Amerks to Unveil New Unis

The minor league news seems to just keep coming lately. The AHL's Rochester Americans will unveil brand new home and road sweaters for the 2009-10 season, according to a blog that covers the team.

A post today on Let's Go Amerks! says the team will debut the new jerseys at a press conference on Friday, September 11 at 3 PM. The Americans will apparently be revisiting a classic look which is expected to be welcomed by most fans.

The team will be wearing white, blue, and stars and stripes jerseys for the 2009/2010 season. The white and blue jerseys will have the horizontal striping around the bottom of the jerseys. The stars and stripes jerseys are expected to be the same or similar to the ones the team wore during the 1995/1996 Calder Cup Championship season.

Icethetics will have coverage on Friday. So drop by to see pictures as soon as they are available.

B-Sens Unveil New Sweaters!

I've got some verified minor league news for you this evening. The AHL's Binghamton Senators unveiled brand new jerseys this week which will be worn for the 2009-10 season.

Our first look at them comes by way of FOX 40 WICZ in Binghamton, New York. The jerseys were on display at an event welcoming new coach Don Nachbaur. Icethetics reader Alex writes in with a few still frames from the video.

Binghamton Senators new road, home and preseason jerseys

Despite the use of the alternate logo on these home and road sweaters, I'm told the B-Sens will not be changing their primary logo from the big toothy one at the top of this post.

As for the black jersey on the right, Alex tells me he was able to get a better look at the placard in front of it. It's apparently not a third jersey but rather for 2009 preseason use only. That's interesting.

If you'd like to see the full length video from which the above still frames were grabbed, look no further. FOX 40 has made it available via YouTube.

Sneak Peek at New Pats Jersey?

If you haven't heard, Wednesday is the big day for all three Canadian Hockey Leagues. The OHL, QMJHL and WHL teams that have yet to unveil their new Reebok Edge jerseys will do so on 9/9/09. It's going to be a busy day here at Icethetics.

However, it seems Regina Pats fans may not have to wait that long for a sneak peek. The WHL team's new sweater may have been inadvertently leaked by their own play-by-play announcer today.

On his blog, Rod Pederson posted what I would imagine is some kind of marketing photo. It depicts a wild, screaming Pats fan decked out in red face paint and, interestingly, a red Reebok Edge jersey with the Pats' secondary logo on the front. Take a look.

Pederson writes:

I love this photo. Get used to it because I'm going to be using it LOTS this fall/winter whenever discussing the Regina Pats.

You can't see much, but it's definitely red and it definitely lacks the "Pats" wordmark fans have become accustomed to seeing on the front. Instead, it looks like the secondary mark has taken its place.

You can see in this picture to the right — taken last season — it does appear to be the same logo (facing in the opposite direction of course).

I'm not much of a WHL fan but I've always thought of the Pats in blue so it's a little strange to see the jersey in red. However, I can't really say for certain that this is the new dark jersey. Perhaps it's a third? Maybe nothing more than a marketing thing?

Icethetics reader Curtis wrote in with the link to Pederson's blog and even himself questioned the validity of the photo. Obviously we'll know for sure one way or the other on Wednesday. But I at least wanted to share the picture in the meantime.

What do you guys think? I'd especially like to hear from Pats fans. I know you're out there. Are you happy with a change to red in the Age of Reebok and all the piping that goes along with it? Or are you distraught by the hostile corporate takeover of the last remaining bastion of decent hockey sweater design?

(Were those questions a little too leading?)

Update on Friday · Sep 4 · 2009 | 11:31 AM PDT by Chris

Brett LefflerI've warned you guys I'm horrible when it comes to minor leagues — even worse for juniors. As Dustin and Jorden point out in the comments, it seems this jersey was introduced on a promotional night late last season.

As you can see in the picture at right, taken from the Regina Pats' official web site, there's nothing new about this jersey. However, it's still a Reebok Edge jersey worn during the season prior to the WHL's Age of Reebok. 

Therefore, who's to say this isn't going to be introduced as the Pats' new Edge jersey? Perhaps even just something similar.

Still, the red makes better sense in context for that one event — having to do with Canadian soldiers. Here's the description from the web site:

The Regina Pats are proud to put on special red jerseys Friday night [March 6, 2009] against the Medicine Hat Tigers, all in support of the Canadian Forces Soldier On Fund (CFSOF). The jerseys have the Pats bulldog on the front with the Pat logo within the Canadian flag on one shoulder and the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry patch on the other.

So maybe it is more likely that a blue Edge jersey is in the cards for the Pats and this was nothing more than me not knowing my CHL facts.

But I do appreciate the corrections in the comments. You guys always manage to set me straight to make sure Icethetics isn't doling out inaccurate information. So thanks for that.

Meantime, as I said, Wednesday is the big day for the entire CHL. We'll see over 100 new Edge jerseys and I'm sure most of us will be disappointed by the vast majority.

New 3rd Debuting at Preds Fest

In an email sent out to fans earlier today, the Nashville Predators announced that their new third jersey would be unveiled this month at Preds Fest 09.

The event is scheduled take place September 17-19 at the Somment Center in Nashville. (That's apparently a Thursday through Saturday.) The email mentioned that more details about the event would be released on their web site some time next week.

Here's the relevant section of the email.

Screenshot from email sent to Predators fans

What's interesting about the note is that is simply says "jersey unveiling" as opposed to "third jersey unveiling." I don't think we need to read much into it. I would guess that the jersey unveiling would happen on Friday, September 18 since there isn't a preseason game at the Sommet Center to keep fans occupied.

According to the Preds' web site, they have home preseason games on Sept. 17 (vs Thrashers) and Sept. 19 (vs Blue Jackets). On Sept. 18, even most of the players won't be available to entertain fans as there's an exhibition game scheduled for that night in Raleigh against the Hurricanes. They'll probably keep one or two guys behind (who have already made the team) to model the new sweater.

I could be wrong but we should find out for certain next week when the full schedule of events is released. In the meantime, consider yourself up to date with the newest third jersey news. It's what Icethetics is here for.

Thanks to Matt for forwarding me the email to share!

In case you missed it: Back in July, Preds owner David Freeman said the new third jersey design borrows elements from the Original Six teams. A few weeks prior, details surfaced of a fan claiming to have seen the third jersey whose description was then translated into a concept posted online.

Flames Go Retro for 30th!

This afternoon the Calgary Flames announced their 30th anniversary plans — which includes a special retro jersey to be worn during five regular season games in October, January and February.

First, the thing everybody wants to know about — the jersey!

Al MacInnisThe Flames will wear a vintage red jersey, modeled after what they wore for their inaugural season in Calgary — as seen on Al MacInnis in the picture to the right and Craig Conroy below.

The vintage sweater will be worn for five home games this season — once against each of Calgary's Canadian opponents, including opening night against the Canucks. See the complete schedule below.

• Thurs., October 1 - vs Canucks
• Tues., October 6 - vs Canadiens
• Sat., January 2 - vs Maple Leafs
• Sat., January 30 - vs Oilers
• Thurs., March 11 - vs Senators

The game on January 30 would've been interesting to see if either the Flames or Oilers had a white throwback. Alberta hockey fans would've been transported back to the 1980s for a night.

You can read more about this retro sweater on the Flames' web site.

Jim Peplinski and Craig Conroy unveil 30th anniversary logo and retro jersey

Now the obligatory commentary. I think this throwback jersey is a good thing. It's always nice to see teams celebrate important anniversaries with classic uniforms — so far nobody's done it better than the Canadiens.

Based on comments I've read, it sounds like most of you will be thrilled by the lack of black in this uniform — assuming they lose the black pants for these five games. And unlike what others have suggested, I don't think this uniform is that ugly — it's just very '80s. It was a different time in terms of uniform design. Certainly a lot more colorful than it is today.

Flames' 30th anniversary logoBut wait, there's more. As part of their announcement today, the Flames officially unveiled their 30th anniversary logo. It's basically the same as the supposed "leak" from a couple weeks ago.

They've made a few changes to the lettering to make it appear a little less medieval and they've made some adjustments to the skyline. Barely noticeable unless you really study the two images.

Anyway, the worst part is that, as is typical, this anniversary logo will be painted onto center ice at the Saddledome and used as a patch on the jerseys.

Since I'm assuming the flags will stay on the shoulders, this logo will probably have to go on the front — on the opposite side from where you find the captain's letters, of course.

The Flames have said that more plans for their 30th anniversary celebration will be announced throughout the season.