NHL Unveils Stadium Series Logo

The NHL held a press conference in New York today make the 2014 Stadium Series official. Four of next winter's six outdoor NHL games will be played under this banner, the centerpiece of which is a pair set for Yankee Stadium. The Rangers will face the Devils and the Islanders at the baseball venue.

As a reminder, here's schedule of games planned for the open air next season:

• Wed., Jan. 1 — WINTER CLASSIC: Red Wings vs. Maple Leafs, Michigan Stadium
• Sat., Jan. 25 — Kings vs. Ducks, Dodger Stadium
• Sun., Jan. 26 — Rangers vs. Devils, Yankee Stadium
• Wed., Jan. 29 — Rangers vs. Islanders, Yankee Stadium
• Sat., Mar. 1 — Blackhawks vs. Penguins, Soldier Field
• Sun., Mar. 2 — HERITAGE CLASSIC: Canucks vs. Senators, B.C. Place

It begins Jan. 1 with the yearly tradition of the Winter Classic — this one in Ann Arbor, Mich. — and culminates with the more infrequent Heritage Classic in Vancouver. In between, we get four more games called the Stadium Series. That's it in a nutshell.

But no big event goes unbranded in the sports world these days. That is to say we'll have no shortage of logos and special uniforms for these six match-ups. While we'll have to wait to see what the sweaters will look like, the logos are already here.

First, there are the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic logos — which have their own distinct styles. Then, the three Stadium Series games, which are all the same and generic but for the city name.

The version shown at the top of this post features all three cities and I assume is used when discussing the Stadium Series in general as opposed to any individual game. There's also a version that includes the sponsor, Coors Light. But the logo patches that will be used on the jerseys will probably not include the sponsor — just like the Winter Classic and Heritage Classic.

The jerseys remain the only question mark. We got the Winter Classic jerseys (officially) back in April. But there are nine other teams I expect to see something new from. Garth Snow has already said a special uniform is in the pipeline for the Isles. Probably the same story for all teams involved.

Blaze Become Bloomington Thunder

Central Hockey League forced name change

Back in May we learned the Bloomington Blaze were leaving the Central Hockey League for the Southern Professional Hockey League beginning next season. Seems that may have ruffled some feathers because the CHL's lawyers said the club would have to give up the Blaze name.

For that reason, according to the Pantagraph in Bloomington, Ill., the franchise renamed itself the Bloomington Thunder in late July. The move also helped the team align with the local youth hockey organization, also called the Thunder.

These teams are not to be confused with the Bloomington PrairieThunder which formed in the International Hockey League in 2006 and joined the CHL with the league merger in 2010. A year later, the PrairieThunder dissolved and a new group brough the Blaze to town in 2011.

I'm not sure why the CHL is so tied to the Blaze moniker considering the team only existed for two years. Unless they're just being petty because the team decided to switch leagues. This low-level minor leagues can be interesting. But nonetheless there's another new logo in the hockey world so it gets a place here on the blog.

For now, I'll leave you with a last look at the old Blaze logo.

Sabres Share More Jersey Previews

Photos from Buffalo Sabres (via Twitter)

New photo tweets expose very little 

I'm just back from a long, relaxing vacation in Alaska — albeit a little worse for wear. (Literally now limping around after ruining my ankle — I don't want to say how.) But as that has little bearing on my typing abilities, let's get to the news of the day. Or should I say the old news of last week.

While I was away from the Internet, the Buffalo Sabres shared a couple more of those "sneak glimpses" of their forthcoming third jersey. And really, I'm not sure why. They didn't really offer anything new. You can see them both in the graphic above at their original resolution — small.

Both show roughly the same area of the sweater, reiterating that it will be gold. We get it. The first one, posted on July 26 appears to show a new white stripe somewhere on the front. Hard to gauge the precise location. Then on Thursday (Aug. 1), we got another one again showing the crest with what seems to be the sleeve in the foreground.

I'm normally a fan of these drawn-out unveilings with little tidbits along the way — like what the Hurricanes did this summer. But are the Sabres just trying to bother us by showing the same thing in different tweets saying stuff like "another sneak peek" and "exclusive pics" and the like?

If so, Sabres 1, jersey geeks 0. I'll be looking forward to seeing something that's actually new.

What do you guys make of these reveals? Because for me, it's not a whole lot.