Does Isles' Black Era End Today?

TV broadcaster says 2011 third jersey is done

Interesting jersey developments came today during the New York Islanders telecast. During the first period of their game against the Blues, play-by-play announcer Howie Rose said this match-up may be the final hurrah for the widely despised black third jersey.

For the video-impaired, here's the transcript:

Howie Rose: It may well be that the fans are getting some good news today. This could be the last time that the Islanders wear these sartorial atrocities known as the black alternate jerseys.

These schmattas might finally go away for good once the Islanders unveil their nifty Stadium Series jersey for the game against the Rangers Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium.

And you know, you can even hear… there's a discernible groan when the Islanders hit the ice either for warm-ups or before the game wearing these things. I know some of the fans have bought them.

Butch Goring: And they don't win either, Howie.

HR: 7-12-4, says Eric Hornick in these things that thankfully may well be consigned to the scrap heap in just a couple of hours.

One thing to note. Rose seems to suggest the Isles' Stadium Series jersey has not been unveiled yet. Of course we know it was back on Nov. 26. But this news jibes with what Chris Botta said recently.

That's now two sources saying the Stadium jersey will replace the black as the Isles' alternate uniform. Botta said by 2015, but Rose made it sound like the change could happen sooner.

Thanks to Layton O'Neil for the Twitter tip!

Update on Saturday · Jan 25 · 2014 | 12:38 PM PST by Chris

But wait! There's more!

Another Twitter tip from Dave C. pointed out that the jersey will be worn for additional regular season games after its Stadium Series debut this week. Coming back from the last commercial break of the first period, Rose talked specifically about the new sweater.

Again, if you can't watch the video, check out the transcript:

HR: Now that is a great looking alternate jersey. The Islanders are going to wear those for the first time at Yankee Stadium this week. And we'll be seeing them — so we understand — a few times throughout the rest of this regular season.

That's a third jersey I think the fans are really going to take to. So [we'll be] seeing a lot more of that.

What do you think? Do you prefer the blue or black? (I think I can probably guess.)

Update on Sunday · Jan 26 · 2014 | 5:35 PM PST by Chris

Another update, this time in the form of a Chris Botta tweet:

NHL exec: #Isles have approval to wear Stadium Series jersey at Coliseum. Will probably wear for 2 games before end of season.

— Chris Botta (@ChrisBottaNHL) January 26, 2014

The more, the merrier, I say.

Loose Threads: Alternates & Adidas

It's not quite time for the first JerseyWatch 2014 yet, so consider this a warm-up.

Penguins pondering another retro third jersey

The Pittsburgh Penguins are considering a new third jersey for next season, according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. And it could make a lot of fans' dreams come true. (I'm thinking of one regular reader in particular. He knows who he is.)

The only details came by way of an article published on Dec. 13, the day the Pens unveiled their Stadium Series jersey, which the article confirmed will only be worn once.

There are tentative plans for a new alternate jersey that could debut next season. A design is not finalized, but under consideration is a jersey similar to the ones the Penguins wore during their 1991 and 1992 Stanley Cup runs.

Who's excited?

If they're smart, they'll move forward with these plans. Such a jersey would probably sell well, especially among Icethetics readers. But don't take my word for it. Check out the rating for the Penguins concept I posted yesterday.

Islanders' Stadium Series look may endure

While the Pens are ditching their Stadium Series jerseys after their big game, the New York Islanders are going in the opposite direction. Isles beat writer Chris Botta tweeted last week that we're certain to see at least the new crest sticking around.

That NY look on the Islanders' stadium jersey? Yeah, it's confirmed that you'll be seeing more of it in coming seasons.

He followed up with a few details.

Expectation is that the NY crest jersey, or something very close to it, will be the Islanders' 3rd jersey by 2015.

This effectively means the black third everyone loves to hate is on the way out. Perhaps only one more season of it — if that. Maybe the Isles will surprise us and have the new sweater ready by the fall. But it's more likely they'll wait and launch it with their move to Brooklyn.

By the way, check out their current Twitter profile image.

Ducks may promote third jersey, add white road version

If you don't follow me on Twitter, you may have missed this nugget. Orange County Register writer Eric Stephens says the Anaheim Ducks may have new home and road sweaters next fall.

This was his tweet back on Dec. 3:

Plan is for current Ducks third jersey to become main home sweater, perhaps next year. I figure next alternate will be orange-based.

No more wordmark! Wahoo!

Stephens doesn't specifically say there would be a white version added as a road jersey, but it makes sense the team would want matching sweaters.

That news followed the unveiling of the Ducks' Stadium Series jersey. It would be simple enough for that to become the new third — though it may not be popular enough among fans. But I've seen mixed reviews from Icethetics readers. You've got those that love it, hate it and are indifferent to it — in seemingly equal parts.

If the Ducks were to follow in the footsteps of the Penguins, what would you think of an orange Mighty Ducks jersey? Again, I'll point you to the Concepts page to see any number of ways that could work successfully.

Adidas may replace Reebok jersey branding

In the world of hockey jerseys, the word Reebok has become synonymous with repulsive to many. But that's not why parent company Adidas may soon swap out the name seen on the back of every NHL sweater.

CBC's Elliotte Friedman included an interesting tidbit in his 30 Thoughts article posted Monday. Specifically, he wrote:

Small business item: Reebok has the rights to make NHL jerseys. Its parent company, Adidas, apparently is considering putting its own name there instead of Reebok. As part of that, we may see an extension of the current contract, which runs through 2016-17.

This isn't totally unexpected. Adidas has been trying to reposition the Reebok brand back to its focus on runners — like it has been historically. From their mission statement:

At Reebok, our innovation focus is on fitness and training, where the priority is creating products that provide a material benefit to the consumer's fitness activities (e.g. flexibility or lightweight).

Hat tip to Matt Johnson for the link.

That said, I would've expected to see Adidas reposition CCM as the big name in hockey — as it has been historically. Plus, this is a brand that still has a very good reputation among folks who appreciate (and buy) hockey jerseys.

Then again, Adidas is a bigger name with better brand recognition — even if people like me associate them solely with soccer. Regardless of any branding changes, I would not expect the Edge uniform system to be replaced anytime soon.

Lots of news here tonight. Take your time digesting it all. I'm taking a long weekend in California!

Islanders' Stadium Look Revealed

Newsday provides uniform sneak peek 10 hours early

Photo from Newsday (via New York Islanders)Late tonight, the Long Island newspaper Newsday presented an early look at the uniform the New York Islanders will wear for their 2014 Stadium Series appearance on Jan. 29.

The photos appeared on the paper's website just after midnight ET, presumably with the team's permission (a reporter announced it was coming earlier in the day).

According to a later tweet from @NewsdaySports, the official unveiling is scheduled for Wednesay morning at 10 AM ET. What's unclear is whether the Isles will go it alone or if the league plans to unveil all seven Stadium Series uniforms in one shot.

But as we're now just hours away, it won't be long before we find out.

Regardless, the Isles' newest uniform is here now. So let's discuss. Here are a few details I noticed: 

• The crest — believe it or not — is the chrome logo the NHL recently unveiled. So that's an interesting development. My guess: It's not embroidered. It may be screen printed like the guitar-string numbers on the Predators' uniforms.
• A flat version of the NY logo, however, is also visible on the pants — bigger than most pant logos.
• The shoulder yoke is unusual, not unlike what we see on the Blues' uniforms — though without the piping on the front.
• The right shoulder bears the Stadium Series patch while the left shoulder has the classic primary mark to remind us all it's not going anywhere.
• Looks like everything is on an angle. The pant detail is new and different as is whatever is happening on the sleeves. Hard to judge based on this.
• What is clear on the sleeves is the stripes do not wrap all the way around the arm (probably because they can't if they're angled).
• The elongated numbers we talked about last week do not appear on the sleeves. They do, however, appear on the helmet.
• Haven't seen the back of the jersey yet. That'll come in the morning.
• The collar laces seem to be tied on the inside of the jersey rather than outside. Player preference or design feature?
• The CCM branding is very prominent in this photo, clearly seen on the helmet, gloves, pants and skates. The only Reebok logo is on the stick and barely detectable. Of course, CCM is Reebok, but I have to wonder if this is significant beyond Tavares' own deal with the company.

I don't like to make instant judgments on the blog, but my initial reaction to the overall design is positive. There are certainly some unique aspects to it, but that only makes me like it more.

In an NHL being overrun by "traditional" and "retro" uniform designs, it's refreshing to get something out of left field every so often. If the look of this uniform is any indication, I'm really going to like the Stadium Series.

Check back tomorrow for more on the official unveiling.

Update on Wednesday · Nov 27 · 2013 | 8:14 AM PST by Chris

Photos from New York Islanders

More photos on Islanders' website

The Islanders have now posted a photo gallery to their website, showing more aspects of the uniform. As suspected, there are elongated numbers on the back. But surprisingly, there's a reverse color nameplate. (Really hoped that was dying out.)

There are only 10 photos of the jersey and most are detail shots of the collar, shoulders and crest. Still don't have a good sense of the sleeve design, though it certainly appears everything is angled.

Based on this, do you have any expectations for the rest of the Stadium Series jerseys?

Sabres, Sens and Stadiums Redux

Several recent stories require follow-ups so I'm squeezing them all into tonight's post.

Sabres release 2013-14 third jersey schedule

Believe it or not, there are still skeptics out there. Those who don't believe the gold third jersey unveiled by Buffalo Sabres in September was the real deal. Those who thought that Steve Ott business was just a prank. Wishful thinking, I suppose.

Either way, this faction will finally and officially be proven wrong on Sunday when the Sabres debut their controversial new threads. The team released its 10-game third jersey schedule today. You can see it in the graphic below.

Photo from Buffalo Sabres

The schedule begins and ends with Detroit, a new divisional rival for the Sabres in the Atlantic Division. The jersey will not see action on the road this season.

Before I move on, it should be noted that the genesis of this design is explained for the first time in today's press release. Take a look:

The third jersey, which was revealed via the team’s social media platforms in September, was designed by the Sabres’ creative team in collaboration with Reebok. Challenged by Sabres ownership to use gold as the primary jersey color for the first time in team history, the design team looked at jerseys and uniforms from across the full spectrum of professional sports for inspiration. The result was a two-tone jersey with gold as the primary color on the front and navy blue on the back. This design concept is believed to be a first for the NHL.

"Believed to be a first"? The NHL's jersey history is fully documented. There aren't any mysteries. (In fact, if you've never been to NHLUniforms.com, I highly recommend it.) Point is, this is definitely a first, for better or worse.

Now, to Ottawa.

Senators start offering up Heritage teasers

We're now a week away from the Ottawa Senators unveiling of their 2014 Heritage Classic jersey and the ancipated teasers are well underway. In fact, we've gotten two this week.

Photo from Ottawa Senators (via Facebook)

This photo (right) was posted to the Sens' various social media platforms, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

It's a gray-scaled photo of the top portion of the sweater. Because of the lack of color, though, it's tough to tell whether the jersey is white or "vintage white" — but I still made a vintage white graphic for the top of this story.

I'm not sure that's a great color for a jersey, however, so it's probably white in reality. A future teaser may answer that question for us before next week.

The "C" on the chest is the only element that gives anything away. But so far, it's looking like a reverse of the black Heritage third jersey the Sens have been wearing for a couple years.

In other words, it'll probably look a lot like this concept by Mat Ware.

But this wasn't the Sens' first teaser. On Tuesday, they gave us a bizarre video of Erik Karlsson and Jason Spezza recounting their reactions to seeing the sweater for the first time. As teasers go, this was one of the worst I've ever seen. And there have been some bad ones this year.

Video stills from Ottawa Senators

Nonetheless, it's worth reporting, so let's get through it. Erik Karlsson went first. He said:

It's different. I think it looks good with the color that it is. And it actually looks like it is old. The combination is a little bit older than probably what team uses nowadays. The first time I saw it I right away thought of something old. But still good looking.

I like it. I like it a lot. I think it tells a lot of history with the way it looks. I think the numbers on the back are looking a little better I think than maybe the red and the white. It's a little more special. And everybody on the team says the same thing. It's a great looking jersey that right away gives away a lot of history.

Based on Karlsson's description, it doesn't sound as similar to the black jersey as we're expecting. He makes specific note of how "old" it looks (perhaps it could be vintage white after all?) and the numbers on the back (different from the third jersey?).

But then again, I'd be very surprised if Karlsson put as much thought into hockey sweaters as we do here, so I don't want to put too much stock into what he's saying just yet. The photo below was shown while Karlsson was speaking.

Video still from Ottawa Senators

Could it be anymore clear? 

Then Jason Spezza expressed his take:

It's something that, to me, seems like a hockey jersey. It's a traditional jersey. I like the way it looks and I think it's been good for us. It's a great jersey. I think they've done a great job with it. It's something that the players will like, the fans will like. It kind of ties in to the whole "heritage" aspect of it all.

I think whenever you can take a modern jersey and put a bit of a traditional twist to it, I think it's a cool thing. It's something you can tell is well thought out. And it's nice to tie to the two generations together.

What stuck out to me was "it's been good for us." Yet they've never worn it before. So either it is the reverse of the black jersey, or Spezza misspoke. The following photo was shown while he spoke.

Video still from Ottawa Senators

When I first watched this video, I was thinking the jersey could be full-on barber pole with stripes top to bottom. But today's teaser photo killed that theory, of course. In fact, there's not a single stripe visible in the teaser.

One more thing caught my eye. This old Senators sweater was also shown during the interviews.

Video still from Ottawa Senators

Is it possible the Sens could revive this script on the new sweater as opposed to falling back to the big black "O"? It would definitely stand out and wordmark-based throwbacks seem to be trending lately. What would you prefer?

Video still from Ottawa Senators

Canucks sticking with Millionaires sweater?

While we're on the subject of the Heritage Classic, an email sent to Vancouver Canucks fans today regarding tickets was decked out in Millionaires colors. That combined with the lack of any talk about a new Vancouver jersey is making it look more and more like that's what the Canucks will wear on March 2. And that's definitely a good thing.

More clue-laden Stadium Series gear shows up

Since we last spoke (two days ago), more 2014 NHL Stadium Series gear has appeared online. First, we've gotten front and back looks at the New Jersey Devils' T-shirts. Take a look.

Photos from Shop.NHL.com

This version doesn't make use of the chrome logo, as you can see. Turns out this series of shirts includes two versions for every team — one with chrome, one without. Here's what I mean.

Source unknown

This might be a good time to point out some news about the Devils' Stadium Series jersey. Beat reporter Tom Gulitti tweeted the following on Wednesday morning.

For those who've beem asking, Lou Lamoriello said Devils will be wearing original red jerseys with green in outdoor game at Yankee Stadium.

— Tom Gulitti (@TGfireandice) November 20, 2013

So it sounds like those St. Patrick's Day jerseys will be returning — and perhaps "futuristic" doesn't accurately describe all seven Stadium Series sweaters. Time will tell for sure.

Now on to more treats from Shop.NHL.com.

Photos from Shop.NHL.com

This blue hoodie gives us a look at the Islanders' elongated numbers — a lot like what we saw Tuesday with the Rangers, Blackhawks and Penguins, but not the Devils, interestingly. And if you're still wondering about the California clubs, they too have elongated numbers.

Photos from Shop.NHL.com

Of course these shirts are confusing because both are black. So maybe these shirts don't say as much about the jerseys as we thought. Plus, we already know the Ducks will be wearing orange. The question then, is about the numbers. Will they look like this after all?

Let's wrap this thing up with a few unusual Stadium Series shirts.

Photos from Shop.NHL.com

What's with the "Hockey Bear" on the Ducks shirt? Is that a thing I'm unaware of? (UPDATE: Everyone is telling me it's a nod to the state flag of California. I can see that. And it fits thematically with the others.) The other two at least make a little sense to me.

Anyway, these jerseys should be unveiled soon so we can stop all this speculating.

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?