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.

Heritage Classic Logo Surfaces

Photo from Noah Kallner (via Twitter)

Logo for 2014 event is remarkably similar to 2011 version

The logo for the 2014 NHL Heritage Classic surfaced on Twitter last night. Noah Kallner tweeted the photo above, which shows a Heritage Classic t-shirt emblazoned with the never-before-seen mark.

The logo is remarkably similar to the one belonging to the last Heritage Classic which took place in Calgary in 2011. If you need a refresher on what that logo looked like, here you go.

On first glance, they look exactly the same but for the skyline in the center. But the eagle-eyed will note a few more updated details — the ribbons, the frame, etc. I'm actually very happy about this. It'd be easy to say the league wasn't be creative by retooling an old design, but it was such a beautiful design to begin with. I'm glad it's getting a second life in Vancouver.

The 2014 NHL Heritage Classic takes place Sun., March 2 at B.C. Place in Vancouver, B.C. between the Vancouver Canucks and the Ottawa Senators. No official word on the jerseys yet, but it's rumored the Sens are working on a light version of their black Heritage Jersey introduced in 2011.

If that's the case, the Canucks could break out their Millionaires sweaters again.

It's possible this could be my last blog updated for a little while. I'll be on vacation until the beginning of August with very little web access. I'll try to keep up with Twitter so make sure you keep an eye there.

Update on Wednesday · Jul 24 · 2013 | 7:00 PM PDT by Chris

Image from Hockey Rumors & Trades (via Facebook)

And there's a French version, too!

This afternoon we got a better look at the details of the logo when the French version was posted on Facebook by a page called Hockey Rumors & Trades. I'll say it again. This is a really sharp design!

Panthers, Ducks Plan Throwbacks

They're not even of legal drinking age and they're already getting nostalgic. Two teams will commemorate their 20th NHL seasons this fall. Let's talk about how.

When the NHL schedule was announced this past week, the Florida Panthers used the opportunity to announce their plans for the year as they mark their 20th anniversary. The Cats open their season on the road, but when they return home on Oct. 11, they'll have what they're calling a "Throwback Night" — though it's not entirely clear what that means.

Instantly, jersey geeks like us have been conditioned to immediately assume we're getting a throwback jersey. I could see that. Those triangular shoulder yokes don't get used anymore in the Age of Reebok, and that's sad. But the Panthers haven't said anything about a special jersey.

In fact, they haven't really said anything yet. From the press release:

The Cats took on the Penguins in their first regular season game in South Florida on Oct. 12, 1993, nearly 20-years to the date. The night will be a “throwback” night with details on all of the Opening Night festivities to be announced in the coming weeks.

So we'll keep an eye on things over the coming weeks.

Then there's the Anaheim Ducks. They also used the the schedule release to talk about their 20th anniversary plans. And it sounds like the old Disney Duck could be making an appearance. 

Icethetics reader and Ducks season ticket holder Andrew Heidecker emailed me excitedly last week to share some details.

I am a season ticket holder for the Anaheim Ducks. During their select-a-seat promotion, they had all the high-ups of the Ducks organization there. I spoke with one of them and he informed me that the Ducks will become Mighty once more during a game in October.

They will revive the 1993 [inaugural] jersey (he was not sure if it would be eggplant or white since home was light colors back then) but he did say that it will be set to the new Reebok Edge jersey and will be available for sale all season long in the Ducks team store.

Currently, the jersey is set to be worn for only one game early in October, but that can be altered to more than one game. Not to sound antsy, but the way he said it, it sounded like there may be more than one "MIGHTY" jersey being produced for wear this season.

If I find anything else out, I'll let you know!

If true, that's exciting news for fans of the old Mighty Ducks brand. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

It's worth noting that the Ducks' own press release fits in line with this report. 

As part of the 20th anniversary celebrations, the 2013-14 regular season will include a number of special events at Honda Center. Planned occasions will include look backs at great moments in Ducks history and retro merchandise available for purchase.

In addition, the club will host a “Throwback Night” near the start of the 2013-14 regular season, paying homage to the inaugural 1993-94 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season. The club will have further announcements surrounding the festivities at a later date.

That "further announcements at a later date" line again. Heard it before.

Anyway, it sounds promising. And for what it's worth, the Ducks could get double-use out of such a throwback jersey. Don't forget that they play the Kings outdoors on Jan. 25, 2014. That'll probably involve a throwback jersey of some kind just as every other outdoor NHL game has in the past six years.

So what do you guys think? Is 20 too soon for throwbacks? Or are you nostalgic enough to take a throwback in any form at any time? Hockey does love its traditions after all.