Merry Christmas!

Time to get off the bench. I've had a couple of weeks to get comfortable in my new city and new job so it's about time to liven things up again around here. I'm declaring my moving hiatus officially over today. That doesn't mean daily updates, but certainly more frequent than they have been over the last month.

Appropriately, we'll start with some hilarious specialty sweaters from the minors.

Wranglers sport Santa suitsThe ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers hit the ice last weekend decked out in Santa Claus-themed jerseys.

They were totally ridiculous. In a good way.

The Wranglers announced their intention to spread holiday cheer on their website, Dec. 10. The jerseys were worn Dec. 18 and 19, then subsequently auctioned off, as is standard with these things.

The key feature of the gaudy red sweaters is a big white beard that descends from the collar down to the belly. Sound familiar? The Santa suit imitation is topped off by Wranglers logos around the belt.

Santa celebrates a goal!This is the kind of thing we've become accustomed to seeing over the years in minor league hockey and there's nothing wrong with that.

Plus, it makes for a fun post on my return.

To be fair, Puck Daddy picked up this story first. I must say I'm thrilled to see the continued uptick in jersey-related posts over there. It's cool to see our favorite nerdy subject matter on a mainstream hockey blog.

I'll do my best to get to all of the news of the past few weeks as I wade through rivers of email. In the meantime, drop me a line if you notice any glaring oversights on my part. Good to be back!

Ducks 3rd Jersey Unveiled!

The Anaheim Ducks skated out in their brand new alternate uniforms for this afternoon's game against the Chicago Blackhawks.

Ducks debut new thirdsThe jersey was leaked online some time ago but today provided our first look at the smaller details like socks, numbers and nameplates. And I will say this — they've handled the orange rather well. By that I mean there's a lot more of it on this uniform.

In addition, the duck mask logo from the '90s makes its glorious return to the Anaheim uniforms with this effort. But probably the best sign that the team is moving forward with its identity is the full webbed D on the chest.

The wordmark has been the second biggest downfall of Ducks sweaters since 2006. However, the biggest issue was the overuse of black and that hasn't gone anywhere, as you can see.

My favorite part of this uniform is the added orange. I don't see the point of it outlining the shoulders, but I like it on the socks, jersey cuffs and sides. Just wish they could've outlined the numbers in it, rather than gold.

The Ducks neat stuff related to the jersey on their website. Here's a PDF talking about the design development and here's the third jersey schedule.

So now that you've seen the uniform in its entirety, what do you think? Has your opinion changed at all? Is black becoming more acceptable in a league where blue is becoming the go-to alternate jersey color?

Jackets Unveil 3rd Jersey

The Columbus Blue Jackets unveiled the second alternate jersey in team history tonight at a special fan-centric event, while the players were away at a road game.

Now, normally I'd go into all the details about the unveiling and post lots of pictures with different angles of the new sweater. But instead, since I'm unable to write up a full blog post right now, I'll supply you with a link to the Jackets' website.

And if it's commentary you're hoping for, I'll say this: I'm a fan. I like them because they're both familiar and different at once. We can all give Columbus a hard time for being yet another team to go with the two-tone blue palette, but I'm not going to go that route. In fact, their twist on the recent trend is actually kind of refreshing.

We get our first look at it on the ice on Friday along with the Anaheim Ducks' new third jersey. Sorry again for the minimal content lately. Just another couple of weeks and I'll get everything back to the way it was.

Rangers Unveil Heritage Jersey!

New York Rangers Drury and Lundqvist sport the new sweaters

The New York Rangers officially unveiled their new Heritage Jersey tonight in front of fans gathered at Rockefeller Center.

Rangers unveil Heritage JerseyThe retro look comes as no surprise to anyone who saw the photo Sean Avery posted on his website in September, but we got a much better look during tonight's unveiling, as seen in above photo of Chris Drury and Henrik Lundqvist.

The new sweater, dubbed the Heritage Blueshirt by team marketing gurus, features darker and more subdued colors than the Rangers' standard palette. The blue is darker, the red is duller and the white is more... vintage.

Across the front reads NEW YORK in red, but in a font more typical of 1920s sweaters and different from what the team currently uses. The right shoulder features the 85th anniversary patch being used on the home and road uniforms this season — but in the "Heritage" color palette.

The surname runs straight across the shoulders, not arched, and the Rangers' retired sweaters numbers are stitched onto the inside hem in the back.

If you'd like to see the full photo gallery on the Rangers' website, here's a handy link. And another. Their website is filled to the brim with all sorts of pictures and other features relating to Heritage Week, which officially kicked off tonight.

I haven't managed to track down any details on whether this sweater will only be used this season or if it will be the new third jersey indefinitely. Also I don't believe a schedule has been released at this point. To be fair, I haven't looked very hard either.

One more note somewhat related to the Rangers.

Their AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack will officially transition to the Connecticut Whale moniker effective Nov. 17. The team is promoting Saturday's game as the Wolf Pack's "last." Last we heard, the change was to happen between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Looks like they got things in order a bit early. Thanks to Alan H. for the tip!

Rangers Sweater Leaks — Again

Rangers' jersey leaked againIf there were any doubts before, let them certainly be quashed now.

Icethetics reader Sean (presumably not Avery) sends in photos of the New York Rangers new Heritage Jersey he found hanging on a store shelf.

I won't mention the name of the store where the pictures were taken as I'm not interested in getting anyone in trouble. But there were a number of them hanging on the rack (right).

And to be fair, these are pictures of the youth version of the jersey. But you get the idea. It's further proof of the sweater's "retro" design, which will be officially unveiled this Friday — in just two days.

The way the Rangers have been promoting the Heritage Jersey, I'm not sure if it's also going to serve as a third jersey for any indefinite amount of time. It looks good so I'm hoping it sticks around a while.

Back of new Rangers jerseyThis jersey was first leaked by Sean Avery back in September. What we didn't see in his lone photo were the details, such as the number and lettering styles.

We've got that covered now (left). And if you're also interested in seeing the special design on the inside of the collar, look no further. It reads "Established 1926" on the back.

Again, these are youth sweaters, so the collar design and jersey material don't match actual Reebok Edge specs, but all the critical design details should be accurate.

Just in case there's any question, I'm told the name and number outlines are in vintage white, not true white. And it appears the number font is the same as the home and road sweaters without the shadow effect.

Despite this pre-release look at the Rangers' newest jersey, I'm still looking forward to seeing it on a player in a game. I'm sure we all are.