Loose Threads: Red and the Rest

Obviously the big news yesterday was the announcement of the sale and intent to relocate the Atlanta Thrashers. But that's not all that went down yesterday. Here's a quick run-through.

Panthers Bringing Back the Red

Panthers 1993-2007 / from Getty ImagesAccording to Miami Herald beat writer George Richards, the Florida Panthers are revisiting the past with new red sweaters starting in the 2011-12 season.

I highly recommend reading his latest On Frozen Pond blog post. But if you can't be bothered, here's some of what he wrote on the subject.

The Panthers are shifting their marketing focus this summer to coincide with their return to their orginal look.

A restyled red jersey will become Florida's primary jersey this season — the first time the red will be the team's primary home jersey since the early 2000s when it was relegated to alternate thirds and then dropped during the Reebok restyle in 2007. I was told Alan Cohen hated the red look, and for parts of his ownership, the team only wore that color on weekends.

I have seen mockups with the new circle logo — which debuted on the Tampa Bay JetBlue thirds — on them although I have been told it will be the leaping cat on the front. Sans stick.

No word on whether the JetBlues will return as the alternate for a third season. Florida may keep the home blue jerseys it has worn since the 2007-08 season as the alternate. When I find out about the thirds, will let you know.

He says the secondary logo — sun with crossed hockey stick and palm tree — will remain on the new sweater, which will be unveiled at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft on June 24. The new draftees will be the first to sport the new design.

So look for lots more red from the Panthers this summer. Personally, I think this is great. Always like the Panthers better in red than navy.

Moves Around the Minors

The rest of this post can be done with bullet points and, since I'm up against the clock, that's a good thing.

• The Telegram in St. John's is reporting that a deal has been reached to relocate the AHL's now homeless Manitoba Moose to Newfoundland for the start of the 2011-12 season. With the acquisition of the Thrashers, True North was obviously eager to unload the minor league franchise that filled Winnipeg's NHL gap for the last 15 years. No word yet on what the team's new name will be. full story
• Chicago Express jerseys unveiled / ExpressThe ECHL's newest expansion team, the Chicago Express is set to begin play in the 2011-12 season. So yesterday, they unveiled the jerseys they'll wear. Unsurprisingly, they're based on the Blackhawks' uniform design in the Express' blue and silver color scheme. They grey third jersey steps outside the box a little bit, but overall an unimpressive set. full story
• In other ECHL news, the league approved the membership of the Colorado Eagles, formerly of the Central Hockey League. With the folding of the Victoria Salmon Kings and the addition of the Express and Eagles, the ECHL will begin play with 20 teams this fall. full story
• Joining Victoria and Atlanta in losing hockey teams this summer is Lewiston, Maine. The QMJHL's Lewiston MAINEiacs have folded and the league announced that in 2012, it will expand to Sherbrooke, Quebec — which is actually where the MAINEiacs relocated from in 2003. Ouch. full story

That's all I have for now. Be sure to follow @icethetics on Twitter or keep an eye on the feed in the sidebar for the latest updates. I intend to have more updates on these stories throughout the summer or, at the very least, full coverage in the 2011 Icethetics Season Preview in September.

The Postseason Push in Logo Form

With just nine days until the Stanley Cup Playoffs begin, no one is interested in hockey uniforms or logos anymore. I can tell because since the news has dried up, most of you have checked out. But that's all right. I'm just as guilty. Would much rather watch my Bolts shut out the defending champs than write a blog post.

Still, it's coming up on two weeks since I freshened up this page and heck, I've actually manufactured some content today. Fans of playoff-bound teams may have noticed new temporary logos popping up around the arena as well as team websites. Postseason marketing is in high gear!

Almost a dozen teams have special playoff-promoting logos and I'm going to give into homerism by starting with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As with all of the Bolts' current marketing, it's nothing but blue and white featuring the new logo and the "All In" slogan. It's very simple, just like the team's new look — which doesn't actually take effect on the ice until the fall.  Of course the club's newfound fetish for blue makes one wonder whether they plan to use the blue BOLTS jersey for home games this postseason rather than the blacks.

The NHL permits teams to use only two sweaters during the playoffs, but does allows dark alternates to stand in for dark home uniforms. The Kings have taken advantage of that in recent years. It would be a good opportunity for the Lightning, who have only worn the sweater for Saturday home games during the season.

The Boston Bruins have a simple 2011 playoffs logo which takes advantage of the bear in the secondary mark. It's a great looking drawing that should get used more. Glad to see it here.

Of course the nice thing about this logo is that it's evergreen in that it doesn't include a year. So it's possible it's been used before this season. I'll be honest in saying that I've never really paid attention before. (I just needed blog filler today.)

If you check out the Bruins' splash page, you'll notice David Krejci next to this logo sporting his third jersey. A subtle hint that the B's may be among those clubs donning alternates in these playoffs?

The Anaheim Ducks appear to have put the most effort into their 2011 postseason logo.

The "webbed D" is used in place of the 0 in 2011. Clever customization. They've also put the NHL's Stanley Cup logo into use here.

Nothing crazy but then the Ducks haven't exactly nailed down that playoff berth yet, have they? They sit at 7th in the West with three different teams nipping at their heels.

Speaking of which, the Dallas Stars are one of those heel-nipping teams. Despite sitting in 10th place, their playoff logo encourages fans to believe that the postseason is possible.

And really, it's not out of the question as they're only three points out of that final spot. I'm enjoying watching the Western Conference playoff race, but that's only because my team is in the East — and has already clinched. Less stress that way.

Still, I pity the West team that ends up in 8th because I get the feeling it'll be a short ride for them. Then again, the Canucks did just get whomped by the last-place Oilers over the weekend.

There were no graphic artists straining themselves on this one. The New York Rangers are employing the simplest of 2011 playoff logos with a simple "just add text" directive.

Simplicity aside, the mark is nicely assembled. Getting that spacing just right can be a great irritation on any design project. And the Rangers are one of two teams with a corporate sponsorship for the their playoff run.

I'm not certain this counts as a logo exactly, but it's a well-designed playoff slogan anyway. (I think I just like the font.)

It's the Countdown to the Playoffs for the Montreal Canadiens, who also have yet to clinch, technically.

The other team with a sponsored playoff run would be the San Jose Sharks. Of course they don't exactly have a special logo for the playoffs. Really, it's just an opportunity to use another one of their half-dozen 20th anniversary logos.

What slipped under my radar until I was researching for this article was the fact that the Sharks have only missed the playoffs five times in their 20 NHL seasons. That's impressive. Other expansion teams haven't been quite so lucky.

But speaking of 20 years, it should come as a surprise to no one that the Detroit Red Wings are touting their 20th consecutive playoff appearance. They've been ridiculously good for a lot of years now and have a decent amount of hardware to show for it.

I was trying to remember the last time the Wings weren't in the playoffs and the problem was they've never missed them since I've been a hockey fan. They last time they missed was 1990. And they've only missed twice since 1984. Though again, I'm sure no one is surprised by those numbers.

One question though: What happened in 2003? Should it count as a playoff appearance if you get swept in the first round by the 7th seed?

And not to leave out all the teams that didn't qualify, the Florida Panthers, for example, have not qualified for postseason play since 2000 when they were swept by the Devils in the quarterfinals. The Cats haven't won a playoff game since 1997 and even then they only got the one. And that was only a year after their Stanley Cup Final appearance — in which they were swept.

Playoff disappointment banner / On Frozen PondSo Miami Herald writer George Richards, via his blog On Frozen Pond, asked Panthers' fan(s) to channel their decade of disappointment into a work of art.

You know, every year teams raise banners to the rafters commemorating divisional, conference and of course Stanley Cup championships. Richards held a contest amongst his readers for a banner commemorating 10 seasons of futility.

The winning entry, Richards said, wouldn't fly as a uniform patch. The runner-up (right) was really quite brilliant, however.

Anyway, did I miss any legitimate logos? My research wasn't exhaustive but it gives us something look at for the next week or so while we wait for the playoffs to begin.

Update on Monday · Apr 4 · 2011 | 11:27 AM PDT by Chris

A couple of readers pointed out that I overlooked a pseudo-logo for the Vancouver Canucks' 2011 playoff run.

Of course like a handful of the teams previously mentioned above, it's not really a logo, but specialized marketing. And like the Sharks and Rangers, the Canucks have a sponsor.

Thanks to those of you who mentioned this item.

Also, if only because it's related to the Canucks, I have to point out something that Bob McKenzie tweeted this morning about the Canucks' Stanley Cup odds. I'm fascinated by stats like this:

• In 1976, Montreal hosted the Olympics. In 1977, the Canadiens won the Presidents' Trophy and subsequently the Stanley Cup.
• In 1988, Calgary hosted the Olympics. In 1989, the Flames won the Presidents' Trophy and subsequently the Stanley Cup.
• In 2010, Vancouver hosted the Olympics. In 2011, the Canucks won the Presidents' Trophy and... well we'll wait and see what comes next.

And for the record, it's not like any stats are being left out here. These are the only three times Canada has hosted the Olympic Games. McKenzie attributes the research to Nate Jones at ESPN.

Update on Tuesday · Apr 12 · 2011 | 10:49 AM PDT by Chris

Needed to wrap up this post with one more update. A few Icethetics readers noticed some playoff logos/marketing that I didn't include earlier. They are as follows.

The Philadelphia Flyers are using a rather basic logo which contains the slogan "With All of Our Will... We Will." Oddly similar to Tampa's 2009-10 season slogan of "Together We Will."

Damn sentence fragments.

And like the Rangers and Sharks above, the Flyers are getting sponsor money just for making the postseason, thanks to Xfinity WiFi.

The Los Angeles Kings are going with the "Back in Black" motto again this year, which is what makes me think they'll be sporting their third jerseys at home once again, just like last year.

The design contains one of the league's standard Stanley Cup Playoffs logos but the Kings are using the version without the actual Cup in it. Don't know if that's superstition or an aesthetic choice.

The Phoenix Coyotes will be doing the whole White Out thing again where they get all the fans to wear white... because I guess that distracts the opponent? My question is: How is your own team immune from the so-called distraction?

And enjoy it while you can. If this is the final season of the team in Glendale, that will be sad. Of course it will probably make a lot of Canadians happy.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are whiting out for home playoff games but they don't really have a special logo for it the way the Coyotes do.

And the Buffalo Sabres used this March to the Playoffs logo during the final weeks of the regular season. Now that the march is over and they're actually in the playoffs, they went with something a little more on the nose.

I'm guessing this is the standard logo that the league probably offers to every team. Very easy to swap out any team logo on the left there.

Surprisingly, I haven't seen any other teams using it. Or maybe that's not a surprise as everyone else is taking the opportunity to get creative. No offense to the Sabres. They are the only ones doing it after all.

So there it is. I just did one more quick scan of the playoff teams' websites to make sure I didn't miss anything else. We're covered. This post is officially wrapped up.

Sunshine State Branding Updates

Both of Florida's professional hockey franchises are planning makeovers for 2011. And new information is trickling out bit by bit. Obviously, we have to start with my team.

The Tampa Bay Lightning initially planned to unveil new logos and uniforms for the 2011-12 season on Monday. They wisely put those plans on the back burner, however, when two local police officers were killed. Now they're gearing up to try again next week.

On Sunday, the St. Petersburg Times was the first to report on details of the coming changes. Specifically, the Bolts will drop black and silver as part of their color scheme, which has been unchanged since the club's inception in 1992.

Times writer Damian Cristodero explained that the new home sweaters would be blue with nothing but a big white bolt of lightning on the front. In a blog update posted Tuesday, he clarified, saying the logo will still have a circular background. The road jersey will incorporate a TAMPA BAY wordmark.

Now the Tampa Tribune is getting in on the action. Tony Fabrizio reports that there will be a "series of announcements next week" in which the new branding efforts will be revealed as well as plans for improvements to the St. Pete Times Forum.

Fabrizio says the Lightning will unveil a revised logo, going on to write:

Based on what employees have been told, here's at least part of what the Lightning have planned:

New blue and white uniforms with blue rather than black home jerseys (similar to the current blue alternate jerseys). There's an updated lightning bolt, and the name Tampa Bay will only appear on the white road jerseys. The jerseys will have ties at the front of the collars.

I'm jealous of Lightning employees right now. For so many reasons, really, but this is just the latest.

They just updated the logo and uniforms in 2007, which wasn't a huge deviation from what they've worn since 1992. I'm not sure how much you can change the logo so it sounds like the color scheme will be the biggest shock to the system. That might take some time to get used to.

"The Panther" / NHL.comAs for the Florida Panthers,  I'm irked to say that the useless NHL Guardian Project may be newsworthy today.

Don't worry, it's still entirely useless, but it does indicate to us that the Cats are probably counting on keeping out the red moving forward.

As you can see, "The Panther" is all about the blue and gold and he's wearing Florida's third jersey crest rather than the leaping cat primary mark — which is clearly not long for this earth. It's being replaced all over.

I want to thank Carlos for pointing this out to me — as I'm trying desperately to ignore the "guardians" at all costs. Also a tip of the hat to Joseph for always being the first to email in anything Lightning-related.

I should express a concern regarding the color changes that appear to be taking place in Tampa and Sunrise. It sounds as if the originality these clubs have had from the beginning is about to go by the wayside.

Yes, the NHL already has a blue/white team in the Maple Leafs. And they have two blue/gold teams in the Sabres and Blues. Before the Florida teams arrived, nobody was black-blue-silver or red-blue-gold (since the '70s, anyway — and the Blues don't count).

Anyway, that's just the tip of the iceberg on the blue and gold. We've been hearing unsettling things about the Predators' changes for 2011-12. But I'll save that for later.

In the meantime, enjoy the All-Star events this weekend and brace yourself for what's to come next week.

More Talk of Changes for Cats, Sens

In the days following the inaugural JerseyWatch 2011 post, a couple of mainstream media outlets have picked up on NHL uniforms changes set for 2011. And they're providing some new details for us.

George Richards of the Miami Herald says he's also heard red is returning to the Florida Panthers. He was prompted by the Icethetics post to share on his blog, On Frozen Pond, some of what he's heard from the players and team officials.

I wrote, regarding the Panthers forthcoming new home and road uniforms, that all we have is speculation. "You want speculation?" Richards wrote, "You got it!"

Panthers 2003-2007 / On Frozen PondSo since he was kind enough to quote me, I'll quote him so you can have a perspective from someone who covers the team:

At least five players have said they had heard the reds were coming back. Bill Torrey, Dale Tallon and Mike Santos have all alluded to their return. 

This is a big turnaround from the summer when it appeared that everything was going to the Michael Yormark-favored JetBlue uniforms.

So what are the Panthers going to do? Again, it's just speculation. But I wouldn't be surprised to see the Panthers keep their traditional color scheme for home and away — with a new logo, or just a modified one — with the third jerseys sticking around for Chevy/Ford/Pontiac Fridays.

And I think everyone could live with that.

Although ... Was talking with some friends last night as we watched the replay of the Atlanta game and the Panthers current dark blue home jerseys have finally worn on me. I dig them. I liked the blue alternate when they came out in the late 1990s and I think it's a good look today.

I wouldn't mind the Panthers going to white-dark blue-red as their three jersey combos and dropping the Tampa Bay JetBlue Rays look completely.

But I don't see that happening.

Nor do I. And look, we're not going to win every jersey battle. Sometimes we'll take what we can get. And if it means getting the Panthers back in red, we'll take it.

As long as they stay at the bottom of the Southeast Division.

The Ottawa Sun is reporting, independently, that the Ottawa Senators will indeed have a new look next season.

They say the Sens will launch a new third jersey as part of their 20th anniversary celebration, which will include hosting duties for the 2012 NHL All-Star Game. I hadn't considered that in my original post but it does make sense.

This was the paper's only speculation on the design:

While their alternative black third jersey has been a success, they might be looking at a design that includes a stylized 'O.'

They don't specify the basis for this speculation but, to be fair, this is a widely held assumption.

And by the way, if the Sens are turning 20, that means the Lightning are too. Perhaps the new home and road jerseys expected in Tampa have to do with the special anniversary as well. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough what both teams plan to take into their third decades of NHL hockey.

And on an unrelated note, I've just come to the realization that I've been following my Bolts for more than 18 years now. When did I get old exactly?

Loose Threads: Cats & Rags

Bill Torrey thinks the Panthers will bring the red back and MSG says the Rangers will launch their new third jersey on Nov. 17. These are the topics of today's Loose Threads.

Panthers: Bringing back the red

Florida Panthers architect Bill Torrey, who retired in 2001, seems to think the team will be bringing back the red jerseys at some point.

Miami Herald beat writer George Richards tweeted yesterday, quoting Torrey as saying the "we'll get 'em back," with regard to the team's original uniform colors. Today on his blog, On Frozen Pond, Richards went into more detail:

Bill Torrey, honored by the Panthers on Saturday, said he had to fight with then-owner Marti Huizenga regarding the team's colors and uniforms back in 1993.

[He] said she preferred the Marlins' black-and-teal color scheme, which then, was all the rage. Then she saw the red jerseys on opening night in Chicago "and she came up to me and told me how much she loved them.''

I asked if he missed those red jerseys, gone now since the Reebok redesign. I take it he's not a fan of the new Tampa Bay BlueRays.

"We'll get 'em back,'' he said.

That post is then followed up by a string of reader comments lauding Torrey for his years of service to the team and the desire to see red return to the Panthers uniforms. Thanks to Danny C. for the link.

Last week I mentioned the Panthers will celebrate three Throwback Nights this season. It got us thinking that they might bring back the red jerseys for those few nights. Perhaps Torrey's comments lend some credence to this. Hard to say for sure at this point.

The Throwback Nights will be held on Dec. 7, Jan. 15 and Mar. 17.

Rangers to debut third jersey Nov. 17

The New York Rangers will hit the ice in their new alternate sweaters for the first time on Wednesday, Nov. 17 when they host the Bruins at Madison Square Garden, according to MSG Network.

Icethetics readers Adrian and A.J. both wrote in today with the details. The guys tell me that during last night's broadcast, there was talk of Martin Biron's new mask, which will be worn whenever the third jersey is — and it will debut next month.

Below is a look at Biron's new mask alongside its inspiration, the mask of none other than Gilles Gratton. (Biron's mask comes by way of Rangers fan blog Blue Line Station.)

Martin Biron's new mask alongside the original

In case you missed it, Sean Avery posted a photo of the unreleased third jersey on his blog last month. It was quickly removed but remains here on Icethetics (right).

But regarding last night's broadcast, Adrian emailed me the following:

At the very beginning of the second period [the broadcasters] did a little background color piece on Marty Biron and his new American flag mask. Then they announced that he also has a second mask that was just created.

The mask consists of a lions jaws surrounding the face cage with the Rangers 85th anniversary logo on both sides. The mask is a tribute to former NYR goalie Gilles Gratton.

Sam Rosen (Rangers commentator) then announced that it was created in a vintage style and will only be worn with the Rangers third jerseys, which will are set to debut on Nov. 17 against the Bruins.

So I'll add that to the calendar and we'll keep an eye on it.