Slovak, Swedish Jerseys Revealed

Images from Slovak Ice Hockey Federation

Slovak national anthem forms Olympic jersey pinstripes

Earlier today, the Slovak Ice Hockey Federation unveiled the jerseys Slovakia will be wearing at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi this winter. If they look a little familiar, you're not imagining it. The white jersey, at least, is very similar the new U.S. look — unveiled by Nike in August.

What sets them apart, however, is the pinstripes. And those aren't just any pinstripes. Look closely.

Photo (right) from @Tomas_Kmec

Those stripes are actually formed by the words to the Slovak national anthem. It's a very clever feature introduced by Nike. I've been impressed by the variety of ways in which the designers have managed to make each national team jersey unique in some way — while simultaneously disappointed at some of the unnecessary similarities. But more on that another time.

If you want to see more of the jerseys, it looks like a couple of Slovak radio DJs showed them off in a YouTube video. Check it out.

By the way, I plan to write up full reviews of all the Olympic jerseys once they're each released. A lot of you are asking me what I think of them, and it's hard to say without seeing the whole lot of them.

I'm still hoping for an official press release from Nike, actually, which came with great photos for the U.S., Russian, Canadian and Czech jerseys. But haven't seen one yet for Slovakia. (UPDATE (11/6): I spoke a few hours too soon. Here it is!) That brings us to Sweden.

Sweden is all kinds of rebellious about Olympic jerseys

Photo from Tre Kronor (via Facebook)On Oct. 25, Tre Kronor — the Swedish men's ice hockey team — shared this photo (right) of their country's new Olympic jersey on their Facebook page.

But like Slovakia, the unveiling didn't accompany any official word from Nike (that I could track down). So there's still a blue jersey out there that we haven't seen yet.

The Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet also revealed additional photos which they called "exclusive." (Scroll down to see those.)

The photos give us a better look at the detail on the shoulders — which includes a glossy version of the ship seen in the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation's official logo.

But here's the really interesting thing about them. The Aftonbladet article quoted federation's marketing manager, Tomas Bjernudd, as saying they had to fight Nike over proposed sweeping design changes.

Apparently, there was pressure from Nike to change a lot. Bjernudd didn't get into specific details, but said they had to stand their ground as far as keeping the classic three crowns on the front of the jersey.

Could you imagine what they'd be wearing if this guy didn't get in Nike's way? Good for him and the Swedish Ice Hockey Federation.

Photos from Aftonbladet

Though it hasn't been unveiled yet, I have to assume the blue one is exactly the same as this with the yellow swapped for blue and vice versa.

So what do you think of these jerseys? We've now seen jerseys for the U.S., Russia, Canada, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Sweden. That leaves Finland, Slovenia, Norway, Austria, Switzerland and Latvia as the other countries participating in the 2014 Olympics.

Columbus Hosting All-Stars in 2015

City was set to have game in 2013 before lockout

As expected, the city of Columbus will get a second chance at hosting the NHL All-Star Game in 2015. The announcement was made tonight by the NHL, who also released an updated event's logo.

Ohio's capital was originally scheduled to host the game in 2013, but when the season was shortened by the lockout, the All-Star Game was one of the annual league events to get the ax — along with the Winter Classic which was rescheduled for this season. 

There will be no All-Star Game in 2014 to accommodate the Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Who should be the next two hosts?

Not much more to say on this, so let's look ahead. Who do you think should host in 2016? And more important, how about 2017 during the NHL 100th anniversary season? Montreal had it in 2009 and Ottawa in 2012. The only other original NHL city is Toronto and they last hosted in 2000.

Where Are All the Stadium Jerseys?

There are still nine sweaters we haven't seen yet

The question I'm asked most these days is the title of this post. Where are all the NHL Stadium Series jerseys? Why haven't any of them been unveiled — or leaked — yet? 

Now that all of this year's new third jerseys are out, I thought I'd address it. The short answer is, I don't know. But I'm happy to engage in a little educated speculation if it gives us something to talk about.

To begin, really the only concrete thing we've heard on this subject was back in June when Islanders GM Garth Snow mentioned it briefly. He said his team had something special in development and that every Stadium Series participant does as well.

With seven clubs taking part in the series, it's a great opportunity for the NHL to add a whole mess of new merchandise to the mix. But when do they make the designs public? As someone who makes a living in marketing, that's probably the best way for me to approach this. Hence the educated speculation.

Make the new stuff available by Black Friday

Depending upon how long the new designs have been in the works, the smartest option — in my opinion — would be to get everything on store shelves by the biggest shopping day of the year — Black Friday. (This year, that's Nov. 29.) These jerseys would probably make great Christmas gifts. And the timing would be great since the first Stadium Series game takes place exactly a month after Christmas.

But that begs the question, when do you reveal the designs to fans? The week of Thanksgiving (only talking U.S. since Canada's not involved in the Stadium Series) is tricky because people are out of their normal routines and may miss the announcement. Not ideal for maximizing exposure.

The week before might be good, though. So should the teams hold individual unveilings or should the NHL knock out all seven in one fell swoop? (I'm assuming the Rangers get only one jersey despite playing in two separate stadium games.) All at once would be more efficient but you're probably only buying the jersey if you're a fan of the team. So maybe it's better left to the individual clubs.

But there's a problem. If you introduce a sweater in November and tell people it won't be used for two months or more, it's possible they could simply lose interest. So what's another option?

Hold off on any unveilings until Winter Classic

Another plan could be to wait and get the new sweaters in front of more eyeballs across the U.S. and Canada. Forget about Christmas. Wait a week and unveil them all in Ann Arbor during one of the intermissions of the 2014 Winter Classic. Put them in stores the next day.

There's still plenty of time until the first of the four games, which takes place in L.A. on Jan. 25. And let's not forget about the Heritage Classic. There's two more jerseys right there — but they're Canadian so NBC won't care about that. Still, with the Leafs in the Winter Classic, Canadians will surely be watching.

This idea may be kind of a bummer for jersey geeks like us because it means waiting longer, but it has a lot of merit from a marketing standpoint. It could certainly play into the excitement of the first outdoor game of the season.

What's your theory?

Those are my two theories and, of course, they could both be completely wrong. What's your take?

By the way, my Flames third jersey review is still to come. Just wanted to get this out of the way first.

Flames Unveil New Third Jersey

Photo from Calgary Flames

Calgary's alternate sweater officially launches

On Sunday afternoon, the Calgary Flames officially unveiled their new red third jersey to fans at Flames Fest. There weren't many surprises since the sweater was mistakenly leaked a few weeks ago by EA's NHL 14 video game. But notice I didn't say "no surprises."

Take a good look at the shoulder yoke. It's difficult to tell in some of these photos, but that's not a straight line that runs from the collar to the shoulder. It dips down forming a sort of triangle. The photo below gives us a slightly better look at what I mean.

Photo from Calgary Flames

The first thing that comes to mind is the old Colorado Avalanche jerseys mean to resemble mountain peaks. And to think Reebok said it couldn't be done with the Edge style. Perhaps this means the Avs can soon be fixed? But this post is about the Flames. So let's continue.

One feature that caught my eye was the new number style. Definitely unique in the NHL.

Photo from Calgary Flames

For one thing, the 5 looks like an upside down 2. It's not, but it looks that way on first glance. That might take fans a little getting used to. But I'll get more into those details in my full review this week. I just wanted to take this time to get some photos up and point out a couple of interesting items.

Speaking of interesting, the Flames also released a video that talked about the development of the jersey and some of what was considered during the design process. Included in the video is a shot of an idea board that shows a lot of unused concepts. I know we love seeing that sort of thing.

Video still from Calgary Flames

You can see some alternate versions of the shoulder patch — which make it more clear the yellow patches were meant to symbolize Alberta's wheat fields, apparently. I had been wondering about that. There were also a lot of cowboy-themed logos under consideration at some point. The bladed boot stuck out to me as a very retro style logo. Any of them pop out to you guys?

While you consider that, I'll leave you with a photo from today's event that features just about every sweater from Calgary Flames history.

Photo from Calgary Flames

Extra points if you can name what's missing — without going to NHLUniforms.com! Again, I plan to post my full review of Calgary's new third jersey this week. Meantime, share your reaction!

Glimpses of a New Calgary Sweater

New logo found through Canada's trademark office

I know I've been ignoring the blog a bit lately, but I'm pretty excited about the new Jersey Galleries I've been putting together. Time now, though, to get caught up on some Flames news.

The Calgary Flames will officially unveil their new third jersey on Sunday afternoon at Flames Fest. Earlier this month, of course, it leaked. Then last week, the Flames revealed a sneak peek in-arena video. But the fun continues.

Up top you can see the new third jersey shoulder patch design in all its detailed glory — rather than just the video game rendering from before. This is possible thanks to the diligence of a blog called SportsDocuments. Writer James Gordon tracked down the new mark via the Canadian Intellectual Property Office website.

In fairness, the logo depicted there is actually black and white, like this.

Canadian Intellectual Property Office

All I did was fill in the colors based on what we saw in the NHL 14 leak. I can't link you directly to the filing, but if you search Calgary Flames, you should be able to find it. Gordon also pointed out that no other new logos — including the jersey's crest — could be located via the CIPO website at this time. I found that to be the case as well.

It's an interesting mark. Like I've said before, it's like nothing the Flames have used before. Could it be a sign of a new creative direction for the team? Or a simple one-off for a special uniform?

Flames still determined to offer sneak peeks

The jersey has leaked and the Flames themselves have shown a lot of bits already by way of that in-arena video. But regardless, they are continuing to share little "sneak peek" photos via Twitter. They've shown four in the last two days and, presumably, there are more to come before Sunday.

Here's a graphic that shows everything they've tweeted so far.

Calgary Flames (via Twitter)

The first, showing the sleeve or waist stripe or shoulder yoke where the black and red meet, came down Wednesday afternoon. Later that evening came the close-up of the waist with the thin yellow stripe. All stuff we've seen before.

Thursday morning brought a better look at the nameplate — specifically the one on the jersey of Curtis Glencross. Later in the afternoon came another angle, but this time on Mark Giordano's. (UPDATE: As a reader pointed out, this is probably all Glencross. Don't know why I keep assuming Giordano.) And that's where we stand at the time of this writing.

I'll update this post as the Flames release new images. But the main event will be Sunday when the whole thing should be revealed — and then added to the NHL 2013-14 Jersey Gallery. See how we came full circle?

Got any thoughts on the new details we've seen here? Has your gut reaction to the leak changed at all?

Update on Friday · Oct 25 · 2013 | 5:19 PM PDT by Chris

Photos from Calgary Flames (via Twitter)

New sneak peeks focus on new collar

The Flames shared a couple more photos of their new third jersey today. These show the detail of new collar style featured on the uniform. Unlike any other Reebok template, this one extends down to the laces. (By the way, this proves the EA leak is not 100% accurate. Go back and take a look.)

The first photo came this morning, the other a few hours later. The official unveiling is in two days.

Update on Sunday · Oct 27 · 2013 | 12:01 AM PDT by Chris

Photos from Calgary Flames (via Twitter)

Next pair of photos previews "hanger effect" design

Saturday brought two more sneak peeks at the Flames' new alternate sweater. Specifically, they showed us the new "hanger effect" design — the detail on the inside of the collar. It's the hot new trend from Reebok these days and here in all its glory. It appears to be the snow-capped mountains from the jersey's new shoulder patch.

The first photo came early this morning. The second was released in the afternoon. Both are close-ups of the collar design from slightly different angles. Almost not worth having two separate photos. Nothing you get from one that isn't in the other. But there you have it anyway.

The full uniform will be officially unveiled tomorrow around 1:30 PM MT. Check back here for photos!