Pens Sticking with Powder Blues?

A new report from a Pennsylvania-based retailer says the Pittsburgh Penguins are dropping plans to launch a new third jersey for the 2010-11 season.

House O' Hockey in Monroeville, Pa. sent an email to customers today, claiming that the Penguins will be sticking with their current powder blue third jersey for at least another season. Here's a pull from the actual email:

Breaking News! The NHL Pittsburgh Penguins have decided not change their 3rd Jersey for the 2010/2011 season but will wear the light Blue 3rd Jersey (Columbia blue) again for another season.

Here to stay at least another year?As reported on Icethetics, it was first revealed in December that the Penguins were planning to ditch their current third jersey in favor of another alternate uniform, also based on a past design. 

These rumors were then confirmed by Reebok. While the manufacturer offered no specific details, they did say the Pens' third jersey was "TBD" for 2010-11, alluding to a new design in the works.

So if this report from House O' Hockey is true, what are the implications? Could it be a response to fan outcry? The jerseys are very popular and this rumor of a redesign has been churning for months. Plus, if the team were to stop wearing them, wouldn't fans who just spent their hard-earned recession money on one be annoyed?

My sneaky suspicion has to do with the next Winter Classic. Another report recently said that the Penguins and Capitals could be meeting for the next outdoor game on 1/1/11. If that's true, it might make more sense for the Pens to hold off and debut a new alternate uniform then. Of course the NHL has released absolutely no information on a Winter Classic in 2011, so this is just speculation on top of speculation.

What's your theory on the Pens scrapping plans for a new third jersey?

Thanks to Gary P. for passing along this information.

Update on Wednesday · Apr 21 · 2010 | 7:02 PM PDT by Chris

Just watching the Boston Bruins come back against Sabres tonight on Versus. How I do love overtime playoff hockey! But I saw something funny during the broadcast.

Bruins or Killer Bees?After one of the Bruins' goals, they showed some cutaways of cheering fans. I'm not sure who this guy was actually rooting for.

He was holding a poster that said Killer B's. What was odd was that it had a "killer bee" on it. And not just any bee. Take a look at the screenshot to the right. (Click to enlarge.)

That's the logo of the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees of the Central Hockey League. So that's weird. And random.

And it's not just that he's using another team's logo to cheer on his team. It's that it's a logo that doesn't represent his team at all. I know that fans often call the Bruins the B's, but they don't mean the insect.

Anyway, I just thought it was funny. And kudos to the Killer Bees for getting their logo on national TV.

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Collect them all!Also worth checking out if you're bored, there's a new board game out by CSE Games in which the goal is to collect various historic Hockey Canada jerseys. 

RPS 27: Rock-Paper-Scissors Jigsaw Battle (Hockey Canada 2010 Edition) — yes, that's the name of the game — is a puzzle game for kids.

Basically, you play rock-paper-scissors to collect pieces from your opponents to complete a puzzle. And the pieces have hockey sweaters on them.

Logo Tourneys in High Gear!

NHLToL Playoff BracketIn case you're one of those Icethetics readers who just sticks to the blog, I want to remind you to check out the logo tournaments going on right now under the VOTE! tab at the top of the page.

The NHL Tournament of Logos playoffs just kicked off today. The Canadiens, Red Wings, Flyers and Blues logos are among the finalists and we need your votes to help determine which one is truly the best. If you haven't voted yet, now is the time.

Concurrently with the NHLToL playoffs we're running a mini-tournament of third jersey logos. Might want to check that out too while you're there.

It includes all of the new alternate sweaters introduced this season including Minnesota, Florida and Chicago.

Last day for logo contest entries

If you intend to submit artwork for the Wenatchee Wild logo design contest, time is quickly running out. We will only be accepting entries until Tuesday night. If you don't get your work in by then, it may not qualify for consideration.

At some point this week, I'll start posting some of the great submissions we've received. I think you guys will be impressed with what your fellow Icethetics readers have come up with. Not certain when the team will make a decision on the winner but I will definitely let you know when I do.

Mike Ivall Logo Drama

Mike Ivall's concept logoI've been at work all day so I haven't been able to follow this story much. Basically, Johnny over at PuckDrawn learned that a concept logo first posted here on Icethetics back in July 2008 was being used by a kids hockey organization in Ontario without permission of the artist, the talented Mike Ivall. 

I'd love to link you to a story but both versions that existed at some point today have been removed from PuckDrawn. In a nutshell, people were appalled at the blatant theft but later in the day, Mike contacted the Maplesoft Hawks and worked things out. They will continue to use his logo. Terms of their agreement are none of our business.

But it happened and I thought you might like to know about it. If you steal a logo that appears on this website or any other and put it on stuff you intend to sell (or not sell), trust me when I tell you that you will be found out and ridiculed. No one likes a thief.