What's in Store for the Stadium Series?

New event merchandise could be full of clues

I rarely get the opportunity for a good headline pun. Tonight we're taking a look at some new NHL Stadium Series T-shirts that are now showing up in stores. The designs could be offering some insight into what the forthcoming jerseys will look like.

We'll dive in with the New York Rangers first.

Photos from ebay (o_sports_gear)

A few things to note. First, the shirt is white. We'll see that's not the case with all of them and there's reason to believe they may suggest the colors of each team's Stadium Series jersey. For one thing, a source tells me the Rangers' jersey is, in fact, white.

It makes sense as the Rangers will be the designated "road team" for both of their Yankee Stadium games against the Islanders and Devils. Speaking of the Devils... (On a roll with these awful puns!)

Photo by @TheJerseyNYRFan (via Twitter)

A photo posted to Twitter by @TheJerseyNYRFan on Monday shows the back of the New Jersey Devils shirt. It's red with white numbers.

The tweeter also pointed out the coloring of the Devils' chrome Stadium Series logo on the "Cross River Rivals" tee seen in the middle. There's no green in sight. But it's likely that has more to do with the production costs associated with the number of colors used in the screen printing process.

Back to the Rangers for a moment.  The number treatment seen on these shirts is unlike anything the team has used before. The grey/silver evokes the design used on the Lady Liberty jerseys from back in the late '90s. But those numbers used red for the shadow rather than a thin outline.

Photo by Jessica D'Agata (@ayojess via Twitter)

This blue New York Islanders tee seems to confirm the idea that the shirts match the jersey colors. But look closely and you'll see this chrome Isles logo doesn't quite match the one released last week. The one on the shirt has rounded corners and an angled corner at the top of the Y.

To sum up, these are the colors and logos that will be representing these teams in January.

As far as jersey crests, I think it's accurate only for the Devils and Islanders. It sounds like the Rangers will, as usual, go with a wordmark across their chests and the shield will be used on the shoulders. Whether the crests will make use of this chrome-treated effect is anyone's guess. But I hope not.

Let's switch gears now to the Soldier Field game in Chicago.

Photos from ebay (o_sports_gear)

The Chicago Blackhawks have red Stadium Series T-shirts. As the home team, this makes sense. But the noteworthy element of these photos is the elongated number design. It's the standard Blackhawks font, but it's stretched out.

If you look back at the Rangers' shirts you'll notice the same thing. It's just more pronounced here.

The elongated design is very noticeable on the Pittsburgh Penguins shirts. Their jersey numbers are usually rather wide. Definitely not the case here. So could these number redesigns be an element of the "futuristic" jerseys we've heard about?

Based on the colors and crests, it doesn't appear things will look too different for Chicago's Stadium Series game. Here are the colors and crests based on what we've seen so far.

That leaves us with the California game at Dodger Stadium.

Just today, a new T-shirt showed up for the Los Angeles Kings with another new logo.

Photo from TEAM LA Store

The TEAM LA Store started selling this, described as a "ligature logo T-shirt." A ligature is basically a couple of letters joined together to create a unique letterform. It's the letters from the Kings' primary logo — which is also featured on the tee. However, it is not the same as the chrome logo unveiled last week. So that's nice and confusing.

What will be on the front of the Kings' Stadium Series sweater? Your guess is as good as mine, but I doubt it's this ligature. This shirt is different from the previous ones seen in this post. The others have the NHL shield in place of the Reebok logo near the neck — and apart from that and the chrome logo, there's nothing else on the front of them.

In other words, this shirt doesn't seem to be part of the same series as the others.

As for the Anaheim Ducks, I haven't seen a shirt yet. All I know is the jersey will be orange. That's according to a tweet by Ducks PR guy Adam Brady. This means the L.A.-based outdoor game may feature orange versus black. We already know the 2014 Winter Classic will see red versus blue. Nice to see the league branching out.

We don't have enough information to be certain yet, so this graphic is a bit of an educated guess on my part. Like I said, the Kings could end up wearing white. (I'm just hoping they don't.)

As we piece together the looks for the upcoming Stadium Series, what are you hoping to see or not see?

Chrome Logos for Stadium Series

Effected logos to represent seven participating teams

Today, in a bizarre move, the NHL unveiled a collection of what it calls "chrome-treated" logos for the seven teams participating in the 2014 NHL Stadium Series. In essence, it was the result of someone goofing around with Photoshop — a fact eluding exactly no one. But there were some interesting revelations to discuss.

First, a new version of the New York Islanders primary logo was added to the mix — without the map of Long Island, the wordmark or the classic blue circle. The team has never used the NY on its own before. But check out the graphic posted on the front page of the Isles' website today.

It shows us that the new logo — un-chromed — was designed to sit on a blue background. So it appears we should be anticipating a blue jersey for the Isles' Stadium Series appearance.

By the way, said jersey is now on sale to Islanders' season ticket holders — sight unseen, no less. I'm not sure I could bring myself to part with that much money to buy something I've never seen.

The chrome logo for the New Jersey Devils re-introduces an old color palette. Green is back! But does this mean the Devils will simply break out the throwback jerseys they've been wearing in recent years for St. Patrick's Day? Based on what I've been hearing, I'm not so sure. Read on, I'll explain.

The Isles and Devils will both face the New York Rangers at Yankee Stadium in late January. And while this chrome-ified shield would indicate a Blueshirts throwback to the 1970s, I understand this logo will be little more than a shoulder patch.

The Rangers are known for the diagonal text across the front of their uniforms, and it may well be "NEW YORK" on the chest rather than the club's nickname — not unlike their Heritage Jersey, which debuted in 2011. Something to keep an eye on as we wait for the unveiling.

Speaking of which, the Rangers' own press release tells us the league will reveal all of the Stadium Series jerseys together "in the coming weeks." When that is exactly is anyone's guess.

The Los Angeles Kings are going back to the crown for their Stadium Series logo. But note the conspicuous lack of purple. Perhaps a sign the Kings could sport a Gretzky-era look? Maybe, but again I'm not so sure. Stay with me here.

The Kings' Dodger Stadium foe will be the Anaheim Ducks. But didn't we hear recently that Mighty Ducks might be making another appearance this season? Not if we assume this logo is the crest of the team's new sweater. On the other hand, I do still expect it to be orange. This would allow the Kings to wear black or white.

The Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins will wrap up the Stadium Series on March 1 at Soldier Field. But their fancy chrome logos give us nothing. They're exactly the same as their existing primary marks — you know except for all that fancy chrome stuff.

I swear I did a logo treatment like this for Icethetics several years back. I'll have to try to track that stuff down. It didn't last long because you guys told me it looked terrible. And it did. Guess no one told them.

Stadium Series aesthetics will not be inspired by tradition

Since 2008, we've become accustomed to outdoor NHL games requiring a certain historical aesthetic. It's right there in the name. The Winter Classic. The Heritage Classic (double there!). Teams wear throwback jerseys and the whole event is designed to evoke feelings of the game's origin out there on the frozen pond in a world that could barely imagine our immense 20,000-seat arenas.

But there's a reason they didn't call this the Stadium Classic Series. (And it's not just the extra syllables.) The word "classic" conjures old-time hockey thanks to the Winter and Heritage Classics. It's my understanding the NHL is going in the opposite direction for these events. In a way, the goofy chrome logo treatment is to get fans out of that retro mindset.

It's right there in the Rangers' press release, actually.

The NHL also unveiled today the NHL Chrome Collection, chrome-treated team logos specifically designed for use in connection with the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series™. The Chrome logo designs are unique to the NHL Stadium Series and inspired from the chrome details on the NHL shield, bringing a dynamic and modern perspective to conventional team identities.

We might be wise to read a little more into that last line. Bringing a "modern perspective to conventional team identities." Likely a frightening thought to the traditionalists among us, but probably an important idea to consider.

In fact, someone with knowledge of the Stadium Series jersey designs recently described them to me as "futuristic." Later, another source told me the NHL and Reebok took the lead designing them. The teams were merely "consulted" as opposed to being directly involved.

Think about that as we wait for the league to finally unveil the jerseys. What sort of futuristic ideas could you imagine Reebok incorporating into these new uniforms?

Monarchs to Don Classic Kings Look

Manchester club plans L.A. Kings Night for January

The famous "Burger King" jersey. Your vote could put it on pro hockey ice once again.

The AHL's Manchester Monarchs are planning L.A. Kings Night in honor of their NHL affiliate. And fans get to decide which Los Angeles throwback the Monarchs will wear for the game.

You can vote here, but the winning jersey will be announced on Thursday. So vote now!

Any of these would be cool to see on the ice again, but I'm particularly excited by the possibility of the Kings' old third jersey from 1996. That was a classic. So I won't mince words. Vote B!

Update on Thursday · Aug 15 · 2013 | 12:39 PM PDT by Chris

And the winner is...

The Monarchs announced today that the Kings' 1996 third jersey won the two-week poll and will be the basis of the club's Los Angeles Kings Night specialty sweater. And it wasn't even close. (The winning design picked up a whopping 75% of the vote.)

From the press release:

Fans of the Manchester Monarchs, the primary affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, have spoken and with over 11,000 people voting, the Kings first-ever alternate jersey from the 1995-96 season will be the inspiration behind the team’s specialty jersey which will be worn during the second annual Los Angeles Kings Night in January 2014, Monarchs President Darren Abbott announced today.

Following the 1994-95 NHL Lockout and the purchase of the Kings by Philip Anschutz and Edward Roski, Jr., the organization joined an NHL-wide initiative to introduce third jerseys. The Kings jersey featured an arcing stripe from the right shoulder down the left hip that faded from black to gray. It included shoulder patches of the Kings primary logo at the time and a new King logo on the upper left front of the jersey that is the only human image ever featured on a Kings jersey.

The alternate jersey was introduced on January 27, 1996 when the Kings won, 5-4, against the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim at the Great Western Forum.

While we eagerly await the the arrival of January, here's something to think about. When the Kings and Ducks meet for their Stadium Series game on Jan. 25, it'll be almost 18 years to the day when those two wacky third jerseys first hit the ice. They're all grown up.

Not that I think the NHL would be crazy enough to allow them to come back, of course.

Mourning Purple

It's a sad day today. The beginning of a new era in the NHL. One in which no team employs that great color between blue and red. Sixteen teams wear blue. Thirteen wear red. None wear purple.

I am of course referring to the fact that the Los Angeles Kings officially retired purple from their color palette last night. They did so by wearing their third jerseys one final time as they defeated the Coyotes 3-2 at Staples Center.

But even as we mourn this death, I am hopeful. Hopeful because the last time the Kings extinguished purple (yes, it's happened before in 1988), it was resurrected briefly less than eight seasons later — albeit in the form of the ill-fated "Burger King" third jersey none of us can forget.

Then just two years after that, in 1998, the Kings launched a rebrand that incorporated purple back into their black and silver look. And the next season, their new third jersey put them back in full on purple once again — just as they were when founded in 1967.

Now that was a one-of-a-kind hockey uniform. And as much as it was a creation of the late '90s, it still looked great! But in 2002, the Kings decided the crown made a better primary logo than the royal coat of arms and pulled a little switcheroo.

So it was the same sweater with a different logo for the next five years. In 2007, Reebok was responsible for killing the purple when they introduced the generic Edge template — whose sole goal was the destruction of any and all creativity in hockey uniforms. Mission accomplished.

Since then, we've never again seen the Kings in purple sweaters. It got a whole lot worse in 2011 when the black and silver third jersey — reminiscent of the Gretzky days — got a big promotion. It set off a series of events that culminated last night with the end of the second purple era.

It was nice knowing you, purple. Rest in peace. (Because you'll be back soon enough.)

Last Hurrah for the Royal Purple

The Los Angeles Kings announced early this morning that purple is being officially removed from their color palette next week after one last hurrah for the third jersey. See this tweet:

After a long discussion with Grimace, we've decided to retire purple from our color scheme. See us in them one last time next week.

— LA Kings (@LAKings) March 15, 2013

For my part, this is a disappointing development. With purple, the Kings always had a color scheme that was one of a kind.. In black, silver and white, technically they still do, but now it's just boring. Purple is associated with royalty and being named the Kings, this team was in a unique position to claim a color no other club could. Now they're retiring it?

So I'm not a fan of this change, obviously. I think it's a big downgrade. But that's enough editorializing for now. Let's get to the details of this retirement of purple.

Yesterday, Icethetics reader "Tyfighter77" shared a list of third jersey dates he attributes to "Kings TV analyst Jim Fox during Tuesday's game." This is regarding the black and purple sweater.

• Sat., March 16 — vs. San Jose Sharks
• Mon., March 18 — vs. Phoenix Coyotes
• Tues., March 19 — vs. Phoenix Coyotes

The Kings also wore black and purple on Tuesday night in Phoenix.

The real question is, of course, whether the Kings plan to continue sporting the retro "forum blue and gold" uniforms they've used occasionally over the past three seasons. This year, they've seen action on February 23 and March 9. The latter was the final Legends Night of the season and I remember reading somewhere that this would be the last time we'll see those throwback threads for a while (possibly years, but probably not for good).

My thanks to Aaron P., Steve M. and "Tyfighter77" for keeping me in the loop about this Kings news. You can attribute the lack of blog updates to the fact that I'm moving in two weeks and have been spending more time packing boxes than doing any research for the site. Thanks for understanding.