Is This the Isles' New Third Jersey?

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Picked up on a story from Puck Daddy this afternoon. Seems they may have found a potential leak of the New York Islanders' new third jersey set to debut this fall.

The image below, uploaded to Flickr yesterday, comes from the account of a user named roblgraphicd. And as Greg Wyshynski points out in his blog post, the Isles currently employ a graphic designer by the name of Robert Lawlor Jr. The account includes any number of samples of Islanders design work. You can draw your own conclusions.

So the question is this: Are we looking at the Islanders' new black third jersey?

Is this the New York Islanders' new black third jersey or just a concept? / Flickr

From the designer:

2011-12 Season will be the first in which the Islanders take part in the NHL Alternate Jersey program. Featuring modern panels and a somewhat retro type treatment, the jersey also includes the 40th Anniversary logo as a shoulder patch.

First off, he's forgetting that the current home jersey started out as an alternate jersey in 2008. And that they actually had an orange third from 2001 to 2007. So it won't be the first time by any stretch. Second, there's nothing retro about this jersey. It's all super-modern. And not in a good way.

The most prevalent rumors this summer have put the Isles in a black alternate sweater this fall. But more recently, as I wrote in the July edition of the NHL JerseyWatch, I was told that the primary color would be blue and the jersey would feature grey and orange trim. Can't say if that's true or not.

Even if this is not the final design, the fact that it seems to come from a graphic designer who works for the Islanders tells us at the very least it could be a prototype considered by the team. That in itself is newsworthy on this blog. We always enjoying seeing concepts from the pros.

Now if you want my thoughts, I'm of two minds on this. On one hand, it's just nuts enough to be an actual NHL jersey. On the other, I would've hoped the Islanders' had learned their lesson about insane jersey design. This is way too trendy for its own good. Wordmark on the front. Mismatching nameplate on the back. Black. And for what's worth, the design seems to be based in part on the Phoenix Coyotes' third jersey template.

When the Isles launched their Reebok Edge jerseys in 2007, they were quite ugly. They've since rectified the problem by going back to their roots with beautiful throwbacks. But I guess somebody at the top still wants the Isles' to have at least one oddball uniform in the arsenal. And this would surely do the trick.

I can't give you a definitive answer on its legitimacy. I can just show it to you and let you make up your own minds until I have something more concrete to report. And once again, excellent find by Puck Daddy!