Rumors On Alternates

I've gotten several emails about a message board post propagating rumors about the new crop of third jerseys to be introduced for the 2008-09 season. With few reports being confirmed by the actual teams, I thought these might at least be interesting enough to discuss here. They may even produce some new ideas for concept art.

Atlanta Thrashers
Word is the new sweaters will incorporate more maroon like the original dark jerseys. I don't know if this means the sweater itself will be maroon or rather navy more along the lines of that original jersey.

Boston Bruins
We've actually seen the black jerseys already which will feature the BRUINS version of the secondary logo found on the shoulders of the current jerseys. The jersey features the primary logo on the shoulders. Of the two "finalists" we saw, one includes a gold stripe around the bottom while the other does not.

Buffalo Sabres
This isn't really news, but the Sabres will supposedly return to the blue vintage sweaters like the ones they wore last year. We've heard that there's the possibility of some slight alterations, but I wouldn't expect much.

Carolina Hurricanes
Rumor has it the new 'Canes third will be black with the secondary logo on the front. You know the one with the tropical storm flag blowing in the wind. Sounds pretty good. I'd like to see a mock up. One would also expect to see the primary logo on the shoulders.

Chicago Blackhawks
Supposedly, the 'Hawks will resurrect the black sweater they've been wearing as a third jersey for years. No surprises here but I can't say I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't attempt to make a few tweaks to it.

Dallas Stars
Interestingly, rumor suggests that the new Stars alternate will be a white version of the current black one. You know, with DALLAS written across the front. I'm a fan of one jersey like that. But let's not start in with turning the NHL into the NBA.

Edmonton Oilers
We're being told it's a vintage design with laces at the collar. That sounds absolutely amazing, especially when compared with the travesty visited upon the Oil this season. But this could just be wishful thinking.

Los Angeles Kings
We're speculating that the Kings will return to the purple sweater from last season with the coat of arms logo. Of course the author of the rumors being discussed here suggested the jersey may be black. We'll have to see, but my money's on purple.

Minnesota Wild
You'd think they can't go wrong with a green sweater, but then word is it will have MINNESOTA plastered across the front a la the New York Rangers or Colorado Avalanche. That may not sound impressive, but the Wild have a history of creating vintage-looking thirds that are really killer. I'll hold my judgment until I see it.

New York Islanders
Evidently we should expect a vintage design. Something I'm surprised they didn't go with when unveiling their new Rbk EDGE sweaters over the summer. I'm not really disappointed the orange won't be making a comeback.

Ottawa Senators
I hope this rumor isn't true. Apparently they're going with a gold sweater — you read that right — with SENS written across the front. I don't know if this is more in the vein of the Stars or Rangers. Time will tell. But just let it not be gold. I wouldn't even wish that on the Stars.

Philadelphia Flyers
The team has already told us to expect an orange sweater. What they didn't mention is whether it will be an altered version of the current design or a vintage throwback. Rumor suggests the latter.

Phoenix Coyotes
Opting for a new alternate logo, it sounds like they may be going with a full-body coyote on the front of a black sweater. I think a black jersey will go well with the brick/sand color combination. This one I'm looking forward to seeing.

Pittsburgh Penguins
The team has all but confirmed already that they'll go with the same design they wore for the Winter Classic two months ago. You can't really go wrong with that one. Vintage quality at its finest.

San Jose Sharks
We're likely looking at a black version of the current uniforms. I know a lot of folks dislike the orange. I personally don't mind it. However, how cool would it be if they went with a black/grey/white jersey with some teal piping/lining? And I'll go ahead and put my vote in for the full-body shark like you see on the shoulders of the current sweaters.

St. Louis Blues
We know all about St. Louis already from the team higher-ups. They're talking about a navy sweater with a brand new logo featuring the Gateway Arch. In fact, I have some great concepts to share later with this logo alteration in mind.

Tampa Bay Lightning
The rumors I'm reading scare me because, as a Lightning fan, I'd hate to see this happen. Supposedly the new third will be navy (so far so good) with BOLTS written across the front (there's where you lose me). Sounds an awful like what's going on with the Senators. Read above.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Likely a white vintage design will make its way onto the backs of Leaf players. Probably with the old leaf logo as well. This wouldn't surprise me and sure wouldn't disappoint. Looking forward to it, as a matter of fact.

Vancouver Canucks
It's rumored that a vintage design — I'm guessing blue — is in the works. I like the stick-in-the-rink jerseys as much as anybody, but I would not be surprised to see a completely new design with the newly introduced Johnny Canuck logo. It's a chance that's too good to pass up for a team in the midst of a serious identity crisis.

By the way, that leaves 11 teams without third jersey rumors here. In case you're wondering, those teams not accounted for are the Devils, Rangers, Canadiens, Panthers, Capitals, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Predators, Flames, Avalanche, and Ducks (who frankly, could really use one).

That's all I've got for you tonight. I've got concept art based on the rumors for the Wild, Blues, Flyers and others, but I'll save that for later on. I'll try to get it posted this week while I'm on my trip.

In the meantime, allow your imaginations to run wild and, you know, feel free to play around in Photoshop and send me whatever you come up with. I can post it here and who knows, maybe you'll even guess correct.

Canada III: Calgary & Edmonton

Just 46 more hours now until I first set foot on Canadian soil. But before I go, it's my duty to continue to share the concept art that many of you have been so gracious to send in. Continuing with the Canada theme we're visiting the province of Alberta tonight on our way to BC.

So then. The horse with the flaming nostrils. I always liked him. Here he is on red.

It suits his apparent rage. And for a refreshing change of pace, the white Flaming C on a black sweater.

Doesn't really say fire to me somehow.

Nor does it work in white. I'm sorry but I think the Flames by nature have to be a red team.

So with that in mind, here's a new idea based on an old concept.

There are also white and black versions of that design.

And this next one just looks like a hoodie to me.

To finish this out we've got a couple of Oilers concepts. The black around the arms makes this one interesting.

Needs something for contrast around the logo which is outlined in blue. And this final set I thought was really sharp. No reason a professional hockey club shouldn't look that good.

That's a nice uniform. But now I've got to put the final touches on packing, go to work tomorrow and then prepare myself for seven hours of flying across the North American continent. Fun stuff.

Canada II: Ottawa & Montreal

Tonight's all about the Sens and Habs. I've been sent some really nice Ottawa concept art over the last few weeks. Also some really strange stuff. Take a look for yourself.

I really love that 2D logo. I wish the Lightning had a logo that looked that good. Here's a different set along the same lines.

The next design has odd striping patterns in my opinion.

And finally, all the talk about third jerseys brings this black version of the Sens' sweater.

The last two items are Canadiens logos. The first one's pretty self-explanatory to anyone who knows the logo history of the Montreal Canadiens.

This one would work if the Habs were to change their name to the Quebec Canadiens. Or something like that, I guess.

Tomorrow will be Calgary and Edmonton. Tuesday will be Vancouver. In the meantime, I'm almost all packed and more than ready for my vacation. I'll be in Canada in about 65 hours from now. Can't wait!

Canada I: Toronto

I'm probably getting annoying with all the talk about my Canada trip, but can you blame me? I've got concept posts coming specific to Canadian clubs for the next few days leading up to my trip. (I fly out of Tampa on Wednesday morning, by the way.)

Anyhow, tonight we're getting things going with the Toronto Maple Leafs. First up is a simple design that would be acceptable as an alternate sweater.

With the same logo, but on a different tack comes this set.

That's really cool but probably somewhat unrealistic. More on the realistic side is this next set.

But most folks probably won't like the piping. However, I think the shoulder yokes make up for it.

These jerseys are nice. A lot of people will probably complain about the broken stripes around the waist.

I understand that, but it's a unique feature. What I like about the next set, which is similar to this one, are the shoulder logos.

These last two are just for fun. One designer suggests the Leafs use a version of the Marlies logo.

Probably not the best idea. And the last one recommends green for an alternate sweater.

I don't really know what to say about any of that.

But that's it for tonight. Can't wait for Vancouver!

Just To Freak You Out XXIX

Since I leave in four days for my trip up to Canada, I'm going with a Canadian theme here in order to freak you out tonight. So let's start with the most obvious one. The usual "If They Mated" concepts typically mix two and in rare cases three teams. One artist went above and beyond, mixing all six Canadian teams onto one jersey. The result will shock you.

I warned you. And I love how it's on the Lightning's white sweater. Creativity at its finest there, friends.

But back to more familiar territory now. Imagine the Canucks and Flames swapping colors and sweaters. Wait, you don't have to. I've got it right here for you.

The Atlantawa Thrashators, if you will.

What happened to that dude's face? Not to be outdone, ladies and gentlemen, the Edmonton Oilers.

Gotta love the oil shooting out onto the shoulders. But back to the nation's capital, for a small handful of teams the state/provincial outline works well in the logo — Lightning, Islanders and Stars to name the only ones. Here's a good example of why not everyone should try it.

Yeah, I didn't even mention the stripes. Can you believe that?

And as you know, it's difficult to pull of a yellow jersey that actually looks good. Unlike most of you, I was a fan of Nashville's gold alternate jersey but not Boston's yellow third. Weird, I know. But the Flames should absolutely not try yellow.

That's why. And if they ever decide to look for a new logo, here's what else they shouldn't try.

Balls of fire! And that is all I have to say on the matter.

And with that I'm going to go pack a bag and prepare myself for weather in which a native Floridian can only freeze. But I'll be loving every frozen second.

Bruins Show Third Jersey "Finalist"

I got a few emails from readers tonight regarding the NESN broadcast of the Bruins-Penguins game. Apparently, they showed what's being called a "finalist" for a third jersey to be worn, I'm assuming, next year.

Here's an email I received about it:

NESN just showed one of the "finalists" for the Bruins third jersey next year. It was a black jersey with a thin gold stripe on the very bottom of the jersey, white, black and gold stripes on the elbow. The secondary logo is the primary and the spoked "B" is the shoulder logo.

Evidently, the Penguins broadcasters mentioned it to, according to this email:

While watching the Pens-Bruins game on Thursday, the Pens announcers made reference to the Bruins practicing in new jerseys that they intend to use next season. I have no photos but I thought that you could know about this.

The best part is one person even sent in a mock-up of what he saw. He says he's unsure about the collar and which logo was used (Boston or Bruins), but the uniform apparently looks a little something like this.

At least it's not yellow, right?

If anyone happened to record the game on NESN, perhaps you can send a screengrab my way so I can post it here. In the meantime, this appears to be a decent possibility for a Bruins alternate jersey for the fall. I'll post more as I find out.

UPDATE (2/29 4:33 AM): Got one more concept for the Bruins' new third from a reader, based on the NESN broadcast. Check it out.

I'll post more as I get it.

UPDATE (2/29 2:20 PM): Turns out someone did record last night's Bruins game and now there's video posted on YouTube. See the third jersey finalists for yourself right here.

UPDATE (5/4 8:13 PM): Because I'm slow I just realized that video above has been removed from YouTube. If anyone knows where another copy might be available, please let me know so I can embed a new link. In any event, someone was smart enough to grab freeze frames from the clip before it disappeared.

It's better seeing the video, but what can you do? At least you're getting a glimpse of what might be.

Odd, Unique Logo Designs

Tonight's post is dedicated to those of you who've used your imagination to create entirely new logos for your favorite teams.

We begin in Anaheim with a neat logo design I featured earlier this month. Prepare yourself. It's very purple.

Next to it is a Sharks concept that probably should never been seen by anyone — ever. But I thought it could at least serve as just one more reason why teams should definitely not do this. I thought it was all right for the Stars as a one-of-a-kind sort of deal. But the all-star jerseys this year worried me.

Moving on to Canada now, here's a Canadiens sweater with an interesting new secondary logo created by a reader some time ago.

It probably needs the fleur-de-lis in white, but otherwise it's a really cool, symbolic logo.

Now to Hartford, where someone has created a new brand for a team called the Whales. (Not to be confused with the Whalers despite the logos seen here.)

Those are some pretty snazzy jerseys. (Yes I said snazzy. What?) I like the "H" logo but the "W" logo is more effective with that hidden "H."

Next is a simply Panthers design.

I'm not really a fan of letter logos in cases like this. Put the "FP" on the shoulders and the panther head on the crest, that's what I say. But what does my opinion really matter?

And finally — you know I've gotta do it — in preparation for my trip to Vancouver, here's a new logo design for the Canucks.

I hate to be mean, but I'll come right out and say I don't like it. Ever since I saw the new Johnny Canuck logo, I haven't been able to imagine another symbol that would work better for that club. Still, no idea's too dumb to put out there, right?

Don't forget to go cast a vote at ToHL for which CHL league goes first when the new tournament begins on March 14. And if you're wondering, I haven't yet decided what tournament will follow the Quest For The Worst here at NHLToL. I'll keep you posted.

CHL Logo Battle Coming!

I'm gearing up for the next tournament over at ToHL right now. Yesterday I announced the CHL Tournament of Logos will begin on Friday, March 14. You can read more about that over there.

What I wanted to mention here is that you can already start getting involved in the battle for the best logo in the CHL. Since it's made up of three leagues, I want to do each one individually and then match up the champions of each to determine a final winner. And you can help decide which league we kick off with. Head over to ToHL and cast your vote in the sidebar for the OHL, QMJHL or WHL.

The order of the tournaments will be determined by the total votes. In other words, the league with the most votes goes first. The league with the least goes last.

Sad Day

This is a very sad day for me. Two of my favorite Lightning players play for other teams now. I knew this year's trade deadline was going to suck, but I didn't know how much. In case you haven't heard, Vinny Prospal is a Flyer and Brad Richards — I can barely admit it to myself — is going to Dallas. Makes me regret giving you Stars fan an entire post last night. I'm going to go curl up in a dark room now.

A Mass Of Stars Art

I was looking through my inbox and you guys have been sending in a ton of Dallas Stars concept art that I've failed to get posted. So tonight is all about the Big D. There are just so many options as you'll see.

For one thing, a big complaint about the Stars' new Rbk EDGE uniforms has been the word "DALLAS" written across the front of the home jersey, of all things. A simple solution would be to put the crest back.

Now, with all the talk about third jerseys lately, perhaps that design would be better suited as an alternate in, say, green.

Certainly brings a lot more to the sweater. Hell, there's even gold.

All right, yeah that's probably a bad idea. However, I'm liking the star crests on the green and white jerseys. In fact, the complete lack of black is actually pretty cool. Even something like this — which I like less — might well be worth considering.

But in this reality, I don't see the black disappearing anytime soon. So how about this. Save the black for the alternate.

I know they've got the Florida Panthers' elbow stripes going but try to see past that. The Stars really need to return to the green sweaters. Though I know the odds of that are slim.

But let's depart reality altogether and start considering some "different" alternatives. Like a new logo.

I get the shooting star theme, but there are a lot of reasons why those logos wouldn't work. I'm sure you can figure them out. Still, sometimes it's fun to wonder. Here they are on a jersey.

Then there's the whole constellation fiasco. I get it but it just wasn't well executed. Once you start seeing "that" shape, you can't really see anything else.

I don't think dropping the stars from the logo works, nor does turning up the horns. That's just strange. I've gotta say I do like the red, though. Red as part of that black/green/gold combo is quite unique. What about a reworked logo based on those colors?

It could use some work, like for instance I'd lose the puck, but it's something. A step in the right direction, perhaps.

The last two items I have for you tonight are just flights of fancy for the folks missing their beloved North Stars. The old Minnesota logo on the new Rbk EDGE sweater.

Not great. And this last one is more worthy of a Freak Out Friday post.

I think that about covers it. Stars, Stars and more Stars. By the way, just a little over a week now until my Vancouver trip. Can't wait! I'm hoping to be able to write from the road. I probably won't have much in the way of concept art for you. Maybe just stories from my experiences north of the border if anyone's interested. In the meantime, I've got to start packing.