Classic Uniforms of the Future

We kicked off our week with the unveiling of the new Maple Leafs jersey, but there are still more big unveilings to come. Today I've put together a brief rundown.

Caps to unveil Winter Classic uniform

The Washington Capitals will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic uniform at the 2010 Capitals Convention on Oct. 2.

The announcement made on the Caps' website offers no details about the design of new sweaters, but traditionally teams look to past jerseys for inspiration at this event. The Capitals have two distinct design eras prior to the 2007-08 rebranding.

From 1974 to 1995, the Caps wore the red, white and blue they have today, but the logo and uniforms come straight out of the '70s — as you would expect. They are most noted for wearing white pants with their red jerseys early on in their inaugural season. In 1995, the Capitals adopted a darker blue and dropped the red in favor of bronze and black.

My bet is that both the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, who are hosting the New Year's Day game at Heinz Field, will select something from the '70s or '80s for their outdoor game threads. But don't expect to see Washington wearing white pants. (As funny as it might be.)

Flames to don special Heritage sweater

Canada is finally getting its game back! By now, we all know there will be a second outdoor game during the 2010-11 season called the Heritage Classic. The Calgary Flames will host the Montreal Canadiens at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20, 2011.

On Friday, Flames president Ken King said his team will be donning a special sweater for the big game. Details by way of the Calgary Herald:

A new jersey is a certainty.

“We’re going to have a very special heritage uniform,” King said. “We’re not going to tell you what it is, but I think people will really like it.

“It will be tied to the history of Calgary long before the Flames were here.”

Long before the Flames, you say? Interesting. Major league hockey was first played in Calgary in 1921 when the Calgary Tigers were formed. They won a few WCHL championships, including one in 1924 after which they challenged the very same Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. And lost.

Fifty years later, in 1975, the WHA's Vancouver Blazers relocated to the Stampede City and became the Calgary Cowboys. They were significantly less successful than the Tigers and folded after just two seasons. Calgary developed a proclivity for taking other city's sloppy seconds (just a joke!) when the Atlanta Flames were relocated in 1980. So there's some interesting history there.

The 2011 Heritage Classic will be the first time Canada has hosted an outdoor NHL game since 2003 when the Edmonton Oilers challenged the Canadiens. (Is it just me or should the Flames be playing the Leafs in this one?)

King did not say when this jersey would be unveiled, but one would expect it to be well prior to February.

Update on Saturday · Jun 19 · 2010 | 9:32 PM PDT by Chris

One more thing I just came across. While no logos have been publicly unveiled for either outdoor game, there is a temporary logo being used on the Penguins and Capitals' websites to promote the 2011 Winter Classic.

It's by no means final artwork, but it does bear the traditional look with WINTER in a script type and CLASSIC in something a little more futuristic/gothic. Just wanted to throw that out there. I have no information on when logos for either the Winter Classic or Heritage Classic will be made public. But it shouldn't be long.

Maple Leafs Unveil New Jerseys!

Leafs unveil new 2010-11 sweatersThe Toronto Maple Leafs officially unveiled their redesigned 2010-11 sweaters this afternoon while at the same time introducing Dion Phaneuf as their new captain.

As rumored, the new sweaters feature dual stripes around the sleeves and waist, laced collars, and a shoulder patch resurrected 10 years after it was retired.

A release on the Leafs' website talks a little about the changes that have been made:

“Our fans have been quite vocal since 2007. They have wanted the stripes and shoulder patch back on the sweater,” said Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. “We listened to them, and we hope they are as excited about the new, classic look as we are.”

Glad to see they were listening.

The Maple Leafs will debut the uniform beginning with the first preseason game September 21 in Toronto against the Ottawa Senators. The team’s nostalgic white ‘Third Sweater’ that debuted in 1998-99 will stay the same in 2010-11.

This is the first modification to the Toronto Maple Leafs uniform since the beginning of the 2007-08 season and fans will recognize the new changes based on past uniform lineage. The two stripes on the arm and the 11-point front crest, implemented at the start of the 1970-71 season, remains unchanged on the sweater.

The team has brought back the two horizontal stripes around the waist which have been absent for the past three seasons. The ‘classic style’ veined Leaf logo (with no interior lettering) will return on the sweater as a shoulder patch as it did from 1992 to 2000.

In addition, a string lace collar on their home and road sweaters will replace the V-shaped collar. The lettering and numbers of the sweaters will also be single layered again, without an outside trim.

Currently the photo of the jerseys above is the only one that has been released by the team via its website. When more become available, I'll provide links.

In the meantime, initial thoughts? I know we like it better than the 2007 catastrophe, but it is everything we were hoping for?

The Week in Unis and Logos

Good evening all! I appreciate your patience these past several days while I was away. Spent the week on the awe-inspiring Oasis of the Seas, on a cruise through the Eastern Caribbean. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend it.

In that time, I was completely out of the hockey loop, freeing myself entirely from the chains of my computer. I didn't even know the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup until we docked in Fort Lauderdale early this morning. Anyway, that being said, I'm relying mostly on your emails — and forgive me if I don't mention you by name if you sent in a tip as there were so many I lost track.

Leafs to reveal new captain, uniforms

Obviously the biggest news of the night is coming out of Toronto.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have set a press conference for Monday, in which they are expected to introduce Dion Phaneuf as the new team captain, but more importantly, unveil new home and road sweater designs.

Both TSN and The Hockey News corroborate this. For more on what the redesigned jerseys will look like, we turn to fellow jersey-hound Howard Berger — never at a loss to provide the early info we all desire. Turns out, the day before I left for my trip last week, he provided another detail-filled blog post.

Maple Leafs jerseys, 1992-97Here are some of the bullet-points of his story, alongside a sample from our friends at the Hockey Uniform Database:

• New home/road unis comparable to 1990s Gilmour-era sweaters
• Both feature current primary logo, 11-point maple leaf introduced in 1970
• Both incorporate new lace-up collar instead of V-neck
• Dual horizontal stripes return to sleeves/waist
• Outlined number font goes away in favor of solid color block numbers
• 90s-era shoulder patches (veined leaf) return
• Third jersey will remain unchanged for 2010-11

At last, the Leafs' Reebok Edge jerseys will have some character! Berger's write-up contains no new details on the rumored third jersey redesign said to happen for 2011-12.

And for what it's worth, LeafsHQ has combined all of this new information into a couple of handy bits of concept art.

Official: Ducks to get thirds in 2010-11

The Anaheim Ducks have officially confirmed plans to launch a brand new alternate jersey during the upcoming 2010-11 season, according to the Orange County Register.

The Register quotes Ducks senior VP and chief marketing officer Bob Wagner in an article published yesterday:

General manager Bob Murray, coach Randy Carlyle, president and CEO Tim Ryan and Wagner were involved in the new design. Ducks players were also consulted, which was a major source of input.

"They're the most excited about it, which makes me feel we’ve completed 'mission accomplished,'" Wagner said. "I’ve gotten a lot of positives."

Wagner could not reveal any details about the new look but he was confident it will be received well. Said Wagner, "I think the fans will really embrace it based on the fact that there is meaning to it."

The only clue as to the new jersey's design: Wagner says "there is meaning to it." Whatever that means. Anyway, it's official confirmation from the team on previous rumors and that's always a plus.

Devils move AHL affiliate, unveil new logo

In what should be the final major change going into the 2010-11 AHL season, the Lowell Devils have been relocated and renamed the Albany Devils as of Thursday.

The logo (left) was unveiled on the team's new website. It continues the tradition of the New Jersey Devils and Lowell Devils logos, by creating a subtle letterform out of an abstract devilish shape.

At least they didn't just arch the word "Albany" above the NJ logo like they did in Trenton (ECHL). But this makes me wonder if they could do it with any letter of the alphabet, or if they've just gotten lucky with NJ, L and A. Surely, they can do it with the T.

Oh, and don't forget about the U in the Utica Devils logo from back in the day.

New logo tourney starts Monday!

As promised, the next logo tournament will kick off on Monday morning. In a poll that ran in the sidebar for two weeks, 50% of you preferred an NHL secondary/shoulder logo competition so that is what we're doing. Sometime on Sunday I'll post the format. This one is going to be a little more complex than the previous tourneys we've done. For one thing, we'll be starting with 45 individual logos, the most yet!

Meantime, I'm going to get back to relaxing as my vacation doesn't end until Tuesday and I have a lot to clear off the TiVo. As always, feel free to email me with anything I've missed.

Official: OKC Barons Unveiled!

After weeks of knowing but not really knowing, now we know. The Edmonton Oilers' AHL affiliate is named the Oklahoma City Barons. And the logo is exactly as leaked.

The unveiling took place this afternoon at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City where Prodigal Hockey officially unveiled the name, logo and uniforms for the AHL's newest member.

Barons uniforms unveiledIcethetics readers were not surprised by the logo, but likely disappointed by the uniforms. Instead of being bold and creative, the Barons will wear the same, poorly designed home and road uniforms their parent club debuted in 2007 with the introduction of the Age of Reebok (right).

Hockey logos and uniforms never seem to surprise me anymore. Everybody seems to go for the safe option, lest they leave anyone offended. But such is the nature of things, right?

You can check out more photos from today's press event via the Oilers' official website. If you want to become a Barons fan, here are some useful links.

• www.okcbarons.com (the official website)
• @OKCBaronsHockey (official Twitter account)
• @RealOKCBarons (Prodigal Hockey on Twitter)
• Barons Official Facebook page

That should cover all of your Barons needs. If you visit the official website, you can pre-order merchandise and throw in your two cents to help name the team mascot.

The next big name/logo unveiling will come by way of Greenville's new ECHL club, formerly known as the Johnstown Chiefs. That will take place on June 25. And unlike the Barons, they seem to be locked up pretty tight. Either that or no one really cares about that team.

I would also expect, at some point this summer, the announcement that the AHL's Lowell Devils are moving to Albany. That will likely bring with it a new logo as well. And in the meantime, it appears the Phoenix Coyotes may be safe in xenophobic Arizona. If anything changes there, I'll try to keep you apprised.

All The News is Black & Gold

The only news around the NHL these days centers around one Stanley Cup. So that combined with my need for a break from the computer this past week means this is the first new blog post in nine days. Sorry about that. To try and dig up something worth posting, I look to my inbox.

---

New third jersey for Sarnia?The OHL's priority draft was held April 30 and the Sarnia Sting gave a brand new jersey to the kid selected first overall, according to several readers.

Currently, the Sting wear a black jersey and a white one, each with that giant bee found in the primary logo. The jersey given to Alex Galchenyuk at the draft announcement was black but read SARNIA across the front arched above the No. 1, a la the Dallas Stars.

It's a terrible look. Logos belong on the front of hockey jerseys, not block letters. But what do I know about Canadian junior hockey anyway?

Many have surmised it's a third jersey which will first hit the ice next fall, though this article doesn't even mention it. In the meantime, if you've come across any information that would shed light on this subject, I'd be happy to update the Icethetics faithful.

But we've got more from another black and gold Canadian Hockey League team.

---

Wheat Kings wear special sweaterThe WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings donned a special commemorative sweater for the opening game of the Memorial Cup on Friday.

The jerseys will now be auctioned off with proceeds going to the Dominion Command Poppy Trust Fund, to support veterans and their families. Bidding is open through May 25.

The opening game jerseys were designed by the CHL in conjunction with the Brandon Wheat Kings in honour of the Canadian Army, specifically the men and women past, present, and future of CFB Shilo. CFB Shilo is Manitoba’s only army base and is located approximately 20 minutes from the Keystone Centre.

For the record, the Wheaties (as I guess they're called) suffered a 9-3 blowout at the hands of the OHL's Windsor Spitfires while wearing the jersey. They'll use their regular sweaters for the rest of the CHL tournament.

Thanks to those of you who sent in links on this topic.

Looks like we just cannot escape the black and gold tonight.

---

Germany gets it on in goldAs host of the 2010 IIHF World Championships, Team Germany pulled out a special gold sweater to open the tournament May 7.

They defeated Team USA 2-1 before a record home crowd of almost 80,000 inside a frozen soccer stadium. The jersey is quite refreshing when compared with the black and whites they usually wear — and will continue to wear throughout the tourney.

Maybe the goal was to help the team keep its eye on the prize from the beginning — gold all the way! You can see more pictures of this jersey in action in the IIHF photo gallery. That website also has images of every participating team's jersey.

I haven't been keeping an eye on the Worlds, by the way. How's it all going? All I know is they were worried Steven Stamkos was going to be sidelined with a concussion.

---

Antti Niemi as a PelicanJust one more item on the agenda and it's not black or gold. It's blue!

During this afternoon's NBC telecast of the Sharks-Blackhawks Game 1, PxP man Mike Emrick mentioned the name of Antti Niemi's team back in Finland — the Lahden Pelicans.

He then wondered aloud what those jerseys would've looked like. In case you were wondering too, that's a picture (right) of Niemi in his Pelicans garb.

That logo only looks the slightest bit ridiculous, right? No, let's not kid ourselves, it's full-on ridiculous. Pelicans, haha!

GO SHARKS!

---

All right, now the real reason I've been taking it easy with the website this week. If you don't see or hear from me after May 23, it's probably not because I'm dead. It's probably Super Mario Galaxy 2, which comes out in a week and could develop into a minor obsession.

I don't consider myself a "gamer" in the least, but when it comes to that little red-suited plumber, what can I say? I enjoyed the first game and have been looking forward to the sequel. Anybody else enjoy a little Mario action or are you guys just strictly hockey here?