Sharks Unveiling New Logo July 24!

The San Jose Sharks will be next to unveil a new — or rather, "updated" — logo for the new season. The news was posted on their web site today. The official unveiling will take place two weeks from today on July 24. Of course I'll have full coverage as usual. Read the press release below.

July 10, 2007

New Look Of Sharks Territory Coming July 24

When the Sharks take the ice for the 2007-08 campaign, they will be doing so with a different look, and not just with regards to the players. There are few details publicly available, but the one certainty is the Sharks logo will have a more updated feel this fall. There will also be new secondary marks introduced.

“I think people are going to like it,” said defenseman Kyle McLaren, one of several Sharks who had input on the updated design. “I think they’ll embrace the change. It goes with the new NHL.”

The Sharks did not take altering their brand lightly, as the main logo has been one of the most popular in professional sports since the club’s inception in 1991.

“We put a lot of research into this and feel the fans will thoroughly appreciate the updated logo and new marks,” said Sharks President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Jamison. “The players were heavily involved in the process and they were extremely happy with the outcome.”

Fans will have their first opportunity to view the new look and secondary marks on July 24 at 10 a.m. PST on sjsharks.com and merchandise with the updated logo and new marks at the Sharks Store will be available starting on that date as well.

While the logo will be released this month, the new-look jerseys will not be previewed until closer to training camp. All NHL jerseys will be altered to some degree this year as Reebok introduces new fabrics to help enhance player skills.

The Sharks primary mark has not changed throughout the Sharks 16-year history, but the jersey has been altered on several occasions. San Jose ’s original jersey was introduced in 1991 and the most recent incarnation was put in place in 1998, although it served as an alternate jersey the prior campaign. The alternate black jersey debuted in 2001.

I'm looking forward to it. The current Sharks logo will live on as a classic but lacks enough color to be considered a great logo by today's standards. Or so happens to be the opinion of one blog writer. Yes, me.

Now as for the tournament, the Sharks play their 12th match on July 23, the day before the unveiling. Regardless of whether a leak happens, the logo won't take effect in the competition until the day after its official unveiling which is July 24. That said, the Sharks have only two matches after July 25 — both on the last two days of the tournament, August 9 and 10. The new logo will be used for those two matches and the Championship Tournament should the Sharks advance.

Tournament Analysis: Four Weeks

We're now just about halfway through the competition so its time to take another look at where things stand. Remember, each team plays 14 matches, teams with 7 are of course midway through the tournament.

The Midpoint Leaders

First and foremost, are the Hurricanes. They've been wiping the floor with everyone, having swept 75% of their 8 matches to date. Obviously, they lead the league with 22 points. Coming in a somewhat distant second are the Predators with 17 points in 9 matches. Behind them are the Avalanche with 16 points in 6 matches, so they still have a long way to go and could be a dominant force in the West. The Flames and Canadiens 15 points in 7 and 8 matches, respectively. The Panthers and Sharks each have 13 points in 6 and 8 matches, respectively.

If The Playoffs Were Tomorrow...
Here at the halfway point of the tournament, it's still too early to tell who will make it to the Championship Tournament. But that doesn't mean we can't talk about it anyway. If you need a refresher on how to determine who moves on to the next tournament, read this.

EAST

At present, the Flyers and Devils are at the top of the Atlantic Division. The Rangers are a point behind the Devils but the Devils have four games at hand. The Canadiens and Senators lead the Northeast and the Hurricanes and Panthers top the Southeast. As for the wild card spot, there's a three-way tie. Rangers, Thrashers and Capitals each have 10 points. However, the Capitals have the tie breaker. And if the playoffs started tomorrow, the following teams would move on from the Eastern Conference: the Flyers, Devils, Canadiens, Senators, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Capitals.

WEST

The Predators and Blues still lead the Central Division two weeks after the last time we checked in. High atop the Northwest are the Flames and Avalanche. And leading the Pacific Division are the Sharks and Stars. At this point the Wild take wild card spot with 11 points. So if the playoffs began tomorrow, the following Western Conference teams would be eligible: the Predators, Blues, Avalanche, Flames, Sharks, Stars and Wild.

But once again, we're only halfway through this competition. This is a marathon tournament and there is still a long way to go. So if your team hasn't made a good showing yet, there's still plenty of time...

The Baddest Of The Bad

...unless they just have a really bad logo. This tournament awards points to teams even when they lose a match. If you lose 2-1, you still get that one point. But if you lose 3-0, you obviously get no points. The Ducks still have the league's worst logo, having earned no points in 6 matches to date. The Penguins aren't doing much better sitting with 1 point in only 4 matches. They still have a lot of matches ahead of them. The Maple Leafs have 5 points in 7 matches while the Bruins have 6 points in 4 matches. Those guys are pretty much bottom of the barrel at this point.

Averaging Well

Another element worth looking at here halfway through, is points percentage. Since the number of matches played for each team varies from 4 to 10, the straight-up number of points isn't always a good barometer for determining who's doing well. For that, we look at their points percentage, which is the number of points they've earned out of the points available to them. Each match is worth 3 points so a team that's played 5 matches has had the opportunity to earn 15 points. But nobody's perfect.

Despite an 11-point difference between them, the Hurricanes and Wild both have a .917 and, of course, no losses yet in the tourney. The Avalanche are .889 and the Devils are .733 a this point. Rounding out the top 5 is the Panthers with a .722 percentage.

Undefeated

Some teams are doing rather impressive right now. Logos with absolutely no losses here at the competition's halfway point are the Hurricanes, Wild, Avalanche and Flames. Is it weird they all have a shade of red as their primary color?

Winless

And some teams are doing the opposite of impressive right now. Logos with absolutely no wins at the halfway point are the Ducks and Penguins. Hopefully there's light at the end of the tunnel for these guys. I'd hate to see anyone go the entire length of the tournament without a single win to show for it.

Midway Summary
It's looking like the Northwest Division will probably be the top division in the tournament. Three of its five teams have yet to lose a match. I'm also impressed with the Hurricanes' performance. They've surprised me, actually, just like when they won the Stanley Cup in 2006. It'll be interesting to see when/if they ever lose match. They've been unstoppable so far. But I'd be surprised to see any team finish with no losses, or no wins for that matter. I don't think any of the logos stand out quite that much. But we'll just have to see.

So here we are. Just another month to go before the Championship Tournament. Can you feel the excitement? No? The average number of visitors to the blog has dropped to around 60 a day. I'm not surprised, though. No one's really that interested in this drivel of mine, but for those of you who are reading, I appreciate it and I hope you're getting some kind of enjoyment out of it.

What's Left?
Well technically, the tourney is half-over (a dead horse I've been beating for the better part of this post), but only six teams have actually played exactly half of their schedule (7 of 14 matches). Those teams are the Flames, Canucks, Blackhawks, Red Wings, Kings and Maple Leafs. So obviously some teams have more and some have less. The Flyers have already played 10 matches leaving only 4 to go while the Wild, Bruins and Penguins have each played only 4 therefore having 10 remaining. So it will be interesting to see how everything turns out. Keep reading and comment whenever you feel like it.

New Lightning Logo Coming!

Well, we'll just have to see if it's new. According to St. Petersburg Times Lightning beat writer Damian Cristodero mentioned the other day in the paper that the Bolts will be unveiling a "modernization" of the logo "some time this summer." No word yet on when, but I'm pretty excited.

I understand there won't be sweeping changes. Minor upgrades is what "modernization" sounds like to me. And that's fine. Just make them count. I'll have the updates here.

Flyers Rbk EDGE Jerseys Up For Pre-Order

Grabbed this from the Philadelphia Flyers' official web site. They're taking orders for the team's new Rbk EDGE jerseys. The jerseys will be unveiled on September 16. So if you're a Philly fan, go ahead and get your $200 order in for a product you've never seen — and won't get to until the day it arrives at your door. I'm assuming there won't be any glaring changes to the uniforms since they're taking orders prior to the unveiling.

Either that or it's a really ugly design and they'll be taking in a lot of suckers.

Tournament Analysis: Two Weeks

The tournament being two weeks ago today so now is as good a time as any to take a look at where things are.

Early League Leaders

The Predators and Blues lead the Central Division with 11 and 10 points respectively. Each has 6 matches under its belt. Only the Oilers have more with 7 and a record of 1-6. In a four-way points tie for third place league-wide are the Wild, Panthers, Capitals and Sharks, each with 8 points. The Wild are 3-0 while the other three teams are 3-1. But as per tournament rules, it doesn't really matter who leads the league in the end — only who finished at the top of their divisions. It will be those six teams plus a wild card that move on to the Championship Tournament.

If The Playoffs Were Tomorrow...
Just two weeks in, it's impossible to tell who will make it to the Championship Tournament. Anything can happen. But that doesn't mean its not fun to think about it anyway. If you need a refresher on how to determine who moves on to the next tournament, read this.

EAST At this point in the Atlantic, the Flyers and Rangers are shoo-ins. But let's not forget the Devils have played only one match. The Northeast is led by the Sabres and Senators with the Canadiens and Bruins each with just two matches played. Atop the Southeast are the Panthers and Capitals with the Hurricanes and Lightning having played only two matches each. Regardless of how unfair it would be consider since teams are rather uneven in the number of matches played, we'll do it anyway. If they playoffs started tomorrow, the following teams would move on from the Eastern Conference: the Flyers, Rangers, Sabres, Senators, Panthers, Capitals and Hurricanes.

WEST In the Central, the Predators and Blues are running away with the show. The Wild and Flames sit atop the Northwest while the Sharks and Kings lead in the Pacific. The Stars and Coyotes join the Devils among the clubs with the fewest matches played — having just one each. So if the playoffs began tomorrow, the following Western Conference teams would be eligible: the Predators, Blues, Wild, Flames, Sharks, Kings and Oilers.

But friends, we've only just begun. This will be a marathon tournament that won't end until almost the middle of August. So if your team hasn't made a good showing yet, there's still plenty of time...

The Baddest Of The Bad

...unless they just have a really bad logo. This tournament awards points to teams even when they lose a match. If you lose 2-1, you still get that one point. But if you lose 3-0, you obviously get no points. At this point in the competition, the Ducks have had 4 matches yet have exactly no points to show for it. Sadly, I just don't see them advancing very high in the Pacific Division. Other noteworthy bombs seem to be out of the East, in the form of the Maple Leafs, Penguins and Islanders. These are all teams without a single win. The Blackhawks, Red Wings and Oilers aren't doing much better, each having just one win along with a handful of losses. (This, despite the Oilers being eligible for the playoffs at this point. And that's only because more matches equal more possible points.)

Sitting On The Fence

Then there are the teams who haven't quite been awesome or abyssmal. The Bruins, Thrashers, Lightning, Blue Jackets and Canucks each have as many wins as losses to this point in the tournament. But anything can happen. Keep an eye out for their future progress. They could go up or down — or just stick to the middle of the road all the way through.

But Now Back To The Best

Were you wondering who's kicking ass and taking names? Well to this point that would be the Hurricanes and Stars. They've swept their only matches to this point and are the only teams with "perfect" records. The Hurricanes have two matches and the Stars have one. Other teams are undefeated and they are the Devils, Canadiens, Wild, Flames, Avalanche and Coyotes.

Early Summary
I would do a bit of predictions here but that would be a little unfair considering I'll be the one deciding the fates of each logo as I continue to write every match of the tournament. Instead I'll just say that it has been going very well so far. I've been happy with the readership since the tournament began. According to my stats, we've been averaging about 70 to 80 hits a day. It's not overwhelming and I'd sure love to see more visitors, but I'll take what I can get. I just hope that those of you who keep coming back are enjoying the nonsense I keep coming up with — that and the news on new logos and Rbk EDGE jerseys.

Changes

The Capitals unveiled a new logo on June 22. It took effect in the tournament on June 23 when they faced the Islanders. The Bruins unveiled their new logo on June 21. Their first match after that date was on June 25 against the Maple Leafs. The Blue Jackets also unveiled new uniforms and made the official announcement that the old third jersey logo would now be the team's primary mark. That logo has been used since the beginning of this tournament.

Possible New Kings Jerseys

As you know, I'm always more than happy to share new uniform designs I come across while scouring the web. Today we get a look at a photo of what is likely the Los Angeles Kings jerseys. Word is they were on hand at the team draft party. The team hasn't made any official unveiling or announcement as far as I know, but I wouldn't expect much fanfare anyway. There doesn't appear to be much difference between the Rbk EDGE design and the current one.

So I have nothing bad to say about them but as usual, take it all with a grain of salt. I obviously don't know for certain if this is the real deal, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

By the way, I hope you're enjoying the tournament, the few of you that seem to be following it. Feel free to leave comments as we go along about your feelings on how these logos stack up against each other. Should readership of this blog expand, I'd like to do a tournament that's voted on by the fans. Would probably be more realistic, anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Caps Unveiling Party

This evening the Washington Capitals had their big draft day party in D.C. where they unveiled the uniforms to fans. Check out all the cool smoke and stuff.

Ex-Bolt Ben Clymer is seen here modeling the brand spankin' new Caps duds. They're sharp uniforms. I still hate the logo though. I don't mind the shoulder logo with the eagle in the form of a "W." Anything but a logo made out of the team name.

I do get nostalgia and throwbacks and stuff, but come on. Put that on the shoulder or something. Anyway, it's not up to me and I'm not even a fan of the team. I'm just hoping the Lightning come up with something cool this summer.

We're all waiting on the "EDGE" of our seats. Come on! You don't like puns?

No New EDGE Jerseys At The Draft

The Chicago Blackhawks just took Patrick Kane as the first overall pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The jersey they gave him was the standard jersey and not the new Rbk EDGE jersey. So perhaps we can expect more of the same from the rest of the league tonight. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop if you aren't watching on Versus right now.

UPDATE (7:41 PM): We've had three picks so far and everybody's handing out the "old" jerseys. It's like the all-star game all over again when we all were hoping to see the new uniforms then. Looks like we'll have to wait indefinitely this summer for each team to announce as they feel like it. By the way, the old Caps logo is still on the draft board. We'll see if they give their pick (#5) the newly unveiled jersey.

UPDATE (7:50 PM): The Capitals had their new jersey on hand to give to Karl Alzner as the fifth pick.

UPDATE (8:46 PM): We're nearly halfway through the first round of the draft and only the three teams that have previously unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms have doled them out to their newest players tonight. Doesn't seem like anyone will be unveiling here tonight. For the record, those three teams are the Capitals, Bruins and Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets Jerseys Unveiled!

And here it is. No real shock. It's what we expected. Just wanted to post it in photographic form. The draft is going on now. We'll get to see some more new uniforms I'm betting.

UPDATE (7/21 6:43 AM): I just realized I had some better images of the new Blue Jackets uniforms which were unveiled in Columbus on draft day. Thought I'd post them in case you hadn't seen them yet.

They look sharp and this new logo is far better than what they have been wearing. Incidentally, as a funny side note, I recently read on a message board somewhere someone calling the shoulder logo a "rebel hat." Clearly this person is out of touch with American history since those of us who aren't know that the "blue jackets" were the Union soldiers. I got a chuckle out of it.

You can't really see it well in the photos, so for a better look at the logo I'm referring to, check it.

More Potential New Unis

Today is Draft Day and that means each team has to break out the "07" jersey to throw on the backs of their new draft picks. But this year every team is getting new jerseys and the only ones we've actually seen at this moment are Boston and Washington. For a refresher, these are them:

Now for what you haven't seen yet. At least not here, that is. While scouring the internet as I do I came across possible designs and mock-ups for both the Dallas Stars and New York Islanders. Let's start with the latter.

This appears to be a cell phone photo taken possibly covertly. But now the world has it via the wonderful internet. Now as with anything I post that isn't official, do take it with a grain of salt. I'm not anymore connected than you are reading this. The jerseys hanging here definitely have some color issues. I can't say I'm loving all the striping but so far I haven't really loved any of the new Rbk jerseys we've seen. That includes the Bruins and Capitals — although I did like what they wore at this year's all-star game. Am I too picky? Usually I like change, but I haven't been wowed over yet. Yet being the operative word there.

There's also this which might be better off the Hockey Fans & Photoshop series I just finished running a week or so ago. In fact the design even looks a little bit reminiscent of what I posted for the Dallas Stars during that series. Even if this is the team's actual design, it's not half bad. I don't hate it and I like the creativity with the crest on the dark jerseys. However, that in itself indicates a possible change back to the days when the home team wore white.

Don't you just love all this speculating. God knows I do. So that's that for now. Tune your sets to Versus tonight at 7 for coverage of the draft. We'll see if we get any sightings of new jerseys tonight. I'm sure we will. I'm also looking out for the possibility of new logos. I'm desperate for a new one from the Lightning and still expecting changes for Dallas, San Jose, Ottawa and Toronto.

More later tonight.