Minor Jersey Mayhem

This is a big weekend for specialty jerseys around the minor leagues. Let's start in the AHL!

Game photo from Rockford IceHogs (via Flickr)

Rockford celebrates Los IceHogs Dos!

How can we not start here? The Rockford IceHogs donned these numbers for Los IceHogs Dos this weekend. If you missed "Uno," check out this post from last year. They are really something.

I talked with IceHogs' communications director Mike Peck who said the team partnered with the Latino Leadership Coalition in Rockford for the event. In fact, they inspired the jersey design.

"They really wanted to highlight the strong musical aspect of the Hispanic/Latino culture," said Peck.

The IceHogs wore this uniform on Friday night and auctioned them off afterward with "proceeds being donated to La Voz Latina, an organization dedicated to serving the Rockford region’s Hispanic community through education, workshops and youth programming," according to the press release.

The great thing about these specialty jersey nights around the minors is that these teams are always raising money for charity. So no matter how silly the team may look on the ice, at least it's for a good cause.

Photo from Worcester Sharks (via Facebook)

Worcester raises autism awareness

The Worcester Sharks wore these jerseys on Friday and Saturday to benefit The Autism Resource Center of Central Massachusetts. The puzzle piece pattern is the standard symbol of autism awareness.

Photos from Texas Stars

Texas dons player-designed stars and stripes

This Veterans Day weekend was marked by a number of patriotic or military-themed jerseys. The Texas Stars called it Stars & Stripes Military Appreciation Weekend and wore these jerseys on Friday and Saturday. The subsequent jersey auction is benefiting the Texas Stars Foundation.

The cool part of this uniform is who designed it. Remember Taylor Vause? He played for the Swift Current Broncos a couple seasons and ago and was responsible for designing some fo the team's specialty jerseys. He's continued that hobby since graduating to the pros.

Vause spent most of last season with the Stars but is currently with the club's ECHL affiliate, the Idaho Steelheads. So unfortunately, while he designed this jersey, he didn't get to wear it this weekend.

Images from Springfield Falcons and Hershey Bears

Falcons and Bears go patriotic for Veterans Day

The Springfield Falcons and Hershey Bears honored military veterans in different ways this weekend. The Falcons wore the Hometown Heroes Night jerseys above while being shut out 3-0 on Friday. (This is the only photo I've been able to find of the jersey so far.)

The Bears, on the other hand, are going the camouflage route with tonight's set. I have yet to see any photos of the actual jersey, but the rendering above was posted to their Facebook page on Thursday.

Bakersfield can't stop making odd jerseys

And finally, we wrap up in the ECHL where this is happening tonight.

Image from Bakersfield Condors (via Facebook)

Had to make it huge so you could truly appreciate it. The Bakersfield Condors are always trying to go outside by the box with specialty jerseys. And I really don't know what to say about this one. Perhaps I could address the irony of the sponsor being Dignity Health. Because that's just what the players won't have after they wear these for three hours.

If you can't get enough, the Condors have a photo gallery on Pinterest.

I know there are some I've missed so I'll have a follow-up to this post likely later this evening. In the meantime, what do you think of these? Any favorites in the bunch?

Update on Sunday · Nov 10 · 2013 | 7:32 PM PST by Chris

As promised, I wanted to follow up with a few more recent minor league event jerseys.

Photos from Toledo Walleye (via Facebook)

ECHL clubs compete on epic Star Wars Night

Last weekend, the ECHL's Toledo Walleye and Michigan K-Wings coordinated a one-of-a-kind Star Wars Night. This is a schtick that's been done many times before. In fact, just the week before, the Orlando Solar Bears hosted one of their own!

What made this one interesting was how both teams came together for this event in Toledo, Ohio. I have to be honest. I've never been a Star Wars fan, so I don't really understand all these teams doing this or even the references involved. But I can understand it's a big part of popular culture and many fans get a good kick out of it.

I read that the Walleye are dressed as X-Wing pilots (in orange) while the K-Wings are dressed up a Darth Vader. Of course as names go, wouldn't it be more appropriate to have the K-Wings dress up as X-Wing pilots? But then the game was in Toledo, so the Walleye can't be the baddies.

Anyway, it was visually a rather interesting game. No denying that.

Cancer awareness night jerseys also popular

If you're a team trying to raise money for charity, the best you can probably do is cancer research. The Providence Bruins and Portland Pirates recently held their Pink in the Rink Nights — an event that a vast number of hockey teams have started to latch onto in recent years.

But taking the crown this weekend were the San Antonio Rampage who focused on cancer affecting children. Because there's no bigger bummer on which to end a blog post. But you know what, when the jerseys are sold, it's money those researchers wouldn't have otherwise had. So good on these teams for their efforts!

Around the AHL, Again

Last week I said the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins would have their own post later in the week. Well that didn't happen.

The team unveiled three new specialty jerseys over a week ago, each of which pays tribute to a group of public servants who put their lives on the line every day. Photos were posted on Penguins' Twitter account.

I've also collected them here for your convenience.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins unveil firefighter, police and military jerseys

The firefighter-themed sweater (left) will be worn on Fri., Dec. 3 when the Pens host the Binghamton Senators, who will be wearing their police-themed uniforms that night.

The Penguins also have a police jersey (center) which will be worn once in Binghamton, presumably when the B-Sens will wear a firefighter sweater of their own. There will be one other home date for the Pens' police jersey, but no details have been announced yet.

Finally, the military jersey (right) will be worn on Sat., Feb. 26 when the Baby Pens host the Norfolk Admirals. I'll try to keep an eye on these dates so as to share game action photos at some point.

Thanks to Shawn S. for the tip on these.

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Sharks debut third jerseyThe Worcester Sharks have debuted their new 5th anniversary alternate jersey.

The new teal sweater is based on their NHL affiliate, the San Jose Sharks, with the anniversary logo on the chest. The uniform hit the ice for the first time on Oct. 23 when the Sharks hosted the Providence Bruins.

Something interesting I've noticed about Worcester's uniforms: While many AHL teams use their NHL affiliate's primary mark as a shoulder patch, the Sharks use shield version which isn't featured on any of San Jose sweaters — only the pants.

Not sure if these jerseys will be used beyond this season. Though if they are, the crest will need replacing. Maybe they can use that shield logo?

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Texas Stars' pink jerseyThe Texas Stars held their Pink in the Rink Night on Saturday.

They sported a special sweater to mark the event and unfortunately, this particular pink jersey has to be among the worst we've ever seen.

Maybe it's the shade of pink. Or the ribbon standing in for an A. Hard to be sure. And for the record, the Stars (6-3-0) lost 3-1 to the Houston Aeros (3-5-1) while wearing it. Coincidence?

If you're still interested in looking at this jersey, the Stars promoted the event with this rendering on their website for a time. My thanks to Brian G. for the tip.

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Milwaukee Admirals' pink jerseyIn stark contrast, the Milwaukee Admirals have put forth one of the best pink jerseys in recent memory.

Their Pink in the Rink Night was held Oct. 23 and they were actually successful, playing to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat. As is typical, the team is auctioning off the pink sweaters with proceeds benefiting a breast cancer research/awareness organization.

What's weird is that they have one autographed by Felicity Huffman that you can bid on. How random. (Ok, not really if you can read, but whatever.)

But back to what I was saying before. Brilliant job with this design. Sure it's pink, but it doesn't make a spectacle of itself or go out of its way to look feminine. It's still an ice hockey sweater, it just happens to be two-tone pink. Get over it.

Although maybe it's the pirate skull coloring my judgment. Also, it uses the same numbering style as the Tampa Bay Lightning did in the early days. Hm.

Thank you Kent S. for the tip.

That's really all I can muster for now. There should be another post coming soon dealing with more CHL third jerseys. Keep an eye out.