New Looks for a New Season

As a long summer starts winding down, we're now less than a month away from training camps across the NHL getting underway. But before that, I wanted to do a quick run-through of all the new jerseys we'll be seeing this fall. And believe it or not, I have a few surprises in store.

Edmonton Oilers

Fans have been begging for it for years, and the Oilers have responded. This new road jersey pays tribute to the original white sweater the Oilers wore from their NHL inception in 1979 to 1996.

Florida Panthers

Like the Oilers, the Panthers are fixing their uniforms as well by returning to their roots with a red home uniform. The chest and sleeve piping as also been removed from both the home and road sweaters.

Though the red sweater was unveiled at the draft, the road jersey design below is still unofficial. We know the blue piping is going away but it's not clear if the jersey will see any other changes.

Los Angeles Kings

The Kings are undergoing an identity overhaul in 2011, though they're only adding one "new" jersey. The white road sweater is based on the black alternate which launched in 2008.

Nashville Predators

The Predators are also making sweeping changes by introducing new home and road jerseys.

New York Islanders

We got our first glimpse at the Isles' new third jersey when a prototype design was leaked recently by a former team employee. But I've recently been made aware of some new details and can confirm report this is what the final version looks like. (Accidentally broke one of my own rules there. I can't "confirm" anything. That's for the team to do. However, this is an accurate representation of the final design.)

Ottawa Senators

We've known for some time that the Senators have had a Heritage Jersey in the works, meant to pay tribute to the original Senators from the 1930s for their own 20th anniversary season. You got your first look at a photocopy of the design earlier this month. This is what it looks like in color.

The shoulder patches have been the source of much of the speculation surrounding this jersey since the team itself offered up a sneak peek back in March. I can report that there are two of them, both in the shape of a shield. One reads Ottawa Senators, the other is in French: Sénateurs d'Ottawa.

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pens will be promoting their 2011 Winter Classic jersey to alternate status this season. It replaces the light blue third which debuted at the 2008 Winter Classic.

Tampa Bay Lightning

The Lightning unveiled their new branding back in January but the jerseys still aren't available in stores. Here's a refresher of what they'll look like.

Toronto Maple Leafs

And finally, one of the worst kept secrets of the summer has been the Leafs' new third jersey. It pays tribute to the 1967 design which was only used for a few seasons. Take note of the silver inner-outline of the throwback leaf crest. Other than that, it's practically identical to the old jersey.

Obviously, the odd man out on this post are those elusive Winnipeg Jets jerseys. Plenty of you have emailed and tweeted to tell me the counterfeiters already have them. I refer you to my earlier post about phony leaks. Everyone's favorite thieves are simply manufacturing jerseys based on concept art. As I've said before, this would not be the first time. And it surely won't be the last. Be patient; don't waste your money.

For what it's worth, I can't say how close the fakes will be to the real thing as I haven't seen the final designs yet. They could be close or miles away. But since the Jets haven't scrambled to assemble a press conference on short notice, I'm guessing it's the latter. 

I also expect to have another edition of JerseyWatch posted before the end of August, but aside from one busy week, there hasn't been a lot of news this month. Hopefully this will hold you over until then.

Update on Friday · Sep 16 · 2011 | 10:40 AM PDT by Chris

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets finally unveiled their new home and road uniforms 10 days ago. Here's another look at them.

Washington Capitals

The Caps announced they will bring back their retro Winter Classic jersey for 16 road games this season.

The new season is shaping up to look pretty nice. And I don't think there will be any other new jerseys to add to this list for the 2011-12 season. You've now seen everything there is to see.

Loose Threads: Ending a Busy Week

Seven blog posts in seven days, and I even took yesterday off. But believe it or not, there's still more news to talk about. I have four items today I'll try to get through as quickly as possible.

Sens Release Partial Third Jersey Schedule

One of the big stories of this week has been the Ottawa Senators' new third jersey. They're calling it the Heritage Jersey and we got our first look at it on Tuesday. Then a few days later, the team officially announed its 20th anniversary plans.

In the press relase, the Sens confirmed the existence of the Heritage Jersey but, despite the leak, opted not to officially unveil it. That will happen closer to the start of the season. However, the team did post ticket package options online which tell us, in part, when the new sweater is scheduled to be used.

Ottawa Heritage Jersey (colorized)The Heritage Jersey will be worn for 11 home dates, but the ticket packages only reveal eight. Here's that list along with a couple more: 

• Thurs., Oct. 13 — vs Colorado Avalanche
• Sun., Oct. 30 — vs Toronto Maple Leafs
• Sat., Nov. 12 — at Toronto Maple Leafs †
• Wed., Dec. 14 — vs Boston Bruins
• Tues., Dec. 27 — vs Montreal Canadiens
• Sat., Jan. 14 — at Montreal Canadiens †
• Tues., Feb. 7 — vs St. Louis Blues
• Fri., Mar. 2 — vs Chicago Blackhawks
• Fri., Mar. 16 — vs Montreal Canadiens
• Sat., Mar. 17 — vs. Toronto Maple Leafs

† Along with the 11 home games will be a pair of nationally televised road contests in Toronto and Montreal, according to information that was part of the jersey leak. I take that to mean Hockey Night in Canada broadcasts — which are on Saturday nights. The Senators visit the Maple Leafs for Saturday matches on Oct. 8 and Nov. 12, but the team has already stated the jersey will see its debut on Oct. 13. And the only Saturday game hosted by the Canadiens takes place Jan. 14. By process of elimination I think we can safely include Nov. 12 and Jan. 14 on the schedule. But that's subject to change, of course.

UPDATE (9/25/11): As it turns out, Nov. 12 wasn't a safe date to include. The Toronto Maple Leafs just released their full third jersey schedule which includes that date. And for TV purposes, we won't see blue versus black. So strike that date from the list. Must be a different nationally-televised game.

I've also taken the liberty of colorizing the leaked jersey design from earlier in the week to give us an idea of what it might look like. I've used vintage white since many things are hinting at that right now.

Kings Throwbacks Coming Back

Kings throwback jerseyIn March, LA Kings Insider Rich Hammond wrote that the Los Angeles Kings would be overhauling their uniforms next season. He added, "the vintage purple-and-gold jerseys will go into mothballs for a while now."

I've been citing that little nugget for months in the various NHL JerseyWatch updates. What I didn't know until I started scouring his archives is that just over a month later, Hammond changed his tune.

Buried in a mailbag-type post on April 30, where he answered reader questions, was the news that the Kings were in fact bringing back the throwbacks for at least three home games next season.

Minnesota Kings Fan asked: To add to the uniform questions what about something with purple & gold?

Answer: The current plan is for the Kings to wear the purple-and-gold vintage uniforms for three home games next season.

I feel bad I overlooked that little piece of information during the last few months, but thrilled that the Kings are bringing this uniform back in 2011-12. It looks great and fans love it!

It's also the perfect counterweight for a club with black and white primary jerseys. I won't call them boring because I actually like them, I just don't want to see them lose the purple altogether.

And for the record, neither does Luc Robitaille.

IceMen unveil modified logo, new jerseys

The Central Hockey League has been getting a lot of blog time lately, and they're about to get a little more. In just their second season, the Evansville IceMen will already be donning a new logo and jerseys.

It's not really a new logo so much as a modified version of their previous logo which was used during their inaugural season in the CHL last year. They're keeping the same "ice man" as before, but with a different posture and some new gear. As for the uniforms, they're completely new — even if they aren't entirely original.

IceMen unveil new jerseys for 2011 / IceMenManiacs.comThe IceMen held a press conference on July 14 to show off the (not so) new look. (Try to ignore the blatant headline misspelling.) They had a few players on hand to model the new jerseys (right).

Mark Cody (18) wore the alternate, Todd Robinson (19) had the blue and Brian Bicek (10) donned the white sweater. In the CHL, teams wear white at home for the first half of the season and then switch.

If you can look past the fact that all of these uniform designs come from the Pittsburgh Penguins' closet, what else do you notice?

We've seen it before, but never this bad. Not one color in the logo is found on the jerseys. Each one uses two shades of blue, neither of which match the single shade used in the logo. There's also no grey in the uniforms even though it dominates the primary mark.

I'm not oblivious to the fact that minor league teams have to spare expense by using existing jersey designs. But knowing that, why not make it look like you put some thought into the design and alter the logo colors to match? It doesn't look that bad, considering the logo they have to work with. But I'd lose the black.

That's all I really have to say about that because the truth is I love these jerseys — just not the crest. I think the colors and striping look great. By the way, I should give a shout-out to IceMenManiacs.com for the photo above and coverage of the unveiling.

Blazers celebrate 30 years with Oilers logo

On Friday, the WHL's Kamloops Blazers unveiled their 30th anniversary logo and it may look awfully familiar to you. That's because it's based on the Edmonton Oilers' 30th anniversary logo from 2008. The green craze is really hitting hockey design hard this year. Everybody's recycling!

The use of the Oilers' logo for the Blazers isn't as odd as it might seem at first. When the team was founded in 1981, they were known as the Kamloops Junior Oilers. So in reality, this logo works well as an homage to the team's own history. They became the Blazers in 1984.

The Blazers have announced some of the 30th anniversary celebration plans. Here are the ones of interest to Icethetics readers:

To celebrate 30 years, the Blazers have introduced a new logo that will be placed at centre ice for the entire 2011-12 season. The Blazers will also be wearing vintage jerseys to commemorate the anniversary this season.

I'll keep an eye out for that vintage jersey. Maybe that Kamloops Junior Oilers logo could be resurrected too. And I have to say that despite the obvious reuse of that Edmonton 30th logo, I do like how the team has worked in both the Junior Oilers and Blazers imagery into the design. Just wish they could've been more original.

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I think that finally does it for today. You're now caught up on everything — that I know of. Next up, I'm working on a page that will be under the VOTE tab above. Basically, you'll be able to vote on all of the new logos and jerseys — even the unofficial ones — that we've seen this summer. Should give us an idea of where everyone stands on the new looks around the hockey world. Plus, it'll be a good recap with lots of links in case you missed anything admist all the crazy blog updates lately.

Update on Monday · Aug 15 · 2011 | 10:46 AM PDT by Chris

Gibbie from IceMenManiacs.com, who was at the IceMen's jersey unveiling press conference, commented with some additional details on the new look.

Sorry to ring in late, I just came across this blog. Thanks muchly for the link back! We just started the IceMen Maniacs site a couple of months ago and I'm thrilled to see it out in the wild. :)

They did tell us at the presser that the jerseys were mock ups, it's possible that the color scheme will be modified a bit. They could tone down the blue and I think it will be fine. Not all the blues on the three sweaters match either which bothers me but no one else probably notices. :) The official team colors are now supposed to be navy blue, sky blue and white as opposed to navy, white and black.

The whole issue of change is sensitive since the team has gone through major changes each of its four years of existence and is about to go through another very large one. While I appreciate why they wanted to change up the logo and jersey design, I'm glad it wasn't more radical. Besides I'm very fond of our club wielding, parka wearing man. :)

The Big Bad Draft Recap of 2011

I can't remember the last time an NHL draft yielded so many new jerseys. Eight different teams used the 2011 NHL Entry Draft in St. Paul to showcase something new. So settle in, there's a lot to cover.

Oilers Go Full-On Retro

1 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 19 Oscar Klefborn, 62 Samu Perhonen, 92 Dillon Simpson

After 16 years, the Edmonton Oilers once again look like they did when they entered the NHL in 1979. The Oilers used the first overall pick in the draft to select Ryan Nugent-Hopkins as well as to unveil their new retro road sweater — which now matches their home uniform, with the colors reversed.

This is exactly what Edmonton fans wanted and I'm happy to see them get it. The jersey looks fantastic! On the team's website, Oilers president Patrick LaForge said, "We listened to our fans and know they will be happy to see the set complete with the new road vintage jersey." Truer words were never spoken.

The Oilers also announced that the previous road jersey is officially retired. And while they didn't say so specifically, it's likely the navy and copper third jersey will remain in use next season.

Seeing Red in South Florida

3 Jonathan Huberdeau, 64 Vincent Trocheck, 76 Logan Shaw, 87 Jonathan Racine

Earlier this month, the Florida Panthers launched their "We See Red" marketing campaign — an effort to return to the franchise's color roots. This weekend, it culminated with the reveal of their new red home sweater, which was given to each of their 2011 draft picks.

The Panthers didn't do an all-out redesign with this jersey, but more of a color swap. The sleeves are now blue, but there is no piping on — a refreshing change of pace from the old jersey. So that's a big plus. All in all, I think this is easily the best jersey in the Cats' arsenal at this point.

But that's not to say it's perfect. The elbow striping is an element of the Reebok Edge template that I just don't like. Maybe if it went all the way around the arm. I also think gold piping would've looked sharp and added contrast between the red and blue on the sleeves. But these are not dealbreakers.

I don't yet know about the fate of their other jerseys. I would assume the white road uniform will remain unchanged. They could use the old home jersey (the blue one) as a third jersey, but I think the blue alternate they already have is superior. So I'd bet the old home sweater is retired.

On Behalf of the Winnipeg Jets...

78 Brennan Serville, 7 Mark Scheifele, 119 Zachary Yuen, 157 Jason Kasdorf

The new Winnipeg franchise used the occasion to announce their new name — or should I say old name? The Winnipeg Jets are once again an NHL team. How about that. Unfortunately, while the team had a name ready to go, they couldn't say the same about a logo and jerseys.

Each of their draftees were given generic black jerseys with the NHL shield on the front. Rest assured, this will not be the uniform of the Jets come the fall. True North chairman Mark Chipman has said it may be a while before we see the new uniforms and logo.

Illegal Curve tweeted some details from Chipman yesterday. He said they wanted to have a prototype jersey ready for the draft, but were worried about knockoffs showing up before they were able to put official merchandise on sale. So production time is likely the reason we'll have to wait to see the new branding.

The team has also said that the colors "won't be completely different" from the old Jets. I take that to mean possibly a darker shade of blue and the addition of a third color such as silver. So another red and blue team, then. Fun. I may sound bitter, but at least the Thrashers and their too many colors were unique.

Earlier today, TSN's Darren Dreger tweeted, "I haven't seen the Winnipeg Jets new logo or sweater design, but I'm told it's very impressive." I'm sure it is. And I'm sure a lot of money is being spent to make sure of that. To be honest, I hope it doesn't leak so as to avoid the knockoff issues.

New Bolts Get New Blues 

148 Nikita Nesterov, 27 Vladislav Namestnikov, 178 Adam Wilcox

The Tampa Bay Lightning unveiled completely redesigned blue and white uniforms back in January. This weekend, they handed them out to their new draft picks in St. Paul.

There is one element of the jerseys that has changed since we last saw them at the January press conference. The numbers now feature an inner black outline after enough Bolts fans complained about the lack of black in the new threads. (I wasn't one of them.)

As much as I've praised these new sweaters, I was disappointed by one thing I noticed this weekend. Based on the previous pictures I've seen, I thought the blue was a lot lighter than it is. Turns out it's basically identical to the Maple Leafs' blue. Really not happy about that. Don't get me wrong, I'm still buying one, but I was hoping Stevie Y would do something to make us stand out.

Predators Decide to Simplify

38 Magnus Hellberg, 52 Miikka Salomaki

The Nashville Predators didn't have a pick in the first round this year due to the Mike Fisher trade, so we had to wait a day to see their new road jersey. As the NHL draft picked up with Round 2 this morning, the Preds gave the new sweater to their draftees, who became the first players to wear them.

While both new jerseys were sort of leaked on Thursday, we learned they weren't the final versions. Today we can play spot the differences. The biggest one (and only one that I could spot) would be the left shoulder which featured the word NASHVILLE in small text. On this version, it's only seen on the back of the collar. Everything else is basically how we first saw it.

Prior to the jersey leak, the new logos were officially unveiled, so I won't spend anymore time discussing them. I did want to note, however, that the new guitar pick logo is only used on the right shoulder of the road uniform. I suspect it will be the same on the gold home jersey.

Kings' Worst Kept Secret is Official

49 Christopher Gibson, 110 Michael Mersch

The Los Angeles Kings will have a new road uniform next season and their 2011 draft picks became the first to sport it for cameras today. (Like Nashville, they lacked a first round pick.) And for what it's worth, it was the worst kept secret of the year. We first saw this jersey way back in October!

Well a version of it, anyway. An Icethetics reader snapped a photo of what appeared to be prototype jerseys in Luc Robitaille's office at the Kings' practice facility before last season even started. To be fair, though, there's an L.A. pee wee team that's been wearing something similar for a while now.

They're nice. That's really all I can say. By dropping the purple from their palette, I think the Kings have done themselves a disservice. But the new jerseys aren't bad. But for the waist stripes, this new road sweater nearly matches the black and silver alternate the Kings have been wearing for a couple of years. It will become the new home jersey.

The old black and purple home sweater will become a third jersey and the old road sweater will be retired.

Isles, Sens Add Patches to Mark Special Occasions

5 Ryan Strome, 127 Brenden Kichton, 21 Stefan Noesen

The New York Islanders have created a new 40th anniversary shoulder patch while the Ottawa Senators will wear an All-Star Game patch for the 2011-12 season. The new add-ons were first spotted on the teams' first round draft picks on Friday night.

This is our first time seeing the Islanders' new 40th anniversary mark and I'm still waiting to get a better look. So far the above pictures are the best I've seen. The Isles entered the league in 1972 with the Atlanta Flames, but Calgary tends to only recognize the Calgary years with their anniversary logos.

Ottawa hosts the 2012 All-Star Game next season but the logo was first unveiled way back in September. The Senators are also celebrating their 20th anniversary, but it seems that logo will be trumped on the jersey this season. Perhaps they could change it after the All-Star break?

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If you've made it this far into this post, you're clearly the kind of person who will be interested in the following minutia. I'm talking about the breakdown of what jerseys were handed out by teams to their draftees.

• 21 teams gave colorful home jerseys to their draftees, 1 of which was seen for the first time (Florida).
• 7 teams gave white road jerseys to their draftees (Buffalo, Colorado, Edmonton, Los Angeles, Nashville San Jose and Vancouver), 3 of which were unveiled at the same time (Edmonton, Los Angeles and Nashville).
• 6 teams gave jerseys that have never been used in a game before, one of which will never be used in a game (Winnipeg).
• And 1 team gave an alternate jersey to its draftee. And that would be Minnesota. Perhaps a privilege of being host of this year's festivities.

I hope that answers all of the jersey- and logo-related questions you had about this year's draft. If it doesn't ask in the comments and I'll do my best to answer.

The Best Sweaters in the West

Back in February, we conducted a series of polls asking readers to rate the jerseys of all six Canadian NHL teams. We ended up with a complete ranking revealed just in time for Hockey Day in Canada. It was a popular post so now we're going to take it to the rest of the league.

We'll do them in groups of six, split up by geography. This set of polls will feature the teams out west: Anaheim, Colorado, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix and San Jose. You can rate each jersey individually with a 10, 5 or 1. (You can either love it, hate it, or be on the fence.)

After all the votes have been cast, an average rating will be determined. These polls will remain open for two weeks, ending Thurs., June 23. When we've voted on all the teams, I'll assemble a complete league ranking of every uniform worn for the 2010-11 season. Happy voting!

Sorry, no comments on this post. Just vote!

Blog note: I am leaving for vacation on June 11. I'll be out at sea and likely without an internet connection for most of the time I'm away. I should be back on June 21 just in time for the NHL Board of Governors meeting — when everything in Winnipeg is expected to become official and final. However, if the team's name and logo are announced before that time, I'll probably be delayed in posting it here. Sorry.

But fret not, there will be other updates to the site in my absence. I'm currently preparing concept posts that will auto-publish on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday while I'm gone so keep checking back throughout the week.

Loose Threads: Kings of All Kinds

Haven't done one of these in a while but there's a laundry list of things I need to get on the blog sooner rather than later. I'll try to keep it brief, but no promises.

Kings Dropping Hints About New Road Jersey?

Since being eliminated from the playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings have been getting their website in shape for next season. As mentioned over the weekend, the purple has been removed, leaving just the black and white logos.

Frozen Fury promo graphic / KingsThey're now starting to promote the 2011 preseason, which includes the annual Frozen Fury event — which usually pits the Kings against the Avalanche at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

A cursory glance at this home page promotional graphic (right) might have you thinking you're looking at a new jersey! The team's "Insider" blogger has indeed said a white version of the current third jersey will become the new road uniform.

In reality, however, it's just the black jersey with a little color inversion magic via Photoshop. But might that be what the new sweater will look like? Will they wear it for the Frozen Fury game?

LA Kings Hockey Fest logo / KingsBut wait, there's more. A few weeks ago, the club announced this year's LA Kings Hockey Fest will be held on Sept. 11. It's one of those fan-centric events every team holds in late summer to get folks jazzed up about the new season.

Why do we care? Well, for one you have a new logo there. But more importantly, I try to keep tabs on these events because teams tend to use them to unveil new jerseys to fans.

With that new road uniform expected from the Kings for the 2011-12 season, it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye out. I've added the event to the Icethetics calendar (sidebar).

In the meantime, I'll continue to watch for an official unveiling date or event. Until then, this is probably our best bet to see it before the regular season begins.

NHL Premiere: 4 teams, 3 countries

As has become tradition, the NHL will open the 2011-12 regular season with a handful of games in front of European crowds in an event called NHL Premiere. Four games will take place over two days amongst four different teams in three different cities. Did you follow that?

The NHL made the announcement a month ago and, since then, some logos have been trickling out. They're basically the same as the NHL Premiere logos used in 2010, customized for next season.

That graphic should quickly explain who's playing who in which cities and when. So you're welcome. But just for the sake of having it in text form: Helsinki, Finland hosts the Ducks and Sabres on Oct. 7. Stockholm, Sweden will see the Rangers play the Kings (10/7) and Ducks (10/8). And for the first time, the NHL will play a regular season game in Germany as Berlin hosts the Kings and Sabres on Oct. 8. 

NHL Premiere 2011 generic logo / KingsFor what it's worth, this generic logo (right) has been featured on the Los Angeles Kings' website as they try to sell tickets to fans eager to make the journey to watch their team open the season on the other side of the world.

As for the logos above, it's clear they're all built on a standard template that varies based on location. The city name, national flag and dates are customized for each event.

Teams playing in these games have customarily worn the logos as jersey patches to recognize which one they're playing in. Only difference is the sponsor logo at the top is replaced by the NHL shield and the date is moved below the circle. Click here to see an example from 2010.

R.I.P.: Victoria Salmon Kings (2004—2011)

As Victoria, B.C. prepares to welcome WHL hockey, they said goodbye to the ECHL on Friday with the folding of the Victoria Salmon Kings franchise — one of the league's originals. (And really, that title should read 1988—2011. I'll explain shortly.)

For now, I throw it to our friend Woody Wommack who covers the ECHL for the Naples Daily News in Southwest Florida. He writes about the Victoria club's sudden demise:

The Victoria Salmon Kings are no longer a part of the ECHL. The team announced Friday that requested and was granted a withdrawal from the league by the league's board of governors.

From the team's official Facebook page: "The Salmon Kings have officially announced today that the team has withdrawn from the ECHL wit h the unanimous approval from the league's Board of Governors."

Victoria isn't leaving for financial reasons, but rather because the team's owners recently purchased a WHL franchise with the intent of moving the team to Victoria next season. The Salmon Kings didn't have a place to play and therefore don't have a franchise.

Rumors continue to swirl about the possibility of the ECHL adding one or more teams to the Western Conference for next season. With the loss of Victoria, the Western Conference only has seven teams.

Now I have a little history lesson which explains how this is like the NHL losing an Original Six franchise. 

When the ECHL launched in 1988, it was called the East Coast Hockey League and made up of just five franchises. In the 23 years since, all of them have either relocated or folded. And believe it or not, the Salmon Kings are the second to hang 'em up for good.

The Erie Panthers were a founding franchise in 1988. They had one good season in 1989-90 but lost a lot more than they won. In 1996, they left Pennsylvania and moved to Louisiana to become the Baton Rouge Kingfish in an ECHL now made up of 21 teams.

But the losing didn't stop in the new city and people don't usually like to pay for hockey tickets to see the other team win. The Kingfish suspended operations in 2003. By this time, the ECHL had a new name and was expanding west with the demise of the West Coast Hockey League. In 2004, a new arena in Victoria was begging for a hockey team. They got the Kingfish and renamed them the Salmon Kings.

Despite spending the last five straight seasons in the playoffs, no deal could be worked out to keep the team together in a new market when the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins arrived Victoria on April 20.

Victoria's new WHL team has yet to be named. But it's safe to say they're dropping the Bruins moniker.