Entries from October 10, 2010 - October 16, 2010

Saturday
Oct162010

Gallery Updates

In case you haven't been making regular trips to the Jerseys tab lately, I thought I'd point out some recent updates to a handful of the galleries.

First, we now have a gallery for the Buffalo Sabres third jersey. They really do look sharp. In addition, I've added more photos to the Chicago Blackhawks' 2008 and 2009 alternate sweater galleries. The St. Louis Blues' too. Plus, the Detroit Red Wings' Winter Classic jersey gallery had been lacking for a while. That's been seen to as well.

One thing I'd like to attack this season is home/road jersey galleries. I'm just struggling with the best way to structure it all considering there will be 30 each — not to mention, a handful of former third jerseys are now home jerseys. Do I leave them there and start anew or move them over? Still working it all out.

By the way, if you're new to Icethetics, here's my reasoning for the Jersey Galleries.

And when that's all said and done, I'm eager to start looking at some of the minor leagues for mini-galleries. There are sites out there that do a great job of archiving renderings of minor league jerseys, SportsLogos.net to be specific, but I'm still convinced there's no better way to appreciate a jersey than to see it in action. The trouble is tracking down AHL/ECHL/CHL game photos for every team. May need some help if anyone's interested.

Speaking of the AHL, I've got a photo-filled update coming soon.

Friday
Oct152010

Blue on the Schedule

The Pittsburgh Penguins will unveil their 2011 Winter Classic sweater later this month and plan to wear it more than once this season.

Yesterday, the Penguins also released a third jersey schedule for 2010-11. The powder blue duds will hit the ice 10 times this season, including tonight's debut, while the yet unreleased Winter Classic sweater will see action twice beyond New Year's Day.

Here's how the schedule shakes out for the third jersey:

  • Fri., Oct. 15 - vs NY Islanders
  • Sat., Oct. 30 - @ Carolina
  • Wed., Nov. 17 - vs Vancouver
  • Sat., Nov. 27 - vs Calgary
  • Mon., Dec. 6 - vs New Jersey
  • Sun., Dec. 26 - @ Ottawa
  • Sat., Jan. 8 - vs Minnesota
  • Sat., Jan. 22 - vs Carolina
  • Wed., Feb. 23 - vs San Jose
  • Sun., Mar. 27 - vs Florida

Note that the powder blue sweater will be worn twice on the road against Carolina and Ottawa. Both of these teams have black thirds and red homes. Think we could see a night or two without white sweaters? That would be a treat.

Additionally, the release tells us the Penguins will unveil their new Winter Classic threads later this month, but doesn't cite a specific date. Icethetics has it on good authority they will be dark blue.

  • Sat., Jan. 1 - vs Washington
  • Thu., Feb. 10 - vs Los Angeles
  • Sat. Mar. 12 - vs Montreal

This new sweater will see action at least twice after the outdoor game at Heinz Field. And more than likely, it will be the Pens' new third jersey in 2011-12.

Panthers Promoting Throwback Nights

The Florida Panthers will be holding three Throwback Nights this season, according to the team's season ticket packages.

Panthers season ticket holder Brian E. wrote in yesterday to let us know about about the events, which haven't yet been explained by the team. But we can only hope it means the red jersey will make a brief but welcome comeback.

Panthers celebrating Throwback NightsHere are the dates:

  • Tue., Dec. 7 - vs Colorado
  • Sat., Jan. 15 - vs New Jersey
  • Thu., Mar. 17 - vs Toronto

The Dec. 7th game against the Avalanche has been dubbed "Throwback to 1996," referencing the only season in which the Panthers made it to the Stanley Cup Final. Unfortunately, they were swept by the Avs, but making it that far is pretty respectable in itself.

It seems obvious that the Panthers would use the old red sweaters based on the photos used on the tickets. Plus, it's the only thing they could "throw back" to after only 17 years of existence. However, "Throwback Night" may not necessarily refer to the uniforms. It's entirely possible it could just be an in-arena promotional thing with special appearances by former players and such.

We'll have to just wait and see, but how great would it be to see the Cats back in red?

Thursday
Oct142010

CHL Third Jersey Fever, Part 2

After a few weeks of daily updates, I needed a bit of a breather. But it's time now to get back to it. We first need to get to a few more third jerseys from the CHL, as a continuation from last week. That post included only new alternates from the WHL. Today's will be from all three leagues.


Photo credit: John AllenThe WHL's Tri-City Americans unveiled a new red third jersey just a few weeks ago.

The design was first seen on Annie Fowler's Tri-City Herald sports blog on Sept. 23. The jersey then made its on-ice debut a few nights later, Sept. 26, for the Ams' first game of the season.

For the record, the Americans beat the Spokane Chiefs in the new threads in front of their home crowd in Kennewick, Wash. by a score of 6-3.

The standard home and road jerseys for the Tri-City club are dark blue and white. Though the red clearly works very well. The primary logo is the same on those sweaters so it might've been a nice change to see something else there.

Still, this is the CHL and even though it's a junior league it's hard to complain about most of their sweaters. They usually put a lot of work in and tend to hit the mark — unlike a certain major professional hockey league we all know well.


Oil Kings unveil third jerseyJust yesterday, the WHL's Edmonton Oil Kings unveiled their new blue alternate sweater.

Typically, the Oil Kings' dark jerseys are red with more traditional striping so this is a change of pace. And while the rest of the sweater changes, the logo remains the same. A post at etownhockey may have put it best:

The jersey's take on a new modern look but their gaudy symbol is still intact. I like the look but I was really hoping for a completely revamped 3rd jersey which saw a new logo.

The yellow logo is very dated and looks out of place with the rest of the uniform. I understand this goes back to the original Oil Kings days, but with an alternate jersey they had free range to add something new. Unfortunately this wasn't the case.

The Oil Kings' own press release makes no excuses for the design, just pointing out that it will look like a whole new team when the new sweater hits the ice for the first time (in a game) on Friday night against the Medicine Hat Tigers. They also have an extra photo for your enjoyment.


Photo credit: Dave ChanOne of my favorite CHL third jerseys has got to belong to the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL.

The Mooseheads' new black sweater is actually a revisit of a previous third jersey, only now it's made by Reebok. And despite being black, it looks great. You know why black works in the CHL? Because it's used sparingly.

The jersey first hit the ice on Oct. 1 in a shootout loss to the Saint John Sea Dogs. But they sure looked good, aesthetically speaking. Not that they normally look bad. On any other night, the Mooseheads normally look like the Minnesota Wild, whose jersey design they use for both their home and road uniforms.

In other jersey-related news from Halifax, the Mooseheads will hold Pink in the Rink III on Oct. 22. That will involve specially-colored sweaters and the ice surface painted pink. Also, if you have a minor hockey team in Nova Scotia, the Mooseheads could wear your sweater for a night. Details on the Great Mooseheads Jersey Race on their website.


St. Michael's Majors third jerseyThe OHL team with the most ridiculous name ever, the Mississauga St. Michael's Majors, has a new third jersey.

It's a nice one but all these "fauxbacks" are starting to look the same. You got your circle crest in your Habs-style stripe across the chest. We get it. Even jerseys from way back in the day had their own styles. Still, most NHL teams struggle for a look this clean and simple.

The new sweater was unveiled Sept. 26 at the Meet the Majors event. This photo (right) was posted on Twitter by Tony Ambrogio the following day but the team has a small photo gallery on its website. Unfortunately, the "fauxback" thing only gets worse when you see the back. Yes, that's a dark blue nameplate on a vintage white sweater. When did this become a thing?


Greyhounds' new third jerseyWe'll wrap up today's CHL third jersey post with the OHL's Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

I don't know if they're trying to keep this new sweater a secret, but the Soo Greyhounds are doing a good job of it. A reader, Ryan, emailed in this photo (right) with no details on where it came from. There's also this article on the team's website.

The Greyhounds usually wear red and white so this is certainly something new. Still, it looks like they're trying (badly) to borrow an idea from the Mooseheads (mentioned above).

But I guess it's no worse than writing SENS or BOLTS across the front of your alternate uniform. The striping is hard to make out in either image but it appears to be pretty plain as well. Not that that's a bad thing.

Hoping the uniform looks better on the ice than in this photo, though. By the way, if you guys can track down a better shot (perhaps game action), let me know by email.