Blue on the Schedule
Friday · Oct 15 · 2010 | 10:57 AM PDT
The Pittsburgh Penguins will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic sweater later this month and plan to wear it more than once this season.
Yesterday, the Penguins also released a third jersey schedule for 2010-11. The powder blue duds will hit the ice 10 times this season, including tonight's debut, while the yet unreleased Winter Classic sweater will see action twice beyond New Year's Day.
Here's how the schedule shakes out for the third jersey:
- Fri., Oct. 15 - vs NY Islanders
- Sat., Oct. 30 - @ Carolina
- Wed., Nov. 17 - vs Vancouver
- Sat., Nov. 27 - vs Calgary
- Mon., Dec. 6 - vs New Jersey
- Sun., Dec. 26 - @ Ottawa
- Sat., Jan. 8 - vs Minnesota
- Sat., Jan. 22 - vs Carolina
- Wed., Feb. 23 - vs San Jose
- Sun., Mar. 27 - vs Florida
Note that the powder blue sweater will be worn twice on the road against Carolina and Ottawa. Both of these teams have black thirds and red homes. Think we could see a night or two without white sweaters? That would be a treat.
Additionally, the release tells us the Penguins will unveil their new Winter Classic threads later this month, but doesn't cite a specific date. Icethetics has it on good authority they will be dark blue.
- Sat., Jan. 1 - vs Washington
- Thu., Feb. 10 - vs Los Angeles
- Sat. Mar. 12 - vs Montreal
This new sweater will see action at least twice after the outdoor game at Heinz Field. And more than likely, it will be the Pens' new third jersey in 2011-12.
Panthers Promoting Throwback Nights
The Florida Panthers will be holding three Throwback Nights this season, according to the team's season ticket packages.
Panthers season ticket holder Brian E. wrote in yesterday to let us know about about the events, which haven't yet been explained by the team. But we can only hope it means the red jersey will make a brief but welcome comeback.
Panthers celebrating Throwback NightsHere are the dates:
- Tue., Dec. 7 - vs Colorado
- Sat., Jan. 15 - vs New Jersey
- Thu., Mar. 17 - vs Toronto
The Dec. 7th game against the Avalanche has been dubbed "Throwback to 1996," referencing the only season in which the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, they were swept by the Avs, but making it that far is pretty respectable in itself.
It seems obvious that the Panthers would use the old red sweaters based on the photos used on the tickets. Plus, it's the only thing they could "throw back" to after only 17 years of existence. However, "Throwback Night" may not necessarily refer to the uniforms. It's entirely possible it could just be an in-arena promotional thing with special appearances by former players and such.
We'll have to just wait and see, but how great would it be to see the Cats back in red?
Reader Comments (20)
I still remember staying up late to watch Uwe Krupp blast home the puck in game 4 in Florida to win the Avs first Stanley Cup back in 96. That was the first year where I actually started watching hockey too, so seeing Florida back in their red jerseys would be nice to see, if only briefly. On a side note, wouldn't it be cool for Colorado to wear a throwback of their own, ie pre-Edge cut, just like it was in 1996? I would certainly say so.
Maybe they will pass out rubber rats at BankAtlantic Center on Throwback to 96 night?
And maybe also Colorado with their old jerseys? Florida in their old red and Colorado in their old white would have been sweet.
As a die-hard Panthers fan:
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE...
RED!!!
Notice the use of the circle logo on the tickets. It's all over their website too. Personally, I think that the Panthers need to go back to red FULL TIME!
Now if the other teams would follow suit and release 3rd jersey schedules, especially those who already have a 3rd unveiled.
i would like to see the sens or canes wear red when pens play them. blue vs red would look cool.
i like how out of all the pics of the pens in blue, you use gonchar.
oh and panthers fans, how do you feel about the blue? i for one=major dislike
That Penguins uniform may be the best look in all of sports.
Throwback night for a franchise this young that hasn't won anything or even really had what could be remotely be called a "classic" jersey? C'mon! This is about as blatently obvious and lazy marketing / cash grab as they could get! Could they not find a vendor to supply them with $1 hot dogs and $2 beer? I think that's the only way you'll draw anybody into that rink other than the core 36 family and friends who come to watch their NHL relatives. Sorry guys but this is exactly what irks me about jersey promotions and the business of hockey in non-traditional markets.
@CFA_27: It's not that I majorly dislike the blue. I've always loved the Panthers' navy uniforms, dating back to when they introduced them. The problem is that navy is an alternate color and needs to remain that way. RED is the color that the Panthers need to wear at home, and their current home needs to become an alternate. Hopefully the team is picking up on that or at least does so in the near future.
As far as the Cats' current 3rd jersey goes, I hate it. If the Penguins used it (with PIT logos obviously), I'd love it, but it does NOT represent my Panthers. The Thrashers, yes. The Penguins, yes. The Blues, maybe. But NOT the Florida Panthers.
I was at a Sens/Panthers game a few years ago in Ottawa and the Sens wore their whites with FLA wearing their home jerseys. I'm pretty sure they did that because Ottawa could only wear their new red homes at the time, and with FLA having red sleeves on their away jerseys, it would maybe make for too much red on the ice.
I think I recall the league reverted back to white home jerseys a few times randomly a couple of years ago...
As a die hard Panther fan, I think the red is an awesome idea. I love those jerseys. I think they should pass out the rubber rats like they did at the 1996 reunion game back in July of 2007.
Should never have dumped the old red duds. They were nice.
Brendan, while you may be correct about the reasoning behind the Sens wearing white at home vs the Panthers, keep in mind that BOTH of Florida's jerseys (the game you mentioned was before their 3rd came out) have red sleeves. I agree that there is way too much red in the league right now. The Sens belong in black but the Panthers are one of the few that should rock the red.
The Panthers will not be wearing red throwback uniforms. Cmon. They have the circle logo on the tickets. We would have heard SOMETHING if they were wearing red throwbacks. Besides, it was 17 years ago. That's not an anniversary. Maybe at 25 years they'll do a throwback, but 17 wont happen.
EL, for my part I think you're missing the point. Teams aren't limited to throwback uniforms only on arbitrarily chosen anniversaries such as 25 or even 40. Heck, the Rangers are celebrating 85 just because they can. So the idea that the Panthers could sport a retro jersey despite only being 17 years old, nevermind how silly we might find it, is really not out of the question. Could it be they're testing the market to see if fans really want red back? Could it be as simple as a cash grab, a way to generate more interest in the old red sweaters?
And I'm not sure why you think "we" would've heard something by now. Or who "we" is. Some teams are good at keeping stuff under wraps — such as the Blue Jackets this summer. We'll find out when we find out and maybe they won't do red jerseys, but I just think your reasoning is flawed.
Oh please please PLEASE let them wear the red jerseys for these games. Honestly, if they're going to make the blue third jerseys the primary home sweaters they should bring back a modified version of the original red as a 3rd. I've been advocating calling back to the early history of the team since '08.
I'm guessing they will be wearing those blue unis this year it seems. Over the weekend they wore their alternates so I guess any hope of the red jersey making it's return for that "retro" night is slim to none ..... sadly.
I'm a Sens fan and I would love to see those Pathers jerseys rocked!
I do have a question for you though Chris. Would it be a stretch to have a team wear four seperate jerseys in one season? (home, road and TWO alternates?)
I guess the presidence was set last year w/the Habs and their aniversary season and those multi throwbacks.
Not at all, Jason. The Canucks and Kings both wore throwback jerseys in their season opener together. But they're not losing their third jerseys. Not to mention the Bruins and Flyers both had third jerseys last season when they wore a fourth at the Winter Classic. Then of course there's Montreal as you mentioned.
And that's just off the top of my head. There's plenty of precedent for limited use specialty jerseys for teams that already have alternates. The Panthers wearing red for a couple of nights this year is not out of the question as far as I'm concerned. We'll just have to wait and see when Dec. 7 rolls around.
THEY BETTER BE THROWING RATS!!!!!!!!
i wonder if beezer is gonna show up?