Store Leaks New Sens, Leafs Jerseys

Finally, I have photos of unreleased jerseys that I'm able to share with you. A reader wrote in today to tell us that the Buffalo Sabres' team store at the First Niagara Center (formerly HSBC Arena) is already selling Premier version of the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs forthcoming jerseys.

First, here's the Sens' Heritage Jersey which, the team announced the other day, will be officially unveiled on October 1. You get to see it now.

Ottawa Senators' Heritage Jersey leaked / icethetics.info

And as previously reported here, you can see it bears bilingual shoulder patches. A recent photo released by the team had us questioning whether that would actually be the case.

The other unreleased sweater on the store's rack was the Leafs' new throwback third. Take a look.

Toronto Maple Leafs' new third jersey leaked / icethetics.info

One detail previously reported here on Icethetics was the silver inner-outline inside the crest. You can just barely make it out in this photo. We're looking at photos taken by a cell phone camera in what's not the best lighting conditions. I've done my best to tweak these photos.

So now that you have something more than my renderings to look at, have your opinions changed on these two sweaters? Are they at all what you were expecting/hoping for?

Update on Tuesday · Sep 20 · 2011 | 5:59 PM PDT by Chris

I've been enjoying a nice, long four-day weekend, and as such have also been keeping my distance from the internet. But I thought I'd check in with some updates on Saturday's leaked jerseys.

First, it seems every media outlet in the universe has picked it up. Which is cool. Nice to see Icethetics getting a few extra mentions around the web. But most notably, both the Senators and Maple Leafs have been forced by the media to react the leaked designs.

On Sunday, the Ottawa Senators posted an article on their website that confirmed their new Heritage Jersey had been prematurely revealed online. Yeah, sorry about that. But some of us don't like waiting and an opportunity presented itself. 

The Sens are not blaming Icethetics or even the store where the photos were taken. They're placing the blame squarely on Reebok, as they should. The jerseys were simply shipped out too early. NHL teams launching new uniforms are supposed to get a five day window of exclusivity in their own market from the day of unveiling — which should be Oct. 1–5. So it was a mistake. A big one.

The Senators are still planning the "official" introduction to fans at Puck Drop on Oct. 1. But in the meantime, they did reluctantly offer some details about the design:

“While we are very disappointed to have our new jersey revealed in this manner, we are pleased to see the early comments from fans are extremely positive,” said Jeff Kyle, Senators vice-president of marketing. “We believe that this jersey will be a top seller in the National Hockey League this season, especially as fans learn the story behind how it was designed.

The heritage jersey pays tribute to the early Senators teams that won 11 Stanley Cups and was one the franchises that founded the NHL in 1917. The early Senators were considered the NHL’s first dynasty, with accomplishments so great that in 1950, sportswriters voted the Ottawa club as the team of the first half century in Canada.

“We have spent over two years developing this uniform and one of the most interesting aspects is that we did it in conjunction with a Senators fan,” added Kyle. “We look forward to telling the story of how a fan helped us develop a uniform that incorporates elements of the early Senators teams into what we feel will become a truly iconic symbol of Senators hockey.”

I do look forward to the story of the fan who helped develop the uniform. If they're talking about the guy I think, then we know him as Jacob Barrette. It's certainly been years in the making for him.

Then yesterday, the Toronto Star took the other photo to the Toronto Maple Leafs for comment. They also confirmed the design and expressed disappointment at not being the first to show it to their fans.

Additionally, the Star learned that the jersey will be "officially" unveiled during their regular season opener on Thursday, Oct. 6. It's not clear if they plan to wear them for that game against the Montreal Canadiens, or simply show them to fans that night. If I had to guess, I'd say they're wearing them.

Here's what the team told the Star about the leak:

"Yes, the Leafs organization is aware that its third sweater was unexpectedly revealed," Rajani Kamath, MLSE’s director of corporate communications, said on Monday. "While our organization is disappointed that we did not have the first opportunity to reveal our third sweater, we are looking forward to ‘officially’ introducing it to our fans later."

On a personal note, I think the Sens' Heritage Jersey looks fantastic. I wouldn't want to see it more than 15 times a season, but it's definitely a great alternate uniform. So well done to them. With the Leafs, I like the design of the new third, but it's just not different enough from the home jersey to satisfy me. Not much they can do about that though if they wanted to revive something from their past.

Caps to Sport Throwback Third in 2011-12

After years of telling us that for reasons relating to the economy, it would be unseemly for his Washington Capitals to add a third jersey, owner Ted Leonsis is changing his tune. He once said, how could he ask fans struggling to pay bills to buy another jersey? 

But that's all changed now because the Caps will join their 2011 Winter Classic opponent in resurrecting their outdoor jersey as an alternate this season. It was announced today that the sweater will be worn for 16 road games during the fast-approaching 2011-12 season. The throwback sweater is based on what the Capitals wore from their inception in 1974 until 1995.

Alex OvechkinAnyway, along with announcing the addition of the third jersey, the Caps released a schedule to tell us every night the retro duds will see action. Here it is:

• Sat., Nov. 26 – at Buffalo Sabres
• Fri., Dec. 23 – at New Jersey Devils
• Wed., Jan. 18 – at Montreal Canadiens
• Fri., Jan. 20 – at Carolina Hurricanes
• Sun., Jan. 22 – at Pittsburgh Penguins
• Sat., Feb. 4 – at Montreal Canadiens
• Sun., Feb. 12 – at New York Rangers
• Mon., Feb. 20 – at Carolina Hurricanes
• Sat., Feb. 25 – at Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sat., Mar. 10 – at Boston Bruins
• Fri., Mar. 16 – at Winnipeg Jets
• Sun., Mar. 18 – at Chicago Blackhawks
• Mon., Mar. 19 – at Detroit Red Wings
• Thurs., Mar. 22 – at Philadelphia Flyers
• Mon., Apr. 2 – at Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sat., Apr. 7 – at New York Rangers

One key difference to the uniform this season is that the Caps will wear white helmets. That'll be especially handy as they're wearing them twice in Raleigh, where the Canes will already be wearing red helmets. Wouldn't that be a sight?

I have to admit I feel silly. I've known about this third jersey thing since last week but completely forgot to include it in Tuesday's blog post. But then I've been terribly preoccupied with things outside of the Internet lately. Oops.

And I know I was giving Leonsis a hard time about going back on his third jersey philosophy, but maybe there's something to the fact that they're only wearing it on the road this year. They're not parading around in front of the home crowd with it. Sure, the fans will see it on TV but that's a different experience from seeing it live.

Also, I probably would've given him less of a hard time had the new third jersey actually been new. I, like many of you, am still waiting on a blue jersey with the Weagle on the front. Will that day ever come? Maybe if the economy ever turns around.

Loose Threads: Jets, Pens, Avs & Sens

I'm working on a huge Icethetics side project right now that should be released in the next few weeks. So while there are a number of things to cover today, I'm going to make this post quick.

Jets Hold Real Jerseys a Week

Young Jets get practice unisWinnipeg Jets players took the ice competitively for the first time yesterday in the Young Stars Tournament, though not wearing their new jerseys as we expected. Instead they donned practice jerseys with some extra patches sewn on.

So after weeks of listening to the team say the new uniforms had to be unveiled before the tournament so the players could wear them, we still have to wait a week to see them in action.

The following comes from the game recap on the Jets' official website:

The young stars did not debut the new Jets sweaters, instead wearing practice jerseys. The Winnipeg Jets will wear their new jerseys for the first time on September 20th against Columbus.

We've waited this long. What's another week?

Some of you have written in asking about the sock design — as if that could single-handedly change the entire look of the uniform. But as you can see in this photo, the sock stripes appear to match the sleeve stripes from the real uniforms.

Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I'm surprised that a week after the jersey was unveiled, only one person has asked what I think of it. Don't get me wrong, you'll still get my take eventually — just not yet. I was going to write something up last week but I'm holding off to see the jerseys in action before I dive in with my critique. It may surprise you, actually. May.

For now, though, I have a couple of third jersey schedules to share.

Penguins Officially Announce New 3rd

We've kind of taken for granted all summer that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be switching their third jersey to their most recent Winter Classic sweater. It was never really official until today.

The Pens said in the release that fans told them "they love the new look, the new shade of blue, and the blending of different eras of Penguins hockey." Based on what I've read from Penguins fans on this site, it sounds to me like you've been telling them you love the black and gold from the late 1980s. But they can't seem to hear that for some reason.

Sidney CrosbyNo matter. I think it's a great looking uniform. And  came the schedule for the new third jersey in the 2011-12 season. We'll be seeing it for 12 home games:

• Sat., Oct. 15 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Thu. Oct. 27 – vs. New York Islanders
• Tues., Nov. 15 – vs. Colorado Avalanche
• Fri., Nov. 25 – vs. Ottawa Senators
• Tues., Dec. 27 – vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Fri., Jan. 6 – vs. New York Rangers
• Sat., Jan. 7 – vs. New Jersey Devils
• Fri., Jan. 20 – vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Sat., Feb. 11 – vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Sun., Feb. 12 – vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Wed., Mar. 7 – vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Thu., Mar. 22 – vs. Nashville Predators

Nice spread over the course of the season. I like that they're wearing them on a couple of back-to-back nights, and of course, against my Tampa Bay Lightning. That'll be one good-looking hockey game.

There's another third jersey schedule floating around out there...

Avalanche Set 2011-12 Third Jersey Dates

The Colorado Avalanche recently posted the game schedule for their blue alternate jersey, which will be entering its third season in use.

Interestingly, they even included details about the design that I don't remember reading when it was unveiled in 2009. They include information about the designers and prototypes. Have a read:

The third jersey design is a collaboration of ideas from the Colorado Avalanche (including Kroenke Sports Enterprises Creative Imaging), the National Hockey League and Reebok. ... Two rounds of sweater prototypes were tested and ran on ice before the final version was made.

Milan HejdukNow here are the 12 home dates in which the sweater will see action during the coming season:

• Fri., Oct. 28 – vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Wed., Nov. 2 – vs. Phoenix Coyotes
• Wed., Nov. 23 – vs. Vancouver Canucks
• Fri., Dec. 2 – vs. St. Louis Blues
• Tue., Dec. 13 – vs. San Jose Sharks
• Tue., Dec. 27 – vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Wed., Jan. 18 – vs. Florida Panthers
• Thu., Feb. 2 – vs. Minnesota Wild
• Mon., Feb. 27 – vs. Anaheim Ducks
• Sat., Mar. 10 – vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Tue., Mar. 20 – vs. Calgary Flames
• Thu., Apr. 5 – vs. Columbus Blue Jackets

The Panthers will be the only true Eastern Conference team to see the Avs sporting blue this year. They have Stanley Cup Final history together. (Though I guess strictly speaking, the Jets are still in the East for this year.)

One final item for today...

Sens Give Another Glimpse of Heritage

One final item for today. A reader tweeted a link to a page on the Ottawa Senators website, offering the new Heritage Jersey for sale without really showing it to us.

From what I can tell, this is the same photo that was used in the team's own sneak peek way back in March. Only difference is now we get it in full color without any distortion from projector screens or compressed Flash video.

First, you can see that vintage white is, in fact, in use. And second, the shoulder patches seem to contradict my earlier report which said that they were bilingual, English on the right shoulder, French on the left.

I'm staring at a photo (which I can't show you until after the official unveiling) that clearly shows one patch is in French, so what's the deal? One of two things: either 1) there was a change made between this photo and that one, or 2) we're actually looking at two jerseys laying side-by-side in this photo. It's hard to tell for sure on that.

Meanwhile, the Senators say the Heritage Jersey will be available on Oct. 1, meaning the official reveal will have to take place on or before that date. I'll be keeping an eye on it, obviously.

Update on Wednesday · Sep 14 · 2011 | 11:55 AM PDT by Chris

And with a definitive answer to question above, today the Senators announced that the Heritage Jersey will be unveiled on Saturday, Oct. 1.

Specifically, it will be shown to fans at the Puck Drop event at Scotiabank Place. Even more specifically, the unveiling itself will happen at 10:30 AM.

If you've been keeping an eye on the blog, you already know what the jersey will look like, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing how it looks on the players.

I'll be sure to share pictures with you that morning. And to any Sens fans that will be in attendance, feel free to send along any photos of your own.