Lightning Unveil Third Jersey!

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The Tampa Bay Lightning joined the third jersey ranks this afternoon when they unveiled their new sweater on their web site and debuted it against the Devils.

A picture featured on the front page of the site shows defenseman Mike Lundin in the new blue jersey. I think it looks good on a player. Now I'd like to see how it looks in action. I'll post pictures tonight when they're available.

In a video posted on the team's web site and narrated by radio play-by-play announcer Dave Mishkin, it's explained that the use of BOLTS across the front is a shoutout to fans who popularized the team nickname.

The video also features Marty St. Louis and goalie Mike Smith talking about the new threads. Smith is psyched about the fact that it'll match his gear. You can watch it right here.

As you can see in the video, the new socks to go with this sweater are more classic with horizontal stripes, but are broken at the calf similar to the New York Islanders' alternate socks. Little things don't usually bug me that much, but this is just strange. I'm curious as to the explanation behind it.

This unveiling confirms the previous leaks posted on Icethetics, right down to the TAMPA BAY text on the back at the base of the jersey. Not sure why it's there, but it's different and I'm a fan of that. The only difference is the number style — which is barely noticeable unless you really pay attention to that sort of thing. The new style makes the numbers appear bolder.

As a Lightning fan, I'm satisfied with this jersey. I like the striping pattern. I like the use of silver and I especially like that it's a blue jersey. My favorite thing is the underarm stripes (described in the video). I still think it's odd to have BOLTS across the front, but that's what I've always called them. The Bolts. I'll be buying one right away, that's for sure.

And again, I'll add pictures to this post when they're available.