Loose Threads: Canada to SoCal

In today's edition of Loose Threads, I've got jersey news, ice painting news, and some other stuff. I always know to start with the jersey news and for now that means Calgary.

Flames: Retro Edge Jersey Revealed

Flames retro Edge jerseyAn Icethetics reader sent in a photo of the Calgary Flames vintage sweater in its new Reebok Edge cut.

Last season, the Flames re-introduced their original threads as an alternate uniform as part of their 30th anniversary celebration. Then in March the team announced that the classic sweater would be back for at least another season, but as a Reebok Edge jersey. Last season's version was made out of the standard pre-Edge jersey material.

The design remains mostly the same but for an alteration in the collar. The Flames have said this jersey will be worn up to 15 times this season. Last year, it saw action in only five games. Thanks to Mitchell for sending in this photo.

Maple Leafs: Center Line Gets Patriotic

Leafs paint new patriotic center lineThe Toronto Maple Leafs have overhauled their center ice design at the Air Canada Centre.

A string of Canadian flags now forms the center red line on their rink. But there's a twist. The leaf you find within those little white boxes that run the 85 feet from dasher to dasher is not quite what you'd find on the flag. It's actually the Maple Leafs' logo painted red. Not ground-breaking, but pretty cool.

Close-up of Leafs' new red lineHere's a close up. But if these photos aren't enough for you, the Leafs have you covered. There's an entire photo gallery on the website that shows the process of painting the logos before the ice goes down. Thanks to Brad for that.

Also, I haven't yet mentioned it on the site, but I did link to it on Twitter last week. We recently got a look at the the Leafs' new home sweater in action at the NHLPA Rookie Showcase. Click here to see it.

Kings: Look Out for Legends Night

Kings to celebrate Legends NightFinally, we have some new details on what the Los Angeles Kings are calling Legends Night this season.

Icethetics reader Curtis S. recently received his season ticket package and had some information to share. He says the Kings have branded several games as Legends Night.

Not sure what that means but the games are denoted by an emblem that features the Kings' retro logo. The team will be wearing a retro sweater this season, so this is probably indicative of that.

We already know the Kings will relaunch the classic threads on Oct. 9 against the Canucks. Curtis tells me that other Legends Nights include Jan. 15 vs Edmonton, Feb. 24 vs Minnesota and Mar. 19 vs Anaheim.

Too bad those games are all at home. What a sight it would be to see the Kings and Oilers both in their brightly-colored retro sweaters — no red, black or navy blue to be found.

By the way, the Kings are holding Hockey Fest '10 this Saturday. They haven't said anything about unveiling their retro jersey at this event, but it would be a good time, so I'll keep an eye on it.

Maple Leafs Unveil New Jerseys!

Leafs unveil new 2010-11 sweatersThe Toronto Maple Leafs officially unveiled their redesigned 2010-11 sweaters this afternoon while at the same time introducing Dion Phaneuf as their new captain.

As rumored, the new sweaters feature dual stripes around the sleeves and waist, laced collars, and a shoulder patch resurrected 10 years after it was retired.

A release on the Leafs' website talks a little about the changes that have been made:

“Our fans have been quite vocal since 2007. They have wanted the stripes and shoulder patch back on the sweater,” said Tom Anselmi, executive vice-president and chief operating officer for Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. “We listened to them, and we hope they are as excited about the new, classic look as we are.”

Glad to see they were listening.

The Maple Leafs will debut the uniform beginning with the first preseason game September 21 in Toronto against the Ottawa Senators. The team’s nostalgic white ‘Third Sweater’ that debuted in 1998-99 will stay the same in 2010-11.

This is the first modification to the Toronto Maple Leafs uniform since the beginning of the 2007-08 season and fans will recognize the new changes based on past uniform lineage. The two stripes on the arm and the 11-point front crest, implemented at the start of the 1970-71 season, remains unchanged on the sweater.

The team has brought back the two horizontal stripes around the waist which have been absent for the past three seasons. The ‘classic style’ veined Leaf logo (with no interior lettering) will return on the sweater as a shoulder patch as it did from 1992 to 2000.

In addition, a string lace collar on their home and road sweaters will replace the V-shaped collar. The lettering and numbers of the sweaters will also be single layered again, without an outside trim.

Currently the photo of the jerseys above is the only one that has been released by the team via its website. When more become available, I'll provide links.

In the meantime, initial thoughts? I know we like it better than the 2007 catastrophe, but it is everything we were hoping for?

The Week in Unis and Logos

Good evening all! I appreciate your patience these past several days while I was away. Spent the week on the awe-inspiring Oasis of the Seas, on a cruise through the Eastern Caribbean. If you ever have the opportunity, I highly recommend it.

In that time, I was completely out of the hockey loop, freeing myself entirely from the chains of my computer. I didn't even know the Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup until we docked in Fort Lauderdale early this morning. Anyway, that being said, I'm relying mostly on your emails — and forgive me if I don't mention you by name if you sent in a tip as there were so many I lost track.

Leafs to reveal new captain, uniforms

Obviously the biggest news of the night is coming out of Toronto.

The Toronto Maple Leafs have set a press conference for Monday, in which they are expected to introduce Dion Phaneuf as the new team captain, but more importantly, unveil new home and road sweater designs.

Both TSN and The Hockey News corroborate this. For more on what the redesigned jerseys will look like, we turn to fellow jersey-hound Howard Berger — never at a loss to provide the early info we all desire. Turns out, the day before I left for my trip last week, he provided another detail-filled blog post.

Maple Leafs jerseys, 1992-97Here are some of the bullet-points of his story, alongside a sample from our friends at the Hockey Uniform Database:

• New home/road unis comparable to 1990s Gilmour-era sweaters
• Both feature current primary logo, 11-point maple leaf introduced in 1970
• Both incorporate new lace-up collar instead of V-neck
• Dual horizontal stripes return to sleeves/waist
• Outlined number font goes away in favor of solid color block numbers
• 90s-era shoulder patches (veined leaf) return
• Third jersey will remain unchanged for 2010-11

At last, the Leafs' Reebok Edge jerseys will have some character! Berger's write-up contains no new details on the rumored third jersey redesign said to happen for 2011-12.

And for what it's worth, LeafsHQ has combined all of this new information into a couple of handy bits of concept art.

Official: Ducks to get thirds in 2010-11

The Anaheim Ducks have officially confirmed plans to launch a brand new alternate jersey during the upcoming 2010-11 season, according to the Orange County Register.

The Register quotes Ducks senior VP and chief marketing officer Bob Wagner in an article published yesterday:

General manager Bob Murray, coach Randy Carlyle, president and CEO Tim Ryan and Wagner were involved in the new design. Ducks players were also consulted, which was a major source of input.

"They're the most excited about it, which makes me feel we’ve completed 'mission accomplished,'" Wagner said. "I’ve gotten a lot of positives."

Wagner could not reveal any details about the new look but he was confident it will be received well. Said Wagner, "I think the fans will really embrace it based on the fact that there is meaning to it."

The only clue as to the new jersey's design: Wagner says "there is meaning to it." Whatever that means. Anyway, it's official confirmation from the team on previous rumors and that's always a plus.

Devils move AHL affiliate, unveil new logo

In what should be the final major change going into the 2010-11 AHL season, the Lowell Devils have been relocated and renamed the Albany Devils as of Thursday.

The logo (left) was unveiled on the team's new website. It continues the tradition of the New Jersey Devils and Lowell Devils logos, by creating a subtle letterform out of an abstract devilish shape.

At least they didn't just arch the word "Albany" above the NJ logo like they did in Trenton (ECHL). But this makes me wonder if they could do it with any letter of the alphabet, or if they've just gotten lucky with NJ, L and A. Surely, they can do it with the T.

Oh, and don't forget about the U in the Utica Devils logo from back in the day.

New logo tourney starts Monday!

As promised, the next logo tournament will kick off on Monday morning. In a poll that ran in the sidebar for two weeks, 50% of you preferred an NHL secondary/shoulder logo competition so that is what we're doing. Sometime on Sunday I'll post the format. This one is going to be a little more complex than the previous tourneys we've done. For one thing, we'll be starting with 45 individual logos, the most yet!

Meantime, I'm going to get back to relaxing as my vacation doesn't end until Tuesday and I have a lot to clear off the TiVo. As always, feel free to email me with anything I've missed.

New Logos and More...

Some of you have been concerned by my lack of updates lately. Sorry, I'm just one person. And while I have been enjoying all that Super Mario Galaxy 2 has to offer, it's actually vacation prep that's been keeping me away from Icethetics. I'm out of the country all next week so hopefully this extended post will tide you over until I get back.

Anniversary logos appearing

Chris Creamer's SportsLogos.net is a resource I know many of you can't live without. Earlier this week, new NHL team anniversary logos started appearing on the message boards. Typically there are no big unveilings for these things, they just tend to come out in drips and drabs. So let's take a look.

The Vancouver Canucks celebrate their 40th NHL season in 2010-11. This mark will likely find its way onto the jersey somehow. It's a pretty standard birthday logo, although for some reason it reads as a tombstone to me, the festive ribbon notwithstanding. Maybe it's the dash between 1970 and 2010.

In any case, it's basically the stick-in-the-rink logo sans the stick, replaced by a big 40. Not the most creative thing they could've done, but creativity isn't that organization's strong suit these days. Just one opinion. It's plain.

The San Jose Sharks are turning 20 in 2011, but they're getting the festivities started a little early. You'll note that the 20 refers to how many years the team has existed not how many seasons it's played. Anyway, it's a solid logo, built on a pair of Xs with the shark in between.

It features a great use of color and type so I can't complain. It is rather wide, however. And just try to count all the triangles and partial triangles that cover the thing. Overall, thumbs up.

Lastly, the Columbus Blue Jackets will join the Wild in beginning their 10th NHL season this fall. Rumors of a cannon taking center stage on the forthcoming third jersey next season are not substantiated by this mark, which gives us an alternate perspective of the Ohio state flag instead.

For whatever reason, the waving flag just screams Civil War to me. I like it. Definitely furthers the brand of the club. So kudos to all these logo designers. Sharp work for logos that will only be in use for a single season.

Thanks to those of you who pointed them out to me.

Maple Leafs jersey changes

It should be news to no one that the Toronto Maple Leafs will don altered jerseys beginning with the 2010-11 season. And by "altered," I mean "fixed." The missing stripes will return as will a much-needed shoulder patch.

Will the Leafs wear these in 2010-11?Mike Burse of Bleacher Report offers up an in-depth look at how Leaf fashion directly correlates to Leaf success/failure. He also offers up this mock-up/concept (right, from LeafsHQ, see below) of what these new jerseys might look like.

As I've mentioned prior, no final decision has yet been made public. To this point, all we have is what team management has said. But for the record, Burse also says the Leafs have had these alterations in the pipeline since April 2009.

The article also says that a new third jersey is in the works to replace the current one, but that won't happen until the 2011-12 season at the earliest. There's a lot of history to choose from.

Whalers reincarnate

Howard Baldwin wants to bring hockey back to Hartford. NHL hockey. Whaler hockey. For those that have missed that iconic logo, he's trying to bring it all back.

Icethetics reader Gennaro Schiano writes in about the newly announced Whalers Hockey Fest which will consist of a series of outdoor hockey games to take place in February 2011. You can read more about it on Baldwin's website, WhalersSports.com.

Man, all this talk about changes to the league; will any of them happen? Will the Coyotes stay in Phoenix? Will Hartford get a team back? Will Winnipeg? Kansas City? What about new markets like Las Vegas? It's all kind of exciting.

Hopefully Whalers Hockey Fest is a big success. I'll be keeping an eye on it.

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Tampa Bay Rays in hockey sweatersBy the way, if you're interested, over the weekend the MLB's Tampa Bay Rays sported NHL jerseys on a road trip to Toronto. They had Blackhawks, Penguins and of course Lightning jerseys. Even the Bruins and Predators made an appearance.

There's more to this story and TSN has it covered for you.

Update on Friday · Jun 4 · 2010 | 8:48 PM PDT by Chris

It was brought to my attention that the above Maple Leafs jerseys were actually created by Jeff of LeafsHQ. You can see more images and his take on the forthcoming sweaters over there. Plus, as the Leafs ponder a new historical third jersey for 2011-12, Jeff has put together some concepts based on past uniforms. All worth checking out. Enjoy!

A Certain Kind of Crazy

Yesterday I posted a handful of notes relating to the recent rash of specialty sweaters both in the NHL and the minor leagues. I saved a couple for today because they're just a certain kind of crazy that deserve a post all their own.

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Tomas Kaberle #15This one, too, begins with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Earlier tonight, they joined couple of other NHL clubs who have paid tribute to the military with special camouflage warm-up jerseys in 2009-10.

Don't misunderstand, these teams always seem to have their hearts in the right place when they do these things, but I do think it's sometimes a bit nuts.

The Leafs offered a few more details regarding the reason for tonight's military-themed sweaters.

More than 360 Canadian Forces personnel attended the game at the invitation of Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment. Gen. Walter Natynczyk officiated the ceremonial puck drop before the game, and was visited at centre ice by former Leafs goaltender Johnny Bower, who was in full military garb.

If you're interested in more pictures from the warm-ups and pre-game ceremonies, the team's web site is happy to oblige.

For the record, it appears, to me at least, that the Leafs were wearing the same Reebok-made camo jersey that the Blackhawks and Ducks wore earlier this season.

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Icehawks' Star Wars jerseyAlso tonight, the IHL's Port Huron Icehawks hit the ice wearing what I can only describe as a visual atrocity.

At least most teams are bringing awareness to an important cause or donating auction proceeds to a worthwhile charity. The Icehawks are just dressing up in Star Wars-themed jerseys for an evening!

All right, to be fair, these jerseys are being auctioned for charity — the Cherry Beach Council on Aging. And before you scoff, think of your grandmother.

Still, Star Wars Night? Really? TheForce.net — not kidding — posted a press release about the event, which included the following:

Star Wars jersey in actionThe Port Huron Icehawks are hosting their 3rd annual Star Wars Night on Saturday, January 30, 2010 at McMorran Arena. The players will be wearing specialty Star Wars jerseys to be auctioned off for charity. Proceeds benefit the Cherry Beach Council on Aging.

Bounty hunters from all over the galaxy will want this one-of-a-kind piece of Icehawks/Star Wars memorabilia! The action goes into hyperspeed as the Icehawks take on the Flint Generals at 7:30 p.m.

These extremely cool jerseys were designed by Great Lakes Garrison member Scott "Crow" Withers TK-1491.

Two things: 1) Playing fast and loose with the term "extremely cool," aren't we? 2) This is the third time they've done this?! It's true. A photo gallery, for those among you who would dare to boldly go where no... wait, that's not right.

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Finally, we end the night with the OHL's London Knights. These guys normally wear green and gold, but when it comes to raising cash for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, they're all about the blue and gold.

For those who can't read the text on the image, here's all of the information we have relating to the special jerseys.

On Saturday, February 6th, be part of the House of Blue in support of the Make A Wish Foundation of South Western Ontario, presented by The Brick.

Knights players will wear blue jerseys which will be up for auction following the game with all proceeds going to Make A Wish. Join the London Knights and wear Blue!!!

I'll keep an eye out for pictures of these special jerseys next weekend.

Thanks to Ryan for the Knights tip, Victor for sending along the Icehawks link and Shaun for drawing my attention to the Leafs' military night jerseys.