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.

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!

Isles Counting Down To Third Jersey

As of yesterday, we now know all of the third jersey launch dates. But it's still nice to get confirmations from the individual teams — and to know that they're as excited about all of this as we are.

Having said that, the New York Islanders' official web site now features a countdown at the top of the page. What's it counting down to? You guessed it.

That countdown appears to confirm November 1 as the big day. The bigger geeks among you will be able to pinpoint down the second, the time at which I made that screenshot above.

Anyway, I'm told the Isles are marketing the game as "Throwback Night" and they'll be facing the Montreal Canadiens. Shocker.

Thanks to Lucas for the tip!

Hey by the way, if you're still on the Islanders' web site, there's a cool feature you should check out about the guy who's in charge of getting the ice done at the Nassau Coliseum.

More Third Jerseys Next Week

I have new — reliable — information tonight regarding the various third jersey unveilings throughout the NHL.

As I mentioned in tonight's Live Chat, the Toronto Maple Leafs will be unveiling their new third jersey for the 2008-09 season on Monday, October 6.

It's expected they'll be wearing the same third jersey they did prior to last season — only it'll be Rbk EDGEd.

We already know the Oilers will follow with their unveiling a day later. Tonight's news is that the Atlanta Thrashers will follow Edmonton on Wednesday.

The rumor going around is that the Thrashers will don maroon with their name arched across the front of the sweater above the player's number — a lot like the Stars.

We'll know for sure next week though. And if you're interested in some other dates, I've made some updates to the Countdowns in the sidebar!

The dates seen there are not official from the teams but they are official from the NHL and Reebok. There are a bunch more — in fact, all of them — in the sidebar. Enjoy!

Flames Developing Third Jersey

According to an article in today's Calgary Sun, the Calgary Flames will sport a third jersey for the 2009-10 season. They're keeping the design under wraps until next fall.

Sun writer Steve MacFarlane spoke with Flames president Ken King about the new sweaters.

Excited, maybe even a little nervous, you'd think it would be tough for Ken King to keep the new design under wraps for an entire year.

After speaking with the Calgary Flames president about a third jersey the team is going to launch next fall, there's little doubt King will be able to keep the secret.

Four franchises have unveiled new alternates, with another 14 rumoured to be doing the same in the near future. King confessed the Flames are in the final stages of putting theirs together, but was tight-lipped about the new look.

"It's pretty much complete," said King. "We're working on one aspect of one shoulder patch that we're figuring out a little bit, but the rest is complete. It's 95% complete."

So the Flames will join the Minnesota Wild who are also rumored to be planning a third jersey for their 10th anniversary next season.

I hate to copy so much from a single article, but this is a good one filled with lots of new information. MacFarlane went into a little more of an explanation about what to expect from the new design. Sounds interesting.

Hazarding a guess after grilling a few people who have peeked at the new threads and trying to read between the lines of a 10-minute talk with King, the Flames sound like they're putting together something of a departure from their Flaming C design that has become a best-seller.

Not quite an out-of-nowhere fire-breathing horse head — the last crest to adorn an alternate jersey in Calgary — but definitely a new twist.

"It's a different look," said King. "We like to think we've got a reasonable feel for our audience. You look at what other people do. You do look at what the trends are. You look at what you're working from and then what you do is try and come up with something that isn't a compromise.

"You also have to have some courage."

They could make a return to a black base like the horse head sat on, or put the new logo on a classic look similar to one from their past.

"We took a lot of colours into consideration," said King, apologizing for being unable to reveal more. "We looked at black and we looked at red and we looked at variations of them, and I think we settled on something that will work."

Confident as he is the public will approve, King says the venture is always a little scary.

"I'm pretty comfortable, pretty confident people will appreciate it."

I like the idea of third jersey introducing third logos. The idea is that it's something different for the fans to look at on a given night. The Bruins didn't seem to understand this notion at all.

I'll start keeping a list of rumored third jerseys for 2009 once we get them all unveiled for this season. And for whatever it's worth, I'll level my guesses for next year's crop of thirds. Aside from the Wild and Flames, I'd bet on the Avalanche, Predators, Rangers and Capitals.

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?

Oilers Set Third Jersey Unveiling

The Edmonton Oilers announced tonight during a game webcast that they will officially unveil their new third jersey for the 2008-09 season on October 7.

A couple of readers sent in screenshots of the announcement.

Rumors have indicated the Oil will be one of a handful of clubs reverting to vintage alternate sweaters. They've always managed top-notch third jerseys and I expect nothing less this time. According to information I've received, they'll debut the jersey in a game five days later on October 12 against the Avalanche.

The unveiling is scheduled for 10 AM local time on that day — that's noon here in the east for me. I'll probably hold another Live Chat for that.

Thanks to everybody who sent in emails. Let the countdown begin!

Monday Afternoon Notes

I've got a few things to talk about this morning. I'll start with the IceHL. I had to disqualify a bunch of team names that were up for rating in the Central Division. It was pointed out that several of them have already been used by obscure or defunct pro teams.

I asked that you guys not submit ineligible names since I don't have the time to search everything submitted. Anyway, some of you may want to go back and adjust your ratings based on the names that were disqualified. There are links to those pages in the pollbar.

In other Icethetics related news, we surpassed the million-hit mark. Did it in under three months too. Thanks for continuing to check in, everyone. According to my stats, we've had over 400,000 unique visitors following Icethetics in the last three months. You guys are the reason I do this every day. Thanks again!

...
SANFORD'S MASK GETS PAINTED
Vancouver Canucks goalie Curtis Sanford decided to wear a fan-designed goalie mask this season. And after choosing his favorite last week, it's now been painted. The team's official web site had photos of the new mask.

It doesn't quite look how I thought it would, but I think it's still a great looking mask. I like the green eyes at the top.

...
REBRANDING THE NHL & PROJECT: IHA
Been getting a lot of questions about both of these. First, I can tell you I've talked with Matt and since school and work — designing logos — have him very busy and without much free time, it may be about six weeks before we see his Blues rebrand. Hope you don't mind waiting a little longer. If you do, too bad.

Nicolas, creator of the IHA, will have a statement for everyone later in the week regarding the future of the league we designed logos for here at Icethetics. At that point we'll also begin accepting logo submissions for the league itself. The IHA will need its own logo as well.

...
NO THIRD JERSEY NEWS
Over the weekend, the Sabres and Blues unveiled their new third jerseys but I was keeping an eye on the rest of the league to see if anyone else would have theirs on display at various fan events. The Senators, Coyotes, Blackhawks and Lightning all held festivities over the weekend but none showed a third jersey. We'll probably have to wait until November for most of them....
FAKE THIRD JERSEY NEWS
I've been getting a lot of emails from people saying they've found pictures of all the new third jerseys on various message boards. Well, what they're seeing are the concepts created by JerseyDatabase.com based off Howard Berger's descriptions. I'm writing this hoping to get those emails to stop.

Let's take a look at the concepts JB.com did versus the actual jersey — all of which they have on their site. We'll start with the Hurricanes.

Berger wrote about stars across the bottom but we know the images he had were really bad quality so it was probably difficult to make out. Though I think seeing dots around the sweater, it would've been a better guess to stick with the storm flag design. Next, the Bruins.

It seems this concept wasn't based entirely off Berger but maybe a little wishful thinking. The main differences are the drawstring collar, the gold stripe at the bottom and the word BRUINS in the logo. Berger never said it would be the BOSTON logo and the earlier images we saw kind of confirmed that. Now the Sabres.

Berger did say it would be a throwback but the low quality images probably precluded him from noticing the slight modifications. And finally, the Blues.

For this, I'm betting Berger was looking at something similar to the image I posted on Saturday. Because of the terrible quality of the image, the jersey appears to have black stripes on it and the gold's been washed out entirely. It's also hard to tell that the ends of the sleeves are white.

So there it is. JerseyDatabase.com appears to be basing their concepts off of good descriptions but these are by no means the actual jersey designs. For that, we'll have to keep an eye out the next few months. I'll be here keeping track of all of it.

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.