Islanders Unveil Third Jersey!

The New York Islanders have officially unveiled their new third jersey for the 2008-09 season. It's the classic throwback from the 1970s featuring royal blue and orange.

A major improvement over the new EDGE jerseys they introduced last year.

Here you can see Bill Guerin modeling the new uniform — and we now see what the Isles meant by new "uniform." The last time they had a third jersey, the rest of the uniform remained the same.

Overall, it's a great look. It surprises me that more jerseys, like some of the throwback thirds that have been unveiled, weren't introduced as the primary jerseys last year when Reebok took over.

On their web site, the Islanders have a cool 360-degree view of Guerin in the new uniform. What's interesting is the way the horizontal stripes around the socks seem to be broken at the calf.

You can see a picture of what I'm talking about below.

This third jersey will make its game debut on Saturday when the Isles face the Montreal Canadiens for "Throwback Night." I'll be sure to grab some pictures from the game.

One more shot of Guerin in the new sweater.

Group photo! Bobby Nystrom, Josh Bailey, Mike Sillinger and Clark Gillies model the new sweater below.

Having not seen any high resolution images of the jersey, something I hadn't realized was the extra lines around the stick signifying the number of Stanley Cup championships.

"I think the new jerseys are fantastic," said Bob Nystrom, a member of the original 1972 Islanders squad. "The colors really bring me back to our early teams. I think the fans are really going to buy into the jerseys because anybody who saw the team when we played, will appreciate the original colors. Plus, I like the subtle change the made to add another strip to the stick, signifying the four Cups."

And if you want to watch the actual unveiling during the Islanders Business Club event today, here's the video.

So there it is. What do you think of the new uniform?

Thrashers Unveil Third Jersey!

The Atlanta Thrashers unveiled their new third jersey tonight before season ticket holders at the 2008 Face Off Event. The team also used the opportunity to introduce Niclas Havelid, Coby Armstrong, Ilya Kovalchuk, Slava Kozlov and Mathieu Schneider as alternate captains.

The Thrashers posted a bunch of great photos on their web site tonight, including these of Kovalchuk wearing the new sweater.

I think this is a great jersey if you can look past the front of it. I like sleeves, the logo element on the shoulders and the striping looks great. I just can't quite get past the text and the giant number on the front.

What sport is this again?

Look's like our sneak peek was right on the money again.

This post will be updated later.

Oilers Unveil Third Jersey!

The Edmonton Oilers became the sixth team to unveil their third jersey for the 2008-09 season. They did so today by launching a beautifully produced seven-minute video on their official web site.

The jersey is similar to the blue sweater worn prior to 1996 with a few slight tweaks. The collar has been changed and the 30th anniversary logo will be on the right shoulder. Here you can see the captains wearing their new duds.

And here's another great photo from the team's web site.

The video delves into the history of Oilers sweaters and it's explained that the fans were very much a part of the process of choosing the final design for this third jersey. Overall the video is very much worth watching whether you're an Oilers fan or not.

Even Todd McFarlane gets a shoutout. Funny, I just wrote a post about him yesterday.

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!

Blues Unveil Third Jersey!

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.

Sabres Unveil Third Jersey!

After weeks of speculation, the Buffalo Sabres have officially unveiled their new third jersey. The team broadcast the unveiling ceremony live on their web site.

They also made the official announcement of the new sweaters with this graphic.

The ceremony, which began after a team scrimmage, featured each member of the team stepping out onto the ice in the new sweater. Ryan Miller got things started, giving fans their very first look at the new duds.

It's a great redesign of their classic look — with an update of the logo and blue uniform.

We got a decent look at the full uniform when Maxim Afinogenov and Drew Stafford stepped out. You can see the Sabres will keep the sweater number on the front shoulder and add new socks to match the jersey.

You'll also notice a silver area under the arms in this picture of Teppo Numminen. They're very sharp jerseys.

Once everyone was out there, the players skated a few laps around the ice and waved goodbye to fans.

The Sabres had the following statement regarding the new sweaters on their web site.

Utilizing the original crest from the 1970s, the logo has undergone minor modifications for an overall vintage appearance.

“The first thing we wanted to do is go to our new color scheme, which is the deeper blue and gold,” said Director of Creative Services, Frank Cravotta. “After that we added the striping pattern, introduced some silver accents in it and put some silver vertical piping along the front… It makes for a new and unique look.”

The jersey also encompasses a tie at the collar to “reinforce the retro style,” according to Cravotta.

I couldn't agree more with Cravotta's statement. And to every person saying the vertical piping is "unnecessary"... can you please define what is necessary outside of a uniform that identifies a group of players as teammates? Stuff like that has me in stitches.

I've set up a photo gallery for the Sabres' third jersey. Right now, it's made up primarily of screenshots from the live broadcast of the event on Sabres TV. I'll add more images when they're available.

If I hear anything else or see any better photos of these sweaters, I'll be sure to keep you updated.

Bruins LEAK Third Jersey!

UPDATE (10/28 11:05 AM): Some of the information in this post has changed. This "unveiling" was technically a leak by the team. The official release date for the Bruins' third jersey is November 24. Click here for more info...

According to HubHockey.com, the Boston Bruins unveiled their new third jersey tonight at the State of the Bruins event.

The jerseys are basically what was expected — black with the secondary logo on the front and the primary logo on the shoulders. Sound familiar? It's exactly what we saw in the preview back in February.

Here are some pictures from Chris at HubHockey.com of Milan Lucic in the new sweater.

credit: Chris @ HubHockey.com

I find it a little strange that this news comes without any big fanfare. I guess the Bruins wanted to treat their season ticket holders to something special before taking it to the rest of the world.

My thanks to Chris at HubHockey.com for the heads up on this news and for posting the great pictures.

When the Bruins post something official on their web site, I'll be sure to let you know.

UPDATE (9/11 9:48 AM): Still no official pictures of the jersey from the Bruins, but they do have a quick little bit on their web site. In an article discussing the State of the Bruins event was the following.

A very special surprise came at the end of the festivities when Milan Lucic walked onto the ice to unveil the Bruins new third jersey. ... A touched Lucic said, “I love you, too” after being lauded by the crowd when he entered the rink.

And despite having a photo gallery from the event online, there are no pictures of Lucic in the third jersey. Still waiting...

UPDATE (9/12 10:20 AM): I've added a photo gallery for the Bruins' new third jersey. Because the Bruins have yet to post anything official, the gallery is currently made up only of photos from Chris at HubHockey.com.

I'll post more as I find them.

Hurricanes Unveil Third Jersey!

The Carolina Hurricanes became the first team to unveil their new third jersey. They did so at a new conference this afternoon which was streamed live via their official web site.

We even did a live blog today here at Icethetics.

As you can see from the picture, the new sweater is black with the team's secondary logo with the storm flag on the front. It features thick red and silver stripes around the arms and a red stripe around the waist. Above that red stripe is a stripe of storm flags similar to the ones on the regular home and road sweaters. The difference being the flags are black with silver outlining and a silver square in the middle. On the shoulders is the primary logo in black and grey.

These images are from the live video stream of the event.

The team made the following image available on their site so you can see the complete look.

It was announced that the jerseys would go on sale to the public at the Caniac Carnival next weekend. And on their official web site, there's a fact sheet outlining some interesting information.

The team began development on this jersey in October 2003. The release states, "With the popularity of the secondary logo and the way in which the Triangle is represented in that symbol, it made sense for it to serve as the focal point. Since our primary team colors are red, black and white, and our other sweaters are red and white, it made sense to choose black as the main color of this new look."

The release also confirms the new sweater will make its on-ice debut on October 13 when the 'Canes play the Red Wings. They also list the dates of 14 other home games when the jersey will be worn. Check out their official site for more information.

By the way, a reader who attended the event sent in some pictures from his cell phone.

All in all it was a short event but to the point. They brought out the players, talked a little bit about the design and development and said goodbye.

The jerseys look great and it's nice to finally see them. Up next: the Buffalo Sabres on September 20!

UPDATE (9/11 12:10 AM): Just like I did last year with the Rbk EDGE jerseys, I'm keeping galleries for each new third jersey that gets released.

You can now find photos of the Hurricanes' alternate sweater by clicking here. Check out the slideshow on the right.

But wait, there's more. In case you missed it, the Hurricanes posted the video from the unveiling on their web site. You can watch it there or on YouTube.

I think that about does it for the coverage of Carolina. Moving on to Boston next.

Kings Official; Who Else Is?

This isn't earth-shattering news or anything but I just thought I'd point out that the Kings have officially confirmed that they'll have a third jersey this season on their web site.

Season ticket holders will receive a free one — wonder if that means they think they'll have a hard time selling them.

Anyway, like I said it's not like we didn't know the Kings would have a third jersey this year, but amidst all the rumors I think we sometimes forget that very few of these alternate sweaters are officially confirmed yet and the carpet could be ripped out from under us at any time. So I still plan to keep a close eye on what the teams are saying — along with Howard Berger and other rumor-mongers.

Here's a rundown of teams that have confirmed a third jersey is some official capacity:

Sabres
Prior to the Winter Classic, Buffalo alluded to the use of a third jersey without setting a specific timetable when managing partner Larry Quinn said, "Our future retro jersey will be the dark blue sweater, so this maybe one of the last times our team wears this [white] jersey."

Kings
As stated above, Los Angeles has made their alternate sweater official by offering a "Kings Free Alternate Jersey (with mystery photo)" to season ticket holders.

Flyers
Philly was the first to confirm a third jersey last year, doing so within the online form to buy a new Rbk EDGE sweater. It read, "Black and white jerseys are available this year. A third orange jersey will be released next year."

Sharks
In May at San Jose's "State of the Sharks" event, CEO Greg Jamison confirmed a third jersey's existence by saying, "There is a good chance it will be black. It is still being decided on. I can tell you we get input from the fans, staff and the players. The players were very involved in the jerseys for this year. I think the third jersey will be very neat."

Those were the only teams for which I could find quotes on official web sites. I don't consider a media interview with a team executive to be an official confirmation, because that's not coming through team channels — if that makes any sense.

If you come across anything I haven't found, shoot me an email and I'll add it to the list.