Phoenix Coyotes Getting New Name

Arena deal requires team to be called 'Arizona Coyotes'

The Phoenix Coyotes — who haven't played in the city of Phoenix since leaving the America West Arena in 2003 — will have a new name in 2013. The city of Glendale, Ariz. approved an arena management deal on Tuesday that should help keep the team in town for the foreseeable future. Among other things, that deal requires the team to be renamed the Arizona Coyotes.

At the moment, the name change is not quite official. The sale to Greg Jamison still has to be completed and there are plenty of questions surrounding that these days. But assuming that all goes through as planned, I would expect the name changed to be announced as the same press conference as the sale.

Here's the exact wording from the arena agreement (page 40):

The Team Owner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to have the name of the Team changed to the “Arizona Coyotes” as soon as is commercially feasible.

New owner has planned for name change all along

The Coyotes' coming name change isn't hot off the presses or anything. It's been talked about for years (though I haven't really gotten it on the record here until now). In fact — more recently — Jamison has been talking about changing the name to Arizona Coyotes since at least June.

According to a report from CBS Sports:

It looks as if the Phoenix Coyotes will change their name although they will have to wait a year. Jamison wants to call the team the Arizona Coyotes, joining the NHL's Arizona Cardinals and baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks as professional sports teams seeking a statewide appeal.

Could they change more than just the name?

The logical next question I have to ask is whether Jamison would take this opportunity to change more than just the name. Could the team's whole image use a makeover considering the drama it's been forced to endure in recent years?

Franchise logo history: Winnipeg Jets 1979–90 | 1990–96 | Phoenix Coyotes 1996–2003

If so, it would be the franchise's fifth logo in 34 years (not including the WHA). The Winnipeg Jets joined the NHL in 1979 and changed logos 11 years later in 1990. The team then relocated to Arizona in 1996, a move which required a new logo to go with a new name. The Coyotes' current look was introduced in 2003, just seven years after that relocation.

What do you think? Keep the logos and swap out Phoenix for Arizona? Or go back to the drawing board and hopefully find something that could stick for decades to come?

More Third Jersey Schedules for 2011-12

The Icethetics Season Preview will continue, but news has been taking precendence for the last couple days. Today, we have a handful of official third jersey schedules that a few teams have released for the 2011-12 season (in order of their jersey ranking).

The Minnesota Wild are set to bring back the NHL's only green sweater for its third season. The club recently released the third jersey schedule for the 2011-12 season and it's the first of five I have to share with you today.

The Wild's alternate uniform, unveiled in 2009, came in at 30th overall in the Icethetics NHL Uniform Ranking for 2010-11, which came out on Monday. The team will use it 15 times this season, the league maximum for third jerseys.

John MaddenHere's a look at all the dates you can expect to see them:

• Sat., Oct. 8 – vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Tues., Oct. 18 – vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
• Sat., Oct. 29 – vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Fri., Nov. 25 – vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Mon., Nov. 28 – vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Wed., Dec. 14 – vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Sat., Dec. 17 – vs. New York Islanders
• Sat., Dec. 31 – vs. Phoenix Coyotes
• Sat., Jan. 21 – vs. Dallas Stars
• Thurs., Feb. 16 – vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Sun., Feb. 19 – vs. Boston Bruins
• Sun., Mar. 4 – vs. Colorado Avalanche
• Sat., Mar. 17 – vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Tues., Mar. 27 – vs. New York Rangers
• Sat., Apr. 7 – vs. Phoenix Coyotes

All of these dates are home games.

And you'll notice the schedule includes St. Patrick's Day (March 17). As I mentioned, the Wild are currently the only NHL club with a green sweater in their arsenal.

The Buffalo Sabres are keeping their new third jersey around a little longer. In our NHL Uniform Ranking, the sweater finished 34th out of 90. Not bad but not great either.

On Wednesday, the Sabres confirmed that the sweater will be back for at least another season as they released a schedule of when it's to be worn during the 2011-12 season. It was launched last year as part of the club's 40th anniversary celebrations.

Jason PominvilleAccording to the team, the royal blue uniform will be seen in eight games this season, six at home and two on the road.

• Thurs., Oct. 27 – vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Sat., Nov. 5 – at Ottawa Senators
• Wed., Nov. 16 – vs. New Jersey Devils
• Sat., Dec. 3 – at Nashville Predators
• Fri., Dec. 9 – vs. Florida Panthers
• Tues., Jan. 3 – vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Fri., Feb. 10 – vs. Dallas Stars
• Wed., Mar. 14 – vs. Colorado Avalanche

It's surprisingly limited use for a third jersey. The NHL limit is about 15 games a season and most teams stick pretty close to that. Plus it was a pretty popular jersey last year.

In addition to these dates, the Sabres also said they'll wear their white road jerseys at home on Fri., Jan. 13 to accommodate the Maple Leafs sporting their new alternates that night.

By the way, one of the features of this jersey last year was the logo that was used as the club's anniversary mark — the classic Sabres logo with 1970 between the crossed swords. I assume that's staying as it's generic enough to not necessarily refer to the 40th anniversary. But I'll keep an eye on it anyway.

In 45th place in the Ranking — dead center — was the black Carolina Hurricanes third jersey, which is entering its fourth season in use.

The Canes recently released their third jersey schedule for the 2011-12 season. It includes 14 dates — all at home — one of which was just this week.

Jiri TlustyHere's when you can expect to see the black sweaters thoughout the new season:

• Wed., Oct. 12 – vs. Boston Bruins
• Tues., Oct. 25 – vs. Ottawa Senators
• Fri., Nov. 4 – vs. Washington Capitals
• Fri., Nov. 18 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Wed., Nov. 23 – vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Tues., Nov. 29 – vs. Florida Panthers
• Thurs., Dec. 1 – vs. New York Rangers
• Thurs., Dec. 15 – vs. Vancouver Canucks
• Wed., Dec. 21 – vs. Phoenix Coyotes
• Thurs., Dec. 29 – vs. Toronto Maple Leafs
• Fri., Jan. 6 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Fri., Jan. 20 – vs. Washington Capitals
• Mon., Feb. 20 – vs. Washington Capitals
• Sat., Feb. 25 – vs. Florida Panthers

Again with the Sabres on everyone's third jersey schedule. And it looks like the Capitals won't be seeing the Hurricanes' red jersey at all this season.

If I'm being cynical, I'd say this schedule may have something to do with selling jerseys for the holidays. Rather than being evenly spread out over the season, 10 of the 14 occasions are bunched up before or near Christmas. Just saying.

Coming in at 60th in our Ranking was the new third jersey launched by the Columbus Blue Jackets last year around Thanksgiving. This will be its second season in use.

On Wednesday, the team released its schedule for the special uniform during the 2011-12 season. It will see action in 12 games this year — 10 at home and two on the road. The first time will be against the Ducks on Halloween weekend.

R.J. UmbergerHere's how all of the Jackets' third jersey nights shake out:

• Sun., Oct. 30 – vs. Anaheim Ducks
• Sat., Nov. 5 – at Philadelphia Flyers
• Sat., Nov. 12 – vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Fri., Nov. 25 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Sat., Dec. 10 – vs. Boston Bruins
• Sat., Dec. 17 – vs. Tampa Bay Lightning
• Sat., Jan. 14 – vs. San Jose Sharks
• Sun., Feb. 12 – vs. Anaheim Ducks
• Sat., Feb. 18 – vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Sun., Feb. 26 – at Pittsburgh Penguins
• Sun., Mar. 11 – vs. St. Louis Blues
• Wed., Mar. 28 – vs. Detroit Red Wings

Both times the Blue Jackets will sport their thirds on the road will be in neighboring state Pennsylvania. Interesting. Anyone want to talk about realignment? (Kidding!)

For the record, the Jackets still have their original third jersey launch page up on their website if you want more details about its design and such.

We finish with one of the lowest-rated jerseys in our 2010-11 Ranking. The Phoenix Coyotes alternate is 79th of 90. Ouch.

On Friday, in the Desert Dog Blog on the Coyotes' official website, it was announced that the team will wear the third jersey for every Thursday home game as well as the Friday after Thanksgiving. This will be be its fourth season in use.

Derek MorrisThey don't actually list the dates on their website, but based on the days they mention, here's how it all works out:

• Thurs., Oct. 20 – vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Thurs., Oct. 27 – vs. New Jersey Devils
• Thurs., Nov. 3 – vs. Nashville Predators
• Thurs., Nov. 10 – vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Fri., Nov. 25 – vs. Vancouver Canucks
• Thurs., Dec. 15 – vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Thurs., Jan. 19 – vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Thurs., Feb. 9 – vs. Calgary Flames
• Thurs., Mar. 1 – vs. Calgary Flames
• Thurs., Mar. 8 – vs. Minnesota Wild
• Thurs., Mar. 22 – vs. Colorado Avalanche
• Thurs., Mar. 29 – vs. San Jose Sharks

The Devils and Canadiens are the only Eastern Conference teams set to see the black thirds in action. The Flames will be the only team to see it twice.

The leaping coyote sweater is entering its fourth season in use by Phoenix, despite its unpopularity with Icethetics readers.

That's all I have for today. This post was supposed to go up on Thursday, but I just haven't had time to get it all assembled. I've also been aiming to wrap up the Icethetics Season Preview which has been a pretty spectacular cluster this year. I'll get there but...

All of that is taking a backseat next week to the launch of the IceHL Jersey Design Contest. We need to get that off the ground sooner rather than later. So I'll probably spend the rest of the weekend getting that ready to open up early in the week.

Update on Sunday · Oct 16 · 2011 | 6:02 PM PDT by Chris

I initially left the Tampa Bay Lightning out of this post because they haven't officially released a third jersey schedule that I know of. That said, over the last few years, they've typically used the blue BOLTS jersey exclusively for weekend home games.

The team has said the jersey will carry over following the recent rebranding, but obviously the shoulder patches — which featured the old primary logo — are going away. I'm not sure if they'll be replaced with the new logo or if they'll just be removed completely. The third jerseys now for sale online have no shoulder patches at all. But we'll have to wait for a game to know for sure.

Again, this 13-game schedule is only theoretical. It's based on what the Lightning have done in the past, so I can't guarantee accuracy.

• Sat., Oct. 22 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Sat., Oct. 29 – vs. Winnipeg Jets
• Sat., Nov. 19 – vs. New Jersey Devils
• Sat., Nov. 26 – vs. Florida Panthers
• Sat., Dec. 3 – vs. New York Rangers
• Sat., Dec. 31 – vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Sun., Jan. 15 – vs. Pittsburgh Penguins
• Sat., Feb. 4 – vs. Florida Panthers
• Sat., Feb. 18 – vs. Washington Capitals
• Sat., Mar. 10 – vs. Carolina Hurricanes
• Sat., Mar. 17 – vs. St. Louis Blues
• Sat., Mar. 24 – vs. New York Islanders
• Sat., Mar. 31 – vs. Winnipeg Jets

Like I said, this isn't official, but obviously I'll be keeping an eye on it as the season progresses. I'm especially curious to see what changes they make to make it part of the new look (current blue pants or black shells, for instance).

By the way, it'll be another couple of weeks before there are enough photos out there for me to update the Jersey Galleries, but it will happen. That's easily my favorite section of Icethetics.

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.

Saying Goodbye

Wednesday night brought a couple of possible "last times" in the NHL.

For example, with the Red Wings' sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes, it could turn out to be the last time fans gathered to watch an NHL game in Glendale, Ariz. Rumors have run rampant that any deal to keep the team in the desert has dried up (I intended that pun) — paving the way for a relocation back to frosty Winnipeg.

Those pesky rumors also suggest that such an announcement would be imminent as soon as the club's playoff run ended — which it has, in rather short order. It could be today (Thursday) or even as soon as tomorrow. On one hand I'm hoping they don't move because I can only imagine the devastation for the few hardcore Coyotes fans. But then again, I'd be fascinated to see another rebranding this offseason — and thrilled to see Canadians getting one of their teams back.

Another last time: If the Tampa Bay Lightning don't turn things around in their series against the Penguins, Wednesday night could prove to be their last time wearing black jerseys for the foreseeable future. Icethetics readers are well aware of the rebranding efforts unveiled in January, which eliminated the black from the team's identity

Imagine if the Bolts were to win the Cup wearing black (again). It would make it a lot harder to see them completely lose that color scheme in the following season. But if they keep playing the way they have been, that won't be an issue. They face elimination in Game 5 first thing Saturday in Pittsburgh.

One more thing hockey fans are saying goodbye to are the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins. It's official. They played their final game on April 2 in a 6-4 loss to the Spokane Chiefs.

At a media conference today, the league announced the sale and relocation of the club to Victoria, B.C. The ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings are expected to be sold or folded, according to the Times-Colonist. Either way, it boils down to two groups of fans losing their teams.

Chilliwack Bruins third jersey / BruinsA website has already launched — www.vicwhl.com — for the Victoria franchise. By the way, the Chilliwack Bruins' website has been wiped from cyberspace and you'll find no reference to the team on the WHL's website. It's kind of annoying, actually. But I digress.

Currently, the new owners of Victoria's WHL team are holding a poll on their website asking fans what name they prefer for the team. The choices are Victoria Capitals, Dragons, Force, Royals, Tide and Thunder. (They do not offer a "none of the above" option. But Royals would probably be for the best.)

My guess is that poll couldn't matter less. The jerseys are probably already headed into production along with a load of knick-knacks with the new name and logo — whatever that may be. Though it could just be my cynical side saying that.

What else are we saying goodbye to in 2011?

Flames Bringing Vintage Back

Olli Jokinen #21The Calgary Flames have officially stated their third jersey intentions for the 2010-11 campaign. And it's all about bringing retro back.

The Flames made the announcement via Facebook today. Here's an excerpt:

The Calgary Flames announced today their third jersey for the 2010-2011 season will be the Flames Vintage jersey. In celebration of the Flames 30th Anniversary season this vintage jersey was worn five times in games versus the other five Canadian teams.

The new third jersey for the 2010-2011 season will feature Vintage jersey striping and colours on the new innovative fabrics and cut that was introduced by Reebok for the 2007-2008 season. The Edge Uniform System was introduced to better complement today’s game and to help improve player performance.

The third jersey will be worn up to 15 games next season.

The release also mentioned that tonight was the final time the Flames would wear the vintage jersey this season. After the game, the jerseys were handed out to a couple dozen lucky fans, selected at random.

So, what's changing? The biggest thing is that it will be a Reebok Edge jersey next season. It wasn't for the five games in which it was worn this season. Also, Olli Jokinen won't be wearing it, it's probably safe to say. But most importantly, Flames and throwback jersey fans alike will get to see more of it!

Now if only they could put that flaming "A" on the front, that would really take us back.

The Flames have also posted an article on their website about the third jersey. It has no new information. However, there is this cool locker room photo.

Calgary Flames vintage locker room

The only thing disappointing about this announcement is we won't be anticipating a big unveiling of a fresh new jersey design. In fact, it flies in the face of what Flames president and CEO Ken King said some time ago. That being they were in the process of designing a black third jersey with a brand new logo.

He said it would've been "a different look" for the Flames, and I always think that's cool to see. But it looks like they'll be putting that off for a while. Maybe we'll get a look at some of the prototypes one day. Fingers crossed.

Coyotes Go Green for Charity

I'm glad that news came today, otherwise this next bit of info would've been by itself at the top of Icethetics for a while. And that would have been sad.

Coyotes go green!The Phoenix Coyotes will be auctioning off another set of special edition, autographed practice jerseys — this time to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.

I know I mocked them the last time they did something like this, and it didn't go over well. But this time I'm keeping my mouth shut. Is it silly? Yes. Is it for a good cause? Yes. Let it be.

Here's what the Yotes say about the auction:

Each Coyotes player has autographed a one-of-a-kind St. Patrick’s Day jersey with his name and number on the back. The jerseys will be available for bidding beginning at 9 AM Thursday, March 11. The auction will close at 10 PM on Tuesday, March 23.

Proceeds from the auction will benefit Coyotes Charities, which is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life throughout Arizona communities by supporting non-profit organizations that promote healthcare, education, cultural arts and sports-related programs for children.

Also take note of the number on the front in a little four-leaf clover, leaving no stone unturned for the leprechaun coyote (he's even gold!).

Bryzgalov's leprechaun jerseyNow I can't let you go without seeing the back of these bad boys. It's got the little leprechaun hat and everything.

The good news for Bryz and his teammates is that they won't actually have to wear these in public. They're simply being customized, autographed, and sold to the highest bidder.

And if you want a shot at being one of those bidders, you can find all you need to know at auction.nhl.com. They even have a Sean Burke #1 "alumni jersey" on offer. Interesting.

All right, that about wraps it up, but I do have one more link for you. If you'd like to see the full jersey design, MVPToday.com has you covered. Though beware their green is not quite the green seen in these photos.

Thanks to Dan for letting us know about this.