Avs, Cats 3rds Just Days Away

At last! Third jersey news is upon us! The final two from this year's class of third jerseys will be unveiled before the end of the month — the official word from both the Colorado Avalanche and Florida Panthers. 

The Avs' unveiling is happening fast — on Thursday actually. According to new information posted on their web site today, Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny will be on hand to model the new alternate sweaters at a press conference.

Then on Saturday the jerseys will make their on-ice debut when the Avalanche host the Canucks. Here's the excerpt from the site regarding the big event.

Third Jersey Update

With the help of assistant captains Milan Hejduk and Paul Stastny, the Colorado Avalanche will officially unveil the team’s new third jersey on Thursday, Nov. 12. The Avs will then wear the third sweater for the first time on Saturday, Nov. 14 against the Vancouver Canucks.

Check back to ColoradoAvalanche.com on Thursday afternoon for more information, including photos from the unveiling.

For sure I'll be watching that game thanks to my new NHL GameCenter account. Seriously guys, I've never wasted so much time as I have since I started having every NHL game readily available to me.

If you want a sneak peek before Thursday, Icethetics has posted a few leaked images. If you want to be surprised, don't click that link.

Thanks to Dayle and Devin for forwarding along some of the details on the Avs' third.

If you're a Florida Panthers fan, you'll have to wait a little bit longer. Yours is the only team that hasn't endured a real leak of some kind. But the wait will be over come Monday, November 23.

That night the Cats will take to the ice against the Pittsburgh Penguins in their brand new alternate uniforms. Or so says their official web site at least, where they're offering fans a chance to pre-order the new jersey now.

However, they've also dropped a little teaser on that page.

That logo in the background seems to be yet another new Panthers mark for the 2009-10 season.

Some other observations: For one thing, it seems like a safe bet the new third will be blue — sad since the home jersey is already blue. It's been rumored the Cats will go with a template similar to the Wild's red home jersey and from this image, it appears they're joining the Predators in launching a simplified version of their primary logo. (It's missing its whiskers too!)

The release doesn't go so far as to say whether there will be an unveiling of any kind — or if the unveiling will just be the guys skating out onto the ice in the new threads. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks to Ben and Darren for sending along the Panthers' info.

Within the next two weeks, all will be revealed. Just wanted to keep you guys up to date with where we stand.

And of course, count on Icethetics for photos of the Avs jersey on Thursday.

Green is the Way to Go

There are many reasons for going green. Today, a sampling of some of those reasons.

The hue between yellow and blue is quite a popular topic these days. Most of us understand it in the figurative sense — a method of curbing our effect on the slowly heating planet (which hockey fans should be most concerned about as our sport relies heavily on frozen water). Others take it in the literal sense.

Namely, the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, whose color scheme does not include green. They will wear special green jerseys on Friday, Nov. 20 as part of their "Going Green Night."

The announcement was made on the team's web site last week and includes details as well as an example of what this new sweater will look like.

AHL's Rockford IceHogs go green!

I bet the Blackhawks could pull off the green pretty well.

In any case, the release doesn't specify as to whether these jerseys will be auctioned for charity or saved and worn again in the future. All it says is that this is "the first time in which the IceHogs will sport green uniforms."

Also recently announced, Team Canada will be donning green threads at the upcoming IIHF World Junior Championship in Saskatchewan to pay tribute to "Saskatchewan's favourite sports team" — the CFL's Roughriders.

Team Canada's junior club goes green

The official release talks about how this new sweater will be used.

Canada’s National Junior Team will wear the jerseys twice — once in a pre-competition game and once during the championship. Canada is attempting to win its sixth-straight IIHF World Junior Championship gold medal.

The jerseys will be auctioned online (though it doesn't say where the money is going). The event takes place from December 26 until January 5 in Regina and Saskatoon.

Now back to the NHL.

The Minnesota Wild are going green this season for yet another reason having to do with neither the environment nor a pro football franchise. The club is going back to their roots with a new green third jersey — which just debuted last week.

But actually the Wild news I have to share has little if anything to do with that — I'm just trying to keep a theme going.

A type designer Rob Leuschke was interviewed by MyFonts.com for their monthly newsletter. Relevance? Apparently, in 1997, Leuschke was offered his dream job when he was asked to design a word mark for the newly formed Minnesota NHL expansion franchise.

Meet the designer of the original Wild word mark

That's right, he created the Wild's the original word mark which you can still find on the shoulders of the club's road sweater.

Since I was a small boy I had an interest in art and lettering. Handwriting was my favorite subject in first grade and I liked to copy the emblems of professional football, hockey and baseball teams.

I’ve never been much of an illustrator, but graphic drawings — especially those containing letterforms — were always a big pleasure. When I got the call to design the word mark for the Minnesota Wild back in 1997, it was an especially nostalgic thrill to do something I dreamed about as a kid.

Read more about font designer Rob Leuschke at MyFonts.com.

• • •

And finally, breaking away from the green theme entirely, here's an interesting article. It's all about the hockey glove and its unachieved potential as a fashion statement. If that wasn't enough of a reason to click through, perhaps this will do.

(Just a little something to freak you out — on a Friday.)

This Is It

I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that the ECHL's Bakersfield Condors will be paying tribute to Michael Jackson on Friday night. The Condors will be honoring the King of Pop with a specialty jersey.

And this is it.

Bakersfield Condors' Michael Jackson jersey

I mean look at that thing. There's just so much to mock. The condor is wearing Jacko's trademark hat. The sweater numbers are laughably illegible. It even has the suspenders. The best part is that each player will also be wearing a single white glove.

Full details can be found on the Condors' web site. Here's a snippet.

Friday night is for all of those "Smooth Criminals" out there looking to honor the "King of Pop." The Condors players will be playing their part during the game, sporting specialty jerseys which will be auctioned off throughout the night.

The night will include music and King of Pop themed promotions as well, and Condors players will even wear one white glove during the game, some of which will later be available for purchase. To top it off, everyone in the house is eligible to win one of five game-worn tribute jerseys that will be raffled off during the game. 

Also, anybody with the name "Michael Jackson" or "Billie Jean" will receive free entry into the game by showing your ID.

For what it's worth, the Condors are no strangers to pop culture-induced jersey designs that activate your gag reflex. Last January, they joined the Wranglers in ridiculing disgraced Illinois governor Rod Blagojevich (yes, teams from California and Nevada — I don't know why). Both teams dressed up as prison inmates while the refs agreed to wear prison guard getups.

I'm dying to see what this Michael Jackson jersey looks like on the ice tomorrow night (unintentional pun). I'll post pictures afterwards. My thanks to John for the tip.

Blues, Kings 3rd Jersey Skeds

Several teams have their third jersey schedules posted on their web sites. With the help of you, the readers, I've been trying to compile them all here in the sidebar calendar. Thanks to Icethetics reader Allan, we have two more teams to add to the list.

The St. Louis Blues, who introduced their new alternate sweater last fall, will wear it for 15 home games this season. In fact, we already missed the first two times — this past Saturday included.

Anyway, here's the full schedule for your enjoyment.

• Saturday, Oct. 10 - vs Los Angeles
• Saturday, Oct. 24 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Oct. 31 - vs Florida
• Saturday, Nov. 14 - vs San Jose
• Saturday, Nov. 21 - vs NY Islanders
• Saturday, Nov. 28 - vs Detroit
• Friday, Dec. 11 - vs Edmonton
• Friday, Dec. 18 - vs Tampa Bay
• Saturday, Jan. 2 - vs Chicago
• Saturday, Jan. 16 - vs NY Rangers
• Saturday, Jan. 23 - vs Anaheim
• Saturday, Jan. 30 - vs Columbus
• Saturday, Feb. 6 - vs Chicago
• Saturday, Feb. 13 - vs Washington
• Saturday, Apr. 3 - vs Dallas

Basically, if you're a Blues fan and you want to catch them in the third jersey, just buy tickets to a Saturday game and you're good to go.

The Los Angeles Kings also have their third jersey schedule listed on their web site and like the Blues, introduced the new sweater last season. It was worn 12 times in 2008-09 and will see action for 15 home contests in 2009-10.

The full schedule is listed below.

• Tuesday, Oct. 6 - vs San Jose
• Thursday, Oct. 22 - vs Dallas
• Thursday, Nov. 5 - vs Pittsburgh
• Thursday, Dec. 10 - vs Phoenix
• Saturday, Dec. 12 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Jan. 2 - vs Washington
• Monday, Jan. 11 - vs San Jose
• Thursday, Jan. 14 - vs Anaheim
• Tuesday, Jan. 19 - vs San Jose
• Tuesday, Feb. 2 - vs NY Rangers
• Tuesday, Feb. 4 - vs Anaheim
• Saturday, Mar. 6 - vs Montreal
• Saturday, Mar. 27 - vs Dallas
• Saturday, Apr. 3 - vs Anaheim
• Thursday, Apr. 8 - vs Phoenix

For the Kings, the third will see action on mostly Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and will primarily see divisional opponents. Anaheim, San Jose and Dallas will all face the Kings alternate sweater every time they visit L.A. this season.

Avs 3rd Leaked (Again... Sort of)

Received an interesting photo this afternoon. I'm not sure what to make of it. It appears to be a cell picture of the new Colorado Avalanche third jersey hanging in a sporting goods store.

Couple of problems with it thought. First, take a look, then I'll give you my thoughts. The photo comes from an anonymous Icethetics reader.

Possible Avs third jersey?

First off, the collar proves this is not an authentic or premier Reebok Edge jersey. I'd go short of calling it on a knock-off since there does appear to be a rack full of them. My bet is it's a youth jersey.

Take a look at the NHL Shop and you'll see that the collars on the kids' jerseys get a different treatment across the board.

Example of Reebok Edge youth jersey

It looks fairly close to what we see in the Avs photo above. But aside from that, the design is exactly what's been rumored in all the computer-generated mock-ups that Icethetics has posted.

As for this photo in particular, the email simply said it was from a "shop in Colorado." No specifics. (Also, it was taken with a BlackBerry.)

More or less, I say this is what the Avalanche will take to the ice wearing in a few weeks when they officially debut their alternate sweater. What do you guys think?

(By the way, I know a promised concepts for my next post, but this was actual news! You'll get concepts before the weekend is out. More than you can handle.)