Third Jerseys in the 2013 Playoffs

There's been a lot of chatter on Twitter this week regarding the trio of teams that have opted to wear their third jerseys during the 2013 Stanley Cup Playoffs. For those of you not on Twitter, I present this brief blog post.

The Toronto Maple Leafs, San Jose Sharks and Minnesota Wild are all sporting their alternate uniforms when they play at home this postseason. It's certainly nothing as many teams have done it in recent years — the Sharks included. And the BlackArmor has served them well this year as they swept the Canucks.

For the Wild it was their first time in the playoffs since 2008. I say "was" because they were eliminated by the Blackhawks last night. And by the way, 2008 the only season since 1996 where no NHL team has had a third jersey. That was the inaugural season of Reebok Edge.

The Maple Leafs, I believe, have made a habit of sporting their thirds for the playoffs in recent years. Well, not "recent" as the last time they qualified was 2004. But between 1999 and 2004, their old white alternate got an extra workout in the postseason.

Should we read anything into these decisions? The Kings wore their black thirds in the 2010 and 2011 playoffs before making them their home uniform in 2011-12. But I wouldn't call that typical. The Sharks are supposedly making some changes in the fall but I doubt they'd drop the teal. And Minnesota is only looking at a new road sweater for now.

That said, I'm fairly sure the NHL only permits teams to use two jerseys during the playoffs. So if the Sharks were to win the Cup, they'd only be able to do so wearing black or white.

What's your take? Do you like seeing third jerseys in the playoffs? Or should they be reserved for the regular season only?

When Hockey Sweaters Go Green

It's a time for green beer and greener hockey jerseys. Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone! The only way I can think to celebrate here on Icethetics is by sharing the many green warm-up jerseys being worn around the NHL this weekend. Enjoy!

First up — alphabetically — are the Boston Bruins. On Saturday night, ahead of their game against the Capitals, the Bs skated out for warm-ups sporting a color far from their existing palette.

Photos from Boston Bruins via social media

The team shared a number of photos of these green jerseys online today. A shot of the uniforms hanging in the locker room showed up on Instagram along with another of Shawn Thornton on ice. Then on Twitter, they shared a shot of Dougie Hamilton inspecting his own green threads.

Photos from Boston Bruins official website

UPDATE (3/17): Following last night's game, the Bs added a handful of action shots on their website.

The Columbus Blue Jackets couldn't keep their Irish-themed jerseys off of social media. The team suited up in green ahead of their scoreless affair with the Coyotes on Saturday.

Photos by Alison Pegg via Twitter

Team publicist Alison Pegg was perhaps the most prolific sharer of photos, including these shots of the sweaters from the locker room and auction table. She even offered up a moving picture through Vine. Of course green was not absent from the official Twitter account of the Blue Jackets.

And Icethetics reader Dan Caron even shared some of his own photos with us on Twitter. Needless to say, Columbus' St. Patrick's Day jersey was well-covered on social media.

The Dallas Stars were entertaining as ever with their St. Patty's jerseys on Saturday night. No surnames needed. Just add some Ireland-inspired nicknames to the backs of these bad boys.

Photos from Dallas Stars via Facebook

The Stars posted a picture of every player's jersey on their Facebook page. I pulled a couple of my personal favorites to post above — "McJagger" for Jaromir Jagr and "O'Romeo" for Aaron Rome. They're up for auction starting today if you find yourself in need of one.

The Edmonton Oilers are hosting the Predators tonight and may be among those teams donning green duds during warm-ups this weekend. On Instagram, the club posted a shot of a St. Patrick's Day prize pack which includes a green Oilers practice jersey. They also shared pictures of more St. Patty's-themed team merchandise on Twitter.

Conspicuous on this St. Patrick's Day was the noticeable absence of a recent tradition of the New Jersey Devils. Since 2010, the Devils have sported a throwback jersey which featured their original colors — red and green — every year for a home game on or near St. Patrick's Day. But not this year. And they were home hosting the Canadiens last night and everything. Would've been a perfect game for it.

Beating everyone to the St. Patrick's Day punch were the New York Islanders, who celebrated in green last weekend, when they hosted the Capitals on March 9.

Photo from New York Islanders official website

The Isles posted another great photo on their Facebook page after the game last night.

Photo from New York Islanders via Facebook

The jerseys were auctioned online leading up the big game.

Photo from Ottawa Senators via Instagram

UPDATE (3/17): The Ottawa Senators also joined the St. Patty's Day celebrations with the above photo posted on Instagram this morning. I presume they'll be wearing them during warm-ups today prior to their game later against the Jets.

Photos from Ottawa Senators official website

The Sens posted a couple of photos of the players skating in green on their website.

Later today, the Pittsburgh Penguins will host the Bruins. But before they do, the players will skate a little while wearing the green practice jerseys seen below.

Photos from Pittsburgh Penguins

According to the team: "The unique warm-up jerseys feature a green skating Penguin crest with Celtic lettering and numbering — and shamrocks on each shoulder." They will be put up for online auction beginning Friday.

Photos from Pittsburgh Penguins official website

UPDATE (3/17): This morning, the Penguins shared some more shots of the green on Instagram. There's one in the locker room and another of Craig Adams on the ice. Later, they posted a few more in the game's photo gallery.

UPDATE (3/17): The San Jose Sharks have been celebrating the Irish all week. The Sharks Foundation has been coordinating auctions of these green jerseys on March 9 and 14.

Photos from San Jose Sharks via Twitter and Facebook

Just today, the team tweeted a shot of the players wearing green at a recent morning skate. They've been a bit more prolific on Facebook with close-ups of the backs of these special sweaters, showing Patrick Marleau as well as Douglas Murray and others. (Thanks to @puckguy14 for the help!)

The Tampa Bay Lightning also joined the ranks of St. Patrick's Day teams on Saturday night by warming up in green before taking on the Hurricanes. The team did share some photos with us as well.

The Bolts posted some close-up photos on Instagram and a shot of the full locker room decked out in green gear on Twitter. There are several photos of players wearing the sweaters on the team's website.

Photos from Tampa Bay Lightning official website

Thanks to everyone who pitched in with links on Twitter yesterday! Let me know if you've spotted any teams I've missed and I'll be sure to add them. I'm also working on a separate post to highlight St. Patrick's Day jerseys around the minor leagues.

UPDATE (3/17): Also joining the St. Patty's Day fray were the Washington Capitals, who hit the ice in green tonight prior to defeating the Buffalo Sabres in the nation's capital.

Photos from Washington Capitals

Earlier tonight, the team tweeted a shot of a couple of jerseys hanging up in the locker room. Later, all of the green sweaters were on display at the arena so they could be auctioned off. And for more photos, check out the game's photo gallery.

Weekend Odds & Ends

Brighten your Monday with these uniform musings from the second weekend of the NHL season.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have updated their third jersey and officially retired their old logo. The Bolts hit the ice on Friday night in the alternate sweaters which now feature their new primary logo on the shoulders. And because they're celebrating their 20th anniversary this season, that patch has been added as well.

Speaking of new jersey patches, the San Jose Sharks debuted the memorial logo that honors the team's original owner, George Gund III. The only problem is that the Sharks' uniforms are already pretty cluttered, so there's not a whole lot of room for an extra patch. It's worse for the captains and alternate captains, as you can see with Joe Thornton's jersey.

Nominations for the best-looking hockey games of EVER. I know which one Don Cherry is voting for.

No, the St. Louis Blues weren't that excited about the arrival of new teammate Wade Redden on Sunday night. The players all wore No. 6 jerseys during warm-ups to honor St. Louis sports legend Stan Musial. Unfortunately, numbers had to be added to the front of the jerseys to identify the players. Something we never want to see again.

While we're on the subject of unique warm-up jerseys, Icethetics reader Alec Dominguez wrote in to let us know that the Florida Panthers have been wearing "7th man" nameplates recently.

This photo of Alex Kovalev was taken prior to Thursday night's game against the Senators.

Each player wears his own number. It's just the nameplate that's there to honor the patient fans who endured three months of idiocy in the form of the NHL's fourth lockout in two decades.

Hey, bright side. At least they acknowledge they're trying our patience. I figured they would just ignore it.

By the way, if you've noticed any uniform changes or unique warm-up sweaters I've managed to overlook, please drop me a line. I'll either update this blog post or start a new one.

And finally...

This is one of the weirdest things I've seen so far this season. On their website splash page, the New York Islanders are promoting their game on Super Bowl Sunday with a football helmet featuring their logo. It's just wrong. Flat out wrong.

Update on Tuesday · Jan 29 · 2013 | 9:51 AM PST by Chris

This isn't from the weekend, but it's in the same vein as the Panthers' story above. On opening night, Jan. 21, the Columbus Blue Jackets came out for warm-ups all wearing the same jersey. It was No. 1 with "THANK YOU FANS" across the back. See? They still like our money us.

But I kid. These jerseys were actually pretty cool, a nice gesture from the team. And during the game, the jerseys were raffled off to fans.

Thanks to Dan Caron for the tweet tip. Find more photos on the team's website.

Sharks Announce 3rd Jersey Schedule

We're still months away from the start of the season, but the San Jose Sharks have already announced third jersey dates for the 2011-12 season. They'll wear it 15 times, all at home, mostly on Thursday nights.

The black sweater was launched in 2008 under the nickname BlackArmor during a brief sponsorship agreement with Seagate. The Sharks wore it for home games throughout their 2011 Stanley Cup playoff run.

Patrick MarleauHere's the new schedule from the team's official website:

• Thurs., Nov. 3 – vs Pittsburgh Penguins
• Thurs., Nov. 10 – vs. Minnesota Wild
• Thurs., Nov. 17 – vs. Detroit Red Wings
• Thurs., Dec. 1 – vs. Montreal Canadiens
• Thurs., Dec. 8 – vs. Dallas Stars
• Thurs., Dec. 15 – vs. Colorado Avalanche
• Fri., Dec. 23 – vs. Los Angeles Kings
• Thurs., Jan. 5 – vs. Columbus Blue Jackets
• Thurs., Jan. 19 – vs. Ottawa Senators
• Thurs., Feb. 2 – vs. Dallas Stars
• Fri., Feb. 10 – vs. Chicago Blackhawks
• Thurs., Mar. 1 – vs. Buffalo Sabres
• Thurs., Mar. 15 – vs. Nashville Predators
• Thurs., Mar. 22 – vs. Boston Bruins
• Sat., Apr. 7 – vs. Los Angeles Kings

The Kings and Stars will each face the Sharks in black for two of their three visits to San Jose. Five of the 15 games are against Eastern Conference foes.

Of course, as the team's website notes, the above schedule is subject to change. And not that you care, but in the odd case that you wanted a quick link back to the Sharks' 2010-11 third jersey schedule, here it is.

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.