Classic Uniforms of the Future

We kicked off our week with the unveiling of the new Maple Leafs jersey, but there are still more big unveilings to come. Today I've put together a brief rundown.

Caps to unveil Winter Classic uniform

The Washington Capitals will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic uniform at the 2010 Capitals Convention on Oct. 2.

The announcement made on the Caps' website offers no details about the design of new sweaters, but traditionally teams look to past jerseys for inspiration at this event. The Capitals have two distinct design eras prior to the 2007-08 rebranding.

From 1974 to 1995, the Caps wore the red, white and blue they have today, but the logo and uniforms come straight out of the '70s — as you would expect. They are most noted for wearing white pants with their red jerseys early on in their inaugural season. In 1995, the Capitals adopted a darker blue and dropped the red in favor of bronze and black.

My bet is that both the Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins, who are hosting the New Year's Day game at Heinz Field, will select something from the '70s or '80s for their outdoor game threads. But don't expect to see Washington wearing white pants. (As funny as it might be.)

Flames to don special Heritage sweater

Canada is finally getting its game back! By now, we all know there will be a second outdoor game during the 2010-11 season called the Heritage Classic. The Calgary Flames will host the Montreal Canadiens at McMahon Stadium on Feb. 20, 2011.

On Friday, Flames president Ken King said his team will be donning a special sweater for the big game. Details by way of the Calgary Herald:

A new jersey is a certainty.

“We’re going to have a very special heritage uniform,” King said. “We’re not going to tell you what it is, but I think people will really like it.

“It will be tied to the history of Calgary long before the Flames were here.”

Long before the Flames, you say? Interesting. Major league hockey was first played in Calgary in 1921 when the Calgary Tigers were formed. They won a few WCHL championships, including one in 1924 after which they challenged the very same Montreal Canadiens for the Stanley Cup. And lost.

Fifty years later, in 1975, the WHA's Vancouver Blazers relocated to the Stampede City and became the Calgary Cowboys. They were significantly less successful than the Tigers and folded after just two seasons. Calgary developed a proclivity for taking other city's sloppy seconds (just a joke!) when the Atlanta Flames were relocated in 1980. So there's some interesting history there.

The 2011 Heritage Classic will be the first time Canada has hosted an outdoor NHL game since 2003 when the Edmonton Oilers challenged the Canadiens. (Is it just me or should the Flames be playing the Leafs in this one?)

King did not say when this jersey would be unveiled, but one would expect it to be well prior to February.

Update on Saturday · Jun 19 · 2010 | 9:32 PM PDT by Chris

One more thing I just came across. While no logos have been publicly unveiled for either outdoor game, there is a temporary logo being used on the Penguins and Capitals' websites to promote the 2011 Winter Classic.

It's by no means final artwork, but it does bear the traditional look with WINTER in a script type and CLASSIC in something a little more futuristic/gothic. Just wanted to throw that out there. I have no information on when logos for either the Winter Classic or Heritage Classic will be made public. But it shouldn't be long.

Caps Turn 35, Opt Against Third

Note about Logo Tournament: The voting section of the website will only be the Icethetics landing page on Mondays when new polls are posted. Throughout the rest of the week, polls are available by clicking on the VOTE! tab at the top or in the sidebar.

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Capitals 35th patchWe're tracking Washington Capitals jerseys news today. They just celebrated 35 years and the final word on a Caps third jersey is here.

On Saturday night, the Capitals wore a special 35th anniversary patch on their jerseys. This after it was postponed last month due to inclement weather.

Icethetics reader Lowell sent in this photo of the patch (right) and he plans on sewing it onto his Caps jersey.

In the meantime, if you want to see how it looked in action, here's a shot of Alex Ovechkin wearing it on his jersey. The patch-enhanced sweaters were put up on the auction block on Saturday night after the game. Anyone want to guess how much his went for?

While we're on the subject of rare jerseys, the Capitals have no intention of adding a third in the foreseeable future, according to owner Ted Leonsis.

This is a story PuckDrawn picked up on last week. In a video interview on Caps365, Leonsis said:

There's no active discussion, there's no work on it. We introduced new jerseys a couple years ago. The fan base was not supportive of that. My favorite from one of our message board posters was, "How dare you! This looks like a colostomy bag!" I kept that one.

And now I think our logo and color scheme are amongst the most accepted, best-selling and best-looking in the league. Sometimes injecting change is difficult.

I don't feel the compelling need to have the third jersey. I also think it's unfair to introduce a third jersey because people want to then go out and buy them. And with the economy being the way it is, I just thought it would look greedy on our part.

At some point when it feels right, and maybe the fan base gives us permission to do that, we'll certainly do it, but now didn't seem like the right time.

You can click here to watch the video. The third jersey conversation takes place around the 18-minute mark.

So as awesome as it might be, don't expect a blue Weagle jersey anytime soon. Caps fans don't want it. Yet. But when they do, it'll be one of the best around.

The best chance we have now seeing the Caps in anything other than their current jerseys is the 2011 Winter Classic. Assuming the rumors are true, one would hope they'd opt for a throwback sweater like everyone else has done so far — even if their previous jerseys are pretty awful.

A Capital Idea: W.C. in D.C.

Caps vs Rangers, please!Think of Ovi in a beanie toque. (I'm a Floridian. We don't really wear them here.)

The New England Hockey Journal is spreading rumors that Washington, D.C. could be up next to host the Winter Classic.

An article posted February 20 cites the ever-eager anonymous source, who also claims the Pittsburgh Penguins could be back in outdoor action just four years after their first foray. Let me be the first to say I would be horribly disappointed by that.

I would love to see the Caps host a Winter Classic. Despite their placement in the Southeast Division, it gets plenty cold there. Americans bore witness to the fury of the D.C. winter when the government actually shut down for snow days. Plus, they deserve it, according to the Journal's Kirk Luedeke.

I can tell you that there were a lot of disappointed folks in the nation's capital last summer when it became known that the Bruins' opponent would be the Philadelphia Flyers, so this should soothe the hurt feelings a bit if/when it becomes official.

But I'm not wild about Sidney Crosby getting another parade. It's funny, my wife can't stand him. She's just barely a hockey fan and even she knows he's overhyped. (An incredibly talented player, obviously, I'm just not sure why he gets all the praise.) On the other hand, she can't get enough of watching Alex Ovechkin. And neither can I.

So assuming the rumors are true, who should Ovi and the Caps face on January 1, 2011? It simply must be the New York Rangers. How is it that the NHL's most famous franchise has been left out of the league's biggest event? And while Canada rings in 2011 with their own outdoor game in Calgary, let Americans bask in the flood of red, white and blue in our nation's capital. What could be more fitting?

And if it's names the NHL wants, forget Crosby. Consider Ovechkin and Semin going nose to nose with Gaborik and Lundqvist. An epic winter battle in another American ballpark, to be sure.

That's really all I have to say on the subject. I'm sure you guys all have opinions of your own and I'd love to hear them. Feel free to share them below.

Scott Walker #24But first, just before the Caps edged out my Bolts tonight, the boys from D.C. skated out in camouflage for warm-ups. You can see what new Cap Scott Walker thinks of it. It's written all over his face.

Actually, the best comment on these jerseys probably came from Tampa Tribune beat writer Erik Erlendsson, who tweeted this tonight:

Not what those jerseys are the #Caps are wearing tonight for warmups, but I'm getting dizzy tryiing to figure out what they are????

He followed up with a clarification from his Washington Post counterpart.

According to @TarikElBashir those are military jerseys and will be auctioned off to military charities; look more like hunting fatigues tho

The Blackhawks and Ducks did the same thing earlier this season, wearing exactly the same jerseys. Only the logos and numbers have been changed. Reebok's taking care of everybody.

By the way, I've got minor league jersey and logo news to come. So keep an eye out for that. Also... I might finally explain the cryptic messages that keep appearing on the blog and Twitter. Hmm...

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Icethetics makes old school new again. 3.8.10

Snow Day for Caps' 35th Patch

Caps' 35th anniversary logoBy now, some of you may have noticed that the Washington Capitals did not, in fact, wear the special 35th anniversary patches we were promised tonight. The previously scheduled auction did not happen either.

The Caps and MeiGray, the group organizing the event, decided to postpone things until after the apocalyptic snowstorm bearing down on the capital city this weekend.

Icethetics reader Drew tells me that MeiGray sent out an email earlier today informing fans of the postponement. It reads as follows:

Due to the impending heavy snowstorm, the Capitals and MeiGray have postponed the 35th season commemorative patch celebration night and auction until Saturday, March 6, when the Caps play the NY Rangers at Verizon Center.

The auction will run as planned in the building on March 6, and we will keep the pre-auction bidding open until Friday, March 5.

If you've already placed a pre-bid, it will remain valid. If you cannot attend the game, but want to bid on a jersey, you now have a month to do so.

If you have any questions, please feel free to call us toll-free at 888-463-4472, or e-mail us at sales@meigray.com.

So the 35th anniversary celebration gets a snow day. We'll revisit this in a month.

One thing does not have an answer yet, however. I'm waiting to hear from any Icethetics readers who braved the storm tonight to make it to the game. Were those classic jerseys on display, as previously announced? Or are we postponing that to March as well?

Special Jersey Caps 35 Seasons

A week from Friday, the Washington Capitals will celebrate their 35th anniversary with a special one-game-only commemorative jersey.

The details of the big night — which is February 5 — were just released yesterday via the team's official web site. However, the release does not go into particulars with regard to the jersey itself. Only that it's red (probably meaning it's the regular sweater with a special patch).

Caps 35th Anniversary LogoThe Washington Capitals will be wearing a special, one-game-only set of red jerseys containing a unique 35th season commemorative patch when they take on the Atlanta Thrashers Friday, Feb. 5 at Verizon Center. Fans attending the game can leave the arena that night with their favorite Capitals player's one-of-a-kind, game-worn jersey.

It will be Game-Worn Jersey Night in Verizon Center, as MeiGray and the Capitals will be hosting a special exhibit at Section 119 in the concourse: 35 Seasons of Capitals' Game-Worn Jerseys. 

On display will be jerseys worn throughout the years by the Caps, including jerseys worn during the team's inaugural 1974-75 NHL season, jerseys worn during the 10th anniversary and 20th anniversary seasons. There will be jerseys on display that were once worn by Bob Carpenter, Mike Gartner, Dale Hunter, Rod Langway, Scott Stevens and many more.

I imagine that is going to be one kick-ass display. If you've got tickets and a digital camera, we'd love to see what they have set up. And we'd be forever in your debt.

I plan to set up a jersey gallery in the Specialty Jerseys section over the weekend following the game if you're interested in seeing what it looks like. Speaking of which, let's start the speculation. What will this red jersey look like?

If the Caps are going for the "heritage" look, they don't have many options. They spent their first 20 years in the original red, white and blue and never really changed the jerseys. It's probably safe to assume that 1974 sweater with the white shoulder yokes will be making a one-time-only comeback  (however, let's hope they don't opt for white pants).

Or could they be planning something entirely different? You'll notice that 35th anniversary logo (above) contains only the secondary Weagle logo that we love so much. Could this special jersey be more of a tribute to the next 35 years? Perhaps hinting at a future where the wordmark is a thing of the past?

We'd love to hear some more theories. Post yours below.

Update on Saturday · Feb 6 · 2010 | 8:57 PM PST by Chris

Yeah, so this didn't happen as scheduled. Postponed to March 6. Want to know why? Click here.