Sabres to Launch New 3rd!

The Buffalo Sabres will unveil a new third jersey on September 18, in tribute to their 40th anniversary. The new sweater will become the club's permanent alternate uniform.

I wish I had time to write up a full blog post right now. Instead, here's a snippet about the jersey design from the release on the team's website:

This classically-designed uniform is a tribute to not only the history of Buffalo hockey, but early NHL jersey designs. The 40th anniversary jersey will now serve as the team’s alternate jersey. Fans will be able to purchase the 40th anniversary jersey in the Sabres Store beginning that day.

I'll try to fill this post out later tonight. In the meantime, discuss!

Update on Thursday · Aug 12 · 2010 | 12:29 PM PDT by Chris

Hey guys, I'd love to cover this more right now but I'm actually not going to be able to update the site until after the weekend. I'll be out of the country until Monday. But next week... I'm all over it!

Update on Thursday · Aug 19 · 2010 | 4:30 PM PDT by Chris

If you're still waiting for an update to this post... give up! After more than a week, I've got a new post featuring third jersey news for all three of New York's NHL clubs — Sabres included.

Sweater Switch 2010

We ran a series here last year called Sweater Switch, which consisted of players signed or traded over the summer with their new team's jersey. It was cool, though that's really a task to be taken on during the first month of the season when action shots are available.

Mike Modano and his Red Wings sweaterI was going to wait but this picture just struck me as so bizarre that I just couldn't. I mean it's Mike Modano with a Detroit Red Wings jersey — and it's No. 90 (since No. 9 is retired, obviously).

So strange. More photos here.

Anyhow, this reminded me of a photo essay Sports Illustrated did a few years ago called Legends in the Wrong Uniform, which included Bobby Orr as a Blackhawk.

It mostly shows great athletes on the down-swing of their careers when they just wanted to get a few more games in but their longtime teams were going in another direction. You know, Bourque with the Avs, Hasek in Detroit. The Modano situation fits perfectly, so if they ever do an update, they'll have to add him.

Anyway it's a slow Tuesday and I wanted to get something new on the blog. Enjoy.

USHL Logo Map

View USHL Map in a larger map

Having covered a fair share of Canadian junior hockey leagues, I thought we might sneak in an American one. The United States Hockey League has 16 teams packed tightly into the Midwest, from Ohio to Nebraska. Even Fargo, North Dakota has a team!

We'd have to call Iowa the dominant state in the USHL as it has five teams, plus two more in bordering cities. But don't forget Nebraska also has three. These areas aren't loaded down with pro teams so it's cool to see they at least have some solid junior hockey.

And for those unfamiliar with the USHL, you might look at the Youngstown Phantoms logo and immediately accuse them of stealing it from the fireworks company. Ah, but that would be silly as the CEO of Phantom Fireworks also owns this team. Synergy.

For the record, some really nice logos in this league. Definitely need to do a tournament sooner than later if you ask me. As far as maps, what would you like to see next? KHL seems like a popular request. Any others?