They beat me to the punch. On their official web site, the Montreal Canadiens are holding a poll, asking you to vote for your favorite of the six newly unveiled Centennial Jerseys.
Click here to go cast your vote.
It'll be interesting to see which one is the most popular. I'm sure I'll have a poll like that on Icethetics at some point. Happy voting!
And no I'm not referring to concept art here. I mean actual jerseys that you can touch and, well, wear!
If you're bored, a Brit with a proclivity for thriftiness and a blog on NHL Connect at NHL.com has devised a technique for creating homemade hockey sweaters. He outlines it here.
So if you're unhappy with your team's present jersey offerings, stop griping and make your own. Seriously, your imagination is the only limit.
I realize this post is about five months old so my apologies for coming late to the party. But I thought many of you might appreciate it. Kudos to Ninh on coming up with the idea!
Charlie from Sabres Not Slugs pointed me to a cool new video from the Buffalo-based Artvoice. Buffalo Sabres creative services director Frank Cravotta is interviewed and talks about designing the third jersey and a new line of Sabres clothing that will be available soon.
You can watch the video right here on Icethetics.
He's done some awesome work there. I look forward to seeing what else that team comes up with. Any thoughts?
I've been trying to get some concept art posted a little more frequently. So since we're lacking any real news today, I can offer you these concept designs created by some of your fellow readers.
We'll start with the Kings and some ideas for their new third jersey.
And here's a series of various Kings logos from history in black and silver on a black sweater.
They don't all work, obviously. So let's get some color back in here.
I could really get behind a jersey like that.
Got a couple of concept logos to share as well. We'll start with the Blackhawks.
You already know I'm not a fan of their Indian head logo, but you can also be assured that I don't think this is the right direction. Very clean design though.
This would only work for the Islanders if the Rangers didn't exist. But this Big Apple imagery won't fly for the team on Long Island. Still, it's another excellent logo.
And we'll finish where we started — colorless.
These are some all-star game jersey ideas. Not bad, but very plain.
Seriously, nothing seems to be going on today. Yesterday I had five posts. Seven on Sunday. Today, I'm barely going to get this one to count for Thursday. Anyway, it was a nice break and it gave me some time to start putting together next week's Icethetics Season Preview.
Anyway, just so you guys aren't left with nothing tonight, I'll respond to a few of the emails I've been getting pretty frequently these days.
No, the Detroit Red Wings are not changing the nameplate lettering on their jerseys. This is something we seem to go through every year around this time.
During the regular season and playoffs, each player has a custom made arched nameplate on his back. Obviously, something of that nature requires considerable time and effort — something wasted on the dozens of guys who are only trying out in the preseason and won't actually make the team. So a simpler lettering process is put to use.
That's a sample of what they're using for the preseason. Everything will be back to normal once the regular season begins. Count on it.
Back in July, I wrote up a bit after the draft about the Ducks enlarging the wordmark on the front of the jerseys. There appears to be new evidence of that in photos of preseason action.
It's a step in the right direction, Anaheim. Now if you just drop the UCKS, you'll have a happy camper over here.
The Ottawa Sun, who I was recently mean to has pictures of Darth— pardon, Martin Gerber's new helmet.Gerber made waves last season by wearing an unpainted black goalie helmet. It earned him the nickname Darth. Apparently he liked it because he's had his new helmet painted like Darth Vader.
During the Goalie Mask Tournament at NHLToL several months ago, he was unsurprisingly defeated in the first round, garnering only 25% of the vote against Mathieu Garon.
That's all I've got for tonight. Hopefully there's more going on tomorrow. If nothing else, I'll at least have some concept art for your viewing pleasure.
The Montreal Canadiens have announced their plans for their 100th anniversary season. They also unveiled a collection of vintage sweaters which will be worn throughout the season along with the jersey for the NHL All-Star Game which will take place in Montreal in January.
Four separate vintage sweaters will be used this season. Two will be introduced in the 2009-10 season. An image posted on their official web site shows the new duds.
According to the team, there will be eight Centennial Jersey Nights throughout the season where the Habs will don retro sweaters — two games for each jersey. Before I detail the schedule, I'll tell you about the four jerseys.
1912-13
1915-16
1945-46
1970-71
Interestingly, the jersey they seem to be indicating as the 1970 vintage style is actually just what they wear on the road currently. However, all of the Centennial Jersey Nights take place in Montreal.
The first one is October 4 against the Panthers when they'll wear the 1970 jersey. On November 15 against the Flyers, they'll wear 1945. They'll don the 1915 sweaters on December 4 against the Rangers. And on February 1 they'll wear the 1912 jerseys against the Bruins.
Those jerseys are repeated in the same order for the last four Centennial Jersey Nights on February 21 against the Senators, March 14 when they face the Devils, a week later against the Maple Leafs, and on March 31 when they face the Blackhawks.
As I said, two more jerseys will be introduced for next year from 1909 and 1910. You can see them below. Oddly, they each have 08 on the sleeves but they aren't indicated for use until fall of 2009.
It's going to be a big year for the Habs. I look forward to seeing them in all of these vintage jerseys.
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.
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.
Training camp is underway for the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Gazette has photos. They're on the Habs Inside/Out blog. Why is that interesting?
They have this shot of Robert Lang, Georges Laraque and Alex Tanguay wearing their new red sweaters — with some new shoulder patches.
Obviously the right shoulder bears the new 100th anniversary logo — which can now be seen at center ice in the Bell Centre. Habs Inside/Out has a better picture.
What's not obvious is the patch on the left shoulder. You can make out something on Tanguay's sweater but it's out of focus in this picture yet clearly not the same as what's on the right. None of the other pictures I saw in the gallery show that shoulder. However, if I were to guess, I'd say it's the 2009 All-Star Game logo.
Most teams seem to wear the logo on the front of the jersey when they're hosting, but there's no reason it couldn't be up on the shoulder. So there you have it. If any new pictures turn up, I'll have them.
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.
blackhawks, blue jackets, blues, concepts, fan art, flames, freak out, jerseys, kings, logos, mighty ducks, rangers, sharks 