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.

Update on Wednesday · Jan 5 · 2011 | 7:43 PM PST by 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.

Update on Wednesday · Jan 5 · 2011 | 11:27 PM PST by 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.

Update on Friday · Jan 7 · 2011 | 11:24 AM PST by 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.

Oil Kings Celebrate Soldiers

Mark Pysyk / photo from Oil KingsThe WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings held their Military Appreciation Day over the weekend and broke out some specialty sweaters to mark the occasion.

On Sunday, the Oil Kings hosted the Kootenay Ice, sporting jerseys made of red and blue camouflage. They're quite a sight, and in case this one picture isn't enough, the team has you covered with a full photo gallery on its website.

I've never seen a camo jersey looking quite like that. Two completely different hues on one uniform. And it may look silly but it's for a good cause. As usual, the sweaters were auctioned off after the game.

The Oil Kings wore special edition Military Appreciation Day jerseys to honour the Canadian Armed Forces, and the game-worn uniforms were then auctioned off. An impressive $7,475 was raised from the jersey auction, with proceeds going to Soldier On, a program that improves the quality of life of injured or ill Canadian Forces personnel and former personnel through physical activities.

That really is impressive when you consider it averages out to more than $350 per sweater. But Canadians do seem to love their junior hockey. Perhaps I too will learn that joy when I finally will myself to a Seattle Thunderbirds game.

Sadly, the Oil Kings lost 2-1 to the Ice on Military Appreciation Day. If you'd like to know more about the event and/or the game, look no further than the team's website.

Timeline of a Connecticut Fail

On Tuesday afternoon, something terrible happened in New England. The AHL's Connecticut Whale unveiled two more jerseys and we were all a little worse off for having seen them.

This story started earlier this year, when the American Hockey League franchise formerly known as the Hartford Wolf Pack assigned marketing duties to Howard Baldwin. How excited we all were by the prospect of resurrecting the Whalers moniker and colors, as Baldwin had proposed.

Even if it was in the minors. And even if it was with Baldwin at the helm. How naïve of us.

Readers were left with no option but to invent new words to express their disappointment. On Sept. 29, this logo (left) was unveiled much to chagrin of anyone with aesthetic taste, along with the name: Connecticut Whale. Uh, didn't you forget the 'S'? we all wondered.

We were indeed horrified by the name and the logo's complete lack of artistic competence. It's a pathetic cross between clip art and something a teenager might draw on a notebook. It really is that bad. And on the day it was unveiled, Icethetics readers were left with no option but to invent new words to express their disappointment.

"It's horr-awful," Connor Hanley commented, "my eyes are bleeding."

On Nov. 24, it got horr-awfuler when a picture of the team's new sweater hit the web.

Connecticut Whale unveil green jerseyYou might say the one saving grace to the new mark would be its use of the tail shape from the original Hartford Whalers logo. But I say that just tarnishes the memory of one of the best logos in the history of professional hockey.

And I do understand the value of marketing to children and the idea of giving a mascot a fierce face, but some teams do it well (Chicago Wolves). Some do not.

If it sounds like I'm being harsh, let's be honest, they kind of deserve it. I get we're talking about the minors here, but it's still professional hockey. Just one rung down from the NHL.

Brodie Dupont / photo by Chris RutschTwo days after the "unveiling," the players hit the ice for the first time as the collective "whale." They skated out wearing green — and not Reebok Edge. This was obviously a rushed job.

Any time a decision is made to fundamentally change a team's identity in the middle of a season, you know things are going to be overlooked. You wouldn't think, however, that would be the jerseys. But Reebok couldn't deliver on time.

Since the forthcoming blue and white home and road jerseys were not ready for game use, the team made its debut in a third jersey, of all things. And actually, I liked it on the ice. Right up until I saw the crest and took a closer look at the stripes.

The green and blue make a fantastic combination on a hockey uniform, one we could really use more of it in the NHL. However, the logo, a topic we've put to bed by now, is bad. And the stripes? Really look at them. Foamy waves?

One could only hope the regular home and road sweaters would be an improvement. After all, how could they not be?

That brings us back to Tuesday, when the new Reebok Edge jerseys were finally revealed to us.

Players model new Whale sweatersJared Nightingale and Lee Baldwin were on hand to model the new sweaters for the media. Perhaps this picture (left) from the Whale's website says the most.

While some might see a silly pose meant to highlight the sport's more physical nature, I see it another way. I see two players scrambling to help each other remove the awful sweaters that have been forced on them.

It's really more altruistic and friendly than it looks.

Seriously, though, I think all of this can be summed up in one succinct tweet by @gonzotherooster:

Nigel Williams modeled the green Whale jersey and got traded. Lee Baldwin modeled the blue jersey and got sent to the ECHL. I see a pattern.

The white jersey made its debut in a pair of home games over the weekend.

Ryan Garlock / photo by Chris RutschIt's just not good. And where did the baby blue come from? No chance we could get some green in the socks or the sweater itself? It's like the Vancouver Canucks with green all over their uniforms but not to be found in the primary logos.

And I hate to keep beating a dead horse, but that is just a terrible logo. Almost any Icethetics concept artist could improve it, and most are not professionals.

In fact, let's do a contest. Who can create the best logo for the Connecticut Whale? Email in your work and I'll make it the next post on the Concepts page.

By the way, great game photos from Chris Rutsch. If only the team gave him something a little better to photograph. You can find more pics on the Whale's Facebook page.

The next road game is Wednesday, so I'm guessing that will bring the debut of the blue sweater. Not that anyone here will be clamoring to see it in action.

One more thing.

Back on that Sept. 29 post, Dave Delisle added, "Some will call it the 'Connecticut Fail' eventually."

Why put off the inevitable?

New Look for the New Year

Just rang in 2011 at the Space Needle here in Seattle. They put on a spectacular fireworks show, let me tell you. Very much enjoying my new city.

The new year will mean lots of new features and endeavors for me and Icethetics. But more than that, a change in the calendar usually means a new look for this particular website. And right now you're looking at it.

Gone are the bright blue and orange in favor of a more muted color scheme and widened page in anticipation of a brand new signature feature of Icethetics. Details to come on that soon.

The new design isn't fully integrated yet. I still have some work ahead of me, but I wanted to get it launched right away. So if you see something that doesn't look right, I'll be getting to it.

If you have any comments on the new look or suggestions for new features, just scroll down and join the conversation.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the redesign and continue to make Icethetics a regular read in 2011. Happy new year!

By the way, don't forget the NHL has moved the Winter Classic back to 8 PM eastern tomorrow night. Looking forward to seeing both teams in action in their new sweaters. And the game should be exciting too!

Tattoo Artist Designs Jersey

Reign jersey by Corey MillerThe Ontario Reign have enlisted LA Ink tattoo artist Corey Miller to design their newest specialty sweater.

The unique red jerseys will be worn on Jan. 23 when the Reign host the Stockton Thunder. The uniforms will then be auctioned off with proceeds going to the American Red Cross.

If you really want to see the intricacies of this design, click to enlarge the image. Despite said intricate details, this is actually a pretty sharp sweater — for a one-off number. Wouldn't want to see it become a habit, of course.

Too often we see what terrible manner of thing can come when a team tries too hard on a specialty jersey. The Everblades' recent holiday sweater comes instantly to mind, but we'll talk more about that later.

Thanks to Vinnie from the Reign for sending along an early look at this sweater.