Let's Catch Up on the Week

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The reason you haven't heard from me this week is simple: relocation. I've been packing all my stuff, moving it to a new place, and then unpacking it. All while working. Didn't leave a lot of time for Icethetics. But not to worry, I'm back!

Time to catch up on what I've missed. And there's been quite a bit.

NHL to hold Winter Classic press conference Sunday

First, we'll start with the newest news. Apparently, the NHL has called a press conference for Sunday morning and those in the know are speculating it will be the official announcement that the NHL Winter Classic — scheduled to be played in Ann Arbor, Mich. between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs three months ago — will be rescheduled for Jan. 1, 2014. Or so says Michigan Live's Ansar Khan.

More importantly to Icethetics readers, Khan says the jerseys will be unveiled as well. And assuming the designs weren't changed after the recent leaks, this is what we can expect them to look like

The press conference is scheduled for 10:30 AM ET on Sunday. You can be sure I plan to update the blog with official images as soon as humanly possible.

Thanks to @Levesque_B and @adam_rickert for their helpful tweets this morning.

Dallas Stars' whiff on April Fools' joke

As if their poor fans haven't endured enough these days, the Dallas Stars decided to play a nasty joke on them Monday. It was an April Fools' Day prank that might've been funny in another context.

At this point, it's widely known the Stars will have new uniforms next season. What's not known is when they plan to unveil them. Then the team tweeted this Monday night. 

Now, April Fools' Day being what it is, most of us were understandably suspicious. You don't make big announcements on April 1 because no one will believe you. Still, many people were taken in by the idea that the Stars might reveal their new threads that night.

With any hope of making the playoffs quickly fading and the Stars being shut out 3-0 by Anaheim, the promise of a look at the club's future was enough to blind a lot of folks to the calendar. Unfortunately, what they got was a look at their ridiculous past when — as Dallas Morning News beat writer Mike Heika put it — "out of a curtain jumped a guy in a horse head wearing the old alternate sweater — 'The Mooterus,' as it is called in disgust by fans."

Yeah, under the circumstances, not so funny. Chris at SportsLogos.net got into a little more detail on his blog — including some unwelcome fan backlash.

Stars jersey leak prank fools logo website's readers

Speaking of our good friends at SportsLogos.net, Chris decided to join the April Fools' fray on Monday morning, thinking it would be funny to post a phony leak of the Stars' new uniforms.

April Fools' Day prank via SportsLogos.net

Essentially, it's a Tampa Bay Lightning jersey in green with the Dallas Cowboys logo on the front. Can't give him points for creativity, but I can give him points for execution. The grainy "cell phone photo" was intended to look like a shot of an official NHL branding sheet, complete with "CONFIDENTIAL - DO NOT RELEASE UNTIL Q3 2013" watermarked all over.

I thought we'd all have a laugh and move on. Until my inbox starting filling up (thanks, Chris) with people asking if I'd seen the leak. I think many of Chris' readers simply looked at the pretty picture, downloaded it, and posted it to other web forums and such — without bothering to read all the way to the bottom of the page.

Yes, folks, it was a joke. Did you really think the Stars could so blatantly infringe on one of the most valuable identities in all of sports? And spend so much time developing a new brand that simply ripped off other brands? We all know better than that. It was a decent joke, but nothing more.

Penguins may not add new third jersey in 2013

Contrary to what was reported in the last NHL JerseyWatch post, the Pittsburgh Penguins might not be adding a new alternate uniform next season. While they are definitely retiring their blue third at the end of this season, its replacement may still be a couple years away.

This all comes from one succinct tweet by Pittsburgh Tribune-Review beat writer Rob Rossi yesterday.

All the bad news you can fit into 140 characters. New new thirds. And the Vegas gold is staying. Sorry Pens fans, this is apparently not your year.

But briefly on the subject of the JerseyWatch post. I must admit I was making an assumption regarding a new third jersey. All Reebok tends to say in January when it comes to jersey changes is "TBA" — to be announced. All it tells us for sure is that the existing jersey won't be around next season. The question of whether it would be replaced immediately is not answered with "TBA." I just jumped to conclusions.

That's not to say a new third wasn't in the works for 2013. The team may have had something in development that was scrapped before December. We'll probably never know for sure.

Red Wings honor Gordie Howe with No. 9 sweaters

And finally, we'll finish where we started. Michigan. The Detroit Red Wings honored legend Gordie Howe on his 85th birthday Sunday. Every player donned his No. 9 sweater during warm-ups prior to their game against the Blackhawks.

Photo from Detroit Red Wings official website

It was kind of an interesting sight and a neat way to wrap up this post.

Lethbridge Forced to Change Logo

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Starting next season, the WHL's Lethbridge Hurricanes will have a new logo and uniforms. The change comes after the Washington Capitals told the junior club their current logo and uniforms were a bit to similar to the NHL club's.

CTV reporter Darrell Romuld tweeted this last week: 

He followed up by pointing out that the logo currently used on the Canes' third jersey would be promoted to "full time" use next season. It's the logo you saw at the top of this post. The real story is in how this new logo came to be and its designer's connection to Icethetics.

But first, we should compare the offending logo with that of the Capitals.

The Hurricanes made this their primary logo in 2011. At first, it looked like a bad mix between two Southeast Division NHL teams. But after two seasons, the Caps have had enough.

We all know what their logo looks like. The similarities are obvious but, to be honest, the Lethbridge logo is just a poorly-designed rip-off. No one should be disappointed to see it go.

The new one, however, is a breath of fresh air. It was designed by Joshua Schroeder, who was named GM of IceHL's Calgary Cavalry in the fantasy league's inaugural season in 2010. He departed last summer. But his connection to the Hurricanes is what's interesting here.

Photo courtesy Joshua Schroeder

Josh writes:

I've got a bit of a history with the Hurricanes, starting in 1999 when I was invited to training their training camp. That's me sitting on the boards in the middle. As you can see, we were wearing an old set of the team's jerseys. I was on my way home by the time the veterans reported to camp.

The Hurricanes' actual logo at the time was the infamous Tasmanian devil, or "Twister" logo, since that's the name of our Tasmanian devil mascot. (Yeah... twister, hurricane... apparently we're pretty confused about weather around here.)

Fair enough. Speaking of which — here's that "infamous" logo.

Josh tells me he moved to Lethbridge a few years later to attend college. He stuck around, became a season ticket holder, then founded CanesCast, the official social media partner of the Hurricanes. He bemoaned the bad logos the team endured over the years. And in 2010, he got inspired.

In March 2011, the Hurricanes launched a design contest for the team's 2012-13 alternate jersey — which was more than a year away at the time. So he started putting together a concept.

Artwork and photo courtesy Joshua Schroeder

Josh explains:

I also put together a full proposal package explaining the symbolism that was worked into the design and sent that off to the Hurricanes.

Right around the time I learned that my design had been selected, the new Winnipeg Jets logo was leaked. Another hockey team logo with an aircraft in an RCAF emblem-inspired design. I was a little discouraged at that point, since I figured that by the time my jersey was unveiled it would look like I had just copied the Jets (who, remember, were still the Thrashers when I created my logo).

I got over it, and I still like that I managed to work the symbolism into my logo a little more subtly than the Jets did.

Artwork courtesy Joshua Schroeder

As you can see, Josh put a lot of thought and research into this design. Never has one team worn so much meaning and history on their uniforms. Great to see it will be getting full time use starting next fall.

Photo courtesy Joshua SchroederMore from Josh:

Anyhow, that's pretty much where my involvement ended. I'd been told I'd won, but couldn't make it public knowledge.

The next summer I got a sneak peek at the jersey, and again had to keep it a secret. Unfortunately, the final design the team went with abandoned the striping pattern from my concept, which again was a bit disappointing, but it still looked good.

Early in the 2012-13 season the logo was leaked on our veteran goalie's new mask, and finally (FINALLY!) we got to unveil it in November.

I was able to talk about it and enjoy doing the media rounds for a couple of days. And of course, as winner of the contest, I got my own customized jersey, presented to me at centre ice by captain Graham Hood (photo above).

Sounds like any hockey concept artist's dream!

Josh said a handful of the jerseys were made available in the team store and — despite a higher price — sold out in two nights.

I'd heard a rumour earlier this season about the current Capitals-style jerseys needing to be replaced.

While it sounds like they haven't made a decision on what to wear next year, the indications point toward them adopting the Hawker Hurricane logo full time. The third jerseys were in heavy rotation by the end of the season.

And check out the carpet in the locker room (even Curtis Joseph thinks it's awesome!).

CTV Lethbridge has speculated that the team will add a blue version of the jersey and promote the third jerseys to full time use. As you can imagine, that would suit me just fine. I do work pretty closely with some of the Hurricanes' front office staff on game days now, so they know where to find me if they wanted to get me involved with the design process again.

To this point, though, I haven't been invited to be part of the process.

I know that's a lot of information to digest, but if you're interested in even more background on the forthcoming changes to the Lethbridge Hurricanes branding, I've got a couple more links.

Pat Siedlecki, the play-by-play voice of the Hurricanes, talked on his blog about how this will be the team's fourth primary logo in seven years. (He even used an old graphic I made for NHLToL years ago.) And on Yahoo! Sports' Buzzing the Net blog, Cam Charron compares the looks of other junior teams to NHL clubs. (Those pesky Reebok templates are generally to blame for this.)

Hope you found all this as interesting as I did. And I hope it makes up for both the lack of posts recently and the lack of posts to come while I'm busy moving to a new place this week.

Mourning Purple

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It's a sad day today. The beginning of a new era in the NHL. One in which no team employs that great color between blue and red. Sixteen teams wear blue. Thirteen wear red. None wear purple.

I am of course referring to the fact that the Los Angeles Kings officially retired purple from their color palette last night. They did so by wearing their third jerseys one final time as they defeated the Coyotes 3-2 at Staples Center.

But even as we mourn this death, I am hopeful. Hopeful because the last time the Kings extinguished purple (yes, it's happened before in 1988), it was resurrected briefly less than eight seasons later — albeit in the form of the ill-fated "Burger King" third jersey none of us can forget.

Then just two years after that, in 1998, the Kings launched a rebrand that incorporated purple back into their black and silver look. And the next season, their new third jersey put them back in full on purple once again — just as they were when founded in 1967.

Now that was a one-of-a-kind hockey uniform. And as much as it was a creation of the late '90s, it still looked great! But in 2002, the Kings decided the crown made a better primary logo than the royal coat of arms and pulled a little switcheroo.

So it was the same sweater with a different logo for the next five years. In 2007, Reebok was responsible for killing the purple when they introduced the generic Edge template — whose sole goal was the destruction of any and all creativity in hockey uniforms. Mission accomplished.

Since then, we've never again seen the Kings in purple sweaters. It got a whole lot worse in 2011 when the black and silver third jersey — reminiscent of the Gretzky days — got a big promotion. It set off a series of events that culminated last night with the end of the second purple era.

It was nice knowing you, purple. Rest in peace. (Because you'll be back soon enough.)

AHL Clubs Also Celebrate the Irish

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This past weekend was chock full of green jerseys all across the hockey universe. Yesterday, you got a comprehensive look at the various NHL tributes to St. Patrick's Day. Now it's time for a trip to the minors. Here are the AHL teams that went green this weekend.

Let's begin with the Binghamton Senators, who gave their alternate logo a bit of a recoloring for the occasion. The big difference between how the NHL and AHL celebrate the day o' green — apart from the variety of designs you'll see here — is the fact that in the AHL, they're not just warm-up jerseys. They're full on game sweaters.

Photos from Binghamton Senators via Facebook

That, of course, means plenty of pictures. So head over to the B-Sens' Facebook page and get a good look at this unique uniform design. There's a huge photo album for your enjoyment.

Next up, the Chicago Wolves were in on the St. Patrick's Day fun as usual.

Photos from Chicago Wolves via Facebook

Once again Facebook is the medium for a boat load of game photos. This is one of my personal favorites from the weekend. Definitely a more classic look and feel.

The Hershey Bears opted for green plaid on this day of St. Patrick. And I'm not sure they were better off for it. If the Wolves' jersey was toward the top of my list, this one was toward the bottom.

Jersey rendering from Hershey Bears via Facebook

The plaid aside, it's just a very dark and busy jersey. I'm not saying it's badly designed, but I wouldn't want one. It's a little bit much.

Photo by Anthony S. Fiore Jr. via Facebook

So far, the only game photo I've seen comes by way of Anthony S. Fiore Jr. who posted this to the Bears' Facebook page on Sunday night.

The Lake Erie Monsters marked St. Patty's Day with a black sweater and a recolored crest. Somehow the green lake makes the monster look a bit scarier.

Photos from Lake Erie Monsters via Facebook

The Monsters posted another photo on Facebook Sunday night which gives us a better glimpse at the shoulder patch and the name and numbers on the back. It's really a nice-looking sweater!

Not ones to miss out on any specialty jersey fun, the Peoria Rivermen sported green on Sunday. At first glance, the crest looks unchanged. But on closer inspection, the eagle-eyed will note the the "O" in Peoria has a four-leaf clover forming its center.

Photos from Peoria Rivermen via Facebook

Green is good and this is a brilliant example of that. And looking at this jersey, it occurs to me that this is a color scheme we rarely see in hockey. Green, blue and gold makes for a really sharp look. On Facebook, the Rivermen posted a photo collage that shows the finer details of this sweater.

Photo from Peoria Rivermen official website

They also shared this shot of a green jersey autographed by the team. And this report wouldn't be complete without a look at the sweater in action during Sunday's game against the Griffins.

Thanks to our good friend and designer Aaron Masik, the San Antonio Rampage looked pretty sharp in their green threads over the weekend.

Photo by Aaron Masik (@MASIK8) via Twitter

The Rampage tweeted a look at the jersey design on Saturday and prior to the game, Masik shared the above photo of the sweater itself by way of Twitter. Unfortunately, there isn't much to see in terms of action photos. At the time of this writing, I've found one shot on the team's Facebook page and it's not that great.

And lastly, there's the St. John's IceCaps, both wearing green and being green by recycling last season's green St. Patrick's Day jerseys.

Photos from St. John's IceCaps via Flickr

The IceCaps were kind enough to share a few photos from this Saturday's game both on Flickr and with a full game gallery on Facebook. Once again, they looked good in green.

I tried to catch everybody, but if there are any teams I've missed, let me know and I'll add them.

When Hockey Sweaters Go Green

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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.