Unveiling Dates Confirmed

I got some third jersey release dates confirmed. The Lightning, Coyotes and Flyers have been added to the Countdowns — so that means we've got everybody covered. All three are jerseys we've already seen via leaks, but it'll be nice to see what these teams do for official unveilings. By the way, these dates don't come from the teams, but rather Reebok.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will unveil their third jersey on Sunday, November 23. The Bolts play the Devils at home on that night so that could also be the on-ice debut of the sweaters. However, if they just use that date for the unveiling, the next game would be the day before Thanksgiving against the Rangers.

We'll wait and see as the dates get closer.

The Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers will be the last to unveil their third jerseys — doing so on Friday, November 28. I can't say if either jersey will make its on-ice debut that night, but both teams do have games.

The Coyotes play the Avalanche then the Sharks the following night. The Flyers face the Hurricanes on Friday and the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

And just to recap, out of 11 teams that yet to officially unveil their third jerseys, we've seen six of them either through official or unofficial leaks. The five sweaters we have not yet gotten a glimpse of belong to the Penguins, Stars, Sharks, Kings and Senators. So the rumors continue to swirl.

My the way, I'll have more image leaks later as well as news relating to the new banner at the top of the page.

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.

Coyotes Third Jersey Leaked!

The leaks just keep coming. Now we're getting our first glimpse at the new third jersey for the Phoenix Coyotes. I revealed the leaked image during tonight's Live Chat but not before first giving readers a 30-minute history lesson on the uniforms of the Coyotes franchise.

We went all the way back to 1972 and the Winnipeg Jets. But I won't bother with that here. If you're interested in it, check out the replay of the Live Chat. But first, here's the picture.

Just like we suspected, it's got the previously leaked logos featuring the leaping coyote and the coyote paw.

It's also got an unusual striping pattern around the sleeves which I'll have to see on a player before I form any opinions about. But otherwise, I think it looks great. The black works. It's got a clean, simple look and fits in well with the Coyotes home and road sweaters. And that's really all you can ask for.

What do you think? Leave a comment.

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.

Around The League

Time to get caught up on a bunch of news items from around the NHL. Get comfortable. This is a long one.

Vancouver Canucks goalie Curtis Sanford has decided on the fan-designed mask he'll be wearing this season. Hundreds of designs were submitted and the winner was announced yesterday on the team's web site.

I'll follow up when pictures of the final mask start popping up.

...
The Chicago Blackhawks recently attended a White Sox baseball game — I'm guessing to show the other hometown ball club that they don't love them any less than the Cubs even though they'll be playing in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field. But they were wearing some unusual jerseys for the occasion.

See what I mean? Let's just hope they never make it on the ice.

...
The Los Angeles Kings continue to pimp their season tickets by offering a free third jersey no one's ever seen. Guess that's one way to avoid complaints. You can't whine about something that's free (...oh, wait a minute). There's an ad on their web site showing that ol' question mark jersey.

...
I got an email from an Atlanta Thrashers season ticket holder who asked his account rep about when the team would be unveiling their third jersey so he could get tickets for that game. He was told Friday, November 14 when they play the Hurricanes. That date coincides with what I've had in the sidebar....
Recently, a handful of new Phoenix Coyotes logos leaked and now it seems the team's own web site has some confirmation of at least one of them. A version of the new script logo in that post can be seen in the CoyotesFest logo.

The event is this Saturday at 11 AM. The team hasn't indicated any plans to unveil their third jersey... but neither did the Bruins.

...
Speaking of third jerseys, aside from the Sabres and Coyotes, a handful of other teams are holding fan events this weekend. Only the Sabres have mentioned anything about unveiling their third jersey, but it'll be worth keeping an eye on these other guys.

The Ottawa Senators will have their Fanfest on Saturday from 8 AM to 1:30 PM. They really want you waking up early for a Saturday morning. Anyway, on the agenda for the day is the grand opening of The Sens Store. Might they have certain new merchandise for sale? (Wink, wink.)

The Chicago Blackhawks have Training Camp Festival 2008 on the books for Saturday from 8 AM to 4 PM. The Bruins unveiled their new third jersey to very little fanfare. I'd expect the same from the Blackhawks who are likely to go with their standard black alternate that's been in service for over a decade now. Will they have it on display at this event?

The St. Louis Blues will hold FANfest on Sunday from 11 AM to 4 PM. There's a Q&A scheduled with head coach Andy Murray and president of hockey operations John Davidson with season ticket holders at 1:45 PM. I can almost guarantee someone will ask about third jerseys. What will the guys say?

That wraps things up for today. I wanted to get as much new information as I could in this post since it might be the only one I write today.

Logos Revealed In Public Docs

A rather industrious reporter for the Ottawa Citizen may have found some new third jersey logos. In his blog Hockey Capital, James Gordon writes, "Potential new logos and third jersey centrepieces are starting to trickle out of public document filings in the lead-up to the 2008/2009 NHL season and I've posted a few here for your perusal."

The new image we haven't seen before is this one, which appears to be the Los Angeles Kings logo described by Howard Berger last month.

He said, "The Kings will unveil a predominantly black jersey with the letters 'LA' inside a pencil-point logo on the front." If he's right, this appears to be our winner.

This concept jersey I posted a few days later is the closest yet.

It doesn't end there. A logo he found for the Coyotes all but confirms the logos I posted here and here.

Though this is the black and white version. I really love that logo, by the way.

And for whatever it's worth, Gordon also had this logo for the Edmonton Oilers' 30th anniversary celebration.

My unending appreciation goes to Greg at Puck Daddy for the tip as well as continuing to pimp Icethetics!

New Logos For 'Yotes, Bruins, Sabres

I saw a reader posted links to images of new logos for the Coyotes, Bruins and Sabres and figured I'd post them for everyone to see. (Also, it will serve as a backup in case the original images disappear at some point.)

I'm not worried so much about crediting the original person who got these graphics considering they probably shouldn't have had them in the first place. But this is the internet. What can you do?

We can start with Phoenix. First, we've got a better shot of the alleged third jersey logo I first posted last week.

It's an amazing looking logo. Let's hope the sweater design can live up to it. There's also what may be a secondary logo for the alternate jersey along with a brand new wordmark.

Nothing bad to say about either of those.

The Bruins have a new wordmark as well.

Very cool. And we've got a bit of a better look at the vintage logo the Sabres will wear on their thirds.

Thanks to Resist The Machine for finding all of those. If you guys come across anything else, email me and we'll let the world know.

Inspiring Concepts

It's been a while since I've done a concept post. But as you know I've been busy redesigning the blog this weekend (again). Before I get into today's artwork — and there's a lot of it — I wanted to share my inspiration for this latest round of design upgrades.

A reader and graphic artist named Guillaume Bellemare emailed me a couple of weeks ago about the design of Icethetics. He said he had some ideas for improving it and I asked him to send me whatever he came up with. I just wanted to show you guys what he sent.

First of all, Guillaume obviously does really great work. You can check out his web site for more like it. You can click on the images above to enlarge them. On the left is the logo he created. I don't plan on using it (not a big fan of the font) but I do like the concept a lot. And on the right you can see the site design he came up with. So I have to credit Guillaume with putting the idea of a pollbar in my head. It wasn't until I saw his design that it really clicked with me.

One of the main focuses of this site is the polls. Why am I letting them get buried in pages of posts? It didn't make any sense. Now you have a quick at-a-glance way of seeing what you can vote on — and how long you have left to do so. That was the main element I took away from his demo here.

As for the rest of it, like I told him, the majority of the people who visit Icethetics are designers or otherwise artsy people who tend to use higher resolution monitors. Tiny text is difficult to read so I prefer large text and lots of spacing. I also widened the page for the same reason. Anyway, there's no need to beat this to death, so I'm not going to go into anymore details unless specifically asked.

If you have any questions, email me or comment. Now for today's concept art...

We're beginning with the Ducks because I have two great logo designs for them.

This one I like a lot but it's funny to me that, like the Canucks, the uniform would feature a prominent color not in the actual logo itself. The designer created orange uniforms for this concept. Still a great logo. The next one, I don't know.

It is quite duck-like, but I'm not sure that's winning it points. A little detailed perhaps, it makes great use of Anaheim's new colors. Moving on now to the Coyotes.

I think this logo would be improved by filling in the moon with a color. And while I like Phoenix's actual logo better, in this one, the coyote actually appears to be howling.

Another interesting Sabres design to add to the pile.

Simple, straightforward, traditional. Nothing wrong with that.

The next piece is based off an Islanders concept logo I posted here about a month ago.

Those are some nice jerseys and I can't see how the club from Long Island could go wrong with a logo like that.

We'll finish things off with a little something for the Quebecois population out there still missing the Nordiques. Here's what the old club might've looked like in today's Rbk EDGE sweaters.

Not bad at all.

Alternates From A Fan

In combing through my inbox I came across a set of third jersey designs one reader sent in recently. There's 18 in all but I'm going to start with six — my favorites of the bunch.

An obvious win for a Hurricanes alternate sweater would be this one.

Though it steals a page out of L.A.'s book with the locator on the front of the sweater, it's not a bad look. Speaking of the Kings...

...how about a purple jersey with the Gretzky-era logo? One of my favorite logos has to be the new alternate unveiled by the Canucks last summer. I'm dying to see it on a uniform.

As far as that jersey goes though, sort of reminds me of the Whalers. But I do like the green. A lot!

Of the few things we have confirmation of regarding next year's third jerseys, is that the Blues will use a new logo that incorporates the Gateway Arch. Here's another concept with that in mind.

It may not be a new logo but it does include the arch.

I know many of you are opposed to black third jerseys, but I think they work for teams that actually have color in their regular home sweaters — the Sharks and Coyotes, for example.

I love that shield logo too. And here's a unique take on Phoenix's logo.

I'll have more from this artist in the future. In the meantime, stick around. I'll be posting information about the brand new International Hockey Association logo project a little later this evening.

Coyotes Logo Evolution

I've been going though my computer to clear off a bunch of old files when I came across an interesting video clip. It was posted on the Phoenix Coyotes web site a few years ago when they unveiled their new (current) logo. As a person who comes from the video/animation world, I was fascinated by it and I thought I'd share it on this Sunday morning.

Now, just to be clear this video is property of the Coyotes hockey club and I have nothing to do with it. I'm just a fan and I wanted to share it with you guys. Someone obviously put a lot of effort into it.

But what sort of person would I be if I didn't also have concept art for you?

These two logo sets come from the same designer and I think they're equally cool.

This one I felt was confused. You're either using the moon as a C or not — you can't have it both ways without it being weird.

And to finish... this is something I don't really like to do, but I'm making an exception. Occasionally when I post a concept logo, I'll get emails from people with adjustments to that design. And I tend to not post them because I feel like it takes away from the original artist's work. Here, I believe it helps it.

Back on NHLToL, I posted this Coyotes logo set by designer Sigma Kappa. But one reader made some tweaks to the second logo.

I like this one just as much as the original. Both have their pros and cons but I figured I'd post it so you guys could decide which you thought was better.