Kings Set Third Unveiling, Sked

Tonight the Los Angeles Kings officially announced their intentions to unveil their new third jersey via their official web site. They also released a schedule indicating when this new sweater would be worn.

They will unveil the alternate sweaters on November 22 when they take the ice against the Colorado Avalanche.

The Kings will wear their regular Crown/black home jerseys for pre-game warm-ups and change into the new sweaters before hitting the ice prior to the drop of the puck.

“I know our fans are anxiously awaiting this jersey and we are excited to unveil it,” said Kings President, Business Operations Luc Robitaille. “Everyone will want to get to that game early.”

The jersey is described as featuring "a modern look while echoing the history of the franchise." It will be worn for 12 home contests.

This image, showing the complete collection of past Kings sweaters, was included with the announcement.

I'll have pictures of the new sweater when they become available.

BlackArmor Coming Next Month

What is BlackArmor? Glad you asked. The San Jose Sharks have announced they will be unveiling their new third jersey — nicknamed BlackArmor for corporate sponsor Seagate — on November 21. The Sharks made this announcement today on their official web site.

I think it's a safe bet the jersey will be black. It will make its game debut on November 22 against the Washington Capitals. The Sharks also released a schedule of when the new alternate sweater would be worn — 14 games, including two on the road.

And as mentioned, the "BlackArmor" moniker was explained as follows: "The branding of the alternate sweater coincides with Seagate’s promotion of its BlackArmor™ product, the world’s first safe portable hard drive."

By the way, that's another date Icethetics had right. I'm as surprised as you are.

AHL Third Jersey Update, Part 4

Part 1 · Part 2 · Part 3

More AHL third jersey news to share tonight, beginning with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. They've apparently got new white third jerseys with the orange tiger on the front.

And I have a picture.

For reference, Bridgeport's regular home jersey is orange while their road sweater is blue.

The other team I'm reporting on is the Chicago Wolves. But they're kind of an enigma. From the photos I found, it looks like they've been using this white third jersey since last season.

If any Wolves fans are reading, maybe you can fill us in. Were the Wolves actually the first to sport a third jersey in the Rbk EDGE era?

And what's all this with white third jerseys? The regular white jersey for Chicago has the primary logo on the front instead of the text.

As always, if you've got a tip on AHL third jerseys, email me and I'll be happy to post it.

Phunny Photos

I was going through photo galleries from last night's games and came across some pictures that, while not all that relevant to Icethetics, were pretty funny so I thought I'd share them anyway.

This one looks normal enough.

Now enlarge the picture and look just above Mike Richards at the woman wearing green.

Miikka Kiprusoff appears a little vulnerable.

His eyes don't show it.

The Oilers' web site credits Steve MacIntyre's fight last night with changing the momentum of the game.

I wonder if his facial expression helped at all.

I got a kick out of those. Hopefully you did too.

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 VI

Now more than a week into the regular season, I'm not so sure this still qualifies as a "preview" anymore. But it required a lot of research and for each team to have played at least a handful of games. Why? Part 6 of the Icethetics Season Preview is new goalie masks!

Let's dive in, starting with the biggest and most controversial. Martin Brodeur. The man has worn the same mask design for nearly his entire career — until this season. And he only made one change.

The devil design culled from the New Jersey Devils' logo has been on his head for years. This year it's been replaced by a stylized MB30 to promote his new web site.

Still, Brodeur has one of the classic mask designs left in the league. And speaking of classic, Dwayne Roloson and Mathieu Garon will have special masks and equipment for games in which the Oilers' wear their third jersey this season.

Below you can see pictures of Garon's new regular and vintage masks along with Dwayne Roloson's new Grant Fuhr-inspired retro mask.

And while we're on third jerseys, Cam Ward has updated his mask to go with the Hurricanes' new third jersey.

He's even got the new black and grey shoulder patch logo on the back of his helmet.

Some goalies got new masks because they got new teams, like Alex Auld, Andrew Raycroft, Olaf Kolzig, Cristobal Huet and Patrick Lalime.

Some stayed with their teams but got new masks anyway, like Rick DiPietro, Martin Gerber, Miikka Kiprusoff, Tim Thomas and Henrik Lundqvist.

Curtis Sanford let the fans redesign his mask. And Peter Budaj just likes The Hulk.

The other big one is Roberto Luongo whose design really hasn't changed, but he did add that captain's C to the chin. I posted a picture yesterday.

That's really all I thought were worth pointing out. If you think there are others, email me pictures and I'll add them to the post. In the meantime, here's that list I was telling you about.

If I missed anybody, let me know and send a picture so I can add them. And as you may have noticed, I'm not counting rookie goalies. I'm just talking about established goalies with mask changes.

And so officially ends the Icethetics Season Preview. Hopefully we'll do it all again next October!

Third Jersey Leak Tonight

During tonight's Live Chat right here at Icethetics, I'll be leaking a brand new third jersey we haven't yet seen. And since we've already seen third jerseys for 11 of the 18 teams unveiling them, that leaves just seven more.

In the poll to the right, cast your vote as to which sweater you think it'll be. I'm kind of curious to see what the consensus is. Do you think it'll be the Stars, Kings, Islanders, Senators, Coyotes, Penguins or Sharks? It will be one of them and I'm really excited about it and I think most of you will like it.

So vote and then come back tonight at 10 PM eastern (that's 9 central, 8 mountain and 7 pacific). I know it's Saturday and that usually means game night, but if you're like me, you're stuck at home anyway watching hockey on TV. (Hopefully the Lightning don't plan to go 0-5 to start the season.)

By the way. Check back shortly. Part 6 of the Icethetics Season Preview will be posted tonight!

Another Third Jersey Leak?

I've scheduled a Live Chat for Saturday night at 10 PM EDT for those of you who can make it. And this time I have something to tantalize you with. I'll be showcasing a leaked image of yet another highly anticipated third jersey. And let me assure you it'll be worth the wait.

Which team is it? That'll be a surprise. But I will tell you it's one of the teams whose jersey we haven't seen yet. Could it be the Stars, Kings, Islanders, Senators, Coyotes, Penguins or Sharks?

Be here at Icethetics Saturday night at 10 to find out and be the first to see it!

Sun Picks Up Canucks Third

Icethetics and the leaked picture of the Canucks' new third jersey has made it to the home page of the Vancouver Sun this afternoon. Check it out! And here's the full story.

I spoke with the Sun's sports editor earlier today and he told me folks in Vancouver get really pumped over stuff like this. So I was happy to provide a non-watermarked image to them.

For those in Vancouver, I'm told the image may be appearing in print tomorrow. So keep an eye out for it and be sure to buy a copy of the paper!

Helmets Fighting Cancer

A couple of people wrote in asking about the stickers appearing on the backs of players' helmets. Since the Vancouver Canucks seem to be a hot topic as of late, I'll use them in my example.

For most teams, players are wearing two decals on the backs of their helmets. On the right, the NHL shield and on the left a square logo you can only make out up close. It's the Hockey Fights Cancer logo. However, for the Canucks, they're wearing both decals on the right side while they wear a tribute decal for Luc Bourdon on the left.

That's the back side of Alex Burrows, demonstrating this quite nicely. Goalie Roberto Luongo isn't bothering with the NHL shield but he does have the HFC and LB decals on the back of his mask.

And while we're on the subject of Luongo, he's either got a second mask or he repainted it to make the C on the chin white instead of blue.

Luongo was named captain of the Canucks but league rules prevent him from wearing the C on his chest.

Back to helmets for a moment. A couple other readers noticed that the Dallas Stars have made some modifications to the logo on theirs.

The green star within the gold star appears to have gone away in exchange for a large gold star on the black helmets.

Meanwhile, I can't tell if the star on the white helmets is still green or has been switched to black. Not enough good photos out there. But many have asked whether this is a sign of things to come in Dallas. Will the green go away completely, forever severing ties with the North Stars? I sure hope not.

By the way, the wait is almost over for Part 6 of the Icethetics Season Preview. It's coming this weekend.