Pirates Go Patriotic

The AHL's Portland Pirates basically wore the American flag tonight when they played the Philadelphia Phantoms. And I've got a picture to prove it.

That's ex-Bolt Mathieu Darche in front of ex-Pen Jean-Sebastien Aubin during tonight's 5-3 Portland victory. Look at that thing.

And if the comments earlier this week taught me anything, it's that this is a gross disrespect of a great symbol — the hockey sweater. I jest, of course. But yeah, that jersey is pretty bad.

I'm waiting for more pictures. I'm going to have to start building photo galleries for specialty jerseys like this. One thing at a time though.

Kings Back In Black?

The Los Angeles Kings sent out an email to fans previewing tonight's game against the Blues. The reason this is relevant to Icethetics is a link at the bottom of the email. The Kings are offering their new yet-unreleased third jersey for pre-sale on their web site.

And the ad reads "Back in Black." Hmm, where have we heard that before?

What irks me is whether at team whose primary jersey is black can actually say they're "back" in black? Back from where? Last night? But I digress.

There it is right at the bottom. It links to this page.

So Kings fans, go and shell out some cash for a jersey you can't even see yet! It's what all the kids are doing!

Thanks to Kyle for sending this in.

By the way guys, my apologies for the complete lack of attention I've paid to Icethetics today. I plan to have the Flashback '98 tournament back up and running tonight (a VOTE! link will appear at the top of the page) and you can expect the IceHL Central Division logo voting to go live at some point tomorrow. I was out most of the day buying a new car. And it's Lightning blue!

Update on Sunday · Nov 9 · 2008 | 9:11 AM PST by Chris

Here you go, Kevin. Love that color!

The '09 All-Star Jerseys

I've got some great new photos of the 2009 All-Star Game jerseys. They were previously unveiled by the Canadiens — though in a picture that made making out details impossible — when they announced their Centennial plans.

The traditionalists out there will hate them, I can tell you that right now. The sleeves and even torso are asymmetrical. I think it's a refreshing change that we should get a chance to experience at least once a year. So the all-star game is perfect for that.

You'll notice there are three stars down the left sleeve of the East jersey and the right sleeve of the West jersey. On those stars are years: 1969, 1975 and 1993 — the last three times Montreal hosted the NHL All-Star Game. However, they did host the game eight times before '69. The first all-star game was in 1947 in Toronto.

These jerseys will have the player's number on the front the way last year's did — beneath the text. Oh, and while we're on last year's all-star jerseys, can I just say that these are infinitely better than those?

Maybe I'll get myself one of these red jerseys with Lecavalier on the back.

By the way, I made some updates to Third Jersey Central today. There's now a bonus section featuring news and photos for the Canadiens' Centennial jerseys, the 2009 Winter Classic jerseys and — you guessed it — the 2009 NHL All-Star Game jerseys. Be sure to check that out.

Habs Prep New Gear For Centennial

As part of their 100th anniversary celebration, the Montreal Canadiens will be wearing special Centennial Night jerseys throughout the season. Even better, players will be using special to gear to really give it that authentic look.

And by that I mean brown goalie pads.

On Tuesday, Habs Inside/Out was at practice and shot some photos of Jaroslav Halak and Carey Price breaking in their new gear.

Certainly something you don't see every day. That and the jersey on the right. IceJerseys.com has a great hi-res image of the new 1915 Centennial sweater. You can even buy one for the right price.

Speaking of Price.

The first Centennial Jersey Night was October 20 when the Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers. Basically it was just an excuse to wear their white sweater at home which is why it didn't really get a mention here. The next one will be Saturday, November 15 when they will wear the 1945 white jersey.

That's going to be a busy night, by the way, in terms of jerseys. Both the Penguins and Canucks will debut their new alternates on that night — both of which we've already seen. The Pens officially unveiled theirs this week and the Canucks' has been leaking like crazy.

However, the 1915 Canadiens sweater seen above won't make it's 21st century debut until Thursday, December 4 when the Habs face the Rangers.

Another Peek At Bolts Jersey

Remember last week when I mentioned that some unreleased replica third jerseys were being hocked on ebay? Well some of you were just cavalier enough to hand over your money for them.

One reader bought the new Tampa Bay Lightning third jersey and sent in some pictures and I have to tell you I am mighty impressed.

I love that they kept the armpit stripes. That's been a staple of Lightning sweaters since 1991 when Phil Esposito introduced the very first one. And if you haven't heard me tell the story of why those stripes are there, it's a good one.

Espo, who founded the Bolts way back when, wanted a unique element to his team's new jerseys — something that made them special. These underarm stripes are only ever seen on two occasions: either when a Lightning player scores a goal or when he's taking the Stanley Cup on a lap around the ice.

Every time I see those stripes, I get instinctively happy. I've been conditioned.