Loose Threads: New in the Minors

Been a bit slow news wise, lately. But there have been a few new jerseys introduced around the minor leagues I thought you guys might want to talk about. One of the best alternates in the minors has to be this one.

The ECHL's Toledo Walleye have long been mocked for their joke of a '90s-style logo — a toothless fish angrily wielding a hockey stick. (Not really helped by the addition of a Santa hat, currently seen on their website.) But I think they nailed it with this new alternate sweater. Great use of their colors and a classic design inspired by everyone's all-time favorite — the Chicago Blackhawks, who are also their NHL affiliate.

Over in the AHL, former Icethetics concept contributor Aaron Masik designed this specialty jersey for the San Antonio Rampage.

As the team's designer, Masik designs a lot of the Rampage's specialty sweaters. This one (right) was for the club's 8th annual Salute to the Badges Night.

It was worn Sat., Dec. 10 against the Peoria Rivermen, a game which San Antonio won 2-1.

Elsewhere, following the NHL Winter Classic between the Flyers and Rangers (really enjoying this season's installment of 24/7 on HBO, by the way), the sheet of ice at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia will be used once more by the AHL.

The Adirondack Phantoms and Hershey Bears will meet on Jan. 6 for an outdoor game. According to the Phantoms' website, both teams will wear special jerseys to mark the occasion.

The Bears unveiled theirs last week. You can see a rendering on their Facebook page. As for the Phantoms, I haven't been able to track down anything yet. Feel free to share a link if you've got one.

NHL Recycling 2011 All-Star Jerseys?

Sens Town posts photo of apparently leaked 2012 All-Star jerseys — which look quite familiar

According to Ottawa-based blog Sens Town, the 2012 NHL All-Stars will wear the same uniforms they donned in 2011 in Raleigh. The blog claims to have "gotten ahold" of photos that prove this. The shot above shows the old jerseys with the 2012 All-Star Game logo on the shoulders.

In the blog post, Stephen Smith writes: "It appears the only difference is a few minor touches on the sides."

2011 NHL All-Star jerseysI'm not sure what he means by that unless he has other photos he didn't publish. From what I can see here, the design of both jerseys appear to be exactly the same as last year's — sides and all.

While the sweaters were highly unpopular with readers last year, personally, I was a fan. I love seeing the league try new things. It annoys me that ultra-traditionalists think every hockey uniform should look exactly like it did in 1960s. How perfectly dull. There's a time and place for it — the Winter Classic, for example.

So we'll see if this turns out to be true. I have no reason to believe it won't. In fact, in my Nov. 28 post about the Rangers' Winter Classic jersey unveiling, I flat out said I wouldn't be surprised if the league just recycled last year's All-Star look. It's a good one. It deserves to stick around another year or two.

That brings me to one last thought. Despite the NHL realigning next year, there won't be any need to reformat the Fantasy Draft/All-Star Game since players aren't divided up by conference anymore anyway. Having said that, I'm sure not everyone would agree. So after realignment in 2012, should the 2013 All-Star Game be reformatted? And if so, how?

Update on 2011-12-19 19:45 by Chris

Late to the party on this, but just so you know, Sens Town confirmed last week that these jerseys are on the shelf at the Sens Store inside Scotiabank Place in Ottawa. Looks like we're definitely getting a rerun of the 2011 NHL All-Star uniforms. No complaints here. Bravo!

NHL Realigned for 2012-13 Season

I went on vacation for a few days only to return to find an NHL nothing like the state in which I left it. Apparently, the NHL's Board of Governors decided yesterday to radically realign the league from six divisions into four conferences.

And based on the emails I'm getting, a lot of you want to see Icethetics host a contest to name new conferences and create its trophies. Sadly, I have too much going on here already to conduct another contest, but I'm more than happy to at least offer this blog post so we can all share our opinions.

Here are how the new conferences break down:

Conference A

Conference B

Conference C

Conference D

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If you're curious about my take on the new setup, here it is. It's annoying because I'm a Tampa Bay Lightning fan. If I weren't a Lightning fan, I'd have to call it perfect. Dallas, Columbus and Detroit should be beside themselves over not having to play so many games in the Pacific Time Zone. Most of the great rivalries are intact. It's fantastic.

But why do Tampa and Sunrise have to get lumped into the "Northeast Division" basically? And even as I ask the question, I know the answer. You can't break up Philly and Pittsburgh nor any of the New York area teams. You can't separate the eastern Canadian teams nor break up rivalries like Sabres/Leafs, Habs/Bruins or Penguins/Capitals (especially now that HBO just released the first 24/7 Winter Classic on DVD!).

I know everyone has there two cents on how to improve things for their own teams. And that nobody cares what anybody else things. But here's mine anyway. Move the Pennsylvania teams to Conference C and put Tampa Bay and Florida in Conference D. I know, it simply can't be done that way.

The way it is now is just sort of a geographical necessity. So like Boucher says, let's start building the new practice rink in Vermont. We'll be spending a lot of time up there next year. And we'll only play the Hurricanes as many times as we play the Canucks.

Though I suppose the good news out of all this for me personally is that now I'm guaranteed that the Lightning will visit my neck of the woods (Vancouver) at least once a season. This year, they're not making that trip at all thanks to the current setup. (Interestingly, however, I will still be seeing a Bolts-Canucks game this season.)

That's all. Your turn, now. How do you fix the new alignment? Or do you? And what do you name the new conferences? What about the trophies? And how should the third round of playoffs work?

Update on 2012-01-07 15:21 by Chris

Nevermind. The realignment plan is off, at least for 2012-13. The NHL didn't get consent from the NHLPA. The idea was kind of nice while it lasted though, wasn't it?

Rangers Unveil Winter Classic Threads

Today, the New York Rangers officially unveiled their 2012 Winter Classic sweater. And I'm happy to report that every so-called "leak" along the way proved wrong, leaving us all surprised this afternoon. For the most part.

While no fan concept or Chinese knock-off scored on the details, some of the larger, more obvious ideas are on display here. For example, the jersey is vintage white — in other words, not white. It's got a tie-up collar and a traditional striping pattern.

It's a very simple design but there's something about the oversized stripes that make the players almost look like kids. Not sure if that was intentional. But if it was, it's kind of brilliant. Part of the draw of the outdoor game is to recapture that feeling of children playing on the pond in tattered old sweaters. The vintage white adds to that, making the jerseys look unwashed.

Rangers unveil Winter Classic jerseyMany are likely to cry foul at the notion of the Rangers wearing the shield on their chest. For two short seasons between 1976 and 1978, the team stepped away from the text-only sweaters they'd worn for 50 years. And then of course in the late '90s they introduced the Lady Liberty jerseys, which were quite a hit. But other than that, they've basically used the same uniform design since, well, forever.

Much like the Boston Bruins' Winter Classic jersey from 2010, the Rangers' 2012 edition isn't based on any single design from their history, but is rather a combination of elements from the past spruced up with some new ideas.

Despite that, you have to ask yourself, when you look at it, do you immediately know it's a Rangers jersey? And I'd have to say yes. Regardless of seeing the crest, how can you call this anything but a Rangers sweater? Could be the colors. Could be the shoulders. Whatever it is, it works.

Time for links. In their official release, the Rangers credit the design to a partnership with Reebok. Our friends at the Hockey Uniform Database have the Rangers' complete sweater history on display for you. And you can find a few more pictures of the new threads on the team's Facebook page. And a lot more on Blueshirts United.

And if you've been living beneath a rock, the 2012 NHL Winter Classic at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia between the Flyers and New York Rangers takes place on Jan. 2 at 1 PM ET. Both jerseys are now officially out. (For those keeping score at home, we now have all of the new uniforms expected for the 2011-12 season — that is, unless the NHL breaks out new All-Star threads, which I don't expect.)

Anyway, what are your thoughts on what the Rangers will wear to the Winter Classic? It's close to what we had been expecting. Is that a good thing or a bad thing?

QMJHL: Sherbrooke Rises from the Ashes

Sherbrooke Phoenix jerseys unveiledThe QMJHL's only U.S.-based team shut down over the summer, but a new one will be resurrected in that franchise's old home next fall as the Lewiston MAINEiacs give way to the Sherbrooke Phoenix.

The club's new name, logos and uniforms were unveiled at a press conference today, according to this release written in French (translated). Click here for more photos from the event.

As you may have read in the (incomplete) Icethetics Season Preview, the league bought out the floudering franchise after last season and ceased operations.

At the same time, it announced an expansion franchise had been awarded to Sherbrooke, Quebec and an ownership group led by ex-NHLer Jocelyn Thibault to begin play in the 2012-13 season. I find it a little weird. Why end the lineage of one of the league's oldest franchises? Why not simply transfer the franchise? (In the end, I'm sure it all comes down to money.) As I wrote in the Season Preview post...

The franchise itself is actually one of the QMJHL's oldest. The Trois-Rivieres Ducs were a founding member of the Q in 1969. They were renamed the Draveurs in 1973. In 1992, the club relocated to Sherbrooke and became the Faucons for six seasons. In 1998, the name was changed to Sherbrooke Castors. The club moved across the border into Maine in 2003.

There had been speculation that one of the previous Sherbrooke monikers would make a comeback, specifically Castors or Faucons. But as it turns out, they went the more literal route for a team that's "rising from the ashes." Of course this will be confusing for folks in Quebec if the Phoenix Coyotes end up moving there. (Kidding!)

Here are the other logos that were on display at today's unveiling.

Sherbrooke Phoenix secondary logos

Brilliant logos and a fantastic overall look for this team. I'm impressed. But are you noticing a trend? Two other Q teams, the Armada and Olympiques, introduced monochromatic logos this season, just like the Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings. Seems like a trend toward less color. If so, I'm not sure that's a good thing.

But when you look at Sherbrooke's jerseys and logos, it's clear they're still a three-color team: dark blue, powder blue, and yes, that's the trendy vintage white rather than actual white. Don't get me wrong. I think these colors look great together, but they tick all the boxes in terms of what's "in" right now.

A local creative agency called Lubie designed the new brand (with an awesome video), which appears to have been influenced by the municipal coat of arms of the city of Sherbrooke, Quebec.

Anyway, what do you think? How is this not a great look for a hockey team?