Hurricanes Put Flag On Ice

Seems like the Carolina Hurricanes have been dominating the news coverage here lately. Anyway, it looks like RBC Center crews are in the process of painting the ice with a new logo.

Check this out.

An image grabbed from the arena's webcam shows that the secondary logo will now be front and center. The logo — which depicts a tropical storm flag tied to a hockey stick and waving in the wind — has long been rumored to be on the front of the team's new third jersey which will be unveiled on Wednesday at this very arena.

For the record, last year the Hurricanes' 10th anniversary logo donned center ice. Before that it was the standard primary logo.

Thanks to Scott for the tip and link.

Toronto's New Ice Logo

I've got a quick follow up on a story form Tuesday talking about how the Toronto Maple Leafs are redesigning center ice at the Air Canada Centre this season. It's now been revealed in a video on the team's official web site.

You can see a screen grab from the video currently appearing on their home page or see it below.

I'd call it a huge improvement. What do you call it?

Hurricanes Tease Alternate Sweater

There's a new image on the front page of the Carolina Hurricanes' official web site teasing the unveiling event for their new third jersey next week.

The image and story link to the same article I wrote about yesterday. The only thing I found interesting was this new image.

What I'm interested in is whether they're actually going to use a black and white version of their primary logo as a shoulder patch on the new sweater or this is just a stylized/greyscaled photo. The white circle in the center of the logo makes me think the logo will be black and white.

Personally, I'd be a big fan of a clean, black and white logo. I'm not sure any other team has actually changed the colors of their logo for a third jersey. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

For reference, the Hurricanes will unveil their new third jersey to media and fans at a news conference on Wednesday, September 10. I'll post photos here as soon as they're available.

'Canes To Unveil Third Next Week

According to their official web site, the Carolina Hurricanes will become the first team to unveil their new third jersey for the upcoming season.

We previously believed the new sweaters would be shown first at the Caniac Carnival on September 21. Turns out that date is still significant since it's when the jerseys will initially go on sale. Here's the story from the team's web site.

Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team will reveal its new alternate uniform at a news conference on Sept. 10, at the RBC Center at 12:30 p.m. Media and fans are invited to attend the event and be the first to see the Hurricanes’ new look, which the team will wear for 15 home games this season.

Hurricanes center Eric Staal, defenseman Tim Gleason and goaltender Cam Ward will model the uniform at the press conference, skating out onto their home ice in the jerseys for the first time. Television and still cameras will be permitted to shoot the event from ice level. In addition, Rutherford will be available to comment on the sweaters and the process of developing the new look.

The alternate jerseys will go on sale to the general public for the first time on Sunday, Sept. 21 at the Caniac Carnival, the team’s annual season kick-off event. The Hurricanes will debut the sweaters in a game on Oct. 13, when they host the defending Stanley Cup champion Detroit Red Wings at the RBC Center.

So the excitement begins. We'll have photos of the new Hurricanes' third jerseys in less than a week!

I'll post photos here on the blog as soon as they are available. If any of you attend and want to send me pictures to post, I'd be more than happy to oblige.

Sabres Tease Third

The splash page for the Buffalo Sabres' official web site has what appears to be a new third jersey teaser on an ad promoting the sale of preseason tickets.

It's a close-up of a blue jersey with a yellow collar. There are laces and a silver section at the neck with the NHL shield. Here's the image appearing on the web site.

Remember, they will officially unveil the new third jersey two weeks from Saturday.

Thanks to everybody who sent in this info. And seriously, there were a lot of you. I appreciate that.

Leafs Redoing Centre Ice

Just as we're wrapping up our Center Ice Tournament, we learn things will be changing pretty drastically for one team — not the Canadiens. In fact, it's their arch-rival the Toronto Maple Leafs I'm talking about.

The man with all the info — allegedly — Howard Berger had the following to say on his Hockey Buzz blog tonight.

Fans attending games at the Air Canada Centre this season will notice a pair of significant changes. The centre-ice design will now feature a giant Leafs logo enveloping the entire circle, rather than the two smaller logos that previously flanked the checkered red line. I saw the updated art-work earlier today and it looks sharp.

For those with short term memory loss, here's what was entered into the competition for the Leafs.

Yeah, not surprisingly they saw a first-round exit from the tournament at the hands of the Blue Jackets. Should be interesting to see what they do this year. But don't count on Berger to provide pictures though. He's industrious enough to "see" things but can't quite show them to us. Ah, but he is a radio man after all, right?

Tip of the hat to Alan for the link. He's asked that anyone interested throw together a concept of what this new ice design might look like. My inbox awaits.

IIHF Gets An EDGE

I got an interesting email linking me to the International Ice Hockey Federation's web site. Apparently Reebok has now taken their shtick overseas.

There are jerseys in the Rbk EDGE style for the 14 teams in the Champions Hockey League — not quite sure what that's about. (I guess I could've read up.)

I have a passing interest in that one only because they Lightning are playing them in an exhibition game before hitting the ice in Prague against the Rangers for the season opener. I believe they are called Slovan Bratislava. (That was a copy/paste.)

Thanks to Paul for the info.

New Sabres Logo On Merchandise

The guys over at 3rd Man In allegedly stumbled across some Buffalo Sabres merchandise today with the new third jersey logo on it.

They snapped a couple of pics. Here's one of them.

credit: 3rd Man In

To see the other one, check out their blog. By the way, these are not pictures of the jerseys, obviously. I think they said they were t-shirts.

I have no reason to doubt the veracity of these pictures. Notice the silver outline around all of the elements of the logo. That's really the only thing that makes it "new." Otherwise it's just the old logo from the Sabres' early days.

So it's not conclusive evidence, but one more reason to believe that 18 days from now, this is the logo we'll be seeing on the Sabres' new third jersey.

Habs To Retire Roy's No. 33

According to CNN, the Montreal Canadiens will retire Patrick Roy's jersey No. 33 this November.

I have found no further information on the subject. However, TSN has.

Good for him!

Sanford Picks Mask Finalists

A few weeks ago the Vancouver Canucks held a competition on behalf of Curtis Sanford to design his new mask. They received over 300 designs from fans and artists and now the finalists have been posted on their official web site.

You can see galleries of Sanford's Top 10 favorites and the staff's Top 40. Some of them are amazingly well done. Others not so much. Go see for yourself.