No News is NHL 10 News

After 55 hours without anything newsworthy to post, I've decided to turn to pseudo-news. If you've been following Icethetics for any length of time, you know the one thing I don't like is rumors based on video games. Sadly, I have nothing else to tell you about at the moment.

Eric and Alex both wrote in this week to tell me about some things they noticed while watching preview videos for the forthcoming NHL 10 video game by EA Sports. I understand the game designers really try to get things correct when it comes to uniforms, but I'm always cautious against taking it as gospel.

Still, I write tonight on the subject just in case there's any truth to it.

Let's start with the Calgary Flames. Eric tells me something's up with their socks. Yes, their socks.

When the Rbk EDGE Uniform System was first introduced two years ago, the Flames (and Lightning too) were afflicted with a rather untraditional sock design. From the front, stripes appeared to run horizontally around the leg, but when you got a look at the back, there was a little surprise.

Matthew Lombardi leans in for a closer look at Owen Nolan's shocking socks

The collective reaction to this was a confused WTF? In the last two years, many fans have bemoaned this issue, apparently, onto deaf ears. Or are they? (Deaf, that is.) A screenshot from NHL 10, offered up via EA's official web site, depicts something different.

Dion Phaneuf skates with confidence knowing his sock stripes are no longer afraid of his calf

These stripes wrap all the way around the leg. It begs the question: As a person who's never played the game, did NHL 09 feature accurate stripes, or did they wrap fully as these do? Perhaps someone in the know can assist with the answer so we can better speculate on the state of the real-life uniforms.

While we wait for that, Alex tells me NHL 10 suggests the Flyers may be making a minor change to their orange jerseys. This is by no means reason to stop any presses.

First, we do know that it will be promoted from third jersey to home jersey this season (as the black sweater switches to an alternate role). A noteworthy feature of the sweater is its white nameplate, as seen below.

Flyers break the mold by wearing white nameplate on orange jersey

The nameplate isn't the only thing that sets this jersey apart from the rest of the NHL. (It's also orange. Not blue or red or black or white. Orange.) But another video from EA Sports is making us question whether this nameplate madness is going by the wayside.

Flyers get glue to fix broken mold and switch back to matching nameplate

If they are losing the white nameplate, I hope they learn that white is easier to read on orange than black. Especially on TV (hint). Though it wouldn't surprise me in the least if they ignore this fact.

So there it is. Take it for what's it worth. If it ends up being inaccurate, you didn't hear it from me. If it ends up being true, you heard it first on Icethetics.

While we ride out this newslessness spell, do your civic duty and cast some votes for the IceHL.

Update on Monday · Jul 27 · 2009 | 7:22 AM PDT by Chris

I've got a couple of updates to this post this morning.

As Steve points out in the comments, it looks like the Flames' socks are likely getting a makeover. Not only does NHL 10 have the horizontal stripes (after having used the old version in previous games), but NHL 2K10 also appears have them too.

Looks like we're a go for the confidence-inspiring stripes

So that's one theory I think we can run with. Flames fans, what do you think? Are the folks in charge finally listening?

As far as the Flyers, that part of this post was almost unnecessary. It appears the white nameplates will remain on the orange jerseys in NHL 10, but in a screenshot from a newer video, they will evidently span from shoulder to shoulder, as opposed to simply being the length of the player's name.

NHL 10 goes with white shoulder-spanning nameplates after all

I know it's hard to see, but right in the middle there is No. 6, Randy Jones. If you click on the image, it takes you to the YouTube video where I grabbed this screenshot. Then you can watch more of the Flyers/Lightning gameplay.

Anyway, if you're still questioning my aversion to using video games as uniform news sources, take the Flyers as a prime example. Last year, in NHL 09, the weight of the typeface on the nameplate was inaccurately heavy. Sounds like this year they've fixed that, but now the nameplate itself is inaccurately wide.

The Flyers kick off their preseason in Detroit on September 16, then play as the "home team" in London, Ontario a night later. I expect one of those nights we'll see the orange jerseys for the first time this season and I wouldn't expect them to be any different than they were last year.

O6 Style for Preds 3rd

The Nashville Predators will be among a half-dozen teams to debut third jerseys in the fall. Now we're getting more information on that subject from Tennessean beat writer John Glennon.

In his blog Inside Predators, Glennon wrote about yesterday's Skate of the Union Address at the Sommet Center. The first two paragraphs are all about the team's upcoming alternate sweater.

Preds owner David Freeman said the team’s new third jersey is likely to be revealed publicly in September. He described it as a very traditional-looking jersey, with a design that "came purely from some of the original six teams."

Freeman said the third jerseys will frequently be worn at home on Saturdays. Nashville has 15 home Saturday games this season.

Good news for a team that has all too commonly been the butt of jersey jokes, with its attempts at being cutting edge. After all, at just over 10 years old, it's not like the Predators have a lot of tradition to draw on. The "mustard jersey" was certainly memorable but I'm not sure how fondly it will be held.

It'll be interesting to see what "traditional-looking" Original Six elements designers will borrow for this new uniform. I'm anticipating a common color like blue, more horizontal lines and a simplification of the color scheme. That would fit well with the alleged leak I posted a few weeks ago.

In addition, we now have an unveiling date to look forward to. As with the Wild, the third jersey is expected to be unveiled in September. Of course if anything comes out any sooner, count on Icethetics.

By the way, the Predators web site has undergone its' change to the new league-wide format.

Twitter Mailbag II

The Twitter page appears to be even more popular this week, so I'll continue with a series I'm now calling the Twitter Mailbag. Last week I posted and responded to a bunch of folks on Twitter who had interesting questions or comments. Here's Part 2.

In the past week, Icethetics has added over 120 new followers and reached the 80-update plateau (as soon as I tweet about this post). Now I know I could simply reply to folks via Twitter, but 140 characters doesn't really allow me to express myself or share with the rest of Icethetics' readers.

So let's dive right in.

AvsHkyPodcast @icethetics The new page looks really sharp.
[Jul 19]

Thanks! I've actually been hearing that from a lot of readers. It's the most well-received site redesign in the history of Icethetics/NHLToL. So I'm glad you guys like it. I know I do. I just got tired of all the white in the previous layout.

OMJason @icethetics Nice. I'll pretend the colours are a shout out to the Oilers and hope that they don't suck this year. [Jul 19]

Keep pretending. However, dark blue/aqua/orange is my favorite color combination so it was hard to design a look around any other scheme. Enough about me now.

6rick6 @icethetics who do you think will produce the worst third this season. My bets on the Preds [Jul 21]

We could discuss this one all day long. I think a better question is: Who has the most potential for disappointment? To that I'd answer Minnesota. I have the highest hopes for them, bringing the first green jersey into the Age of Reebok. But it's a very delicate situation, because if done wrong it could be a major letdown. As far as who will produce the worst, I'm mostly concerned about Florida and Colorado. Despite the alleged leaks, I have faith in Nashville.

HBAdventure @icethetics I'd love to see some concept art...
[Jul 22]

Me too! Whenever I get solid artwork, it goes straight up on Twitter. If you guys have anything to submit, you can find my email address at the top of the page. I'm currently working on plans for future expansion of the Concepts section of the site. The current incarnation is a little bare and stale. So many projects, so little time.

KevinY5 @icethetics You should totally show the Ugliest all-time uniforms, also [Jul 22]

Who wants to have a vote? I'm game. This week, the NY Daily News published an article declaring the Red Wings' the best uniform in all of sports. Let's give it a week and I'll start taking nominations for the worst in the history of hockey. Then we'll work out a ranking system to see whose was really the worst.

electrocraze421 @icethetics btw. thanks for the post on that las vegas wranglers jersey. you should do spotlights on lesser known minor league teams! [Jul 23]

I'm all about it. I think what we did last week was fun. Send in some more pictures of North American hockey uniforms in action and let's see if we can't work out where it came from. And as you can see from my coverage of the Pensacola Ice Flyers and Quad City Mallards, I'm trying to pay a little more attention to the minors these days.

fFiordalisiJR @icethetics ....wow...you're right dude, that has to be the hockey logo i have ever seen and i witnessed the Isles' "fisherman" logo. ouch!! [Jul 24]

Speaking of the Ice Flyers, I believe fFiordalisiJR is writing in response to that monstrosity. But I don't think the fisherman logo even compares to Pensacola's. At least that was a logo. This is a T-shirt design. Literally.

Finally, my thanks go out to Sean_Leahy, CazaCreations, yalebot, rwhickok, dwr508 and RLDhockey for your support via re-tweets and FollowFriday suggestions. It's folks like you helping to get the word out that will keep Icethetics going for a long time to come.

As always, get in touch by adding @icethetics to your tweets and check back again next Friday for another edition of the Twitter Mailbag.

Ice Flyers Unveil Logo... Ugh!

At my hands journalism takes a beating tonight, but I have to editorialize. Rarely do I feel the need to opinionize (new word), yet evil happens when good men sit idly by. And even when they don't, evidently.

The Pensacola Ice Flyers shocked probably no one but me when they unveiled their new logo earlier tonight. They did so before a small gathering of North Florida hockey fans and supporters celebrating the return of the sport to their town.

The Southern Professional Hockey League is expanding this season by adding the Ice Flyers along with the Mississippi Surge. They shouldn't have bothered. The following symbol will represent this team.

Ice Flyers' new logo

All right, by now you get my outrage, so I'll get back to my journalistic roots now.

Coach Todd Gordon and owner Tim Kerr (photo: Ben Twingley)

The Pensacola News Journal was there with Ben Twingley providing photographic evidence. Team owner and former Philadelphia Flyer Tim Kerr chatted to fans at the event alongside head coach Todd Gordon. Gordon wore the snazzy new shirt but Kerr did not. SPHL commissioner Jim Combs was also in attendance.

Two questions. 1) What did they do? 2) Why are they so happy about it? Damn, I switched back into editorial mode. All right, I know the answers. They sold enough ticket packages to bring hockey back this season and they're hockey fans so they're very excited about that. But honestly, I can't get over the logo.

Two weeks ago, the News Journal posted a poll which I wrote about here on Icethetics. It asked readers which of four logos they preferred. You can see the results here to the left. For reference, "Logo 1" is what's been plastered on the above shirts.

It finished with about 440 out of 3,011 votes. I know the poll was meant "for entertainment purposes only" but Kerr can't take a hint. Two of the logos each grabbed more than a third of the vote and they've been discarded. To see all four logos, click on the graphic.

Once again my strong feelings have emerged. So why do I feel this way? I think it's important that what represents hockey represents it well. This logo does not accomplish that. It was a missed opportunity. I feel bad for Six Zero and the other designers whose superior work was overlooked.

If the gradients, pedestrian typeface, and all-around clip-art feel of the design weren't bad enough, it seems they can't even decide how to properly symbolize the name Ice Flyers. Is it the Blue Angels or an eagle? They clash. Pick one.

I eagerly await the uniform unveiling to see what they're going to do. I literally couldn't begin to guess. It sounds crass, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them print up 20 of these logos on their ink-jets and glue them to jerseys.

Again, a missed opportunity here if you ask me. Anyone agree? Anyone disagree? The floor is yours.

Old Leak, New Look for Wild?

Tonight's post is in reference to a link I offered up yesterday on Twitter. If you haven't had a chance to check it out yet, take a look.

Depicted there are seven Minnesota Wild jersey concepts purported to be actual prototypes for an alternate sweater the team put forth in focus groups way back in 2001.

At that time the Wild had barely played a season but team management was already looking into the possibility of a third jersey. It would be 2003 before the Wild actually debuted one, but it was on their radar even then. And if you look at image #3 in the linked gallery, it's nearly the same design but with the green and wheat swapped and without the alternate shoulder logo.

Alternate jersey #3

Without vouching for the veracity of these unverified images, what's interesting to me is that prototypes #1, #2 and #6 all feature a script across the front of the jersey. Two days ago, Wild beat writer Michael Russo of the Star Tribune said he'd seen pictures of the new alternates, they're green, and the team name is written in a script across the chest.

Alternate jersey #1

Try to imagine the red swapped with green. Could we be looking at an earlier version of the Wild's upcoming third jersey? And if so, what do you think? Does the script suit the classic look Minnesota strives for? Or does it fall flat and ruin the club's aesthetic?

One thing I want to make note of that makes me question whether these are legitimate prototypes. If you look closely at the shoulder patches on both of these designs, the logos are upside down. A simple mistake for a design firm on unofficial artwork? Perhaps, but it's worth pointing out anyway.

Later tonight, I'll try to throw together a green version of Alternate jersey #1 so we have a better idea of what we're seeing.