Some Unconfirmed Third Jersey News

I got an email earlier in the week that I was unable to post until now. It was from a reader who wrote in that a Reebok representative has apparently confirmed which teams will be wearing third jerseys next season. I'll say right off that neither I nor this reader can completely vouch for the veracity of this information, but having said that, I see no reason not to put it out there anyway as mere speculation.

The list includes the Sabres, Oilers, Flyers and Blues, which we've already heard rumors about. However, it doesn't include the Penguins who are apparently looking to don the retro jerseys they wore at the Winter Classic.

The rest of the list shapes up like this, in alphabetical order:

• Atlanta Thrashers


• Boston Bruins


• Carolina Hurricanes


• Chicago Blackhawks


• Dallas Stars


• Los Angeles Kings


• Minnesota Wild


• New York Islanders


• Ottawa Senators


• Phoenix Coyotes


• San Jose Sharks


• Tampa Bay Lightning


• Toronto Maple Leafs


• Vancouver Canucks

From that list, all but four had third jerseys last season. One would assume most of them would stay the same.

Boston, Toronto and Vancouver wore retro threads. An obvious choice to keep. Vancouver switched back to their original colors this season. However, the introduction of a new Johnny Canuck logo leads me to wonder whether they might head in that direction for an eventual discontinuation of the whale altogether. But that may just be wishful thinking.

Chicago, San Jose and Ottawa simply wore black versions of their standard jerseys. Seems to me they'd probably do something similar with new thirds. Also, Carolina has never had a third but black seems like a smart option. And since introducing their new colors and logo, the Coyotes have yet to try out a third. But if they do, you might see it in black as well.

I wouldn't be surprised to see the Kings and Islanders stick with last year's thirds. They utilized different colors, and a different logo in Los Angeles' case. Minnesota made their red third into their regular home sweater this year but the green may well make a comeback if they go with an alternate.

Dallas' most recent attempt at a third left a lot to be desired so we might see something completely different for them. Or we might just see a green jersey with "STARS" written across it in white. Also, Atlanta recently converted its original third to the current home jersey, so I'm not sure what to expect from them. Perhaps something in dark blue reminiscent of their early days?

And finally, there's my Lightning. Very few people liked Tampa Bay's blue third with rain drops, waves and lightning bolts on the arms from the late '90s. I was one of them. But I wouldn't expect to see anything like that if we do end up with an alternate next year. I would expect to see a nice blue sweater though.

Enjoy the speculation. As hard facts become available, you can count on me to have them posted right here at NHLToL.

So if you guys want to start coming up with concepts of what you think next year's crop of third jerseys might look like, go for it! Email them to me and they may well find their way onto the blog.

Poll: Coyotes vs Predators

	vs
Phoenix COYOTES		Nashville PREDATORS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Sun Feb 3

Poll closing date Thu Feb 7

Poll: Flames vs Coyotes

	vs
Calgary FLAMES		Phoenix COYOTES

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Sat Jan 19

Poll closing date Wed Jan 23

Just To Freak You Out XXI

The Freak Out series hits 21 this week — old enough to get hammered. And boy, I think some of the designers this week had to have been hammered. I mean, just look at this.

It might take a moment or two to notice that this is an "If They Mated" example. It's the new Sharks secondary logo merged with the Mighty Ducks third jersey of the mid-90s. But I love it!

This Flames jersey is on fire! Someone on eBay is really selling it. For real.

Sidney Crosby recently dropped the gloves in a rare on-ice event. This picture isn't real but it cracks me up nonetheless. There's just so much about it that's so wrong. I'm curious to see if the guys over at Pensblog have anything to say about this.

And finally, we have a plethora of "matings" here to share.

To sum things up, what you see above is the Flyers and Bruins, Rangers and Islanders, Devils and Sabres, Blue Jackets and Blackhawks, Avalanche and Wild, Blues and Red Wings, Canucks and Hurricanes (weird!), Bruins and Flyers (opposite of the first one) and Stars and Coyotes.

But wait, there's more.

This one is interesting because it's all opposites of the previous image. They are the Coyotes and Stars, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets, Hurricanes and Canucks, Islanders and Rangers, Sabres and Devils, Red Wings and Blues (what the—?), and Wild and Avalanche.

Hope you enjoyed being freaked out. Have a fantastic weekend!

Poll: Hurricanes vs Coyotes

	vs
Carolina HURRICANES		Phoenix COYOTES

Can you believe we're already starting the second round of the Secondary Logo Tournament? These things are really starting to fly by! Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Mon Dec 17

Poll closing date Fri Dec 21

07SCTRN | #2A | CARvPHX

Poll: Coyotes vs Predators

	vs
Phoenix COYOTES		Nashville PREDATORS

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Mon Dec 10

Poll closing date Fri Dec 14

07SCTRN | #1C | PHXvNSH

Just To Freak You Out XVII

Welcome to the belated 17th installment of the Freak Out series. Time's been getting away from me the last few days so I apologize for the delay. Anyway, this week's art has a very specific theme. I asked for you guys to send me stuff of the "If They Mated" variety and some of you actually responded.

We'll start with a couple of logos I thought were "special."

If you're staring at that and just can't place it, look no further than the Ottawa Senators. You'll recognize his cap from the Columbus Blue Jackets' shoulder patch. That one just cracks me up every time I look at it. It's like the guy took the day off to go to a baseball game but he still can't seem to wipe that constipated look off his face.

The next one goes out to all my Connecticut readers.

It's a combination of the Hartford Whalers and Hartford Wolf Pack. And the more astute among you might notice the nod to the New England Whalers. That's three leagues covered in one logo. Impressive.

So going back to Ontario now, try to imagine what would happen if the Leafs and Sens (perish the very thought) were to swap uniforms and colors?

Don't send me hate mail. I'm illiterate anyway.

And now for a rivalry absolutely no one could care less about.

Personally, I'm disgusted by this but it does make me laugh a little. What's with the black tongue on the panther? Someone should tell him to stop chewing on his pen.

This here is more of a fusion of past Coyotes jerseys. We've got the old colors on the new uniform. How many of you like me would prefer to gouge out your own eyes before watching a team wear a jersey with two different color shoulder yokes? That's got to be breaking some sort of law.

Speaking of law-breaking, remember the scary Blackhawks logo I used to kick off last week's Freak Out post?

Somebody glued it on a jersey. D'oh!

And then I thought this was mildly amusing if nothing else.

But this is what happens when you guys stop sending in the really good stuff. Hope you enjoyed another week's worth of Freak Out art. Hopefully I'll be back with more on Friday. Enjoy what's left of your weekend!

Poll: Senators vs Coyotes

	vs
Ottawa SENATORS		Phoenix COYOTES

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Sat Nov 10

Poll closing date Wed Nov 14

07TJTRN | #1F | OTTvPHX

Third Jersey Concepts

In honor of the new Third Jersey Logo Tournament, I've got a fitting theme for today's concept art post. Check it out.

One cool suggestion for a Hurricanes alternate sweater could be achieved by going all black. I say change the black sweater cuffs to red and you've got yourself a winner. As for the Habs, this may not be perfect, but it's pretty damn close. I'm a big fan of this design. I'm curious to see what it would look like on the ice.

But back to black third jerseys, consider these.

I actually like this. But I was a big fan of the black and red days of the Sabres. They never looked better — especially in those red third jerseys.

And what about the Predators? Obviously, this design was created entirely based off of the Bruins' new sweaters, but it's not bad. I sort of like the 3D sabre-toothed tiger head, myself. But my preferences have never really been on par with most people. And I'm okay with that.

Finally, based off the idea of teams going with a retro look for alternate jerseys, how about something like this for Phoenix?

It's not like I hate the current look of the Coyotes, but I always thought they looked awesome in brick red and green. You have to admit, though, this jersey is pretty sharp looking.

But you probably disagree with me about something. Tell me about it below in the comments.

UPDATE (6:36 PM): Well our lovely designer Michaela got right on it with my suggestion to add red to her Canes concept above. Check it out.

I think it looks great with that small touch. Thoughts on that?

Photographic Tinkering

Amidst all the artwork I get on a daily basis, I occasionally get digitally retouched photos that I would consider to be cool concept art. So that's what this post is about.

We all know the Vancouver Canucks made an odd move by not including the dark blue of the logo in the jersey. Just as the green from the jersey isn't included in the logo. Here's something I hadn't noticed.

Despite there being black in the Coyotes logo, there's no black in the jersey. This concept was designed, I'm guessing, to give us an idea of what Phoenix would look like with a little black in their sweaters.

If you ask me, there's a third jersey right there. The dark one, at least. It's weird on the sleeves, though. Doesn't really work with the striping. But I don't mind it at the bottom of the jersey. Same as how it looks pretty sharp on the shoulders as well.

Overall, a winner. Nice work by the artist.

Uh-oh. I'm about to talk about the Canucks. Somebody's gonna have something to say about that. Anyway, this one here simply suggests a higher contrast shoulder logo for the home sweaters. The original '70s logo did have a white rink on the dark jersey, but the new one seems to come in only one form.

A little unusual but it doesn't really bother me. I could live with it either way. Though it sure stands out more in white. Just an observation.

And this one isn't so much about redesigning jerseys or logos as much as somebody spent a lot of time on it and I can't see denying them.

Of course we know Vesa Toskala minds the net for the Toronto Maple Leafs. But what if he did so for the New Jersey Devils?

Thing is almost flawless. We can play that Sunday comics game with it. Can you spot the differences. Or more appropriately, can you spot the missed changes. I have to tell you, there aren't many. And I've been staring at it for a while.

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed that. Kudos go out to the artists. It's one thing to draw elements on a blank jersey template. It's another to doctor up photographs like this.

Remember, if you've got anything you think might be worthy of posting, please email it to me. I'd love to take a look.