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.

Third Jersey Interpretations

A few weeks ago, the folks over at JerseyDatabase.com posted their interpretations of Howard Berger's descriptions of this year's new crop of third jerseys. I realized I hadn't written anything up about it yet.

These images are by no means official nor have they been created with any information beyond what Berger wrote — as far as I know. But I at least thought they made for an interesting discussion. Here are a few of the speculative designs.

credit: JerseyDatabase.com

For a complete look at what they've come up with, check out their web site. They have all 18 jerseys plus a couple of bonuses divided into two parts. Click for Part 1 and Part 2.

Remember, this is all speculation and nothing official has been confirmed yet. And for what it's worth, I understand NHL 09 is coming out soon and may feature the new third jerseys. If they do and someone can provide screenshots, I'd be happy to post them. But for official release dates, stay tuned to the Countdowns element in the sidebar.

'Canes To Debut Third Against Wings

An email that went out to Carolina Hurricanes season ticket holders today confirms the team's new third jersey will make its game debut on October 13 against the Detroit Red Wings.

Monday, October 13 vs. Detroit - The 'Canes will take on the reigning Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings in the Wings first return to the RBC Center since January 2005. While it already promises to be a thrilling match-up, the 'Canes will also be debuting their new alternate/3rd jersey on the ice!

That's as far as the email goes. It doesn't describe what the jersey will look like or make mention of the fact that the team has already said the sweater will first be unveiled at Caniac Carnival on September 21.

Thanks to Scott for the tip.

By the way, I fixed an error in the sidebar regarding Carolina's third jersey. The consensus of the rumors we've been hearing is that the secondary logo with the storm flag will be on the front of the sweater — not the primary logo like I had up there. The only difference I'm anticipating is that the triangle behind the flag will be white instead of black.

Wild Owner: Green Jersey Coming

Minnesota Wild fans longing for the return of the green jersey may have to wait only until next season. At a barbecue event for season ticket holders last week, I believe, owner Craig Leipold said the team was working on a green third jersey to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

You can listen to his comments in full via the latest PONDcast on the Wild's official web site. (If you're reading this in the future, it's #883.)

That reminds me. A couple of months ago, the Wild held a fan appreciation event where staffers were walking around with concept jerseys trying to get a feel for what folks would like from an alternate. Perhaps that had something to do with this. You can read more about it in the original post.

Thanks to Eric for the heads-up on this!

Jackets Also Without Alternate

The news just keeps coming. The Columbus Blue Jackets have become the third team to confirm they will not wear a third jersey this season. Eric Smith at HockeyBuzz interviewed Jackets Marketing VP Marc Gregory.

Smith: A lot of interest in regards to a 3rd jersey. Any plans for this?

Gregory: Not for this season. Last year was the first year for the new crest or the old 3rd jersey crest and we really want to leave time to have it build this identity. We have had several changes to the jersey in the past with different shoulder patches and really just wanted to give the current design time for the fans get comfortable with. Doing a 3rd jersey this early wasn’t something that we had planned. A 3rd jersey is on the radar but no time table has been set for a release.

So I'll keep an eye out for the possibility of a Blue Jackets alternate jersey in the future.

Ducks PR Confirms No Third

Not that this is going to come as a huge surprise to anyone, but the Anaheim Ducks will not be among the handful of teams wearing third jerseys this season. It was confirmed today on the team's official web site by PR man Adam Brady in his blog.

...there hasn't been anything official about this yet, but there is talk that several NHL teams will be adopting third jerseys for the 2008-09 season. I can tell you with 100 percent confidence that the Ducks will not be one of them. However, several clubs will apparently be following the Ducks' (and several other teams') lead by adding black jerseys, including the Kings (though they already have black jerseys), Bruins, Hurricanes, Sharks, Blackhawks, Senators and Coyotes.

Somebody's been reading Icethetics.

And in an effort to perhaps remind us why sometimes third jerseys are a bad idea, he shared the worst two in history.

But to that I have to add that I love that Kings logo and I actually own that horrible Ducks jersey. No shame here.

So you can now officially include the Ducks along with the Capitals on the list of teams that will under no circumstances wear anything but their home and away sweaters this year.

Bergeron Dons Bs' New Third?

A new video on TSN.ca appears to show Patrice Bergeron in what could be the Bruins' new third jersey — or something close to it.

First, a few stills from the video.

If you go watch the video — which is titled "Road to Recovery" — you'll find a few seconds of him skating in this jersey around 2:35.

Now, some background. Back in February, I posted a video clip from an NESN broadcast that showed a guy skating around in what was described as a third jersey "finalist" for the Bruins. Despite wearing a Bergeron jersey, it was not Bergeron. Here are some stills from that video.

The differences between these two jerseys are fairly obvious. Notice the crest. On the TSN video, there's a white stroke around the logo. Not so on the NESN video. There's also a yellow stripe around the bottom of the NESN jersey while there are no stripes on the bottom of the TSN jersey.

Just some things to think about as we anticipate the Boston Bruins' new alternate sweater. No word yet on when we should expect it. Thanks to Steve for the tip.

Caps GM Says No Third Jersey

Washington Capitals fans may not be happy about this news — I guess, depending on your stand with regard to third jerseys. On Monday some information I received seemed to indicate the Capitals might be among the teams with third jerseys this season. But according to the team's general manager, that is not the case.

Washington Post writer Tarik El-Bashir wrote in his blog Capitals Insider that GM George McPhee said his team won't be wearing an alternate sweater anytime soon.

As you might have heard, the Capitals won't be among the 18 teams introducing a third jersey this season. But it might not happen next season, or the season after that, either, if McPhee has his way.

"We just came up with these jerseys a year ago and we're still building equity in them," he said. "Personally, I'm not a third jersey fan. Half the time, you don't know who is playing out there. So I'm in no rush to do it."

So if you were among those hoping for a blue "Weagle" jersey — keep dreaming. It sounds like there's no possibility of a third until at least 2010.

Thanks to James for the tip!

Catching Up On News

It seems I've been slacking a little this week when it comes to news coverage. I really try to stay on top of this for you guys so here's a wrap-up some of what's going on.

The Buffalo Sabres became the first team in my book to bring the new third jerseys into their marketing campaign. This ad began appearing on their official web site this week.

This comes after Sunday's announcement of a sweater unveiling ceremony to be held on September 20.

…
On Monday the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins — better known as the baby Pens to fans — unveiled their new third jersey. Yes, even the AHL is going that route this year.

credit: wbspenguins.com

No word on whether the green plaid shorts will be part of the official uniform.…
The WHL's Prince George Cougars unveiled a new logo on Wednesday.

credit: pgcougars.com

You may remember the Cougars saw a first-round exit courtesy of the Regina Pats in the WHL Tournament of Logos back in March. Perhaps this logo will give them a better shot at advancing further in the future.

Such a cute kitty.

There you have it. Sometimes I think it's just better to get it out all at once.

Logos Revealed In Public Docs

A rather industrious reporter for the Ottawa Citizen may have found some new third jersey logos. In his blog Hockey Capital, James Gordon writes, "Potential new logos and third jersey centrepieces are starting to trickle out of public document filings in the lead-up to the 2008/2009 NHL season and I've posted a few here for your perusal."

The new image we haven't seen before is this one, which appears to be the Los Angeles Kings logo described by Howard Berger last month.

He said, "The Kings will unveil a predominantly black jersey with the letters 'LA' inside a pencil-point logo on the front." If he's right, this appears to be our winner.

This concept jersey I posted a few days later is the closest yet.

It doesn't end there. A logo he found for the Coyotes all but confirms the logos I posted here and here.

Though this is the black and white version. I really love that logo, by the way.

And for whatever it's worth, Gordon also had this logo for the Edmonton Oilers' 30th anniversary celebration.

My unending appreciation goes to Greg at Puck Daddy for the tip as well as continuing to pimp Icethetics!