If you haven't been by lately, things are starting to get interesting for our IceHL project. If you don't know what that is, here's a recap. The Boston Colonials' logo was officially unveiled today. You can see it on their team page. In the next week or so, I will begin accepting uniform designs which will be voted on later. Plus, the Winnipeg Winterhawks just kicked off another week of polls. There's more information in the IceHL section.
The Boston Bruins are hard at work right now deciding what they'll wear when they take to the frozen pond against the Philadelphia Flyers at Fenway Park this January.
The Boston Globe had some interesting notes regarding the discussions and a few quotes worth repeating. You can find the full article by Fluto Shinzawa here or read it with the Icethetics commentary that follows.
Sizing Up a Classic Jersey
The Bruins, deep in discussions about the sweater they’ll wear for the Winter Classic, are hoping to create a jersey that can catch a piece of the magic the Penguins created two years ago. For the 2008 outdoor game at Buffalo’s Ralph Wilson Stadium, the Penguins went retro, pulling their 1968-69 jersey design out of mothballs. Today, the powder blue sweater —the Penguins switched to black and gold in 1979-80, following in the footsteps of the Steelers and Pirates — remains one of the league's top-selling items.
"That worked," said Bruins principal Charlie Jacobs, "because they’re not necessarily their team colors. There's no black or gold. It's a powder blue jersey, and that made it unique. It's certainly recognized in their market. It's not like the Pirates, Steelers, or anything else. It's unique."
No one has hit it as big as the Penguins with an alternate jersey. I think the Chicago Blackhawks are hoping to grab a little piece of their success by turning their Winter Classic uniforms into an alternate for the upcoming season.
Jacobs hopes that by the end of August, the Bruins, in conjunction with Reebok and the NHL, will settle on a design that will serve multiple purposes: capture the Bruins’ heritage, stand out as a unique item for the New Year’s Day game against the Flyers at Fenway Park, and convince fans to hand over their money.
"We've had some really good meetings with Reebok and the NHL regarding what we think will be most appropriate to our market," Jacobs said. "We’ve looked at some traditions of our organization and our storied history."
Jacobs keeps using the word unique and likes that the Penguins went with a color that is no longer part of their regular uniforms. This leads me to think he'd be a fan of brown jerseys for the 2010 Winter Classic.
So far, the Bruins have audited every jersey in team history, looking at elements they like and ones that, in retrospect, might have been tweaked. Jacobs said the final product could be a retro jersey, or it could be a new uniform that incorporates different treatments. Black and gold would most likely be involved in the final design. But the Bruins also have worn jerseys featuring dark brown and mustard yellow tones.
The mustard yellow could work in the context of the Winter Classic but I say they go with something out of the ordinary. Brown is definitely out of the ordinary. I also think that some version of the logo currently seen on the third jersey should not be out of the question. After all, it too is based on the Bs' logo history.
It needs to stand out from the Bruins' current home and road sweaters, which are widely considered to be among the best in the league right now. That being said, it needs to be better than or on level with these. A disappointing design will take a lot of the steam out overall feel of the game.
But that's only my point of view. I know you have one too. Share it and share any concept designs you may have put together. Email them to me if you want them added to this post.
The Twitterers continue to ask questions so I will continue to answer them for all to read. And there are a lot this week so let's get to it.
HBAdventure @icethetics haha Twitter mailbag is a hilarious title for some reason [Jul 24]
I enjoy the irony.
danfranko @icethetics I'll nominate the Caps black jersey for worst ever. and the Pens space-aged Penguin (former 3rd) with grey and yellow stripes. [Jul 24]
I believe danfranko is talking about Ugliest NHL Jersey Ranking that we'll be doing soon. One day this week I'll write up a post to begin accepting nominations. We did Worst NHL Logo back in the day on NHLToL and we all know who won that one (Mighty Ducks' third) so I can't wait to see how this one turns out.
electrocraze421 @icethetics http://bit.ly/D7Sgw Interesting to note that the old Nucks' and Bruins' logo are used in this ad found on the Leafs' home page. [Jul 26]
Actual ad from Maple Leafs' official web siteInteresting you should point that out. I thought this ad was a little perplexing as well. You'd think if anyone would have updated logos it would be NHL teams themselves.
The ad to the right has been running on the Maple Leafs' official web site. Of the 12 teams in it, three changed their logo in 2007 as part of the Age of Reebok overhaul — Ottawa, Vancouver and Boston.
They got the Senators right. However the Senators made more sweeping changes to the logo. The Canucks merely changed colors and the Bruins made only slight modifications to the "B" and the spokes.
Wonder if they'll have it fixed in time for the launch of their new web site this summer.
holdthemap @icethetics Chris Smith's design is delightful. when are the major leagues going to start picking up on these designs [Jul 26]
IceHL fans have proven they really like Chris' logo designs by making his work a finalist for 14 out of 30 teams. If certain teams, who shall remain unnamed (*cough*DUCKS*cough*), were to hire some of the IceHL's graphic designers, the NHL would look a lot different.
By the way, this is the perfect opportunity to remind you to make sure you get your votes in this weekend if you haven't already done so. Today is the last chance to vote on the Boston Colonials logo. The rest will be closing over the next several days.
The next new logo poll will go up on Monday, featuring the Winnipeg Winterhawks. Until then, I'm planning individual Artist Spotlights for the weekend. You can access the IceHL section anytime via the tab at the top of the page.
TheGoalieGuild Everyone should check out @icethetics... one of my favorite sites to check out!! Great stuff and very interactive. [Jul 26]
Icethetics got a few shoutouts from The Goalie Guild over the weekend so it's only right they get one back. It's a nice site, dedicated to goalies. They've got some awesome pictures and links as well as an interesting blog. Worth a read if you're a goalie or you like goalies.
CazaCreations @icethetics forgot to weigh in on the site redesign - love it, just like everyone else! The colour scheme is awesome. Logo, better than ever [Jul 27]
Glad to hear you guys are still enjoying the redesign. I keep getting emails from folks asking where I got the template. That's high praise and I appreciate it. The new look of Icethetics is entirely my own.
blinkfink182 @icethetics Are you going to release the poll results as the polls close or all at once at the end? (So excited, this is awesome) :) [Jul 30]
Ah, back to the IceHL. I will be releasing the results within a day or two of when the poll ends. Each poll is open for seven days so you can do your own calculations based on when it was posted. The Colonials were first and therefore the poll ends today, however because I'm out of town (and away from my computer) all this weekend, it may be Monday before results are available. I'll do my best to get it done sooner.
TJSharky @icethetics Are there any teams who didn't overhaul their jerseys when RBK took over that are now considering it? [Jul 30]
I think that ship has pretty much sailed. However, some teams are slowly converting their third jerseys (introduced last year) to full-time duty — the Flyers and Oilers, for example. Other than that, minor changes may be made here and there but major overhauls are probably over for a while. If you're looking for new jerseys, look to the alternates. More are coming this fall.
eromain @icethetics I heard the 60 teams from the OHL/QMJHL/WHL are converting to the Reebok Edge uniforms? Do you plan on covering them? [Jul 30]
That is true, the Canadian junior teams will be switching over this season. I am happy to cover the unveilings but if you guys thought I was bad at following the minors, this is worse. As long as Icethetics' awesome readers continue to forward me news on the CHL, it'll find its way to the blog.
AvsHkyPodcast @icethetics Any timeline on the Avs' thirds? Us fans need somthing to get excited about in Denver. [Jul 31]
Guess being an Avalanche fan is rough when they're not always winning Stanley Cups and so forth. Unfortunately I don't yet know of any sort of timetable for the release of Colorado's third jersey. I would expect, as with most teams, that we'll see something in time for training camp or the preseason.
brettface @icethetics how much do you know about the jerseys for this upcoming Winter Classic? [Jul 31]
Not a thing, really. I've been getting emails a lot this week asking if I know what the Bruins and Flyers will be wearing at Fenway Park. At this point, no decision has been made public, if one has even been made. That aside, the second question I keep getting is "What do you think they'll be wearing?" That usually comes along with a concept somehow incorporating the Philadelphia Quakers.
Here's my opinion on that: Last year's Winter Classic made many think that the New Year's Day jerseys have to be more than just special, that they have to be drastically different. But look at Pittsburgh and Buffalo in 2008. In each case, these teams have simply gone back into their own history for a throwback uniform they haven't worn in a while.
The Penguins and Sabres went back to the '70s. The Blackhawks and Red Wings have an even longer past and were therefore able to dig even deeper. But this notion that the Flyers should wear Quakers uniforms simply because they had the same colors or were based in the same city makes no sense. They were two completely separate franchises. It's like the Wild wearing North Stars throwbacks.
The argument is made that the Red Wings actually wore Detroit Cougars jerseys. The difference is that it was the same franchise. Founded in 1926, the Cougars became the Falcons in 1930 and after just two seasons settled on the Red Wings. But since then, there has been no significant change to the Wings' uniforms. In order to make sure they had something special for the game, they had to go back further.
The Quakers existed for a single season in Philly after a failed five-year stint as the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Wings had an 82-year history to draw on — with multiple former names. If you ask me, the Flyers will simply opt for a white version of their new orange jersey.
The Bruins will be a little more interesting, having that extensive past and many old uniform designs to consider. If they want to be draastically different, they'll find an old brown sweater, otherwise it'll be black with a gold (unspoked) "B" on the front. But of course it's all still speculation.
Keep an eye on Icethetics for any new information and be sure to follow along on Twitter.
Something bizarre is going on.
It's like waking up from a dream and trying to remember it. Yet the harder you grasp for details the scarcer they become. A mystery has been brewing in Anaheim. A third jersey mystery. I can't claim to solve it but I will present all of the facts I am aware of.
When I sat down to write tonight's post it was with the intention of revisiting something I posted to Twitter on Tuesday evening.
Adam Brady, Director of Publications & New Media for the Anaheim Ducks, wrote an interesting article on his blog talking about the checkered past of third jerseys in the NHL — his club included.
Mysteriously, that post has disappeared. Luckily, nothing in cyberspace ever truly disappears. Google caches everything these days and I've taken full advantage of that in order to keep his post alive here at Icethetics. It's a very good read — even more so now that it's been removed from the Ducks' official web site.
The following was posted on July 27 at 3:58 PM, and re-posted here for posterity with minor edits.
My never-ending search for summer blog material has netted a few items that fall under the hockey jersey umbrella, a topic that remains endlessly fascinating. That's especially true around these parts, as our (once-Mighty) team has been guilty of a few jersey missteps over the years.
The (Mighty) Ducks make a couple of appearances in a well-thought-out piece on the Puck Daddy blogsite that lists the 10 criteria for what makes a bad hockey sweater. Categories include "There are excessive stripes" or "Overt cartoonishness" or "It's an All-Star jersey." Among the teams represented in the "It's like they let a child pick the team's colors from a crayon box" is the Mighty Ducks jersey of 1993-2006, seemingly for its unique mixture of teal and eggplant. Somehow the masked Duck logo escaped falling into the "cartoonishness" category.
But that uniform looked downright elegant compared to the reprehensible third jersey the Ducks unveiled during the 1995-96 season that depicted a cartoon of Wild Wing bursting through the ice on the front. That image took the attention away from an almost-equally awful back of the jersey, in which the players' last names and numbers were scrawled in an unreadable font. Here's someone actually wearing the thing, and you can tell he's really pleased about it.
I would have killed to be a fly on the wall in the meeting where this thing got approved. For the Anaheim Ducks organization, this jersey is kind of how the people from the Coca-Cola corporation view the introduction of New Coke in the '80s. It's just something we kind of pretend didn't happen. (Then you have wise-ass bloggers like me bringing it up again.)
In the aformentioned piece, the blogger aptly writes: There have been over 50 third or fourth jerseys in the NHL since the mid-90s, and all but probably eight of them have just been objectively terrible. And he's right. That Ducks third jersey may lead the pack, but it's not ahead by much. We can look just up the freeway for one egregious example. At right is one of the low points of The Great One's career.
But nothing can compare to the atrocities adorning this collection of the worst minor league hockey jerseys of all time. It leads off with a look that brings whole new meaning to the term "Y2K scare" in the Wichita Thunder's special New Year's Eve jerseys. And it doesn't get much worse than the 2004-05 season fo the Quad City Mallards of the IHL. While the big boys were sitting out that season for a labor dispute, the Mallards sported two beauties. One was the "sheriff" look with the oversized badge, handcuffs and belt buckle (observe the looks of abject humiliation on the players' faces). The other was the "puffy shirt" pirate tribute ("But I don't wanna be a pirate!") complete with fake red sash and a Mallards logo somehow half-hidden under the left armpit. Rule No. 1 for hockey jerseys: If it looks like a male stripper's uniform, it's probably not a good idea.
Back to our team, I happened to like the third jersey the Ducks adopted coming out of the lockout in 2005-06, though when the organization changed its name, colors and uniforms for the 2006-07 campaign, a third jersey was put on hold for a few years.
There are no plans to have one this coming season, but I've heard rumblings that there are thoughts about adding one for 2010-11.
With that in mind, I take you to another jersey-related discovery from today, the hockey Jersey Builder tool on The Sporting Store website. The tool allows you to create your own jersey by mixing and matching colors, styles, etc., and uploading your own logo. So, Ducks fans, let's see your best creations (it's almost 4:00 as I post this, so your work productivity was probably going downhill from here until the rest of the day anyway).
A Ducks third jersey isn't a Ducks third jersey without using the long-overdue Ducks "D" logo on the front, so use this one I'm providing for the front of the jersey. (Right-click that link, click "Save Target As..." and save it to your computer. Then you'll use the Upload button on the Builder to put it on the jersey, move it, resize it, etc.)
After you're finished, go ahead and email me your creation. The "email" function on the Builder is a little tricky, so your best bet is to screen capture your creation and then paste directly it into an email. PC users, to do this, make sure the image is viewable on your screen, press the Print Screen key located on the top right of your keyboard, then open up an email and "Paste" into the body of the email. (Mac users, I honestly have no idea how you do this. [Command+Shift+3]) Address it to me at [removed] and make sure to write "Third Jersey" in the subject line. Make sure to put your name somewhere in there. I'll post the best ones (as well as the worst ones, which I'll make fun of relentlessly) later this week.
Here's one I put together quickly, which is simple but classy, if you ask me. You get the idea.
Now let's see what you've got.
That scathing review at the beginning is a little surprising coming from someone who works in the department whose job it is to make the team look good. Perhaps that's the reason the entry was removed. Or perhaps not. He did liken the 1995 third jersey to New Coke after all.
As for the last part, I removed his email address so you guys don't bug him with concepts that, despite what he's written there, will likely never be posted on his blog. Instead, if you're so inclined, email them to me and I may post them here or on Twitter. And below is a screenshot of Brady's blog before the bizarre disappearance — just in case you want proof.
The one piece of news I'd like to take away from this is the fact that a Ducks third jersey is being mulled for 2010. That alone is good news.
Since I've posted the article in its entirety, I think to comment further on it would simply be redundant. You know what I think. Instead, I want to know what you guys think. First, of the content of the article and second, its swift removal from the Ducks' web site. And is there some type of conspiracy at work here to stifle any third jersey news coming out of Anaheim?
Icethetics reader James writes in tonight to remind me: "Last season Brian Hayward (Ducks' television color analyst) during a game said that he had seen the third jersey. Later in the broadcast he went back on that and said there were no plans for one."
The drama builds as the summer heats up. Comment away.
If you've been following Icethetics on Twitter, then you know I'm tracking the league-wide web site makeovers. Teams are adopting a new template that's closer to NHL.com. This is good news because that old template really needed to go.
Today, the Buffalo Sabres became the latest team to make the transition and I can't stop looking at it. I've got a screenshot, but I highly recommend you take a trip to sabres.nhl.com on your own to fully experience it.
It's just a phenomenal look, something we're not used to seeing on NHL team sites, generally speaking. The way the vintage logo is so prominently placed in the banner certainly indicates a shift in the way this team is being marketed — to actual fans! But mostly, it's the gold sabers running up and down the page. Is there anything more attention-grabbing? I'm way impressed.
To be fair to the other teams, the Sabres aren't the only ones who got this redesign right. Seven others have already made the switch and none has disappointed. The Avalanche and Coyotes were the first. Both, solid.
The Oilers, Thrashers and Blues followed. I think one of the elements making these sites more visually appealing is the attention to detail in the background images. It goes a long way. All three of these teams, along with the Avs, rotate multiple background images, primarily featuring different players.
The Panthers too, and along with the Predators are two of the most recent members of the makeover club. The Preds make use of a really cool sweeping view of the inside of the Sommet Center on game night.
I mean that's just cool.
There are also a handful of teams who are currently in the process of making the change and I can offer you previews, courtesy of Tim. The Flames, Flyers, Stars, Kings and Bruins have redesigns in the pipeline.
For the Bruins, not a big change, although Zdeno Chara does figure in prominently. The Flyers are loading down on the orange. And the Kings still prefer black to purple. The Flames and Stars seem to be most worthy of an advanced preview.
Calgary has taken to lighting their players on fire for the sake of the internet. Even the players' equipment hasn't escaped the blaze. However, I really like the background depicting the roof the Saddledome. You get a good look at all those banners hanging from the rafters.
The Stars will offer a sneak peek into the locker room with their background image.
The thing that struck me was the ad, a version of which can be seen on their current web site. It looks to me like they've colorized the jerseys to make them green. And they look spectacular. But here's an idea: Why not actually wear green home jerseys?!
No idea when these teams will make their official switches, but I'll keep an eye on it. In fact, I think this is definitely something to watch throughout the summer as each team makes its transition to the new NHL web format. Might even be the subject of a tournament at some point in the future. Who has the best web site?
We'll see. In the meantime, what do you guys think of the new site templates being employed across the league? Like 'em? Hate 'em? Indifferent? Comment.
Chris
Got a couple of things to add tonight. As mentioned, the Flyers launched their brand new site today and were the first team to go with a three-column format. It means the rotator on the left side of the page has been shrunk greatly, reducing the aesthetic the other sites share with NHL.com.
A little disappointing but still better than it was two days ago.
I've also got a little treat — a sneak peek at the Canucks' new web site. As I've been saying it's the background images that are really making these sites something to see, and Vancouver does not dismay. Have a look.
The only unfortunate thing is that most of the logo isn't visible because the banner itself is such a small area.
Still, a great image that will really give the Canucks a unique look online. I don't know exactly when it's supposed to go live, but I would expect it within the next week.
Thoughts on either of these subjects?
