All right Wild, WTF?

Wild shoulder patches, now and thenWhat's going on, Wild?

There was a time not too long ago when I considered the Minnesota Wild to be the pinnacle of NHL uniform and logo design. Among the very best the league had to offer.

But I'm quickly losing confidence in that.

As indicated by EA Sports' NHL 11, it seems the Wild do, in fact, have a new shoulder patch on their white road sweaters for the 2010-11 season. I've thrown together a quick side-by-side comparison in the photos to the right. Additional photos on the Wild's website.

It's rather disappointing considering what they had been wearing. The old logo was relevant to the name and had a distinct and recognizable style — despite the idea that it perhaps didn't fit with the faux retro style the team exudes.

The new patch is still a wordmark, but it's been watered down into oblivion. For a better look at the logo itself, SportsLogos.net is always happy to help.

By the way, if that nonsense wasn't bad enough, check out the pants. Where'd the stripes go, guys? Minnesota, I'm disappointed. That is all.

Update on Saturday · Sep 25 · 2010 | 8:33 AM PDT by Chris

Bill posed a good question in the comments today:

Could the stripe-less pants be nothing more than a "pre-season" quirk...sorta like the Red Wings Arch-less names, or the steelers front numeral free helmets?

Here's why I think that's not the case. For the Red Wings, it's almost certainly a cost-/time-saving measure. I wrote about this subject exactly a year ago yesterday. In a nutshell, the Red Wings' arched nameplates require every letter to be specially cut so it fits perfectly within the player's name. That's a lot of work with so many players. It gets easier when the roster is cut down.

But back to the Wild, it could be a preseason thing, but it actually started last year when the team wore stripe-less pants with their third jersey. Clearly, we'll have to wait until the season starts to be sure, but I think we'll find both of the aforementioned changes to be permanent.

Chicago Express Joins ECHL

Chicago Express logos unveiledToday, the ECHL's newest franchise unveiled its name, colors and logos. The Chicago Express will begin play in Hoffman Estates, Ill. in the 2011-12 season.

The name was selected from the "Name Your Hockey Team" contest held by the organization this summer. The reason was explained in an article on the team's website:

Chicago is the most important railroad center in North America. More lines of track radiate in more directions from Chicago than from any other city. Chicago has long been the most important interchange point for freight traffic between the nation’s major railroads and it is the hub of Amtrak. Chicago ranks second (next to New York City) in terms of volume of commuter rail passengers each day.

I like the colors. The logos are about what we've come to expect from minor league hockey teams. They get the job done. But here's what I noticed: The designer used the Icethetics font for the word EXPRESS in the primary logo! It's called Continuum. I think that's kind of funny.

Anyway, there's an article about the name contest winner on their website as well. His name is Marc Johnson and he is stoked, as you would imagine. No jerseys have been unveiled yet and the team won't actually begin play until next season.

And by the way, based on the reaction to yesterday's renaming of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack to Connecticut Whale — this is going to be fun. Comment away.

Ottawa to Host 2012 All-Stars

NHL unveils 2012 All-Star logoThe Ottawa Senators will host the 59th NHL All-Star Game on Jan. 29, 2012, the league announced today.

No time was wasted in unveiling the new logo for the event. It features the Peace Tower, which was a key element in the original Senators' logo, which was replaced by the time the team took the ice in 1992.

It will be the first time hosting All-Star festivities for Canada's capital city. All-Star Weekend will take place Jan. 28-29 at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa.

Some other bits of information that might be of interest: This will be the fourth consecutive All-Star Game hosted by an Eastern Conference team. But to be fair, the East hosted only one game between 2001 and 2007, and that was in South Florida in 2003. (Also '05 and '06 had no All-Star games.)

Also, Tthe 2011-12 season marks the Sens' 20th anniversary. And while it is Ottawa's first time hosting the All-Star weekend, they did host the NHL Entry Drafts in 2005 and 2008.

By the way, it took the league almost four months to give up the logo for this year's All-Star Game after the Hurricanes were announced as host in April. This one we got the same day. Yet we're still waiting just to see the uniforms for the 2011 All-Star Game. Something's out of order here.

You can read more about the 2012 All-Star Game on the Senators' website.

Rangers Celebrate 85 Years

The New York Rangers are one of the oldest teams in hockey and this season they celebrate 85 years. It will of course be branded with special logos and everything. This is 21st century sports after all.

Rangers 85th anniversary logoFrank sent in this picture (right) via Twitter last night. It's part of the Rangers' season ticket holder package. This particular item appears to be a notebook. Presumably, this logo or some variation of it will be worn as a patch on the team's jerseys this year.

Also posted yesterday on a blog called Scotty Hockey was another photo of with 85th anniversary items, including a dark blue bag.

By the way, note the navy blue and vintage white on that bag. I recently got an early look at the Rangers' new third jersey. It's not quite what we were expecting but I think you guys will still appreciate it.

And before you ask, yes I've also gotten a glimpse of the Sabres' and Ducks' new thirds. Will I post pictures? Unfortunately, I do not have pictures I can post at this time. Not without permission from the teams, league or Reebok. (For now, at least.)

I intend to have updated descriptions of the Rangers, Sabres and Ducks alternate uniforms in the September edition of JerseyWatch 2010. That will go up Saturday.

And lastly, to put your minds at ease, the Sabres' new road sweater — a white version of the former third jersey — looks very sharp. Rest assured, the Buffaslug is surely dead.

“P” is for Patches & Primary Logos

So it's been a good seven days since the last blog update. I feel really bad about that, but then I was on a cruise for at least four of them — so, I don't feel that bad. But I do have a bunch of updates to get through now — dealing with all three NHL teams whose names start with "P." Total coincidence!

Penguins Put Out New Arena Patch

Pens' new commemorative patchOver the weekend, the Pittsburgh Penguins started selling a new jersey patch that commemorates the inaugural season of the team's new arena.

Season ticket holders got their first look at the patch and the new CONSOL Energy Center at an open house event this past Saturday.

I don't have any information as to whether the patch will be worn on the uniforms, but why wouldn't they be? If you're wondering what that might look like, Steve Z. has been kind enough to share a photo. Though my guess is we'll see it on the front rather than the shoulder, if it's used on the sweater at all.

Also special thanks to Jeff S. for the above photo of the patch itself. Got lots of emails about this while I was gone. Thanks to all of you!

And if you're in Pittsburgh and dying to see the new building for yourself, here's a useful link.

Panthers Mulling a Reduction of Red?

Miami Herald writer and Florida Panthers blogger George Richards posted an article on Monday mulling the possibility that the team may drop the red, not this season, but the next.

He says the Panthers are considering using their new third jersey design as a base for new home and road sweaters, while keeping the same leaping panther primary logo. But he says it more colorfully:

Word on the street is the Panthers are likely going to keep the leaping Panther as their primary logo in 2011-12 while changing the team's colors from the H. Wayne picked blue-gold-red to the Tampa Bay Rays scheme we saw last year.

The blue-on-blue color scheme (what do we call it? The JetBlues? The Sunrise Rays?) apparently will be the Panthers uniform look by that season.

In 2011-12, the current thirds would become the home jersey with a new white/blue/light blue coming for the road. The third jersey — if the stick breaking panther is indeed the primary logo — could incorporate the head crest. If there is a third jersey. Probably won't [be] for the first few years of the redesign.

I'm sure there are people hard at work on this as we speak. Here's hoping they fix the dopey FLA logo... And leave the palm tree/hockey stick shoulder patch alone...

There's a lot more to the article, very much worth reading, but I don't want to copy it all here. Richards does say that he has yet to confirm these "plans" with team brass and that the stick-biting panther is the "logo of the future."

Meanwhile, the team's official website was recently redesigned to highlight the two-tone blue and gold color scheme. Red is still a key accent color, but it does appear the Cats are headed in a new direction with their marketing efforts. We'll keep an eye on all this.

Related: Panthers Reworking Primary Logo?

Predators Sending Out Mixed Messages

Taking bets now. Which logo will the Predators use this fall?

In the spring, it was all but confirmed by Reebok that the Nashville Predators would have new home and road jerseys for the 2010-11 season. The assumption being that the Preds would give the spotlight to their third jersey — along with a white version of it.

Lately, we've heard lots of reports from Nashville-area hockey retailers that nothing is changing with regard to the Predators uniforms. But at the same time, notice the redesign of the team's website to accentuate the dark blue and silver — the colors of the logo on the alternate sweater.

New Logo on Social LinksCheck out the graphics they use to link fans to their Twitter and Facebook pages right there on the home page! Where's the orange and gold? Gone, that's where!

I know it's getting late in the summer, but the Sabres are waiting until the start of the preseason before they give up their new look. Who's to say the Predators aren't doing the same? — just much more quietly.

In fact, if you remember back to the draft a couple months ago, the Predators only handed out hats with the recolored primary logo. Then again, they've still been handing out the current jerseys all summer.

When Shea Weber was announced as captain, he got one. As did the club's new bosses just last week. So I don't know.

It seems like an obvious choice, but we'll really just have to wait and see. The suspense is just killing you, I know.