Junior Jerseys You Should Know About

Amidst all the recent NHL news, Icethetics readers have been emailing in to let us all know about some rather fascinating specialty jerseys hitting the ice in the Canadian Hockey League. And these you need to see.

Nuclear Night jersey / John AllenOver the weekend, the WHL's Tri-City Americans, based out of eastern Washington, held a special theme night which required special sweaters.

Friday, Jan. 28 was Nuclear Night in Kennewick, Wash. And they wore some rather radioactive uniforms to mark the occasion. Just look at them.

Full graphic rendering of jersey

I don't know what to say about that. Except that it's awesome! (We're supposed to think it's awesome, right?) I mean just look at all the colors... electric green, fuchsia, to name a few. 

Nuclear Night jersey (back) / John AllenThe event was announced Thursday on the team's website and that all of the jerseys would be auctioned off following Friday's game.

A special website was set up to take bids. (So if you have to have one of these, you know where to go.) It says the proceeds will benefit the Players' Continuing Education Fund.

Honestly, I love seeing this sort of thing in the minors/juniors. It's one night and it's fun. We'd never want to see it attempted in the NHL, of course, but if not for teams like this and their charitable causes, we'd never know what a Nuclear Night jersey would look like. Would we?

For the record, the Americans were victorious in all their atomic glory, defeating the Portland Winterhawks 5-2. And you know the Winterhawks didn't look this good.

My thanks to Josh S. for the tip.

If you though the Tri-City Americans had eye-catching jerseys, let's head to the Ontario Hockey League.

Alumni Night jersey / Erie OttersThe OHL's Erie Otters unveiled their Alumni Night jerseys last week.

These bright yellow sweaters will be worn this Saturday, Feb. 5, to celebrate the Otters' 1,000th regular season game.

These game-worn jerseys aren't going up for auction, however. (I think we know how that would go.) Instead, they'll go on sale following the game for $240 each (with a $20 discount if you're a season ticket holder).

Frankly, I'm not familiar with Erie's hockey past. Are there any readers who can shed some light on the history behind these colors?

Kudos to long-time reader Jeff S. for emailing this in.

Lethbridge throwback / from Joshua SchroederThe WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes celebrated the 60th anniversary of a hometown team's world championship last week.

On Tuesday, Jan. 25, the Hurricanes hosted the Brandon Wheat Kings sporting the sweaters of the old Lethbridge Maple Leafs, who won the World Amateur Hockey Championship on the same date in 1951. They won 4-3.

This is a very cool tribute, and one of the few times "vintage white" is an acceptable color on a 2011 hockey uniform. They're honoring a team that played six decades ago. The cream color adds to the illusion that the guys are sporting the old club's sweaters. Even if we know better.

Now for all the links: Read a recap of the game on the team's website. Learn about the history of the Lethbridge Maple Leafs and the significance of the throwback night.

And while the auctions may be over, it's worth checking out what some of the sweaters sold for. One went for as much as $1,000! Who is Max Ross?

Thanks again to Josh S., our WHL watchdog.

I've got some other minor league jersey photos I'll try to get posted this week. Also preparing to give a stagnant Icethetics feature a big makeover. It'll give you another reason to keep coming back.

Pink in the Rink

I've had a few days to recover from my awesome trip to Las Vegas last weekend. Wish I didn't have to come back. Ever. The sooner I can get out of Florida, the better.

In going through my email this week, I noticed a couple of notes regarding "pink in the rink" events going on throughout the hockey world. Traditionally, we see this most heavily in October, as that is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. But maybe it's January in Canada? I don't know.

The ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings and WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes (and possibly others) will be wearing pink-infused jerseys in action tonight which will later be auctioned to support breast cancer research. Yay for good causes!

---

Icethetics reader Stuart writes in about the Salmon Kings, providing a link to details of the jersey auction. The highest bidders will be winning the sweaters right off the players' backs — well in at least one case.

Salmon Kings' pink jersey

Only one live auction will take place tonight in Victoria. The winner of that will take goalie David Shantz's pink jersey.

Two silent auctions will kick off tonight at 6 PM (Pacific time) for jerseys being worn by Patrick Coulombe and Wes Goldie. Bidding closes when the second intermission ends and winners get their due right after the game.

Two online auctions, which began on Tuesday and end tomorrow, will see the winners cash in on sweaters worn by Olivier Latendresse and Jimmy Sharrow.

The team's web site is quick to point out that this is the first time in the team's six-year history that the players will skate in pink. Money raised from the event tonight goes to the B.C. Cancer Foundation. More photos are available by clicking here.

---

But wait, there's more. The Lethbridge Hurricanes, a junior club in the Western Hockey League, are also doing a Pink in the Rink event for the first time this weekend.

Hurricanes' pink jerseyThe two-night event began last night and continues tonight. Fans can bid on the pink-infused sweaters in a silent auction. The jerseys will be distributed to the winners following tonight's game.

More details are available on the team's official web site.

Proceeds from the jerseys will support the Canadian Cancer Society and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Along with the proceeds from the jersey auction, funds will also be raised through the intermission promotions and donations.

Also, in a player-driven initiative, a number of the Lethbridge Hurricanes have stepped forward and volunteered to have their heads shaven at the end of the second game to show their support and commitment to this cause.

The head-shaving thing is a nice touch.

My thanks to Joshua for providing the tip and the link to Canes broadcaster Pat Siedlecki's blog, from where I nabbed the above photo. Joshua also said he'd send along some pictures from tonight's game. If he does, I'll be sure post them right here. (Scroll down.)

Update on Sat · Jan 16 · 2010 by Chris

Nearly missed this one. As Fraser52 points out in the comments, the Tampa Bay Lightning-affiliated Norfolk Admirals held their third annual Pink in the Rink night this evening. The AHL club played on a literal rink of pink tonight against the Adirondack Phantoms.

Admirals' pink rinkDetails are available on the team's web site.

Events leading up to and during the game include a breast cancer informational session, survivor participation during game night, "Hockey 101: A Clinic for Women" and a silent auction for player-autographed Tampa Bay Lightning items. Even the ice will be pink.

The "Hockey 101: A Clinic for Women" will be held starting at 6:15 p.m. Seating is based on a first-come, first-served basis.

Admirals' pink rink nightHere you can see Ryan Craig in action on the pink ice as the Ads faced the Phantoms.

I like the pink tape on the stick of the Phantoms' Stefan Regein. That was nice of him to participate in the night's cause.

If you're dying for more photos of the pink-tinted hockey rink, the Admirals posted a bunch more on their Facebook page from this morning's practice.

Any others I'm missing this weekend? Drop me a line.

Update on Sun · Jan 17 · 2010 by Chris

Mitch Maxwell #6As promised, Joshua Schroeder of CanesCast has provided a ton of photos from the Lethbridge game via his Flickr account today.

This shot of Mitch Maxwell gives you a pretty good overall look at the uniform from pink tape on the socks and stick to pink laces on the skates.

And sure enough a bunch of players even got their heads shaved right there on the ice after being shut out 3-0 by the Calgary Hitmen. Joshua has pictures of that too.

He also tells me that $23,000 was raised for the Canadian Cancer Society this weekend. Go Hurricanes!