NHL Recycling 2011 All-Star Jerseys?

Sens Town posts photo of apparently leaked 2012 All-Star jerseys — which look quite familiar

According to Ottawa-based blog Sens Town, the 2012 NHL All-Stars will wear the same uniforms they donned in 2011 in Raleigh. The blog claims to have "gotten ahold" of photos that prove this. The shot above shows the old jerseys with the 2012 All-Star Game logo on the shoulders.

In the blog post, Stephen Smith writes: "It appears the only difference is a few minor touches on the sides."

2011 NHL All-Star jerseysI'm not sure what he means by that unless he has other photos he didn't publish. From what I can see here, the design of both jerseys appear to be exactly the same as last year's — sides and all.

While the sweaters were highly unpopular with readers last year, personally, I was a fan. I love seeing the league try new things. It annoys me that ultra-traditionalists think every hockey uniform should look exactly like it did in 1960s. How perfectly dull. There's a time and place for it — the Winter Classic, for example.

So we'll see if this turns out to be true. I have no reason to believe it won't. In fact, in my Nov. 28 post about the Rangers' Winter Classic jersey unveiling, I flat out said I wouldn't be surprised if the league just recycled last year's All-Star look. It's a good one. It deserves to stick around another year or two.

That brings me to one last thought. Despite the NHL realigning next year, there won't be any need to reformat the Fantasy Draft/All-Star Game since players aren't divided up by conference anymore anyway. Having said that, I'm sure not everyone would agree. So after realignment in 2012, should the 2013 All-Star Game be reformatted? And if so, how?

Update on Monday · Dec 19 · 2011 | 11:43 AM PST by Chris

Late to the party on this, but just so you know, Sens Town confirmed last week that these jerseys are on the shelf at the Sens Store inside Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Looks like we're definitely getting a rerun of the 2011 NHL All-Star uniforms. No complaints here. Bravo!

Super Skills & Super Shenanigans

This year's NHL SuperSkills Competition was not nearly as memorable as Montreal's in 2009, but it was still a fun part of the 2011 All-Star Weekend in Raleigh, N.C.

In case you missed it, I thought I'd recap some noteworthy Icethetics-related elements from the event — you know, logos and uniforms and such. There were errors and shenanigans of course, but what surprised me were the technical mistakes on both Versus and CBC coverage. I kept switching back and forth tonight.

As someone who used to direct live television, I know things can get out of hand and missteps are anything but few and far between when you barely know what's coming next. But I felt like both broadcasts had more than their share of issues, be it incorrect graphics or bad communication between the truck and the ice.

Misrepresentin' / Glen CuthbertBut it wasn't just the broadcast guys that had to battle some hiccups. The night began with your typical player introductions. The player's number, surname and team logo were projected onto a sheet of dry ice they could skate through as their names were called.

It was a cool effect. For everyone but Patrick Sharp. Ouch.

Glen Cuthbert nabbed this shot from his TV screen, clearly showing Sharp's name above a Columbus Blue Jackets logo. I'm sure that didn't panic any Blackhawks fans for no reason. Or maybe Stan Bowman has been busy this weekend.

Interestingly, Sharp is the only Hawks player on Team Staal, which is being coached tomorrow by Chicago bench boss Joel Quenneville. Kane, Toews and Keith are on Team Lidstrom under the direction of Peter Laviolette, the coach of they team they beat for the 2010 Stanley Cup championship.

Anyway, this is a pretty big mistake on a pretty big stage. Sadly, it tells us that whoever was designing the projection graphics is not a hockey fan. I'm sure it was just one of many All-Star elements farmed out by the folks in Raleigh. Shame about that.

Subban sports Skinner's sweater / NHLIThe shenanigans continued even after the competition got underway.

At the urging of Dan Boyle, a guy who knows a thing or two about how to please a home crowd, Jeff Skinner gave P.K. Subban the jersey right off his back to wear for the Breakaway Challenge.

Canadiens fans may not have liked it, but the crowd in North Carolina sure did. Subban was met with wild cheers and put on some pretty smooth moves.

The jovial stunt helped Subban win second place with 20% of the fan vote and three points for Team Staal — which obliterated Team Lidstrom, by the way. The final was 33-22, much to my dismay.

Jamie McBain's many patches / NHLIThis bit isn't really shenanigans, I just thought it was funny. Jamie McBain, the rookie selected to replace Jeff Skinner after he got bumped up to full-on All-Star, started turning into an emo kid's backpack with all the patches he had on his jersey.

All of the rookies at the SuperSkills Competition, save Skinner, wore a Rookie Face-Off patch on their sweaters so we could tell them apart from the real All-Stars. But because McBain was already wearing the All-Star Game patch like all Hurricanes players, it had to be shifted to the other shoulder.

Add to that, he's got the regular shoulder patches on his Canes sweater and there's no room for anything else. Good thing he wasn't a captain or anything.

SuperSkills event logos / NHL.comAs I watched the SuperSkills Competition tonight, I really noticed how much of a branding frenzy the All-Star Weekend can be.

Not only did the competition itself have a logo (top), but every one of the six events had its own logo (left). And I do understand the reason behind it all. It's just another opportunity to grab some all-important sponsorship dollars.

But I think we should really count up just how many logos were created specifically for this weekend — and that will never be used again. Doesn't the money spent on designers sort of cancel out all the sponsorship money?

Okay, maybe I'm just being ridiculous.

But seriously, just set aside all the team logos on the ice. Every SuperSkills event had its own logo. The rookies have one. The SuperSkills Competition and Fantasy Draft have logos, not to mention the game itself and all of the different variations along with Fan Fair and all that fun stuff.

Branding the NHL All-Star Weekend is no small task, obviously. But I am curious as to why the SuperSkills logo is blue while everything else is red. Seems odd, but perhaps it has to do with the sponsor, Honda, preferring blue over red?

As you know, the All-Star festivities actually kicked off Friday night with that highly anticipated All-Star Player Fantasy Draft.

Captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom made their selections with the help of their alternate captains. Staal of course took teammate Cam Ward first and Lidstrom's first choice was Stamkos, assuring the deadly St. Louis-Stamkos combination for Sunday night.

If you watched, you noticed that players were handed jerseys with their name and numbers already stitched on as soon as they were picked. As confirmed by Bob McKenzie, both blue and white jerseys were prepared for all 36 players and the appropriate jersey was brought out when the player was selected.

The rookies, who came out and picked which team they wanted to join after the 15th round of the draft, stood on stage holding both white and blue jerseys with their names on them. Once the teams were selected, the gave up the other jersey. At the end of the day, it all boiled down to a lot of extra work for the equipment guys. But they get to stand behind the bench at the All-Star Game, so I'm sure they're not complaining.

I think that wraps it all up. Anyone else pick up on anything noteworthy from the last two nights?

All-Star Team Captains Named

All-Star team captains named / NHL.comWe can stop referring to the 2011 NHL All-Star Game opponents as Team Red and Team Blue. This morning, the league revealed the two team captains.

Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom were selected by a vote of the 42 players named to this year's All-Star roster. Team Staal will wear red and Team Lidstrom will sport blue.

I'm not questioning the validity of the vote, but it does seem rather convenient that one of the captains plays for the host team, and as a pair, we have one from the East and one from the West.

To be fair, hockey players seem like a magnanimous bunch when it comes to things like this, so I could see them picking the hometown hero. And Lidstrom, well, he's an 11-time All-Star on his own. No question.

It is refreshing to see that Crosby (unless his injury keeps him out) and Ovechkin will be standing behind the fence waiting to be picked, and — perish the thought — not the center of attention. But it just goes to show who's popular among the players.

So how do you see the Fantasy Draft playing out? Does Staal take the North Americans while Lidstrom goes with the Europeans and Russians? Do they each get a Sedin twin? Do they snub their rivals?

An All-Star cover-up / Uni WatchWhile you ponder that, here's something else. Uni Watch posted a photo yesterday that clearly shows the decision to reformat the All-Star Game was made after the jerseys had already been designed — and produced for that matter.

As you can see, this All-Star jersey (left) on display at the NHL store in New York City is covering up a little secret.

The blue jerseys were originally going to be worn by the Western Conference team. Red would've been worn by the East, of course. And each conference would've gotten a brand new All-Star logo, as this does not match what was used in 2009, 2008 or 2007.

My guess is that the rest of the jersey design remained the same — the NHL shield as the crest and all — while the conference would've been identified only on the back beneath the number. I'm sure it would've looked just fine, but I'm glad they chose to reformat the game.

Regardless, it looks like Staal and Lidstrom ended up in the right sweaters anyway. Now the question is, who will join them? We find out on Friday, Jan. 28.

Update on Monday · Jan 24 · 2011 | 12:16 PM PST by Chris

via NHL.comLooks like the NHL's graphics guys have been busy Photoshopping player's heads onto jerseys they haven't yet worn.

Just saw this image (right) on the the All-Star page of NHL.com and thought some of you might find it amusing. It shows recently announced captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom "wearing" their All-Star Game sweaters.

Clearly, the jerseys are the same photos that were released earlier this month. If you don't believe me, take a closer look at the creases and folds compared to the images posted here.

It's no big deal and it makes sense from a marketing standpoint to give us something visual to tie these players to the teams they'll be drafting. It's not worthy of its own blog post but I did think it was funny. I'll be pulling for Team Lidstrom, what with Marty St. Louis being named an alternate captain. Hope he lobbies hard to get Stamkos picked first overall!

All-Star Sweaters from the Back

On Tuesday we were inundated by images of the new 2011 NHL All-Star Game uniforms. But there was one problem. All we saw was the front. And that's left us with a few questions.

First, what does the design on the back even look like? And second, how are the numbers and surnames styled? Today we have our answers.

Backs of All-Star jerseys / from NHL.comThe NHL's online store now has the sweaters available for customization and that means we can preview the numbering and lettering in advance of All-Star Weekend.

Of course we won't know who'll play for which team until the Fantasy Draft on Jan. 28. So if you want to get your favorite player's name and digits stitched on the back, you'll just have to guess until then.

One interesting feature you notice straight away about the design on the back is that, while we all thought the pinstripes just stopped at the elbow, it turns out they didn't. They just teleported to the other side of the sleeve and kept going.

Some have called it a baseball-inspired uniform element. I'm not so sure. But regardless, I do like it. It's one of those things that I've not seen on a hockey jersey before.

I talked Monday about how I liked the outside-the-box thinking on these and all All-Star jerseys. One commenter then said, "there's such a thing as going too far."

I have to laugh at the overblown rhetoric for a simple website like this. Going too far? The Florida Everblades decorated their jerseys like Christmas trees this year. That's going too far. This is an attempt at something new that still keeps a very professional feel while attracting a younger crowd.

And sure, you're free to disagree. Many of you seem to be traditionalists when it comes to hockey sweaters. But personally, I hope you don't win out. Because that will make our sport look really dull. And I like that it stands out, especially at the All-Star Game.

Update on Thursday · Jan 13 · 2011 | 1:17 PM PST by Chris

2011 All-Star jersey numbers / from NHL.com

Even though no one asked, I thought some of you might like to see what all of the numbers look like. So rather than forcing you to go to the website and do it yourself, I've saved you some time. They're pretty standard, and the font is the same on the white/red jersey as well.

Official: NHL All-Star Jerseys Revealed

2011 All-Star jerseys / from WRAL-TVThis morning on WRAL-TV, the 2011 NHL All-Star Game sweaters were officially unveiled in the host city of Raleigh, North Carolina.

Carolina Hurricanes marketing director Doug Warf stopped by the station's studio to show off the new jerseys. In his segment, he talked about some of what went into designing them:

• Colors, six of them, were selected because they represent the majority of teams in the NHL. (At least they kept black out of it.)
• NHL shield was used as the crest because we won't know the team's names until the captains are selected. (Which we knew already.)
• Warf says the captains will be picked a week from today on Jan. 18.
• Red team is "home" while blue team is "road." Warf doesn't say how that was determined since the dark jersey is typically worn at home in the NHL. (Maybe because the host team color is red?)
• Reebok is trying new things. Oh geez.

This unveiling comes just a day after we got an early look at one of them here at Icethetics. Now we're able to have a good look at both of them.

2011 NHL All-Star replica jerseys / from NHL.comAs predicted, the blue sweater is the inverse with all of the same design elements as the red one. Aside from the colors, the main difference between the two is that the All-Star patch is on the left shoulder of the blue jersey while it's on the right shoulder of the white one. 

The league confirms the opposite shoulder will bear the player's home team logo. That article also contains more details about the uniforms including Reebok's new Smoothfit numbering and lettering. Good luck buying an authentic customized jersey.

As a side note, the more I see the red jersey, the more the lighter shade starts looking like pink. But I'm sure it'll look fine under the lights on the ice. Well, I hope. Also today, with just 17 days until the Fantasy Draft, the full 42-man All-Star roster has been announced. Half of that group has never been to an All-Star Game before, so that will be fun.

Who do you think the players will pick as captains? And who do you think the captains will pick? Or instead, if you were an All-Star captain, who would you pick? List your rosters below (paragraph form with commas please, bullet lists will be deleted). And don't forget to tell us what you think of the two sweaters.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 11 · 2011 | 1:00 PM PST by Chris

Authentic 2011 All-Star jerseys / from NHL.comJust to clear up some confusion, the images of the jerseys above show the Premier replicas that fans can buy. The photo to the right shows the "authentic" versions, as seen on Shop.NHL.com.

Some of you have noticed the difference in spacing between the collar and the NHL shield — the area where the sweater number will go on the actual player jerseys.

As I've mentioned before, these images are not true photographs of the jerseys. The are simply meant to advertise a product. The process starts with a photo but most of the elements, including the crests and patches, are added in later with Photoshop.

To demonstrate this, look at these two different sweaters and notice all the little details like the creases and folds. There's no way you can take two separate photos and end up with exactly the same creases. Just not possible. So one photo is taken and the colors are altered to match the product.

What I'm saying is don't expect these to be dead perfect. We'll probably have to wait until we see a player's actual jersey before we know the exact arrangement of everything.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 11 · 2011 | 11:46 PM PST by Chris

All-Star jersey chest numbers / from NHL NetworkWhy wait? Our buddy Glen C. tweeted this image which shows the numbers on the front of the new 2011 All-Star uniforms.

Certainly an unusual placement for a sweater number. And most of the comments you're going to read here will be nothing more than horrible hyperbole.

So for something different, I'm going to tell you why All-Star Game sweaters should be bold and different. For one, it's the league's only chance to get you outside of your comfort zone.

They're worn one time (maybe twice) and then they're gone. But for that short interval, they have the attention of every hockey fan in North America and they get to grace the backs of the sports most talented.

Don't misunderstand, I love the traditional look the brought to Minnesota in 2004, but I'd hate to see it every season. I'd rather see the league's All-Star designers draw outside the lines once a year and give us something new and exciting to look at for a change. Every third jersey is starting to look the same now.

So I challenge every commenter to tell us what you like about these jerseys. And sure, you can't be a smart ass about it, but no one will be impressed. Let's get outside that comfort zone and recognize that once a year it's refreshing to see something unique. Not every jersey has to be based on the limited sweater design sensibilities of the 1910s.