Preview: New Look for NHL All-Stars
2011 All-Star team logos / Icethetics renderingThe best players in the NHL will get together at the end of the month for what's arguably the most fun event of the hockey season. And Icethetics has a preview of what they'll be wearing.
Since the league changed the format of the 2011 NHL All-Star Game, there's no East vs. West. And no North America vs. the World. Instead, two captains will hand pick their teams in the coolest fantasy draft ever.
I recently got a sneak peek at the new uniforms and logos to come — though the official unveiling date must be imminent. Each team will wear a colorized version of the NHL shield with two stars placed inside.
I'm not sure what the teams will be named yet, but as you can see, one will wear blue and the other red — the NHL's two favorite colors. The logos above are the crests from the front of the sweaters. But there's more I can share so I'm breaking it down here, bullet style:
- Team Blue will don dark blue jerseys while Team Red sports white.
- On both uniforms, it looks like the jersey number will be placed on the front, centered just above the colorized NHL shield.
- The numbers on the back have a unique look, filled with unevenly spaced thin lines that angle upward. Hard to describe but you'll understand when you see it.
- The numbers and surname letters are set in italicized text, not your typical block font.
- It also looks like both jerseys have the 2011 All-Star Game logo sewn on the front, right shoulder.
At this time, I have no information about the striping or any other elements of the jerseys. We'll have to wait until the NHL is ready to show it to us. Have to ask, though: What's taking so long?
In the meantime, just know that the above logos are renderings I've made based on what I've seen and been told up to now. Things can change, but as of now I do believe them to be accurate.
Chris
Some great questions and points made in the comments that deserve a mention in the post itself:
- Jason and Joe, yes, you read that right. The player's number will be situated on the front just above the crest. It's small and inconspicuous, but it's there.
- Glen, traditionally the player's team logo is sometimes placed on the shoulder. I'd imagine that will be the case here, however I don't think it would be on the front like the All-Star patch since that's where the captains' C or A goes.
- Stephen, interesting note about the naming of the teams. I don't know where you heard it but I could see the teams being named after the captain (i.e.: Team Crosby, Team Toews).
- Spyboy, good point about waiting until the weekend of to choose the teams. It could indeed hurt sales of customized jerseys as fans won't know in advance who will play on which team. We don't even know the captains yet. But I do agree with you that we need to let it all play out before deciding whether it's good or bad.
As always, thanks for all the great comments.
Chris
I've got more responses to questions and comments:
- Jake asked if the italicized numbers are a carbon copy of what the host team, the Hurricanes, wear. No. Other than the fact that the characters lean, the numbers and letters bear no resemblance at all to what's on Carolina's uniforms. They're more rounded and narrower.
- JD says he's heard that all players will be allowed to wear their regular numbers regardless of whether there are other players with the same digits. I have not heard that so I can't speak to its validity but it's an interesting notion. Personally, I'm not a fan of the idea.
- Go down and read the comment by hstebbs at 9:50 PM for some thoughts on how the teams might be picked differently depending upon who's named captain.
- Colton, I have not yet seen the complete uniforms. I only got a little peek at the two jerseys and I've described all the elements I've seen as best I can. It's a bit outside the box, but definitely in a good way.
Keep the questions and thoughtful observations coming.
Chris
Icethetics renderingSeveral have asked in comments or by email for a better idea of what the numbers will look like. This image to the right is the best that I can do. However, there are some differences.
The lines I have in this rendering are straight. On the jersey, they're slightly curved, more of an arc than a straight line. The font isn't quite right either. For one thing, the A's should be rounded at the top.
But you get the basic idea. It's the same thing for the red team — only in white with red numbers and names, of course. It's not a bad look and I think it'll blend in more if you're watching from the stands or on TV. Seems more of a close-up detail.
Now to a few other noteworthy items:
Apparently UniWatch was all over the subject of All-Star uniforms just as I was starting my cross-country move in November, so I missed it. A reader wrote in with details from the Hurricanes' pro shop. It mostly jibes with what I've seen, but there's more.
- Sweaters will have the player's number on the sleeves as well as the back and front (above the crest). The uniforms used in 2002 and 2003, which also used the NHL shield, did not have sleeve numbers.
- And it seems this is where the rumor started that has players wearing their own number despite duplicates on the same team. The example cited was Staal and Iginla possibly being on the same team and both sporting No. 12. I'm not a fan of that, personally, as I like seeing what number players would choose if they ever ended up on the same team. I also like how Joe Thornton always wears No. 97. Just different.
Also, Stephen T. commented with a link to an NHL.com article which goes into a detail about the format. Here are the bullet points:
- The Fantasy Draft will be held on Friday, Jan. 28 and televised for all to see. Mark commented that he'd watch only to see who's picked last (which will be a funny moment, I'm sure) but that the game would be irrelevant. I'm guessing he means inconsequential as it's quite relevant to the fantasy draft. But yes, Mark, it's the All-Star Game. The only relevance is that it's fun to watch the best guys all on one sheet of ice.
- The first six All-Stars were chosen by "fans" to be Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Fleury, Toews and Keith. The other 36 will be named by the league. Then all 42 players will vote to determine the captains. The NHL confirms the two teams will then be named after the captains.
- A coin toss decides who gets the first pick. Not sure how they're determining which color each captain gets, but maybe the coin toss decides that too.
- There are some details about how the draft will work and which positions have to be picked by which round, but you can read more about that on your own.
And that should wrap things up on the subject of the 2011 All-Star Game — at least until the uniforms are officially unveiled.
Reader Comments (28)
Did you say the number would be centered on top of the logo? If so that's just awful. Personally I think the back of a jersey is where the number belongs and not the front.
exciting. I for one, seriosuly hope that the Fantsy draft just boils down to all the players through their sticks into a pile and the captains picking out sticks at random.
Think the left shoulder gets the logo of the player's team?
Numbers above the crest? ok.
From what I've heard, the players will elect two captains to draft the teams, and the teams will then be called "Team Player A" and "Team Player B". For example Team Blue will be "Team Crosby" and Team Red will be "Team Toews".
No kidding what is taking so long. This not naming teams until that weekend is going to be death for jersey sales since no Crosby or Ovechkin's can be prepared in advance.
And the team names? With East vs. West out, why not take a page from the Russians and go with something like Team Howe vs. Team Hull and bring in Gordie and Bobby as honorary captains? I'm not going to condemn this format in the first season, but the idea clearly has some things that need to be addressed for next year.
Is the italicized number/name font borrowed directly from the Hurricanes' jerseys, since they're the host team?
I bet you the blue team wears the same color blue that is found every other third jersey in the NHL these days..... I never thought I would develop such a keen hatred for such a common and generic colour.
I did hear that each player will keep their normal number regardless of which side they end up on or who's on their team.....making it possible to have 2 or 3 #12's or #8's on one team. Weird, but whatever. This is probably a quick solution to the realization that they shot themselves in the foot (make that upper thigh) from a sales perspective by waiting on picking the teams until the very last minute.
I just had a few thoughts about the captains for this year’s All-Star game. Assuming that it won’t be Crosby and Ovechkin, or one of the two (Crosby being the most likely to be named captain of the two) it will be interesting to see where both are picked. One would assume they would go in the first two picks, but I have my doubts.
Assuming that this “voting for team captains is rigged for marketing purposes (which is a bit of a stretch I understand) I get the feeling that we may be seeing a Carolina Hurricane as one of the captains, but would it not be interesting/expectable that the NHL may use two teammates? Not unlike EA Sports did with their NHL 11 marketing with Team Kane VS Team Toews? (Maybe Team Malkin VS Team Crosby? Gives you that Team Russia/The World VS Team Canada/North America feel) Possibly a Stamkos/“Young Gun” VS Lindstrom/“Future HoF-er”
@JD...
While allowing players to keep their normal numbers will help with one aspect, it still kills sales. The Penguins and Blackhawks still can't sell any Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Fleury, Toews, or Keith All-Star jerseys/shirts...
Not because of numbers, but because they don't know what color jerseys/lettering kits to order for each player. Granted when a team has multiple All-Stars, they're probably safe with ordering both sets of jerseys (Team Red/Team Blue) but the lettering and numbering aspect would still pose a problem from the retail side of things.
Chris, did you like the looks of the jerseys? You list some pretty unique features, but I can't tell if you meant it in a good way or a bad way...
I assume that the fantasy draft thing won't be released until after they do it. They will probably never release the order guys were picked either. That would not go well with some guys egos.
@Ryan, I completely agree. I don't know how they are going to get around that. I just can't really think of another reason why they would allow two or three 8's, 12's, 4's or whatever on the same team.
I got my info from another blog called "Puck Daddy" and he said the general manager for the Hurricanes pro-shop spilled the beans about players keeping their numbers among other things that Chris has already mentioned. I reserve judgment for the time being, as it's all speculation at this point, but we'll see....
The link to the blog I found is here.
I find this very stupid. East vs. West is best.
The simple reasoning for not doing the fantasy draft until the day before is probably that they want to make sure that everyone who gets picked is able to play. You wouldn't want a team to "draft" 4 players in December who end up on IR by the All-Star Game (or otherwise unable to play). It does hurt sales in the short run, but it's probably better than having to re-draft because injuries decimated the teams the week before the game.
I'm impressed they even bothered with jerseys.
Want to emulate a game of 'throw your stick in the middle pick up?' Wear the clothes you have on/with you.
It sounds lazy and uninvolved, but the easily solution would've been to just have home vs road jerseys.
Of course, it'd be confusing as all hell, but some of the fantasy value is there when say... a red-clad Toews makes a pass to the black jersey'd Malkin.
Of course, I recognize the need for professionalism in the sport and the availability of resources. Still, it's not so bad when they've been dressing in origin-team colours during the skills competition, right?
I've also heard that players will get to wear their own numbers, I think in an NHL announcement somewhere though I can't remember where.
I think its a fantastic idea. The players should wear their own numbers. That way fans get to buy a jersey that actually resembles their favorite player. Not Joe Thornton wearing #97 for one game, for example.
Personally, these jerseys don't sound very appealing to me though. The number in the center above the logo just sounds horrendous.
I'd be fine with players wearing their own team's jersey frankly. It works for the YoungStars game. I know, I know, then the NHL won't make money on All Star jerseys. But still.
@Goodsie, the rosters are being picked live on Versus the Friday before the game. People will know the order.
Hey there, just wanted to update you on my source for the team naming situation, there was an article posted on NHL.com the other day, you can find it here.
"Once the selection of the 42 All-Star players is complete, the players themselves will decide which two All-Stars will become team captains as well as four alternate captains, two for each team. Approximately two weeks from today, the captains will be revealed, at which time team names will be designated as the last name of each respective captain."
As far as the draft is concerned:
"Each team will consist of three goalies, six defensemen and 12 forwards. The captain and alternate captains for each team will consist of two forwards and one defenseman. To accommodate each team's position requirements, all goalies must be picked by the end of Round 10 and all defensemen must be picked by the conclusion of Round 15.The 12 Rookies participating in the Honda NHL SuperSkills® will be divided into two groups of six. At the completion of the 15th round of the Fantasy Draft, one NHL Rookie will choose which All-Star team his group will join for the skills competition."
I believe coin tosses will determine first pick, jersey colors and coaching staffs.
Will the draft of the players be televised? I'll watch that, if only to see who is picked last. The game itself, however, is pretty much irrelevant.
With respect to the sales of All Star jerseys, who actually buys those things? I'm a huge fan of uniform collections, but even for me, buying an All Star jersey is ridiculous.
I think it would be a good idea to use each team's number font for the players.
For example, Staal and Iginla are on the same team; they both wear 12 but Iginla's jersey uses the Flames' font and Staal uses the Hurricanes'.
To those who have asked, there are details about TV schedule and dates on this hurricanes blog.
I'm hoping that they choose teams live on the air on NHLNetworrk or Versus by literally having the players line up while the two Captains take turns picking a player.
JackFr: Now, that idea I like! To many fans, the shape of the number becomes as recognizable as the number itself — even if it's subliminal for some. It would mean a little extra work for the equipment manager, but it'd be a cool detail.
It would be interesting if Cam Ward was one of the goaltenders on one team and Eric Staal was one of the two forwards on the other team.
I think, going forward, it might be more interesting to make sure one player from the Host team is a Captain (Staal of course) and then let the host team pick their favorite rival. As a Hurricane fan, (Can't you tell?) I'd like it to be Tampa Bay. Let Tampa decide who they want to represent them as a Captain.
Too bad they couldn't play it like a real game. Maybe like an Olympic game?
How about this for choosing captains...The captains from the previous year's Stanley Cup Finals are the captains. Even if they've moved to another team. If they are unavailable (retired or something) then use an alternate from that team. So this years captains would be Toews and Richards. Could work.
Well I think the reason behind why two players would wear the same number is simply that they will probably make a blue and a red jersey for each player but they can't make like 3 different red and 3 different blue jerseys for each player. Like say if Crosby goes out and selects Staal, they will probably give him a Staal jersey of Crosby's team color, but have another one on hand if he was selected by the other team.
And to go with Jay's idea, you could then sell both, and a fan could buy whichever they prefer/ goes best with their team's colors.