Arena Logos: The East

Thought it might be fun to take a look at the various arena logos from around the NHL. Yesterday you got a look at the rinks in the Western Conference. Today it's back east. Have a look.

The current home of the Boston Bruins has been colored by a series of bank mergers over the past two decades. When the Bs left their longtime home of Boston Garden in 1995, their new building was already having naming issues. The arena was supposed to be called Shawmut Center — named after Shawmut Bank. But the bank merged with FleetBoston Financial before it ever opened. So it was renamed the FleetCenter before it hosted its first game.

FleetBoston merged with Bank of America in 2004, but the FleetCenter name stuck around another year before a new deal allowed the rights holder to sell. For a month in early 2005, the name changed daily as the naming rights were auctioned off on ebay. The proceeds of that went to local charities. The building was simply known as YourGarden until TD Banknorth took over the rights in July. They kept the "Garden" part.

Then yet another merger required yet another new name for the building. In 2009, it became TD Garden — a name will still know it by today. Now, if only we can get someone to write a good pun incorporating Toronto-Dominion and the home of the Bruins.

Oh good, another arena named for a bank. That won't get us into trouble. When The Aud closed in 1996, the Buffalo Sabres got a new home. It was called Marine Midland Arena. Yes, Marine Midland was a bank, but it was actually owned by HSBC. And in 1999, they decided to rename the building the HSBC Arena. Then in 2011, First Niagara Financial Group bought up some HSBC branches and wanted their name on the building. Hence, the First Niagara Center was born.

Hey, another bank. Awesome. The Carolina Hurricanes call PNC Arena home. But that's hardly the building's original name. First of all, when the Whalers arrived in North Carolina in 1997, they were forced to play at the Greensboro Coliseum while the Raleigh Entertainment & Sports Arena was being built. When it was finished in 1999, the Canes finally moved to the town they intended.

Then in 2002, naming rights to the new building were sold to RBC Bank — turning it into the RBC Center. Bank merger alert! RBC was purchased by PNC Financial Services in 2011. They changed the name on March 15, 2012.

You've got to be kidding. I get that banks have the necessary cash for things like arena naming rights, but when you agree to that, you have to expect the name is just going to change every few years, right? Guess what. Wait for it. The Florida Panthers entered the NHL in 1993 playing out of Miami Arena — a building they shared with the NBA's Miami Heat — but moved out just five years later.

In 1998, they left for the shiny, new National Car Rental Center in Sunrise. Office Depot picked up the naming rights in 2002 for a few years. Then in 2005, it became the BankAtlantic Center. There it is. BankAtlantic was sold to BB&T in 2012 and the arena was renamed the BB&T Center.

After 72 seasons of hockey and 24 Stanley Cups in the Montreal Forum, the Montreal Canadiens departed in 1996 for the new Molson Centre. When Molson sold the team, they also gave up the naming rights. The building became the Bell Centre in 2002.

The Prudential Center, nicknamed "The Rock," is one of the newest buildings in the NHL, having been home to the New Jersey Devils since 2007. Prior to that, they played in the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, N.J. It was actually called the Brendan Byrne Arena when they arrived in 1982 — but most people referred to it as the Meadowlands Arena.

The New York Islanders are one of just a handful of NHL teams still playing in their original building after 40 years. They entered the NHL in 1972 and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum has been the only home the Isles have ever known. But that will soon change.

The Islanders announced in October that they will move to Brooklyn in 2015 — when their lease at The Coliseum ends. Their new arena will be the Barclays Center, which opened in September 2012. (Uh oh, not another bank!)

Billed as "The World's Most Famous Arena," Madison Square Garden has been home to the New York Rangers since 1968. The original MSG was first built in 1879 in another location. The Rangers actually debuted at the third incarnation of The Garden when they joined the NHL in 1926.

The NHL expanded back into Canada's capital in 1992 with the Ottawa Senators. They played at the Ottawa Civic Centre until The Palladium opened in the middle of the 1995-96 season. Prior to the next season, the building was renamed the Corel Centre, under a 10-year naming rights deal. When it expired in 2006, it became Scotiabank Place. (Anyone counting how many banks we're up to in the east?)

By the way, since Calgary's Saddledome was renamed in 2010, Scotiabank now has its name and logo on two NHL arenas.

The Spectrum was built to house the Philadelphia Flyers in 1967. But after almost 30 years, the club upgraded to the new CoreStates Center in 1996. Wait, that's a bank. Here we go again. First Union acquired CoreStates Bank in 1998 — giving us the First Union Center. In 2003, First Union merged with Wachovia — so we had the Wachovia Center for a while. Then Wachovia was bought by Wells Fargo in 2008, but the building wasn't renamed Wells Fargo Center until 2010. How many more name changes can the "Spectrum II" endure before the existing 21-year deal is up? Only time will tell.

The NHL's newest building is the Consol Energy Center — home of the Pittsburgh Penguins since 2010. Previously, the Pens played at "The Igloo" — also known as Mellon Arena — from the time they entered the NHL during the 1967 expansion. When that arena was torn down in 2011, it was 50 years old.

After playing their first season in a glorified barn on the Florida State Fairgrounds, the Tampa Bay Lightning left Expo Hall for the aptly re-christened ThunderDome. The Dome is now known as Tropicana Field, home of the MLB's Tampa Bay Rays. In 1996, the Bolts moved into their new home — the Ice Palace. If you ask me — and I know I'm biased — that is hands-down the best name EVER for an NHL rink.

But it didn't last. The naming rights were sold to the St. Petersburg Times in 2002 and the building was called the St. Pete Times Forum. In 2012, the newspaper changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times — so the arena's name was changed as well in the middle of last season. (It also got a much cooler logo.)

The Lightning actually have kind of a funny arena story when you look back. From 1993 to 1996, the "Tampa team" played in St. Petersburg, Fla. Then a few years after they finally arrived in downtown Tampa, their arena suddenly had "St. Pete" in its name. Quite confusing for most people outside the Bay Area.

The Toronto Maple Leafs played at Maple Leaf Gardens for almost 70 years before moving to Air Canada Centre in 1999. The Gardens, by the way, now house a grocery store. So at least they didn't tear it down the way every other storied NHL building has been.

The MTS Centre has housed the new Winnipeg Jets since their arrival in 2011. Named for Manitoba Telecom Services, the arena was built by True North Sports & Entertainment and opened in 2004. It was home to the AHL's Manitoba Moose until the Jets moved in. The original Winnipeg Jets played at the Winnipeg Arena even during their WHA days in the 1970s. That building was demolished in 2006.

We finish with another building named for a telecom company — the Verizon Center, home of the Washington Capitals. It opened in 1997 as the MCI Center, but the name was changed in 2006 when Verizon acquired MCI. Prior to 1997, the Caps played at the Capital Centre, built in 1973 ahead of the team's arrival a year later. That building was renamed the USAir Arena in 1993 and again changed to US Airways Arena in 1997 when the airline rebranded itself.

Hope you found all of this as enlightening as I did. And I think if we learned one thing, it's that you should not sell naming rights to a bank. It's just going to cost you in the long run when you have to keep changing your signage every five minutes. Back to normal blog posts tomorrow.

Update on Saturday · Jul 13 · 2013 | 8:57 PM PDT by Chris

Got an arena logo update. As of about two weeks ago, the home of the Ottawa Senators has been renamed Canadian Tire Centre. The arena naming rights are part of a larger partnership between the two organizations, announced back on June 18. The new name took effect on July 1.

So that's one less bank now!

Arena Logos: The West

I put together something fun for this weekend, a little two-parter. Arena logos. A little out there? Maybe. No doubt you're quite familiar with your team's arena logo, but how about the rest of the NHL? And just like with team logos, there are good ones and bad ones.

Today, we start with the Western Conference. (Tomorrow we'll do the east.)

The Anaheim Ducks call the Honda Center home — and have done since entering the league in 1993. Only back then, it was called the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim. An appropriate name for the home of a team called the Mighty Ducks. "The Duck Pond" got its current name in 2006.

The Saddledome has been home to the Calgary Flames since 1983. In that time, it's gone through a number of official names — though its always been the Saddledome thanks to its uniquely designed roof. When the arena was built, they called it the Olympic Saddledome as it was designed to host Winter Olympic events in 1988. In 1995, Canadian Airlines picked up the naming rights until it was absorbed by Air Canada in 2000. At that point, Pengrowth Energy tacked on their brand for a decade. Scotiabank took over in 2010.

Chicagoans know it as "The Madhouse on Madison," but the United Center has housed the Chicago Blackhawks since 1995 — though it actually opened in 1994. Thanks, NHL lockout. The logo changed in the fall of 2011 to sync up with the owner of the naming rights, United Airlines. When United merged with Continental, it took on Continental's globe logo.

Denver's Pepsi Center — sometimes called "The Can" — is where the Colorado Avalanche hang their skates. When it opened in 1999, it allowed the Avs to upgrade from the aging McNichols Sports Arena — which was demolished a few months later. Much like the aforementioned United Center, the Pepsi Center saw a logo change in 2009 to coincide with its naming sponsor's rebranding. By the way, before they left Quebec in 1995, the Nordiques played at the Colisée Pepsi. Coincidence?

When Ohio's capital city put in its bid for an NHL expansion franchise in 1997, things weren't looking too good on the arena front. Voters opted against paying for one. Then Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company swooped in and offered to foot the entire bill — and of course named the building after itself. Shortly thereafter, the Columbus Blue Jackets were born. They hit the ice when Nationwide Arena opened in 2000.

In 2001, the Dallas Stars left Reunion Arena for the brand new American Airlines Center. They had played in Reunion Arena since moving from Minnesota in 1993. The building was torn down in 2009.

What more needs to be said? Joe Louis Arena and the Detroit Red Wings are positively synonymous. "The Joe" has housed the Wings since it opened in 1979. And it has the best address ever — 19 Steve Yzerman Drive. Prior to that, the Wings played at the Detroit Olympia, which opened in 1927. It was demolished in 1987. Last month, the owner operator of Joe Louis Arena, Olympia Entertainment, announced plans for a downtown development which would include a new arena for the Red Wings.

Rexall Place has been surrounded by drama as of late. The Edmonton Oilers have called it home since their WHA days in the 1970s, but after almost 40 years, they're eager for a new building. The rink opened in 1974, named Northlands Coliseum after a local nonprofit. It was renamed Edmonton Coliseum about two decades later. Then in 1998, Skyreach Equipment paid to have it called Skyreach Centre. Rexall bought the naming rights in 2003 — five years before its chairman, Daryl Katz, bought the Oilers.

The Los Angeles Kings moved in to Staples Center in 1999 after 32 years at The L.A. Forum. The building stays busy as it is home to not one but two NBA franchises as well as the Kings. At one point, Staples Center had a pretty cool logo, but I think they dropped it at some point for the simpler wordmark seen above. Correct me if I'm wrong, L.A. readers.

In order to bring NHL hockey back to Minnesota, the state funded the construction of a new arena in 1998. The Xcel Energy Center opened just in time for the arrival of the Minnesota Wild in 2000.

Bridgestone Arena has been home to the Nashville Predators since their inception in 1998. But when it opened in 1996, it was simply known as Nashville Arena. Three years later, it became the Gaylord Entertainment Center when one of the Predators' stakeholders signed a 20-year naming agreement. However in 2005, Gaylord sold its stake in the company and agreed to give up the naming rights.

The building was called Nashville Arena again until 2007 when it was renamed Sommet Center. But when the Sommet Group stopped making payments — and the FBI and IRS subsequently went knocking on their door for other reasons — another named vanished into thin air. It was back to Nashville Arena once more briefly in 2010. That's when Bridgestone came along and made an offer.

In 2003, the Phoenix Coyotes departed the America West Arena — and the city of Phoenix for that matter — for what is now Jobing.com Arena. America West — now US Airways Center — was horrible for hockey so the team had a new arena built in Glendale, Arizona. The Glendale Arena at Westgate opened and welcomed the Coyotes in the middle of the 2003-04 season. Jobing.com paid for 10 years worth of naming rights in 2006. Not to be an ass, but who here thinks the Yotes will still be playing there when the contract runs out?

Perhaps one of the coolest arena names in the NHL belongs to HP Pavilion at San Jose — at least since the Ice Palace was renamed. The Pavilion is home to the San Jose Sharks, who moved in when the building opened in 1993. The team played its first two seasons at the tiny Cow Palace in Daly City, California. Upon arriving at "The Shark Tank," it was officially known only as San Jose Arena. It got its first naming sponsor in 2001 when it became the Compaq Center. When HP bought Compaq, they renamed the building after their line of personal computers — and it fit like a glove.

The St. Louis Blues moved from St. Louis Arena to Scottrade Center in 1994 — only back then it was known as Kiel Center. The name was changed to Savvis Center in 2000 but the naming rights were bought mostly with company stock — which turned out to be nearly worthless after the dot-com bubble burst. Ouch. Scottrade partnered up with the Blues in 2006 and the arena name was changed once more.

After nearly three decades of hockey at the Pacific Coliseum, the Vancouver Canucks departed for a new downtown home called General Motors Place in 1995. When the city of Vancouver hosted the Winter Olympics in 2010, the building was temporarily renamed Canada Hockey Place due to IOC restrictions on event site sponsors. Not long after that, the name was changed to Rogers Arena — and will stay that way until at least 2020 — after Rogers Communications picked up the naming rights.

Well, you made it to the end. Hopefully you found this post a little bit interesting. Check back tomorrow for all the arena logos in the NHL's Eastern Conference.

Update on Saturday · Jul 13 · 2013 | 9:27 PM PDT by Chris

This past week, HP Pavilion got a new name. As of July 9, the home of the San Jose Sharks is now officially known as SAP Center at San Jose. But unofficially, it'll always be the Shark Tank. I mentioned in the original post that HP Pavilion was one of the coolest arena names in the NHL. Sad to see it go in favor of yet another "center." Also bummed about the new logo. But it is what it is.

Lagers Jersey Arrives!

It's here! The IceHL jersey that became a reality arrived at my door this week. Feast your eyes on an actual Milwaukee Lagers sweater! All thanks to the great folks at RinkGear. For those unfamiliar with this fantasy hockey league project, I recommend downloading the IceHL 2012 Yearbook. It's free!

As you can see in these close-ups, the quality is absolutely spectacular! It's like nothing I would've expected — especially for a fantasy hockey team that existed only in cyberspace until now. The logos and numbers are fully embroidered and the jersey itself is made of a substantial material. After all, RinkGear manufactures their jerseys to be worn in actual hockey games.

I can't get over how cool it is to watch the continued evolution of the IceHL Project. Never in my craziest dreams did I imagine I'd get to touch an IceHL jersey, much less hang it in my closet. Again, I have to give a huge thanks to RinkGear for helping to make this happen.

And because RinkGear considers this IceHL jersey to be a success, they want to do another one! Beginning this weekend, I'll be conducting another series of polls to determine which one will be produced next. I've come up with a list of 16 jerseys that will be involved in this next round of voting. The list is based on how the jerseys finished in the last round of voting. In no particular order:

• Montreal Olympiques
• Winnipeg Winterhawks
• Quebec Armada (white)
• Seattle Aviators
• Hartford Mariners
• New Orleans Gators (white)
• Boston Colonials
• Alaska Huskies
• Calgary Cavalry
• Regina Renegades
• New York Guardians
• North Carolina Nighthawks
• Tampa Bay Barracudas
• Northwest Narwhals
• Salt Lake City Scorpions
• Washington Sentinels

Can't wait to see the next IceHL jersey hanging in my closet!

If you bought a Lagers jersey, let us know what you think of it in the comments. I can tell you that Winterhawks GM Dan Raposo loves his — and is probably hoping the Hawks are next!

Update on Thursday · Jan 24 · 2013 | 6:25 PM PST by Chris

For more high resolution photos of this jersey, check out the Facebook album.

2013 NHL Third Jersey Schedules

A handful of NHL teams have released their third jersey schedules for the abbreviated 2013 season. I'm collecting them all here, so if you know of any others floating around, drop me a line.

Boston Bruins

The Bruins will sport their alternate sweater 7 times this season — including its season debut on Monday night.

• Mon., Jan. 21 — vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Tues., Jan. 29 — vs. New Jersey Devils
• Tues., Feb. 12 — vs. New York Rangers
• Sat., Mar. 2 — vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sat., Mar. 16 — vs. Washington Capitals
• Mon., Apr. 8 — vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Fri., Apr. 19 — vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

All third jersey nights this year are home games at TD Garden and there are no repeat opponents.

The Bruins unveiled and debuted this third jersey during the 2008-09 season. This is its fifth season in use.

Carolina Hurricanes

Hurricanes fans will have to wait a while to see their team's third jersey again. It's not set to make its 2013 season debut for another month. But once it does, the black sweater will be used 7 times, including once on the road. 

• Sat., Feb. 23 — vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sat., Mar. 2 — vs. Florida Panthers
• Thurs., Mar. 7 — vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Thurs., Mar. 14 — vs. Washington Capitals
• Tues., Mar. 26 — vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Sat., Apr. 6 — vs. New York Rangers
• Sun., Apr. 21 — at Tampa Bay Lightning

The Canes' third jersey will see action against all four Southeast Division opponents this year.

The sweater was unveiled and debuted during the 2008-09 season. It's now in its fifth season of use.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche will also wear their third jersey 7 times this season. Starting to see a pattern here? All 2013 occasions will take place at home.

• Mon., Feb. 4 — vs. Dallas Stars
• Wed., Feb. 20 — vs. St. Louis Blues
• Sun., Mar. 10 — vs. San Jose Sharks
• Sat., Mar. 16 — vs. Minnesota Wild
• Sat., Mar. 30 — vs. Nashville Predators
• Fri., Apr. 8 — vs. Calgary Flames
• Tues., Apr. 19 — vs. Edmonton Oilers

From Colorado's press release:

The Avalanche initially unveiled the third sweater to the public on Nov. 12, 2009 and wore it for the first time two nights later against the Vancouver Canucks.

The third jersey design is a collaboration of ideas from the Colorado Avalanche (including Kroenke Sports Enterprises Creative Imaging), the National Hockey League and Reebok.

The third jersey has a predominantly blue color scheme with a diagonal COLORADO type, laces at the neckline and stripes on the sleeves. Two rounds of sweater prototypes were tested and ran on ice before the final version was made.

Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets will also wear their third jersey 7 times this season — all home games at Nationwide Arena. Here are the actual dates, as released by the club.

• Sat., Feb. 2 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Sun., Feb. 10 — vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Tues., Feb. 26 — vs. Dallas Stars
• Thurs., Mar. 7 — vs. Vancouver Canucks
• Tues., Mar. 19 — vs. Nashville Predators
• Sun., Apr. 7 — vs. Minnesota Wild
• Fri., Apr. 12 — vs. St. Louis Blues

The Blue Jackets introduced their third jersey on Nov. 24, 2010. This is its third season in action.

Here's more from the team's website:

The phrase "We Fight, We March!," which appears on the interior of the jersey's collar, was first introduced during the 2008-09 season to describe the Blue Jackets’ first-ever march to the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The expression continues to represent the team's intention each year to fight and march throughout the regular season and into the playoffs. Below "We Fight, We March!," 10 stars commemorate the introduction of the jersey in the club's 10th season.

Minnesota Wild

The Wild are breaking the mold, wearing their green third jersey a whopping 9 times during the 2013 season. All dates are home games.

• Sun., Jan. 20 — vs. Dallas Stars
• Wed., Jan. 30 — vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Sat., Feb. 9 — vs. Nashville Predators
• Sun., Feb. 17 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Sat., Mar. 23 — vs. San Jose Sharks
• Sat., Mar. 30 — vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Tues., Apr. 9 — vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Sun., Apr. 21 — vs. Calgary Flames
• Fri., Apr. 26 — vs. Edmonton Oilers

It's always great seeing the Wild wearing green and they'll be doing that a lot this season.

My search has only turned up third jersey schedules for these five teams. If you've come across any others, drop me a line and I'll keep adding on to this post.

Update on Wednesday · Jan 23 · 2013 | 6:01 PM PST by Chris

New York Rangers

According to their online beat writer, this season the New York Rangers will sport their third jerseys on home dates that take place on Sunday or against an Original Six opponent. Here's a look at those 9 games:

• Wed., Jan. 23 — vs. Boston Bruins
• Sat., Jan. 26 — vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sun., Feb. 10 — vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sun., Feb. 17 — vs. Washington Capitals
• Tues., Feb. 19 — vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Sun., Mar. 3 — vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Sun., Mar. 24 — vs. Washington Capitals
• Wed., Apr. 10 — vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sun., Apr. 21 — vs. New Jersey Devils

The above dates are based on a tweet from Jim Cerny on Tuesday morning:

@JimCerny Yes, Heritage jerseys tomorrow and for all home Original 6 games and Sunday home games RT @BR19MG10: @JimCerny 3rd jerseys tomorrow?

The Rangers' home opener was this past Sunday, but they did not wear their alternate uniforms.

Thanks to @faz8218 for tipping me off on the Rangers' tweet. If you've spotted any other third jersey schedules I've overlooked, please let me know.

Update on Wednesday · Jan 23 · 2013 | 10:52 PM PST by Chris

Ottawa Senators

More third jersey schedules! The Ottawa Senators have announced 7 dates during the 2013 season when they'll sport their heritage jersey.

• Tues., Jan. 29 — vs. Washington Capitals
• Sat., Feb. 9 — vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Tues., Feb. 19 — vs. New York Islanders
• Sat., Mar. 23 — vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sat., Mar. 30 — vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Tues., Apr. 16 — vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Mon., Apr. 22 — vs. Pittsburgh Penguins

The black alternate sweater made its debut last season during the Sens' 20th anniversary celebration. It replaced the black "SENS" jersey that launched in 2008.

This uniform has the distinction of being the first in NHL history designed by a fan following an online campaign to have it adopted by the team. Obviously I like retelling that story. Congrats again to Jacob Barrette!

San Jose Sharks

The San Jose Sharks will bring back the "BlackArmor" for another season, according to the team's executive VP of business operations, Malcolm Bordelon. He tweeted that the third jersey will be worn on Saturdays and Thursdays, leaving us with these 9 dates.

• Sat., Jan. 26 — vs. Colorado Avalanche
• Sun., Jan. 27 — vs. Vancouver Canucks*
• Thu., Jan. 31 — vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Sat., Feb. 2 — vs. Nashville Predators
• Sat., Feb. 9 — vs. Phoenix Coyotes
• Thu., Feb. 28 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Sat., Mar. 9 — vs. St. Louis Blues
• Thu., Mar. 14 — vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Thu., Mar. 28 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Sun., Apr. 7 — vs. Dallas Stars*
• Thu., Apr. 18 — vs. Minnesota Wild
• Sun., Apr. 21 — vs. Columbus Blue Jackets*

Here's that tweet from Bordelon:

@MMB52 Sharks will wear Black Jersey every Thurs & Sat game (except opening night ... Teal). Go Sharks!

Yeah, technically he said "every" Thursday and Saturday game, but I think it's safe to assume he meant to include "home game" in there since it's a dark jersey. Plus, if they wore it on the road, they'd go well past 9 dates and I can't imagine the NHL would be thrilled with that.

Thanks to @Puckguy14 for the tip on the schedule — and for being the guy to elicit it from Bordelon on Twitter. *UPDATE (1/26): After the Sharks hit the ice today in teal instead of black, Puckguy14 tweeted to say that the Sharks apparently changed the schedule to Thursdays and Sundays now.

Update on Monday · Jan 28 · 2013 | 6:22 PM PST by Chris

Phoenix Coyotes

The Coyotes are slated to sport their black alternate jerseys 6 times during the 2013 season — or so says the team's Senior Director of News Content. Dave Vest tweeted this morning that thirds would be worn tonight and for all other Monday home games this year.

• Mon., Jan. 28 — vs. Nashville Predators
• Mon., Feb. 4 — vs. Minnesota Wild
• Mon., Feb. 18 — vs. Calgary Flames
• Mon., Mar. 4 — vs. Anaheim Ducks
• Mon., Mar. 25 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Mon., Apr. 15 — vs. San Jose Sharks

Here's that tweet, by the way:

@davest4yotes #Coyotes will wear black sweaters tonight vs. Preds. They will wear black sweaters for ALL Monday home games, actually.

So far, this is the shortest of the third jersey schedules we've seen for this season.

Washington Capitals

The Capitals' white retro jersey will return late in this shortened season — but the home crowd won't get a chance to see it in person. Today, Washington announced 7 road dates for the throwback sweater. Here they are: 

• Sat., Mar. 16 — at Boston Bruins
• Tues., Mar. 19 — at Pittsburgh Penguins
• Thurs., Mar. 21 — at Winnipeg Jets
• Fri., Mar. 22 — at Winnipeg Jets
• Sun., Mar. 24 — at New York Rangers
• Thurs., Apr. 18 — at Ottawa Senators
• Sat., Apr. 20 — at Montreal Canadiens

Interesting how all of the third jersey dates are clumped together. Basically, the Caps have a 4-game road trip in late March where the regular white sweaters will simply be left at home.

By the way, that road trip begins in Pittsburgh so you can't help but wonder if there's a chance of a rematch between the 2011 Winter Classic jerseys. The Penguins haven't released a third jersey schedule that I'm aware of.

Since Washington is only planning to wear their white alternates for road games — where they'd be wearing white anyway — none of their visiting opponents have to worry about carrying an extra set of dark jerseys.

Update on Thursday · Feb 7 · 2013 | 10:20 AM PST by Chris

Anaheim Ducks

The third jersey schedule fun continues today with the Ducks. Anaheim will sport their black alternates for a third season, including 9 home dates (two of which have already passed).

Take a look:

• Fri., Jan. 25 — vs. Vancouver Canucks
• Sat., Feb. 2 — vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Fri., Mar. 1 — vs. Minnesota Wild
• Fri., Mar. 8 — vs. Calgary Flames
• Fri., Mar. 22 — vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Fri., Apr. 5 — vs. Dallas Stars
• Sun., Apr. 7 — vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Mon., Apr. 8 — vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Sat., Apr. 27 — vs. Phoenix Coyotes

For what it's worth, the first two games in the thirds turned out like this: The Ducks got creamed 5-0 by the Canucks and beat the Kings 7-4 the following week. Take from that what you will.

The Ducks' third jersey was launched in 2010.

20 Years After the Redesigned Penguin

Design firm reveals work that led up to new logo in 1992

It was the summer of 1992. The Pittsburgh Penguins had just completed two consecutive Stanley Cup victories. Enter a controversial new owner and a controversial new logo. Now, the company that Howard Baldwin hired to design that new mark is taking a look back at how it all came together.

First of all, believe it or not, it wasn't Baldwin's idea to rebrand the Penguins in the first place. He was just following through on a plan that had already been set in motion prior to his arrival. Vance Wright Adams was the Pittsburgh firm he called upon to come up with the team's modern new look.

And no matter what you think of that look, it's always refreshing to see the design process and some of the options that were rejected on the way to the final look. Vance Wright Adams is now sharing a few of them with all of us two decades later.

A nickname jersey proposed before it was "cool"

These are some of the hand-drawn options that were considered during the design process. Note that Vance Wright Adams came up with a "PENS" jersey long before those "BOLTS" and "SENS" jerseys ever became a reality. And what do you think of the more realistic looking penguin trapped inside the gold triangle?

Vance Wright Adams proposed the Penguins use 4 jerseys

According to a video produced by the Penguins to introduce their new look, VWA actually proposed four jerseys that season — two homes and two roads. The NHL wasn't too keen on that, of course. But those four sweaters might've looked a little something like what you see above. Really like the black one on the right!

Vegas gold was a possibility long before it was a reality

And here's proof that Vegas gold was in the running long before the third jersey it was introduced with in 2000. That third jersey, by the way, resurrected the classic skating penguin eight seasons after it was retired. Only two years after that, the new streamlined penguin was relegated to the shoulder patch by owner Mario Lemieux. And when Reebok came along in 2007, it disappeared from the uniforms for good, ending a 15-year run.

See more concepts and sketches from Vance Wright Adams

You can find more high-resolution uniform concepts and sketches from Vance Wright Adams by visiting their website. I highly recommend it. I also have to send up a huge thanks to those guys for posting their old work. It's not often we get to see this stuff but always a treat when we do.

Vance Wright Adams is also responsible for creating the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins logo as well as logos for a number of other teams.

Now I'll leave you with the video the "Back-Checking the Penguins" video produced by the team to launch their new look back in 1992.