Blue on the Schedule

The Pittsburgh Penguins will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic sweater later this month and plan to wear it more than once this season.

Yesterday, the Penguins also released a third jersey schedule for 2010-11. The powder blue duds will hit the ice 10 times this season, including tonight's debut, while the yet unreleased Winter Classic sweater will see action twice beyond New Year's Day.

Here's how the schedule shakes out for the third jersey:

• Fri., Oct. 15 - vs NY Islanders
• Sat., Oct. 30 - @ Carolina
• Wed., Nov. 17 - vs Vancouver
• Sat., Nov. 27 - vs Calgary
• Mon., Dec. 6 - vs New Jersey
• Sun., Dec. 26 - @ Ottawa
• Sat., Jan. 8 - vs Minnesota
• Sat., Jan. 22 - vs Carolina
• Wed., Feb. 23 - vs San Jose
• Sun., Mar. 27 - vs Florida

Note that the powder blue sweater will be worn twice on the road against Carolina and Ottawa. Both of these teams have black thirds and red homes. Think we could see a night or two without white sweaters? That would be a treat.

Additionally, the release tells us the Penguins will unveil their new Winter Classic threads later this month, but doesn't cite a specific date. Icethetics has it on good authority they will be dark blue.

• Sat., Jan. 1 - vs Washington
• Thu., Feb. 10 - vs Los Angeles
• Sat. Mar. 12 - vs Montreal

This new sweater will see action at least twice after the outdoor game at Heinz Field. And more than likely, it will be the Pens' new third jersey in 2011-12.

Panthers Promoting Throwback Nights

The Florida Panthers will be holding three Throwback Nights this season, according to the team's season ticket packages.

Panthers season ticket holder Brian E. wrote in yesterday to let us know about about the events, which haven't yet been explained by the team. But we can only hope it means the red jersey will make a brief but welcome comeback.

Panthers celebrating Throwback NightsHere are the dates:

• Tue., Dec. 7 - vs Colorado
• Sat., Jan. 15 - vs New Jersey
• Thu., Mar. 17 - vs Toronto

The Dec. 7th game against the Avalanche has been dubbed "Throwback to 1996," referencing the only season in which the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, they were swept by the Avs, but making it that far is pretty respectable in itself.

It seems obvious that the Panthers would use the old red sweaters based on the photos used on the tickets. Plus, it's the only thing they could "throw back" to after only 17 years of existence. However, "Throwback Night" may not necessarily refer to the uniforms. It's entirely possible it could just be an in-arena promotional thing with special appearances by former players and such.

We'll have to just wait and see, but how great would it be to see the Cats back in red?

CHL Third Jersey Fever, Part 2

After a few weeks of daily updates, I needed a bit of a breather. But it's time now to get back to it. We first need to get to a few more third jerseys from the CHL, as a continuation from last week. That post included only new alternates from the WHL. Today's will be from all three leagues.

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Photo credit: John AllenThe WHL's Tri-City Americans unveiled a new red third jersey just a few weeks ago.

The design was first seen on Annie Fowler's Tri-City Herald sports blog on Sept. 23. The jersey then made its on-ice debut a few nights later, Sept. 26, for the Ams' first game of the season.

For the record, the Americans beat the Spokane Chiefs in the new threads in front of their home crowd in Kennewick, Wash. by a score of 6-3.

The standard home and road jerseys for the Tri-City club are dark blue and white. Though the red clearly works very well. The primary logo is the same on those sweaters so it might've been a nice change to see something else there.

Still, this is the CHL and even though it's a junior league it's hard to complain about most of their sweaters. They usually put a lot of work in and tend to hit the mark — unlike a certain major professional hockey league we all know well.

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Oil Kings unveil third jerseyJust yesterday, the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings unveiled their new blue alternate sweater.

Typically, the Oil Kings' dark jerseys are red with more traditional striping so this is a change of pace. And while the rest of the sweater changes, the logo remains the same. A post at etownhockey may have put it best:

The jersey's take on a new modern look but their gaudy symbol is still intact. I like the look but I was really hoping for a completely revamped 3rd jersey which saw a new logo.

The yellow logo is very dated and looks out of place with the rest of the uniform. I understand this goes back to the original Oil Kings days, but with an alternate jersey they had free range to add something new. Unfortunately this wasn't the case.

The Oil Kings' own press release makes no excuses for the design, just pointing out that it will look like a whole new team when the new sweater hits the ice for the first time (in a game) on Friday night against the Medicine Hat Tigers. They also have an extra photo for your enjoyment.

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Photo credit: Dave ChanOne of my favorite CHL third jerseys has got to belong to the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.

The Mooseheads' new black sweater is actually a revisit of a previous third jersey, only now it's made by Reebok. And despite being black, it looks great. You know why black works in the CHL? Because it's used sparingly.

The jersey first hit the ice on Oct. 1 in a shootout loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs. But they sure looked good, aesthetically speaking. Not that they normally look bad. On any other night, the Mooseheads normally look like the Minnesota Wild, whose jersey design they use for both their home and road uniforms.

In other jersey-related news from Halifax, the Mooseheads will hold Pink in the Rink III on Oct. 22. That will involve specially-colored sweaters and the ice surface painted pink. Also, if you have a minor hockey team in Nova Scotia, the Mooseheads could wear your sweater for a night. Details on the Great Mooseheads Jersey Race on their website.

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St. Michael's Majors third jerseyThe OHL team with the most ridiculous name ever, the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, has a new third jersey.

It's a nice one but all these "fauxbacks" are starting to look the same. You got your circle crest in your Habs-style stripe across the chest. We get it. Even jerseys from way back in the day had their own styles. Still, most NHL teams struggle for a look this clean and simple.

The new sweater was unveiled Sept. 26 at the Meet the Majors event. This photo (right) was posted on Twitter by Tony Ambrogio the following day but the team has a small photo gallery on its website. Unfortunately, the "fauxback" thing only gets worse when you see the back. Yes, that's a dark blue nameplate on a vintage white sweater. When did this become a thing?

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Greyhounds' new third jerseyWe'll wrap up today's CHL third jersey post with the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

I don't know if they're trying to keep this new sweater a secret, but the Soo Greyhounds are doing a good job of it. A reader, Ryan, emailed in this photo (right) with no details on where it came from. There's also this article on the team's website.

The Greyhounds usually wear red and white so this is certainly something new. Still, it looks like they're trying (badly) to borrow an idea from the Mooseheads (mentioned above).

But I guess it's no worse than writing SENS or BOLTS across the front of your alternate uniform. The striping is hard to make out in either image but it appears to be pretty plain as well. Not that that's a bad thing.

Hoping the uniform looks better on the ice than in this photo, though. By the way, if you guys can track down a better shot (perhaps game action), let me know by email.

CHL Third Jersey Fever, Part 1

We have to be nearing some kind of record: New posts EVERY DAY since Sept. 15. And some of those days have seen multiple posts. I can't remember the last time Icethetics was this busy. But there's no sense in slowing down now. I promised a look at some CHL third jerseys before the week was out. Unfortunately, there are too many for a single post.

We'll begin with the Western Hockey League. The season kicked off a couple weeks ago and already we've got several new sweaters hitting the ice.

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Kamloops Blazers 3rd jerseyThe Kamloops Blazers have added a blazing orange blazer. It's not the color but the front of this jersey that is its downfall.

I hate to start on a bad note because last time I discussed Canadian Hockey League uniforms on this blog, it was with great acclaim. I said the NHL should take a page out of their book. But it looks more like the Blazers have taken a page out of the Dallas Stars' book. And the Stars' book is terrible!

The dawn of the Age of Reebok ushered orange out of the NHL. But prior to that, only the Islanders and Flyers used it for their third jerseys. Philadelphia then brought it back in 2008 as an alternate. Only now is it finally a regularly-used color again.

So despite the terrible lack of any sort of crest design for Kamloops, you won't find a more colorful hockey league and that by itself should be applauded.

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Kelowna Rockets 3rd jerseySpeaking of colorful, the Kelowna Rockets have barely worn their regular home and road sweaters this season.

On Sept. 25, the Rockets debuted a new red third jersey with silly-looking dragon face on the front of it. Say what you will about it, but how many teams have ever used this color combination? Certainly none in the NHL and the closest one I can think of is the Detroit Vipers in the old IHL.

But that's not all. The Rockets also wore their pink-ribbon jersey recently for (I'm hoping) Breast Cancer Awareness Night. To save space, I'm linking to it rather than displaying. Plus, you've seen one pink jersey, you've seen them all.

Rather ironically, their home and road sweaters are black and white. Still, the fact that they're willing to take advantage of their color scheme, even if only on a third jersey, is good enough for me. More NHL teams need to get a little creative.

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Kootenay Ice 3rd jerseyThe Kootenay Ice have a new blue third jersey in the pipeline.

And here's another example of an awful NHL fad creeping into the CHL. Stop with the mismatch nameplates. Philly did it first with their third jerseys to replicate a past design quirk. That's all right. Now stop.

Setting that aside, this is an otherwise perfectly nice hockey sweater with great colors and a slick design that manages to also feel retro. 

In a web release, the team credits the jersey design to Jack Santos of Visible Means Design in Sherwood Park, Alberta.

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Red Deer Rebels 3rd jerseyI recently mentioned the unveiling of the Red Deer Rebels third jersey. Now we can see it on a player in full gear.

The photos I have were sent in by Jorden Clarke. One thing he did point out was the poor visibility of the black numbers on the maroon stripes on the back. That's kind of a shame and easy to fix.

Despite that, however, I still believe this to be among the best new hockey sweaters in the world this season. I just wish they could get the WHL logo off the front.

This jersey made its debut last week on Oct. 2. My thanks to Jorden for these photos from the pre-game skate.

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Chiliwack Bruins' 3rd jerseyAlso making its first appearance that night was the Chilliwack Bruins' new third jersey.

This is an instance where I think the team would be better suited to just adopt their third jersey as the new standard. As Reebok-ified as the sleeve striping may be, it's still a great looking uniform as a whole.

I don't even think changing the logo would be a bad thing. Not every team called the "Bruins" has to have a spoked letter as their primary mark. (Yes, that's you too Providence.)

By the way, most of the uncredited game photos in today's post, this one included, and many more can be found at WHL.ca and their online photo gallery. Also this next one...

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Vancouver Giants' anniversary jerseyThe Vancouver Giants are celebrating their 10th anniversary with a special jersey.

The most notable feature of the sweater is the 10th anniversary logo placed front and center. The ECHL's Florida Everblades did something similar for their decennial in 2007-08. But they actually put the 10th year logo on the home and road jerseys all year.

For the Giants, they've just taken their standard white jersey and swapped out the crests. Might've expected a little more creativity from these guys so it's a tad disappointing.

Maybe we'll get something better from them next season. Last thing today then I'll leave you alone...

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Lethbridge Hurricanes' 3rd jerseyAccording to blogger Scott Wasilewski, this is the Lethbridge Hurricanes third jersey.

This photo appears to have been taken on a store shelf last Friday and I haven't seen anything on the team's website about an alternate sweater, so maybe you guys could help shed some light on this particular subject.

It looks like a frightening fusion between the Washington Capitals and Carolina Hurricanes. Scott isn't sure if he likes it. I'm pretty sure I don't. And heck, while we're talking about bad Lethbridge jerseys, they've announced plans for Pink in the Rink Night on Nov. 19-20.

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More new sweaters from the OHL and QMJHL this weekend. Also new stuff in the AHL and ECHL as well. Check back for updates.

Update on Thursday · Oct 14 · 2010 | 9:54 AM PDT by Chris

There is now a follow-up to this post: CHL Third Jersey Fever, Part 2. It features the Tri-City Americans and Edmonton Oil Kings from the WHL, Halifax Mooseheads from the Q, and the OHL's St. Mike's Majors and Soo Greyhounds.

Penguins Winter Classic Preview

The Pittsburgh Penguins are preparing to unveil their brand new 2011 Winter Classic sweater, according to the Tribune-Review.

An article published this morning goes into little detail about the new threads, except to say that they're blue and the scarf-wearing penguin will finally see its way onto a sweater. The story is more of a retrospective on Bob Gessner, the man who created that original Pens logo.

First, the good bits in a quote box:

A new blue-colored alternate uniform is soon to be unveiled by the team. It will debut at the outdoor game against Washington, and the Penguins plan to adopt it next season as a "third" uniform. Also, the first day of 2011 will mark the first appearance of the Penguins' original logo on a uniform.

If you managed to catch my radio interview last weekend, you heard me make a bold prediction I didn't have much basis for. That being, my guess is the Penguins will go with a mish-mash jersey, like the Bruins did at the last Winter Classic.

Rather than recreating a past look, I wouldn't be surprised if they combined elements of several looks and got a little creative with it. Based on this article's assertion that the 1967 scarfed penguin will be on the jersey, it sounds like I could be right. How rare.

There's no date set for the unveiling, but the story does say the new sweater will "resemble uniforms worn by Mario Lemieux's son's local youth team." If anyone reading is involved with that team, maybe you have a photo or two you could provide to give us an idea of what to expect.

For the record, a quick Google search turns up this photo of Austin Lemieux's team in action from February 2008. They are wearing the Pens' current third jersey — which debuted in the NHL just a month earlier at the 2008 Winter Classic. Perhaps they've redesigned their uniforms since?

Anyway, this post is already getting long so I won't harp on the last bit. If you want the inside scoop on the design of the Penguins' logo, you should really read the rest of the article. Gessner says he never liked the scarfed penguin and he doesn't think he'll be impressed with the new sweater.

Update on Saturday · Sep 25 · 2010 | 3:19 PM PDT by Chris

After this post went up, I got an interesting email from Icethetics reader Jeff S. who tells me a site called NHL Snipers posted what it claims will be the 2011 Winter Classic jerseys — for both the Penguins and the Capitals.

Penguins' Winter Classic jersey?The post featuring these images gives no details as to where they came from, who designed them or even whether they're believed to be real or not. Still, I can't help but feel like there's an inkling of plausibility to the designs.

Perhaps I'm leaning in that direction because they fit my predictions perfectly. This powder blue Pens sweater borrows from a number of eras in team history. And it comes together spectacularly.

The sleeve stripes and shoulder number placement call back to the black-and-gold look of the 1980s. The dark blue in the uniform was part of the 70s design. And the numbers match the original sweater worn in 1967.

Capitals' Winter Classic jersey?The Washington Capitals will officially unveil their Winter Classic sweater a week from today. There is no one who thinks it will look like anything but this design.

It's the Caps' original sweater from 1974. And seeing Alex Ovechkin wearing it will be surreal. It's littered with red and blue stars and features the retro logo previously unveiled at the announcement of the 2011 Winter Classic.

The only real question is whether the players will sport the criminally hilarious white pants for the game.

Anyway, these drawings are all well and good to give us an idea of what we might expect on New Year's Day, but it doesn't really matter until we see photos of the actual uniform.

Remember, the Caps unveil theirs a week from today. The Pens... "soon." Maybe we'll get theirs in the next week or two as well.

Sabres Debut New Uniforms!

The Buffalo Sabres introduce new home, road and alternate jerseys today

It's official. Years of work have paid off for the guys at Sabres Not Slugs — a hardcore group of fans on a mission to rid their team of the infamous "Buffaslug" logo, instituted in 2006.

Today, the Buffalo Sabres unveiled new home, road and alternate jerseys for the 2010-11 season — and the old logo is nowhere to be found. In fact, the new sweaters show a shift by the team back to its original identity.

Thomas Vanek #26Where to start... First, the previous third jersey, introduced in 2008, is the new standard home sweater. No surprise, and it's a welcome change as this is a spectacular hockey uniform. Even better, the Sabres will double up on this solid design by wearing a white version for road games.

Some fans have bemoaned the heavy use of navy blue, but let's be honest: this is 2010, not 1980. Bright colors are better in small doses. And that makes the new alternate sweater perfect. The bright colors are a great change of pace and superb tribute to the past.

And BUFFALO across the front, an homage to the town's original pro hockey club, couldn't be better suited. After years of new logos that have failed to catch on with fans, this was exactly the right play for the Sabres. Celebrate the city, its hockey history, and stop trying to reinvent the wheel.

In a single day, one of the NHL's worst-dressed clubs has become one of the best. It's an outstanding set of sweaters. Most teams would be lucky to look this good.

Unique features on the back of the thirdA release on the Sabres website details some interesting facts about new third jersey:

•  The royal blue color of the third jersey reflects the original Sabres jersey that debuted in 1970.
• The “Buffalo” script wordmark was inspired by the old Buffalo Bisons “bottlecap” logo. 
• The choice of an off-white color for the Buffalo script was to give the jersey a vintage feel.
• There are four stripes on the sleeves, socks and around the waist that represent 40 years of Sabres hockey. 
• A commemorative 40th anniversary “1970” logo sits below the Buffalo script. 
• The faux felt numbers have a unique cross stitched pattern in reference to early pro hockey jerseys.

The new third jersey will be worn for 12 home games this season, including its debut on Oct. 9 for the Sabres' season opener when they host the New York Rangers at HSBC Arena. Seems 10/9/10 is going to be the night for retro sweaters in the NHL.

According to the Sabres' website, "the design for both jerseys was a collaborative effort between the Sabres and Reebok International." By the way, they also have a complete photo gallery of today's unveiling for your enjoyment.