediately. Drew, Leanna, Cody, Stephen and Adam... you guys should know you all sent me emails within 12 minutes of each other. Well done.

I'm excited and I'm not even a Blues fan. Can't wait to see what these jerseys look like. Don't forget that the Buffalo Sabres also have plans to unveil their third jersey on Saturday. Less suspense for that one though because of all the leaks. We're still having a Live Chat though and now I'm thinking we may do another on Sunday. Standby for that.

Blues "Close" To Unveiling

Coming on the heels of this morning's post is some interesting news regarding the St. Louis Blues' new third jerseys.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jeremy Rutherford mentioned in his blog, Morning Skate, today that the team is close to unveiling them.

I’m told the Blues are “really close” to unveiling their third jersey, which they will wear several times in 2008-09. Owner Dave Checketts hasn’t allowed the details of the jersey to leak out, but he tells me he’s very excited and thinks the fans will be proud of the new look. (Nothing could be as bad as the last time the Blues ventured into the third-jersey business ... remember the trumpets?)

I hate to correct him, but the last time the Blues ventured into the third jersey business, they kept it! The uniforms they wore prior to last year were third jerseys back when red was in their color scheme. They adopted those jerseys when they phased out the red.

So "really close," you say? As I mentioned this morning, FANfest is this weekend. That's pretty close. I'm not completely convinced but if for no other reason than I feel like there's a strong possibility of an unveiling, I'm adding the date to the countdowns. Don't hold it against me if I end up being wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

Cross your fingers, Blues fans.