Icethetics Season Preview, Part I

NEW SPECIALTY LOGOS

The Icethetics Season Preview begins today. All week, I'll do my best to get you caught up with what's new in the world of hockey as it pertains to the right side of your brain.

I consider specialty logos to be those that get sort of a one-time use — commemorative, tribute logos; anniversary logos and the like. And obviously there's no better place to start for the 2008-09 season than the Montreal Canadiens.

The Habs are launching a 100th birthday celebration that will span two seasons. For the event, they've created two logos.

The logo on the left can be seen on the right shoulder of Canadiens' home and road jerseys this season as well as doing double duty on the ice in the Bell Centre (more on that tomorrow). The one on the right will be featured on the the right shoulder of jerseys worn on Centennial Jersey Night — which brings us to our next logos.

On the eight Centennial Jersey Nights throughout the season, the team will don four different retro style sweaters, twice each. These jerseys will also feature the logo from that era.

The logo on the left is from the 1912-13 season. On the right is the 1915-16 logo. The Canadiens will also have throwbacks from 1945 and 1970, seen below.

The 1970 logo, right, is no different from the team's current logo — which is a cleaner version of the 1945 design, left.

The Habs aren't the only NHL club with a special anniversary this season. The Edmonton Oilers are celebrating 30 years — despite having been in existence for 37.

The Oilers were one of four teams that joined the NHL when the WHA folded in 1979.

Interestingly, all four were formed in 1972 but only the Oilers remain in their original city. The New England Whalers have become the Hurricanes (who celebrated 10 years last season), the Quebec Nordiques are now the Avalanche and the Winnipeg Jets are now the Coyotes. None of those three franchises are doing anything to mark their 30th year in the NHL.

Having said that, no other NHL teams are introducing anniversary logos this season. But for the record, this year is the 10th anniversary of the Atlanta Thrashers.

That brings us to the AHL. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have introduced a simple logo for their 10th anniversary. It features their skating penguin over a gold X with the years 1999 and 2009.

Oddly enough, this franchise has existed since 1981 when it joined the AHL as the Fredericton Express. In 1988, they became the Halifax Citadels and then the Cornwall Aces in 1993. But operations were shut down in 1996. The Pittsburgh Penguins resurrected the organization and moved it to Wilkes-Barre in 1999 — which is the year they count as their first.

The Norfolk Admirals are celebrating 20 years. This is interesting because for the first 11 years of its existence, the team played as the Hampton Roads Admirals of the ECHL. They were admitted into the AHL as an expansion franchise in 2000.

The anniversary mark incorporates a major element of the Hampton Roads logo — the large yellow ship anchor — yet stays true to the Norfolk logo and the addition of blue to their color scheme after becoming an affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Speaking of the ECHL, a couple of teams are turning 15 — last year, technically. The Charlotte Checkers and South Carolina Stingrays joined the ECHL in 1993 and so started their 15th anniversary celebrations last year.

On the left is the Checkers' logo — introduced last year — and the Stingrays logo on the right, which is new for this year (I believe). Both logos come with a completely new branding for the teams. We'll get a look at their new logos on Wednesday.

Back on the NHL side, the Columbus Blue Jackets are honoring their late founder and owner John H. McConnell who died in April.

It's a sharp logo bearing his initials, a silver star and red stripes. The logo will be used as a patch on the team's jerseys this season.

There's more information on the Blue Jackets' official web site.

We can't forget about those all-star game logos. Along with their centennial celebrations, the Montreal Canadiens will host the 2009 NHL All-Star Game. English and French versions of the logo have been released.

It's a cool design that tries to play off one of the 100th anniversary logo (see above). It also features the Habs' famous CH logo in full — a rarity among all-star logos since 1993, which typically feature only small elements of the host team's crest.

We can't leave out the minor leagues. The AHL's All-Star Classic will be hosted this year by the Worcester Sharks and the Reading Royals will host the ECHL's All-Star Game for the second time in four years.

And that about does it except for one thing — a special logo for a special event.

The Winter Classic will be held at Wrigley Field this season and feature the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings. The logo, left, works in the famous sign at the old ballpark.

For the game, the teams will don classic vintage sweaters — the Hawks in black and the Wings in white. I'll share pictures as soon as they surface.

Almost forgot a couple. Just like last year, the NHL is premiering its season in Europe.

On the left is NHL Premiere Prague featuring the Tampa Bay Lightning and New York Rangers. On the right is the Bridgestone-sponsored NHL Premiere Stockholm featuring the Pittsburgh Penguins and Ottawa Senators.

Now, I'm only human, so if you think I missed anything, shoot me an email and I'll be sure to add it. Otherwise, that wraps things up for the first day of the Icethetics Season Preview. See you back here for more tomorrow.

Face Time With Sabres' Artist

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?

Fans Get Creative

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.

The Slow News Day

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.

Habs Announce Plans For Centennial

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.

Sabres Repaint Center Ice

According to our friends over at Sabres Not Slugs, the Buffalo Sabres are going retro with the paint job on center ice at HSBC Arena.

Charlie has pictures posted of the rink.

credit: Charlie @ Sabres Not Slugs

This news isn't too surprising. A lot of you noticed that the center ice circle was empty at Puck Drop 2008. Obviously, having this logo painted there at that point would've given away the secret that the team was going with the vintage look this year with their third jersey.

Habs Jerseys Bear New Patches

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 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.

NHL 09 Had Chops Jerseys Right

Time for me to eat my words. Looks like NHL 09 did have the Iowa Chops' jerseys right after all.

For some reason, I completely missed the press conference where the Chops announced their logos and jerseys. Apparently their web site has a whole gallery — which features the following picture.

The jersey mockups on those boards look an awful lot like what the Ducks wear. Thanks to everybody who pointed out my failure on this. I really should pay more attention to the minor leagues, you know.

In fact, I should mention that this jersey looks an awful lot like the Augusta Lynx — with one color swapped. Right down to the numbers on the sleeves.

Yeah, now I'm starting to question everything.

THN Down To 8 Logos

I was all set to write an "Around The ECHL" post today to round out the week. But I honestly couldn't find anything. Either I'm really out of touch with the ECHL or there just isn't anything relevant out there to report on. Except for one thing.

Remember when The Hockey News kicked off their knockoff of NHLToL? Apparently they're down to their final 8 logos this week — the Elite 8, if you must.

Yeah, they even have a clever little graphic to go with it. We can let this serve as our ECHL news for the day. The Florida Everblades (my local team) and the Ontario Reign — ironically, they're from California — are in this special group. The Everblades beat out the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Reign topped the Minnesota Wild, shockingly. It's worth checking out the rest of the bracket.

It sort of makes me want to do something similar to see if we'd end up with the same results here. Based on past experience, I highly doubt it. That means it's time for a poll. Off to the right there you cast your vote. Should we try a multi-league logo tournament similar to but not exactly like what THN did or would that just be a waste of time?

Poll's open until Saturday at noon. I'm curious to see what everyone says.

UPDATE (2:17 PM): NHL Jeff brought up a good point with his comments. A few ECHL teams have unveiled new logos, albeit not recently, but still worth mentioning.

The South Carolina Stingrays have a new logo incredibly better than its predecessor. Easily one of my favorite new logos. It was unveiled by the team back in June.

It also has a couple of nice secondary logos to go with it, plus a new 15th anniversary logo. I'll go into all of these in more depth in the Season Preview in a couple weeks.

The Charlotte Checkers introduced a new primary logo — again, a huge improvement over what came before it. This logo is an anomaly because from what I've been reading it was introduced midway through last season — meaning the Checkers actually changed horses midstream.

They, like the Stingrays, also had a 15th anniversary logo. And again, I'll talk more about all of this in the Season Preview.

And then of course there's the Ontario Reign — the reincarnation of the Texas Wildcatters who were unable to stay in Beaumont. This logo is one of the final 8 in the THN tournament discussed above. It's a good logo, but better than the Wild? Really?

And while I'm on the ECHL, I might as well mention a couple of things I found interesting. The Columbia Inferno have suspended operations this year because of arena issues but will supposedly return next year. And the Toledo Walleye will also begin play then — they're the former Toledo Storm which ceased operations when the city decided to build a new arena.

It's all very confusing and strange. Stop playing for a year, then come back. Constant relocating. I think this is why I've never been able to get into minor league hockey.