Specialty Sweaters in Excess

First, a big thanks to all the readers helping me out with all the specialty jersey news lately. You guys are great. That being said, there's a lot to cover today so I'll try to keep it brief.

On Tuesday, January 26 the Toronto Maple Leafs wore special throwback sweaters during warm-ups.

Leafs' throwback jerseyIn this photo, you see Francois Beauchemin, who usually wears #22, likely wearing Borje Salming's #21 sweater, as Icethetics reader Chris points out. Salming's sweater was honored (not retired) on October 4, 2006.

The following information was posted on the Leafs' web site:

As part of a pre-game tribute to better times, retired fan favourites Dave "Tiger" Williams, Lanny McDonald and Norm Ullman were invited to conduct the ceremonial opening face-off. Toronto players had worn throwback uniforms from the 1970s in their pre-game warm-up.

A reader named Michael, a Rangers fan, asked if this could be a sign of things to come. While obviously I can't say for certain, I do know I like it better than their current home jersey. But maybe they could use a dark third as well?

But don't get your hopes up. Don't forget, these were only worn during warm-ups, not even for an actual game. But it is still nice to see them every now and then. There are a couple more pictures in this Leafs' photo gallery.

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In less-awesome jersey news, the San Jose Sharks are auctioning off special edition Valentine's Day jerseys through the Sharks Foundation.

Sharks' Valentine's jerseysThey're white practice jerseys, autographed by the players, featuring names in red and small red hearts on the jersey numbers on the back. In fact, this photo to the right depicts very clearly what they look like.

Fans can bid on them in a silent auction format. The first half will be available during tonight's game and the other half go up on Tuesday night.

If you're a collector or just a fan who wants more details, click here. Of course this isn't the first or last time the Sharks Foundation will hold a special edition jersey auction. Details here.

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Now we move into the minors where all the real fun starts.

My local team, the ECHL's Florida Everblades, will hold their Pink in the Rink Night on Saturday, February 20.

Everblades' Pink in the Rink NightPlayers will wear these pink-infused jerseys when they take on the Kalamazoo Wings. The jerseys will then be auctioned off immediately following the game.

Icethetics reader Ian writes in to point out a neat element of the jersey's design. Normally, interlocking alligator teeth make up the middle stripe at the bottom of the sweater. For this special edition breast cancer awareness jersey, alternating pink ribbons give the same effect.

Having said that, if you enlarge the image, you'll notice that the right sleeve reads "2009 Pink in the Rink." Presumably, this is the jersey design used last season, or meant for use before January 1.

I imagine the jerseys worn next month will feature the updated year. I'll also try to grab some game action photos to share.

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Another ECHL club, the Johnstown Chiefs, announced plans on Wednesday to wear special jerseys for their Pink in the Rink Night event on January 29.

Credit: The Tribune-DemocratThey did so to the tune of a 5-2 defeat last night at the hands of the Charlotte Checkers.

The Chiefs have been holding their annual Pink in the Rink night since the 2007-08 season, and as always the jerseys were auctioned off after the game. This year's event will benefit the Joyce Murtha Breast Care Center.

Chiefs' pink jerseyHere's a better look at the special edition sweater. It's basically a Boston Bruins home jersey with gold swapped out for pink. 

The wordmark is a nice touch, with the attached pink ribbon.

That wraps things up for now. There's a lot of other minor league jersey news that I'll be getting to later on. So check back soon for that.

Special Jersey Caps 35 Seasons

A week from Friday, the Washington Capitals will celebrate their 35th anniversary with a special one-game-only commemorative jersey.

The details of the big night — which is February 5 — were just released yesterday via the team's official web site. However, the release does not go into particulars with regard to the jersey itself. Only that it's red (probably meaning it's the regular sweater with a special patch).

Caps 35th Anniversary LogoThe Washington Capitals will be wearing a special, one-game-only set of red jerseys containing a unique 35th season commemorative patch when they take on the Atlanta Thrashers Friday, Feb. 5 at Verizon Center. Fans attending the game can leave the arena that night with their favorite Capitals player's one-of-a-kind, game-worn jersey.

It will be Game-Worn Jersey Night in Verizon Center, as MeiGray and the Capitals will be hosting a special exhibit at Section 119 in the concourse: 35 Seasons of Capitals' Game-Worn Jerseys. 

On display will be jerseys worn throughout the years by the Caps, including jerseys worn during the team's inaugural 1974-75 NHL season, jerseys worn during the 10th anniversary and 20th anniversary seasons. There will be jerseys on display that were once worn by Bob Carpenter, Mike Gartner, Dale Hunter, Rod Langway, Scott Stevens and many more.

I imagine that is going to be one kick-ass display. If you've got tickets and a digital camera, we'd love to see what they have set up. And we'd be forever in your debt.

I plan to set up a jersey gallery in the Specialty Jerseys section over the weekend following the game if you're interested in seeing what it looks like. Speaking of which, let's start the speculation. What will this red jersey look like?

If the Caps are going for the "heritage" look, they don't have many options. They spent their first 20 years in the original red, white and blue and never really changed the jerseys. It's probably safe to assume that 1974 sweater with the white shoulder yokes will be making a one-time-only comeback  (however, let's hope they don't opt for white pants).

Or could they be planning something entirely different? You'll notice that 35th anniversary logo (above) contains only the secondary Weagle logo that we love so much. Could this special jersey be more of a tribute to the next 35 years? Perhaps hinting at a future where the wordmark is a thing of the past?

We'd love to hear some more theories. Post yours below.

Update on Saturday · Feb 6 · 2010 | 8:57 PM PST by Chris

Yeah, so this didn't happen as scheduled. Postponed to March 6. Want to know why? Click here.

Habs 100th Gets Early Exile

Much to the dismay of us jersey geeks, the Montreal Canadiens have abruptly ended their Centennial celebrations — meaning no more 100th anniversary jersey nights.

Scott Gomez #91The news comes by way of Habs Inside/Out and the Montreal Gazette (via a link provided by Dave MC). It was a short, simple post that went up on Saturday morning. It read as follows:

Don't look for the Canadiens to be wearing their replica 1909-10 blue C-crested jerseys tonight or Feb. 13 vs. Philadelphia, as announced at the beginning of the season. The club says its on-ice 100th-anniversary celebrations ended with the Dec. 4 Centennial Game vs. Boston.

Wonder when they made that decision. It's a little strange to see them going back on something like this. My only guess is that the specialty jerseys did not get a favorable response from the fans. Reading through the comments on the Habs Inside/Out post only substantiates that idea.

So while it's awfully disappointing to see the Centennial Jerseys go by the wayside, it sure was fun while it lasted. Maybe they'll do it again for the Bicentennial. (But I'm sure Icethetics won't be around by then.)

As I mentioned before, I'm working on Jersey Galleries for these five sweaters. However, I am having some trouble finding decent game action photos. If you know where I can find some, please drop me a line.

Pink in the Rink

I've had a few days to recover from my awesome trip to Las Vegas last weekend. Wish I didn't have to come back. Ever. The sooner I can get out of Florida, the better.

In going through my email this week, I noticed a couple of notes regarding "pink in the rink" events going on throughout the hockey world. Traditionally, we see this most heavily in October, as that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But maybe it's January in Canada? I don't know.

The ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings and WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes (and possibly others) will be wearing pink-infused jerseys in action tonight which will later be auctioned to support breast cancer research. Yay for good causes!

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Icethetics reader Stuart writes in about the Salmon Kings, providing a link to details of the jersey auction. The highest bidders will be winning the sweaters right off the players' backs — well in at least one case.

Salmon Kings' pink jersey

Only one live auction will take place tonight in Victoria. The winner of that will take goalie David Shantz's pink jersey.

Two silent auctions will kick off tonight at 6 PM (Pacific time) for jerseys being worn by Patrick Coulombe and Wes Goldie. Bidding closes when the second intermission ends and winners get their due right after the game.

Two online auctions, which began on Tuesday and end tomorrow, will see the winners cash in on sweaters worn by Olivier Latendresse and Jimmy Sharrow.

The team's web site is quick to point out that this is the first time in the team's six-year history that the players will skate in pink. Money raised from the event tonight goes to the B.C. Cancer Foundation. More photos are available by clicking here.

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But wait, there's more. The Lethbridge Hurricanes, a junior club in the Western Hockey League, are also doing a Pink in the Rink event for the first time this weekend.

Hurricanes' pink jerseyThe two-night event began last night and continues tonight. Fans can bid on the pink-infused sweaters in a silent auction. The jerseys will be distributed to the winners following tonight's game.

More details are available on the team's official web site.

Proceeds from the jerseys will support the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Along with the proceeds from the jersey auction, funds will also be raised through the intermission promotions and donations.

Also, in a player-driven initiative, a number of the Lethbridge Hurricanes have stepped forward and volunteered to have their heads shaven at the end of the second game to show their support and commitment to this cause.

The head-shaving thing is a nice touch.

My thanks to Joshua for providing the tip and the link to Canes broadcaster Pat Siedlecki's blog, from where I nabbed the above photo. Joshua also said he'd send along some pictures from tonight's game. If he does, I'll be sure post them right here. (Scroll down.)

Update on Saturday · Jan 16 · 2010 | 7:11 PM PST by Chris

Nearly missed this one. As Fraser52 points out in the comments, the Tampa Bay Lightning-affiliated Norfolk Admirals held their third annual Pink in the Rink night this evening. The AHL club played on a literal rink of pink tonight against the Adirondack Phantoms.

Admirals' pink rinkDetails are available on the team's web site.

Events leading up to and during the game include a breast cancer informational session, survivor participation during game night, "Hockey 101: A Clinic for Women" and a silent auction for player-autographed Tampa Bay Lightning items. Even the ice will be pink.

The "Hockey 101: A Clinic for Women" will be held starting at 6:15 p.m. Seating is based on a first-come, first-served basis.

Admirals' pink rink nightHere you can see Ryan Craig in action on the pink ice as the Ads faced the Phantoms.

I like the pink tape on the stick of the Phantoms' Stefan Regein. That was nice of him to participate in the night's cause.

If you're dying for more photos of the pink-tinted hockey rink, the Admirals posted a bunch more on their Facebook page from this morning's practice.

Any others I'm missing this weekend? Drop me a line.

Update on Sunday · Jan 17 · 2010 | 9:28 AM PST by Chris

Mitch Maxwell #6As promised, Joshua Schroeder of CanesCast has provided a ton of photos from the Lethbridge game via his Flickr account today.

This shot of Mitch Maxwell gives you a pretty good overall look at the uniform from pink tape on the socks and stick to pink laces on the skates.

And sure enough a bunch of players even got their heads shaved right there on the ice after being shut out 3-0 by the Calgary Hitmen. Joshua has pictures of that too.

He also tells me that $23,000 was raised for the Canadian Cancer Society this weekend. Go Hurricanes!

Mining the NHL Rumor Mill

We've done enough minor league coverage over the last week. Time to get back to our roots now. There are couple items to address, though primarily rumor.

Word on the street is the Philadelphia Flyers will be the first to break out their Winter Classic sweaters for a second game in the same season.

Claude Giroux #28According to Flyers beat writer Ryan Bright, the white sweaters worn last Friday will get another shot, this time at tonight's indoor game when the Flyers host the Maple Leafs. He said so on his Twitter account yesterday.

Just so we're clear, I haven't read anything official on this from the Flyers yet. (If you have, drop me a line.)

The rumors have been flying since before this jersey was even unveiled that it would become Philadelphia's new road sweater — being a light version of the alternate (now home) jersey launched last year. But I didn't expect to see it back so soon.

To date, only one team from each Winter Classic has gone on to use their jersey in some form on a regular basis. Since we can bet on the Flyers here, will the Bruins break the mold and carry over their awesome gold jersey as a third for 2010-11?

By the way, don't forget that jersey galleries are available on Icethetics for the last two Winter Classics. Take a look and be sure to rate them.

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The rumor mill continues with the Ottawa Senators.

First, let's set it up. You'll recall in August that speculation was rampant that the Sens would be dumping their new "SENS" third jersey in favor of Jacob Barrette's Heritage sweater.

Senators Heritage jerseyWe later held a poll here at Icethetics asking readers to choose between the current alternate and the vintage design. It yielded a predictable result after more than 4,800 votes.

Now Icethetics reader Nevill is writing in with some thoughts on the future of the white road jersey.

I was at the Sens game against the Avs [last week] and noticed that their road white jerseys were discounted down in mass quantities at all the team stores and kiosks.

The retail chains around town are also selling the road whites up to 60% off, too, which leads me to believe that changes may be coming as soon as next season.

The vintage look is more apparent than ever at Scotiabank Place right now and I wouldn't be surprised to see new jerseys in the fall.

Nor would I, but considering this new uniform set debuted only in 2007, it might be a little too soon for wholesale changes. Either way, it's safe to say we're keeping the Senators on the radar for JerseyWatch 2010. Something is definitely going on in the capital city.