Blues Considering New Uniforms

St. Louis rumored to be making uniform changes

It got a little lost in the shuffle last week, but on Thursday we got the first report of potential changes to the St. Louis Blues uniforms from St. Louis Post-Dispatch writer Jeremy Rutherford.

During a live chat with readers, he was asked if the Blues were among the teams considering a uniform update for next season. To which he replied:

I'm hearing whispers that there may be changes in store for the Blues' uniforms. Don't have any details whatsoever. But don't be surprised if we hear something.

It's news to me. The Blues were not on Reebok's list of teams making uniform changes for the 2013-14 season. Perhaps it's something in the works for the following year. Or maybe the Reebok list was incomplete. Who knows. Definitely keeping ear to the ground, though.

Personally I like the Blues' uniforms. If anything, I could see losing the piping for some more traditional striping and trim. You might think the obvious choice would be promoting the third jersey, but Rutherford had something surprising to say on that as well.

BigBruiser69: Heard Stillman is discussing probably scrapping 3rd logo. Any truth?

Rutherford: Haven't heard that specifically but could be true. Third logo has Dave Checketts imprints all over it. I know folks who would consider that a crime scene.

Tom Stillman bought the Blues a year ago from Checketts. What's odd about that exchange is I think many people would say that the best-looking sweater St. Louis has is their alternate. So the idea that the new owner would kill it just because it was conceived under his predecessor is silly.

I hope they keep it or some version of it. Even if they dump the Arch logo and go with the standard Blue Note. And I really hope they're not thinking of changing the Blue Note. Talk about a crime.

You have my thoughts. Let me have yours. Should the Blues change their uniforms? And if so, how?

Update on Thursday · May 30 · 2013 | 11:40 AM PDT by Chris

Report: New uniforms won't happen in 2013

We now have another Blues beat writer saying that any uniform change will not happen in time for the 2013-14 season. From Andy Strickland via his blog True Hockey:

Despite the rumors the Blues have no plans of changing their uniforms next season. There are deadlines in place to make this happen which have already passed. This process takes time when you consider the production, marketing, color scheme, design, trademarks etc…

It makes sense. If the Blues were going to make changes for next season, they would've been on Reebok's list in January. Since they're not, any "whispers" are probably looking further into the future — say 2014-15 and beyond. Still something to keep an eye on anyway.

Weekend Odds & Ends

Brighten your Monday with these uniform musings from the second weekend of the NHL season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have updated their third jersey and officially retired their old logo. The Bolts hit the ice on Friday night in the alternate sweaters which now feature their new primary logo on the shoulders. And because they're celebrating their 20th anniversary this season, that patch has been added as well.

Speaking of new jersey patches, the San Jose Sharks debuted the memorial logo that honors the team's original owner, George Gund III. The only problem is that the Sharks' uniforms are already pretty cluttered, so there's not a whole lot of room for an extra patch. It's worse for the captains and alternate captains, as you can see with Joe Thornton's jersey.

Nominations for the best-looking hockey games of EVER. I know which one Don Cherry is voting for.

No, the St. Louis Blues weren't that excited about the arrival of new teammate Wade Redden on Sunday night. The players all wore No. 6 jerseys during warm-ups to honor St. Louis sports legend Stan Musial. Unfortunately, numbers had to be added to the front of the jerseys to identify the players. Something we never want to see again.

While we're on the subject of unique warm-up jerseys, Icethetics reader Alec Dominguez wrote in to let us know that the Florida Panthers have been wearing "7th man" nameplates recently.

This photo of Alex Kovalev was taken prior to Thursday night's game against the Senators.

Each player wears his own number. It's just the nameplate that's there to honor the patient fans who endured three months of idiocy in the form of the NHL's fourth lockout in two decades.

Hey, bright side. At least they acknowledge they're trying our patience. I figured they would just ignore it.

By the way, if you've noticed any uniform changes or unique warm-up sweaters I've managed to overlook, please drop me a line. I'll either update this blog post or start a new one.

And finally...

This is one of the weirdest things I've seen so far this season. On their website splash page, the New York Islanders are promoting their game on Super Bowl Sunday with a football helmet featuring their logo. It's just wrong. Flat out wrong.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 29 · 2013 | 9:51 AM PST by Chris

This isn't from the weekend, but it's in the same vein as the Panthers' story above. On opening night, Jan. 21, the Columbus Blue Jackets came out for warm-ups all wearing the same jersey. It was No. 1 with "THANK YOU FANS" across the back. See? They still like our money us.

But I kid. These jerseys were actually pretty cool, a nice gesture from the team. And during the game, the jerseys were raffled off to fans.

Thanks to Dan Caron for the tweet tip. Find more photos on the team's website.

The Best Jerseys in the Southeast

Earlier this year, we began a series of polls asking readers to rate the 2010-11 uniforms worn across the NHL for the purpose of creating a fan-determined ranking. We've completed the teams in Canada and the western United States. Now we move on to the southeastern U.S.

Each group includes six teams, split up by geography. This set of polls includes Atlanta, Carolina, Florida, Nashville, St. Louis and Tampa Bay. You can rate each jersey individually with a 10, 5 or 1. (You can either love it, hate it, or be on the fence. Keeps things simple.)

After all the votes have been cast, an average rating will be calculated. These polls will remain open for two weeks, ending Thurs., July 14. When we've voted on all the teams, I'll assemble a complete league ranking of every uniform worn for the 2010-11 season. Happy voting!

Sorry, no comments on this post. Just vote!

Blues, Kings 3rd Jersey Skeds

Several teams have their third jersey schedules posted on their web sites. With the help of you, the readers, I've been trying to compile them all here in the sidebar calendar. Thanks to Icethetics reader Allan, we have two more teams to add to the list.

The St. Louis Blues, who introduced their new alternate sweater last fall, will wear it for 15 home games this season. In fact, we already missed the first two times — this past Saturday included.

Anyway, here's the full schedule for your enjoyment.

• Saturday, Oct. 10 - vs Los Angeles
• Saturday, Oct. 24 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Oct. 31 - vs Florida
• Saturday, Nov. 14 - vs San Jose
• Saturday, Nov. 21 - vs NY Islanders
• Saturday, Nov. 28 - vs Detroit
• Friday, Dec. 11 - vs Edmonton
• Friday, Dec. 18 - vs Tampa Bay
• Saturday, Jan. 2 - vs Chicago
• Saturday, Jan. 16 - vs NY Rangers
• Saturday, Jan. 23 - vs Anaheim
• Saturday, Jan. 30 - vs Columbus
• Saturday, Feb. 6 - vs Chicago
• Saturday, Feb. 13 - vs Washington
• Saturday, Apr. 3 - vs Dallas

Basically, if you're a Blues fan and you want to catch them in the third jersey, just buy tickets to a Saturday game and you're good to go.

The Los Angeles Kings also have their third jersey schedule listed on their web site and like the Blues, introduced the new sweater last season. It was worn 12 times in 2008-09 and will see action for 15 home contests in 2009-10.

The full schedule is listed below.

• Tuesday, Oct. 6 - vs San Jose
• Thursday, Oct. 22 - vs Dallas
• Thursday, Nov. 5 - vs Pittsburgh
• Thursday, Dec. 10 - vs Phoenix
• Saturday, Dec. 12 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Jan. 2 - vs Washington
• Monday, Jan. 11 - vs San Jose
• Thursday, Jan. 14 - vs Anaheim
• Tuesday, Jan. 19 - vs San Jose
• Tuesday, Feb. 2 - vs NY Rangers
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 - vs Anaheim
• Saturday, Mar. 6 - vs Montreal
• Saturday, Mar. 27 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Apr. 3 - vs Anaheim
• Thursday, Apr. 8 - vs Phoenix

For the Kings, the third will see action on mostly Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and will primarily see divisional opponents. Anaheim, San Jose and Dallas will all face the Kings alternate sweater every time they visit L.A. this season.