Bruins Go With Gold... Again

Bruins don Winter Classic threadsThe Boston Bruins are certainly getting their money's worth from those Winter Classic jerseys.

Fans at this afternoon's matinee against the Vancouver Canucks were treated to the gold jersey for the third time since the New Year's Day game at Fenway Park. More game photos.

This is the most we've seen a team wear the special jersey in the same season as their Winter Classic appearance. However, it has become common to see some teams appropriate the sweater as an alternate uniform the following season.

Seems pretty clear to me the Bruins want to keep on using this jersey and I, for one, would be all for that. There is some bad news, though...

The Bs blew a 2-0 first period lead, losing to the Canucks in a shootout today. The Bruins are now 0-2 in the yellow unis since winning the Winter Classic on Marco Sturm's overtime goal.

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Related: Bruins don Winter Classic sweaters indoors

Snow Day for Caps' 35th Patch

Caps' 35th anniversary logoBy now, some of you may have noticed that the Washington Capitals did not, in fact, wear the special 35th anniversary patches we were promised tonight. The previously scheduled auction did not happen either.

The Caps and MeiGray, the group organizing the event, decided to postpone things until after the apocalyptic snowstorm bearing down on the capital city this weekend.

Icethetics reader Drew tells me that MeiGray sent out an email earlier today informing fans of the postponement. It reads as follows:

Due to the impending heavy snowstorm, the Capitals and MeiGray have postponed the 35th season commemorative patch celebration night and auction until Saturday, March 6, when the Caps play the NY Rangers at Verizon Center.

The auction will run as planned in the building on March 6, and we will keep the pre-auction bidding open until Friday, March 5.

If you've already placed a pre-bid, it will remain valid. If you cannot attend the game, but want to bid on a jersey, you now have a month to do so.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us toll-free at 888-463-4472, or e-mail us at sales@meigray.com.

So the 35th anniversary celebration gets a snow day. We'll revisit this in a month.

One thing does not have an answer yet, however. I'm waiting to hear from any Icethetics readers who braved the storm tonight to make it to the game. Were those classic jerseys on display, as previously announced? Or are we postponing that to March as well?

Kovalchuk as a Devil

Ilya Kovalchuk's Devils jerseySomebody was hard at work this morning customizing a New Jersey Devils sweater at the NHL Store in New York with Ilya Kovalchuk's name and No. 17.

If you were watching NHL Live this afternoon on NHL Network you got a sneak peek at the new red jersey there on display. But in case you didn't, I have it here for you.

Kovalchuk takes the ice for the first time as a Devil tonight as his new team hosts the Maple Leafs — another team with a handful of brand new players.

Update on Friday · Feb 5 · 2010 | 4:48 PM PST by Chris

Kovalchuk dons the red threads in his first Devils game

The Devils just posted this picture on their web site so I thought I'd share it. It's real. There's Ilya Kovalchuk wearing his brand new Devils sweater. It looks good on him.

Hartford Taps Icethetics Artist

The AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack unveiled a new specialty jersey on Monday designed by a prolific Icethetics concept artist.

The always impressive Mike Ivall won the jersey design contest put on by the Wolf Pack. For his trouble, Mike gets a personalized version of his jersey as well as tickets to the game where it will be worn.

Screen shot from official team web site

Mark your calendars for February 26 and 27, when the Wolf Pack will hit the ice in this special edition sweater. The jerseys will be auctioned right off the players' backs on the 27th to benefit the March of Dimes. Last season, the Wolf Pack raised more than $10,000 for that organization.

Congratulations to Mike for being a part of that! And also for winning this contest! It's nice to see his work on the blog as opposed to the Concepts page (since it means his creation is coming to life).

A Certain Kind of Crazy

Yesterday I posted a handful of notes relating to the recent rash of specialty sweaters both in the NHL and the minor leagues. I saved a couple for today because they're just a certain kind of crazy that deserve a post all their own.

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Tomas Kaberle #15This one, too, begins with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Earlier tonight, they joined couple of other NHL clubs who have paid tribute to the military with special camouflage warm-up jerseys in 2009-10.

Don't misunderstand, these teams always seem to have their hearts in the right place when they do these things, but I do think it's sometimes a bit nuts.

The Leafs offered a few more details regarding the reason for tonight's military-themed sweaters.

More than 360 Canadian Forces personnel attended the game at the invitation of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Gen. Walter Natynczyk officiated the ceremonial puck drop before the game, and was visited at centre ice by former Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower, who was in full military garb.

If you're interested in more pictures from the warm-ups and pre-game ceremonies, the team's web site is happy to oblige.

For the record, it appears, to me at least, that the Leafs were wearing the same Reebok-made camo jersey that the Blackhawks and Ducks wore earlier this season.

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Icehawks' Star Wars jerseyAlso tonight, the IHL's Port Huron Icehawks hit the ice wearing what I can only describe as a visual atrocity.

At least most teams are bringing awareness to an important cause or donating auction proceeds to a worthwhile charity. The Icehawks are just dressing up in Star Wars-themed jerseys for an evening!

All right, to be fair, these jerseys are being auctioned for charity — the Cherry Beach Council on Aging. And before you scoff, think of your grandmother.

Still, Star Wars Night? Really? TheForce.net — not kidding — posted a press release about the event, which included the following:

Star Wars jersey in actionThe Port Huron Icehawks are hosting their 3rd annual Star Wars Night on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at McMorran Arena. The players will be wearing specialty Star Wars jerseys to be auctioned off for charity. Proceeds benefit the Cherry Beach Council on Aging.

Bounty hunters from all over the galaxy will want this one-of-a-kind piece of Icehawks/Star Wars memorabilia! The action goes into hyperspeed as the Icehawks take on the Flint Generals at 7:30 p.m.

These extremely cool jerseys were designed by Great Lakes Garrison member Scott "Crow" Withers TK-1491.

Two things: 1) Playing fast and loose with the term "extremely cool," aren't we? 2) This is the third time they've done this?! It's true. A photo gallery, for those among you who would dare to boldly go where no... wait, that's not right.

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Finally, we end the night with the OHL's London Knights. These guys normally wear green and gold, but when it comes to raising cash for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they're all about the blue and gold.

For those who can't read the text on the image, here's all of the information we have relating to the special jerseys.

On Saturday, February 6th, be part of the House of Blue in support of the Make A Wish Foundation of South Western Ontario, presented by The Brick.

Knights players will wear blue jerseys which will be up for auction following the game with all proceeds going to Make A Wish. Join the London Knights and wear Blue!!!

I'll keep an eye out for pictures of these special jerseys next weekend.

Thanks to Ryan for the Knights tip, Victor for sending along the Icehawks link and Shaun for drawing my attention to the Leafs' military night jerseys.