AHL: New Thirds for Bears, Stars

While I was away on vacation last week a couple of AHL teams unveiled new third jerseys.

The Hershey Bears announced they are bringing back another retro look as their new alternate sweater for the 2011-12 season. It will make its game debut on Saturday, Oct. 15 for the club's home opener as they host the Norfolk Admirals.

On Wednesday, the Bears tweeted a graphic that showed the design, though an actual photo of the jersey itself has yet to surface. It features the "skating bear" logo that's been seen on a number of sweaters throughout the club's long history.

The Bears previously wore a maroon version of this jersey as their alternate. Presumably they're switching to white to make it easier to wear at home. In the AHL, teams wear dark uniforms on the road, so if a club wants to don a dark alternate on their home ice, they need to work out logistics with the visitor in advance.

Lately, it seems whenever a new Reebok Edge jersey is introduced, the game we play is which NHL team's template is it based on? I'll give you a minute. If you came up with the Buffalo Sabres home/road jerseys, you got it. The colors may be different, but the design is the same.

AHL Stars' new jersey and logoThe Texas Stars are also introducing a new white third jersey this season. 

Like the Bears, the Stars unveiled their new sweater online on Wednesday. But just over a week earlier, they first showed the new alternate logo seen on the shoulder. It's a wordmark that reads TEXAS with a star replacing the X.

Though this week's press release doesn't mention a specific date for the new sweater's debut, it does reference tonight's home opener a number of times. I'll keep an eye out for game photos.

Now a couple of pull quotes. Here's what the team says about the new secondary logo:

The new design was developed in coordination with the Texas Stars marketing department and the official jersey provider, Reebok. The new design will feature a centered two-tone gold star as the ‘X’ in Texas and will be comprised of the team’s existing colors with the addition of a new dark gold. 

“We are excited to unveil the new secondary logo for the Texas Stars,” said Texas Stars President Rick McLaughlin. “The new design is important to our team’s branding and establishing a new way to identify us. The new design looks great and will help us stand out in the league.”

And the new jersey:

The alternate jerseys are primarily white and dark green, with gold accents. The Texas Stars primary logo serves as the jersey crest, while the Stars new alternate logo (unveiled earlier in the off-season) serves as the shoulder patch on the new jerseys. The nameplates will consist of dark green lettering on the backs of the jersey.

The numbers on the sleeves and the backs of the sweater will be dark green with gold trim. The Stars will wear black pants, black gloves and white helmets with their new alternate jerseys.

“We are excited to unveil the new alternate jersey for the Texas Stars,” said Texas Stars President Rick McLaughlin. “The new jersey is an important extension of our brand in central Texas, using a combination of our original logo and our new secondary logo. Fans will be able to identify us in a whole new way.”

This one uses the template of the Phoenix Coyotes' third jersey. It's not a bad look and I like that they're using their actual logo on the front of this one rather than the text they use on their home and road sweaters much like the Dallas Stars.

UPDATE (9:05 PM): The Stars did not debut their third jersey during tonight's 7-0 blowout of the Oklahoma City Barons. Guess we'll have to keep an eye on them over the coming weeks to get a glimpse of it in action. Their next home game is Friday, Oct. 14.

Any AHL fans reading? What do you think of these new thirds? 

Around the AHL, Again

Last week I said the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins would have their own post later in the week. Well that didn't happen.

The team unveiled three new specialty jerseys over a week ago, each of which pays tribute to a group of public servants who put their lives on the line every day. Photos were posted on Penguins' Twitter account.

I've also collected them here for your convenience.

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins unveil firefighter, police and military jerseys

The firefighter-themed sweater (left) will be worn on Fri., Dec. 3 when the Pens host the Binghamton Senators, who will be wearing their police-themed uniforms that night.

The Penguins also have a police jersey (center) which will be worn once in Binghamton, presumably when the B-Sens will wear a firefighter sweater of their own. There will be one other home date for the Pens' police jersey, but no details have been announced yet.

Finally, the military jersey (right) will be worn on Sat., Feb. 26 when the Baby Pens host the Norfolk Admirals. I'll try to keep an eye on these dates so as to share game action photos at some point.

Thanks to Shawn S. for the tip on these.

---

Sharks debut third jerseyThe Worcester Sharks have debuted their new 5th anniversary alternate jersey.

The new teal sweater is based on their NHL affiliate, the San Jose Sharks, with the anniversary logo on the chest. The uniform hit the ice for the first time on Oct. 23 when the Sharks hosted the Providence Bruins.

Something interesting I've noticed about Worcester's uniforms: While many AHL teams use their NHL affiliate's primary mark as a shoulder patch, the Sharks use shield version which isn't featured on any of San Jose sweaters — only the pants.

Not sure if these jerseys will be used beyond this season. Though if they are, the crest will need replacing. Maybe they can use that shield logo?

---

Texas Stars' pink jerseyThe Texas Stars held their Pink in the Rink Night on Saturday.

They sported a special sweater to mark the event and unfortunately, this particular pink jersey has to be among the worst we've ever seen.

Maybe it's the shade of pink. Or the ribbon standing in for an A. Hard to be sure. And for the record, the Stars (6-3-0) lost 3-1 to the Houston Aeros (3-5-1) while wearing it. Coincidence?

If you're still interested in looking at this jersey, the Stars promoted the event with this rendering on their website for a time. My thanks to Brian G. for the tip.

---

Milwaukee Admirals' pink jerseyIn stark contrast, the Milwaukee Admirals have put forth one of the best pink jerseys in recent memory.

Their Pink in the Rink Night was held Oct. 23 and they were actually successful, playing to a 3-1 win over the Abbotsford Heat. As is typical, the team is auctioning off the pink sweaters with proceeds benefiting a breast cancer research/awareness organization.

What's weird is that they have one autographed by Felicity Huffman that you can bid on. How random. (Ok, not really if you can read, but whatever.)

But back to what I was saying before. Brilliant job with this design. Sure it's pink, but it doesn't make a spectacle of itself or go out of its way to look feminine. It's still an ice hockey sweater, it just happens to be two-tone pink. Get over it.

Although maybe it's the pirate skull coloring my judgment. Also, it uses the same numbering style as the Tampa Bay Lightning did in the early days. Hm.

Thank you Kent S. for the tip.

That's really all I can muster for now. There should be another post coming soon dealing with more CHL third jerseys. Keep an eye out.