USA Unveils Olympic Jerseys

...four days ago. Better late than never, right? I had the hardest time this week both finding decent pictures of Team USA's 2010 Winter Games sweaters as well as time to post what I could track down. It's now Friday — four days after the actual unveiling of the sweaters to the media — and at last I have a post for you.

USA Hockey unveiled three jerseys — a blue and two whites.Let's start with the announcement of the new jersey on USA Hockey's official web site, which includes this photo from the press conference.

Team USA Olympic jersey unveiling

Unlike Hockey Canada, the US doesn't seem that interested in providing us with any really great pictures of the jersey. But I guess that's probably because most Americans don't care. Anyway, it looks better on the ice than the way that guy's holding it up.

Patrick Kane rocks the new blues

A little dull, but what do you want? It's the Olympics. Short of revisiting the 1980 sweater design — and there really isn't reason enough to right now — there's not much in the arsenal that will still be recognizable. Here's the white one.

Trying on the new jerseys at the bench

Hoping a better picture will turn up. The third jersey is another white sweater, this one modeled after the one worn at the 1960 Olympics where the U.S. won their first gold medal in men's hockey.

The Ryans before hitting the ice in the thirds

And what sort of Lightning fan would I be if I didn't use a picture of Ryan Malone? The other guy is Ryan Callahan.

If you'd like more of an in-depth analysis of these jerseys, might I suggest Puck Daddy? Should I find any new/better pictures, I'll add them to this post. In the meantime, feel free to share your thoughts below.

Finally, thanks to everyone who sent in links and pictures all week. You are all awesome!

Third Thursday

Quick note picked up from PuckDrawn via Twitter this morning.

The Atlanta Thrashers' web guy, Ben Wright, said yesterday that the team will be wearing the red third jersey exclusively for home games on Thursdays this season. Third Jersey Thursday, as he points out.

BenThrashers Thrashers red third jerseys will be worn exclusively on Thursdays this season. Third- Thursday. Nice and easy to remember, right?

He followed that up this morning with a reminder.

BenThrashers In case you missed it yesterday, the Thrashers will wear their red third jerseys exclusively for Thursday home games.

So mark your calendars — or not. I think the irony here is that this is on the of third jerseys people care about the least. In fact, it was recently the butt of a joke here on Icethetics.

Update on Saturday · Aug 22 · 2009 | 10:36 PM PDT by Chris

All the comments about how funny it would be if Thursday home games were rare this season got me thinking. I took a look at the Thrashers' season and I now have a full third jersey schedule for you. Ben said the third will be "exclusive" to Thursday home games. I'm assuming that also means "every" Thursday home game.

If so, here are the 12 games in which Atlanta will don those maroon duds this coming season. Fans, mark your calendars.

• October 22 - vs Capitals
• October 29 - vs Capitals
• November 5 - vs Blue Jackets
• November 19 - vs Bruins
• December 3 - vs Islanders
• December 17 - vs Stars
• January 7 - vs Rangers
• January 14 - vs Sabres
• January 21 - vs Hurricanes
• March 4 - vs Islanders
• March 18 - vs Senators
• March 25 - vs Maple Leafs

The Capitals will be subject to it twice in back-to-back Thursdays in the early part of the season. The Thrashers will save it for Ontario only as the season winds down.  Like the Caps, the Isles will also be treated to the red third jersey twice before the season's out.

If any other teams announce third jersey schedules, I'll be sure to post them for you.

Flames Leak 30th Logo?

Got some Calgary Flames news for you this afternoon on a couple of topics — their 30th anniversary and their brand new third jersey.

Icethetics reader Cody has sent in information on this first subject. According to Sportsnet.ca, the Flames aren't supposed to unveil their new 30th anniversary logo until September. However, it seems to have appeared briefly on the team's web site on Tuesday. An intentional effort to net a free but unsuspecting focus group or a simple mistake?

It is rumoured that the Calgary Flames will wear a new logo on occasion this year to commemorate its 30th NHL season.

The logo was expected to be officially unveiled in September, but it appeared on the team's web site on Tuesday. It is unknown for what games the new logo will appear.

Flames' 30th anniversary logo?The logo in question is apparently what you see here to the right.

There's no way to know at this point if this will be the 30th anniversary logo or if it's even a final version. If it is, I think it's safe to say the Oilers beat them on 30th logos — by a mile.

That's really all I have on that. This logo has been making its way around Flames fan sites and message boards since Tuesday but no one seems to have any definitive information.

Personally, I'm curious about that last line in the Sportsnet story. "It is unknown for what games the new logo will appear." If it's an anniversary logo, it should simply be a patch on the uniform for the whole season. I certainly hope there's no plan to put this on a third jersey.

Which brings me to the third jersey news. Last September, I posted this story — which appeared in the Calgary Sun. Basically, it was Flames president Ken King talking about the team's third jersey plans. King all but confirmed the new sweater to be black with a new crest — not the Flaming C — and that it would debut for the 2009-10 season. At the time he said it was 95% complete.

I'm now hearing from a couple of sources that this design is being replaced in favor of a retro look from the team's early days (no word if the Atlanta Flames logo will make a reappearance). It's possible the team is working on a white sweater devoid of any black. Those were the days.

I'll continue to follow these stories but keep in mind that we're less than a month away from getting some official news — which I always prefer anyway. Meantime, Calgary fans, were you wary of another black jersey? Excited about a vintage look? What about this 30th anniversary logo?

Update on Thursday · Aug 20 · 2009 | 2:20 PM PDT by Chris

Got a quick follow-up on the 30th anniversary logo thanks to the guys at the Calgarypuck Forums, specifically a user called alltherage. He's allegedly got a screenshot from the web site before the logo was removed. However, I can't vouch for the legitimacy of this image, so I post it with some hesitation.

As you can see, it's right there above Kiprusoff's head, but it's placed in such a way that would've made it easy to add later. That being said, the image was posted on Wednesday afternoon so it may well be real.

Did anyone else happen to see it before it was removed? Anyone else have a screenshot to share?

Update on Thursday · Aug 20 · 2009 | 6:23 PM PDT by Chris

One last update to this post before I put this topic to bed. Apparently, we have all seen this logo before right here on Icethetics and only Jared noticed. He pointed out that it was in a preview image I posted of the Flames' new web site almost a month ago. It just slid under the radar.

Early version of Flames' web site redesign

Turns out it was Photoshopped right into the rafters and I never even noticed. I think I was distracted by the burning hockey players. So there you have it. End of subject.

Another Cartoon by Dave

Dave Delisle

Wild, Avs 3rd Jersey Info

The Minnesota Wild have announced the dates for the official unveiling of of their new third jersey as well as its on-ice debut, according to their web site.

The Wild will offer fans a first look at the new green sweater on Sunday, August 30 at the Minnesota State Fair. It will then debut on Wednesday, October 21 when they face the Avs — who will also be getting a new third jersey (scroll down for more on that).

The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Minnesota Wild announced today that the club will introduce a new third jersey for the upcoming 2009-10 NHL season on Sunday, Aug. 30 at 12:30 p.m. at the Minnesota State Fair’s FAN Central building.

Minnesota’s new third jersey will be unveiled on stage in front of the FAN Central building starting at 12:30 p.m. The event will include Wild players and Nordy. The Wild’s State Fair booth will be located in the new FAN Central building this year at the intersection of Dan Patch Avenue and Underwood Street.

Minnesota is scheduled to wear its new third jerseys in a game for the first time on Wednesday, Oct. 21 against the Colorado Avalanche.

Not mentioned in this release is the fact that Derek Boogaard will be modeling the new sweater at the event. I'm sure there will be pictures and you can count on Icethetics to do all the heavy lifting for you.

I also added a countdown to the sidebar since we have an actual date! Just 11 days to go...

Now comes the time when I have to eat my words. It doesn't happen too often, but when I do make a mistake, I own up to it. Most of you read my initial reaction to the rumored leak of the Avs' new third jersey. Out of embarrassment, I won't link to it (you can find it), but I basically called it a sham.

I have come into new information that now has me 99% convinced that the rendering originally posted at the SportsLogos.net forums, and later picked up by Mile High Hockey, the Denver Post and Icethetics (damn!), is actually rather accurate.

To protect my source (whose first name is Matt), I won't go into detail, but let's just say, more or less (emphasis on more), this is what the Avalanche will be wearing on several occasions this coming season.

Yep, this will be the Avs' new third jersey

So, to Matt and everyone else who counts on Icethetics for solid information, I sincerely apologize for my rush to judgment. If you guys got some of the emails I get on a daily basis, you'd be cynical too. But it's no excuse. There you have it.

Now, regarding the jersey itself, I think it'll be nice to see the Avs in blue — a subtle nod to their franchise's history perhaps? Burgundy is undeniably the color most associated with the Avalanche, but isn't the purpose of a third jersey to experiment with your look? To color outside the lines?

Based on earlier comments, I know many of you aren't so thrilled about the sweater, but all I can say is give it a chance. And don't rush to judgment the way I did. Wait until you see it on the ice.

And that's my take on that. Later tonight, I'll get to those pictures of the new Team USA jerseys. I'm trying collect the cream of the crop as there doesn't seem to be any official source the way there was for Team Canada.

I also promised to post all of the other Ice Bulls submissions that came in. They'll be up at some point tonight. Over 25 different artists sent in artwork in less than a week! Icethetics readers/designers really are the best around! Also, if you haven't seen it yet, head to IceBulls.org to see the team's new logo.