Luongo Wears Captain's 'C'

I've gotten a ton of emails about this over the past week. Vancouver Canucks goalie Roberto Luongo was named captain of his club a week ago. Well that's big news by itself but here's the catch. Goalies aren't permitted to wear the "C" on their jersey.

So how did he get around that rule? That's where it becomes Icethetics news. He put it on his mask.

As you know, Luongo won the goalie mask tournament at NHLToL back in June. I'm considering doing one of those every year. But I'll wait until playoff time. I think I enjoyed that tournament the most out of any we've done.

By the way, the Oilers' third jersey will be up here shortly.

New Oilers Jersey Coming Today

The Edmonton Oilers will be unveiling their new third jersey today at 10 AM — noon here in the east. And they haven't been shy about letting folks know about it.

It's all over their web site.

They would also like to remind you to return to their site at 10 for the unveiling, which I'm guessing they will stream live. I'll have pictures up as soon as possible.

No Live Chat for this one. We'll do that tomorrow at 11:30 AM in anticipation of the unveiling of the Atlanta Thrashers third jersey. I don't know the specific time for that, but I'm assuming it'll be in the morning or early afternoon.

Maple Leafs Unveil Third Jersey!

The Toronto Maple Leafs unveiled their new third jersey today for the 2008-09 season at the launch of the Leafs Nation Mobile Fan Zone to kick off Blue & White Week.

The Leafs showcased the new duds without as much fanfare as some of the other teams have done this summer. Images grabbed from a video posted on the team's web site offer a first look at the sweaters.

It's exactly what we expected. No surprises. The same as what they wore prior to the Rbk EDGE era. The team made no indications of when the jersey will first hit the ice.

If you'd like to see the video in full, it's right here.

I'm really liking the way teams are offering embed links for their web videos. Makes it easier for me to show them to you.

So there it is!

No News Yet From Leafs

It's almost 6 PM in the east and we have yet to hear anything from the Toronto Maple Leafs regarding a third jersey announcement. I'm as confused as anybody since a lot of different things seemed to indicate today being the day — not the least of which being a schedule from Reebok.

I'll keep an eye out for the rest of the night and I expect emails from you guys should you hear anything first. But it's not looking good. There isn't even a mention of a third jersey on the Leafs' web site.

However, tomorrow is the unveiling date for the Edmonton Oilers' third jersey and they do have a graphic on their web site promoting the event.

That just leaves the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday and there still isn't anything official coming from them. Hmmm...

Maybe Reebok's having a little fun with us. Reebok, you kidders, you.

What Makes A Good Logo?

I was perusing some old issues of The Hockey News this morning. They're from almost a decade ago when I used to have a subscription. I was looking at the logo rankings for 1999 but something stuck out. I came across an article that has just as much relevance here at Icethetics today as it did then.

Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, is a great artist and a huge hockey fan — the essence of Icethetics. For those who don't know, he designed the Edmonton Oilers' third jersey logo you see on the left.

McFarlane was interviewed for this piece I was reading and was asked what he thought would make a good logo. So he came up with five guidelines. You can read the article below.

There's something about the Huntington Blizzard's logo that gives Todd McFarlane a chill.

Turnabout is fair play because McFarlane has been giving readers of Spawn comic chills for years. The Calgary-born artist has created a multi-million dollar entertainment and production industry sparked by his skill at drawing riveting images.

So, who better to evaluate logos than McFarlane? A self-professed hockey fanatic, he jumped at the chance to offer his two cents in THN's seventh annual minor pro hockey logo ranking.

In discussing the logos, McFarlane spawned five guidelines:

• Cartoony characters with hockey paraphernalia are silly. "A Solar Bear with RayBans? A Stingray with a stick? Why not have a Pirate with a knife instead of a stick in his mouth? So many of these logos would've been better if you get rid of the stick."


• The primary logo should be clean and uncluttered with words. "I'm pro image. Keep the city and nickname in the secondary logo or on a shoulder patch. The words are bigger than the icon in a lot of cases."


• Ditch the cartoon characters. Consider the audience. "Two groups of fans attend games: children and adults. Kids are outnumbered five to one and it's the adults who buy the merchandise. They're more likely to buy if it's a cool logo. Plus, it's hard to determine what's cool for kids. What's cool for a seven-year-old is definitely not cool for a 12-year-old."


• If you have to sell out and go with an animal caricature, "pick something menacing. Not a fish or a bird or a puppy. Be intimidating. Or at least be regal rather than dumpy."


• The logo should be big and bold. "You should be able to distinguish it even from the nosebleeds or on TV from your couch. Too much detail just adds to the clutter."

—Brian Costello

By the way, I'd link to this article if I knew it existed somewhere else in cyberspace. I literally retyped it from the old worn newsprint where I read it.

So, all you graphic artists out there, keep these tips in mind, not only when designing logos for the IceHL, but in all your future designing ventures.

Now, I'm not done with McFarlane yet. THN got him to make a best/worst list of minor pro logos for the 1999-2000 season. That would include the AHL, IHL and ECHL. I've built graphics so you can see the logos and make your own judgments.

McFARLANE'S BEST: Huntington Blizzard (ECHL), Hamilton Bulldogs (AHL), Houston Aeros (IHL), Johnstown Chiefs (ECHL), Hartford Wolf Pack (AHL), Chicago Wolves (IHL), Louisville Panthers (AHL), Florida Everblades (ECHL), Pee Dee Pride (ECHL) and Michigan K-Wings (IHL).

McFARLANE'S WORST: Greenville Grrrowl (ECHL), Toledo Storm (ECHL), Dayton Bombers (ECHL), South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL), Saint John Flames (AHL), Hershey Bears (AHL), Mississippi Sea Wolves (ECHL), Trenton Titans (ECHL), Jackson Bandits (ECHL) and Mobile Mysticks (ECHL).

I wonder what he'd say about the Stingrays today and how his best/worst lists may have changed in the last 10 years.

Garon's Pads A Prequel To Alternate?

I got lots of emails tonight about this so it must be worth posting. The Edmonton Journal is reporting that Mathieu Garon has a new set of pads designed to match the Edmonton Oilers' new vintage third jersey.

Apparently he's been breaking them in at practice.

Edmonton Oilers goaltender Mathieu Garon trotted out a stiff new pair of blue and orange goalie pads during a long practice at Millennium Place on Thursday morning.

Garon is the advance man for the Oilers' turn-back-the-clock third NHL jersey, which will likely be unveiled at their season and home opener Oct. 12.

Garon will be dressed from head to toe in blue and orange, apparently, because he's also getting a new painted goalie mask for the salute to the Oilers teams of the '80s.

The team's retro jersey likely will be unveiled next Tuesday on the Oilers website.

It would've been nice if they had offered pictures, but sometimes we don't have that kind of luck. If anything surfaces, you'll see it right here.

Icethetics Season Preview, Part V

NEW THIRD JERSEYS

This might be the greatest undertaking yet of the Icethetics Season Preview. All week it's been about logos. Today, I'm going to get you caught up on every detail of what has come and what is yet to come regarding the re-introduction of the NHL's third jersey program.

Four teams have unveiled third jerseys for this season — the Carolina Hurricanes, Buffalo Sabres, St. Louis Blues and the Boston Bruins, albeit under sketchy circumstances but I'll get to that in a minute. Fourteen other teams are expected to release new sweaters from now until the end of November. So we'll do this chronologically.

On September 10, the Carolina Hurricanes became the first team to unveil their new third jersey. They did so before a large crowd both in person and on the web when they streamed the event live on September 10.

As you can see, the new sweater is black with the secondary storm flag logo on the front. This aspect alone has brought criticism. For the record, the National Weather Service describes it as simply a "storm flag." Technically a hurricane signal is two flags together. But that would be impractical for a logo like this, wouldn't it?

A black and grey version of the primary logo is on the shoulders. Thick red and grey stripes wrap around the elbows angled downward. Stylized storm flags, similar to the home and road sweaters, wrap around the waist above a thin red stripe. The collar is red and grey and the numbers are red.

The Buffalo Sabres unveiled their third jersey to fans at Puck Drop 2008 on September 20. The Sabres have gotten the best response so far.

Their new sweater is a modern update to the original sweater they wore upon joining the NHL in 1970, with a darker blue and the addition of silver. The striping is reminiscent of the triple yellow stripes from that original look. Vertical silver piping has been added to the front along with a drawstring collar and the updated crest. Numbers are yellow and the shoulders are blank, leaving the primary logo out of this look completely.

The St. Louis Blues followed a day later with their third jersey unveiling on September 21 at FANfest. Theirs was the most original third jersey yet featuring a completely new design and logo.

The prominent feature of the new logo is the Gateway Arch beneath the classic Blue Note and the team's name within in a blue ring wrapped around it. The primary logo is a patch on the shoulders. White stripes lined with gold wrap around the forearms and waist. The cuffs are white. There's a drawstring collar and the numbers are white.

The Boston Bruins seemed to unveil their third jersey to season ticket holders at the State of the Bruins event on September 10 when Milac Lucic walked out onto the stage wearing it. According to Reebok's official launch schedule, the official date for the Bs is November 24. There's no game on that date so they may be planning some sort of unveiling ceremony.

What Lucic wore that night was a black jersey with three stripes around the elbows, identical to Bruins' home jersey. The collar is yellow and on the front is the secondary logo that reads BRUINS arched above a bear. The primary hub logo is a patch on the shoulders. Overall, it was disappointing compared to the other third jerseys we've now seen.

Next, the Toronto Maple Leafs are scheduled for an unveiling on Monday. It's expected they'll be wearing the same white vintage third jersey they wore prior to last season. It will have two blue stripes around the elbows and waist. I'm assuming it will have the blue shoulder yoke.

The Edmonton Oilers will debut their new third jersey live on the web on Tuesday. Don't be surprised to see the Oil go retro. Their new third jerseys are alleged to come from the Gretzky-Messier era. Hard to go wrong with a look like that. The bright blue and bright orange will finally make their return.

The Atlanta Thrashers will be the last team scheduled to unveil a third jersey in October. They'll do so on Wednesday, giving us three straight days of new third jerseys. The rumors here suggest that the word THRASHERS will be arched above the sweater number on a maroon jersey. There will also likely be a lot of white in the design. I have high hopes for this one.

The New York Islanders will be first to debut their new third jersey in November. The Isles had a countdown to November 1 on their official web site. But two days after I reported it, the countdown suddenly changed to the home opener. Interesting. But this team will also be going retro, looking back to the 1980s for their new sweater. All blue with orange numbers. Great combination!

Two days later the Chicago Blackhawks will unveil a new third jersey. This is expected to be one of the least surprising of the bunch. The Hawks will likely go with their classic black sweater. If they try something new, I might actually lose my mind.

On November 6, the Pittsburgh Penguins plan to make last year's powder blue Winter Classic sweater their new third jersey. Not sure how much different this one will be. But rumors circulated that the Sabres would simply introduce a blue version of their Winter Classic jersey and it ended up being much different.

The Vancouver Canucks will be the next to unveil a third jersey — on November 15. This date was confirmed on local radio by team president Chris Zimmerman yesterday. Another blue jersey is expected with the modernized stick-in-the-rink logo. New rumors suggest the Johnny Canuck V logo introduced last year will appear on the shoulders.

The Dallas Stars are set to unveil their third jersey on November 18. No game is scheduled for this date so perhaps the Stars will have a big unveiling event for this jersey. However, this one has bad rumors — a white version of the current home jersey. The word DALLAS arched above sweater number. Let's at least hope the text is in green. I was hoping for a green jersey.

Three days later the Sharks will unveil their new third jerseys. They'll likely be black with the full-body shark logo on the front (you can currently see it on the shoulders of the home and road sweaters). Maybe the new fin logo will make an appearance on the shoulders. Personally, I think that one's the best of the new set.

November 22 will be a double-header in terms of new third jerseys. The Los Angeles Kings will debut theirs which is said to be black with a new logo on front. Purple will apparently be hard to come by as the Kings, like the Oilers, look to their Gretzky days for inspiration. This is one I'm looking forward to and really hoping they don't screw up.

The other half of that double-header is the Ottawa Senators, also probably introducing a black third. It's said to have the word SENS angled upward across the front of the sweater. When Howard Berger described the jersey, he said it looked sharp. Yet his description sounded nothing like that. This one I'll be interested in seeing.

To finish out that weekend, the Tampa Bay Lightning will, for the first time, unveil a blue jersey. This third will supposedly have the word BOLTS angled downward across the front. As a Lightning fan, this one has me worried. But like I've said, I'll reserve judgment until I see it. I do like the idea of finally have a blue sweater, though.

The Philadelphia Flyers will be one of the last two teams to unveil a third jersey, doing so in the final weekend of November. Images have leaked so we know the Flyers are also going retro, with an orange jersey from the 1970s. The interesting thing about their jerseys will be the white nameplate on the back. It's been a while, since a nameplate wasn't the same color as the rest of the sweater.

Along with the Flyers, the Phoenix Coyotes will unveil a brand new third jersey on November 28. And I do mean "brand new." This black sweater will have a leaping coyote across the front, a logo that recently leaked. I'm also expecting another new logo on the shoulders. It's got a paw print with the team name in a circle around it. This is easily one of the jerseys I'm looking forward to the most. So naturally, it'll come at the end.

And so ends the Icethetics Season Preview — or does it? If you noticed in the sidebar, there's a Part 6 to this series with a question mark next to it. The Preview's big finale comes next week with a surprise I know you'll all enjoy. But it's going to take me some more time and effort to put together. If you're interested in helping out with it and you can keep a secret, email me right away!

Vote For Your Favorite Habs Jersey

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!

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.

Icethetics Season Preview, Part III

NEW MINOR LEAGUE LOGOS

The Icethetics Season Preview continues. All week, I'm getting you caught up with what's new in the world of hockey as it pertains to the right side of your brain.

Logos come and go — a lot like fashions. I find this especially true for the minor leagues. So it's time to get caught up on the new logos unveiled in 2008 — beginning with the AHL.

Not only did they get a new logo, but the Iowa Stars have a new name this season. They are now the Iowa Chops — much to the dismay of hockey fans everywhere. And they unveiled their new logo on July 9.

It pretty much speaks for itself. On, now, to the ECHL.

As part of their 15th anniversary celebration, the Charlotte Checkers unveiled a new logo midway through last season, on January 11 — delivering a great update to a previously childish look.

Don't mess with that bear.

The South Carolina Stingrays also got a new logo — which was unveiled on June 4 — and I'd bet money the same design firm that did the Checkers had a hand in this one. It even borrows from the same color palette.

Notice how much better these hockey logos look without hockey sticks? These are identities these teams can build on for a long time to come. Speaking of identity, the Stingrays also took the liberty of unveiling the other logos that go with their new branding.

One more ECHL club is getting a new logo. This summer the Texas Wildcatters relocated to California. The Ontario Reign unveiled their new logo on March 17 — before the corpse was even cold.

We'll finish things up with the Canadian Hockey League. The Prince George Cougars of the WHL got a much-needed update to their look with an unveiling on August 20.

The Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL will don a new logo to celebrate their 40th anniversary.

This is one case where I prefer the original. Consult the team's web site for more information.

Almost forgot one. The St. John's Fog Devils of the QMJHL are no more. The club is now simply the Montreal Juniors — or Club de hockey junior de Montréal.

A simple name with an even simpler logo. Thanks to Matt for catching that one for me.

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, we're looking at new logos around the NHL. Don't miss it!