The Big Day Ahead

Tomorrow is a big day for Icethetics. The biggest ever, in fact.

Two NHL teams are unveiling new uniforms and — for the first time ever — I'll be there in person to report on one of them. It's a long way this little blog has come in six years and it's all thanks to the Dallas Stars — who graciously invited me to their event — and you guys, of course.

I'm immensely grateful to the dozens of readers who donated a few bucks here and there to help cover my travel costs. But without the thousands of readers like you who drop in every day, there wouldn't be an Icethetics at all. So this whole trip to Dallas is for everyone. And I intend to share every minute.

Since you can't physically travel with me, the next best thing is Twitter. (If you don't do Twitter, at least bookmark this page tomorrow and watch the updates roll in.) I'll be tweeting all day.

Here's the schedule. Since I'll be in Dallas, all times are CENTRAL:

• Tuesday, 6:00 AM — New Hurricanes concept art goes live on the Concepts page.
• 9:30 AM — My flight to Dallas departs. Should be just under 4 hours.
• 11:00 AM — HURRICANES UNVEILING: The fun starts in Raleigh while I'm somewhere above the Rocky Mountains. The Carolina Hurricanes will unveil their new uniforms inside PNC Arena at noon local time. The event will be streamed live on the team's website. I just hope my plane is equipped with wi-fi so I can follow along in real time.
• 1:30 PM — I land in Dallas. Once I'm checked in to my hotel room, I'll get to work recapping the Hurricanes' unveiling on the blog.
• 2:30 PM — New Stars concept art goes live on the Concepts page.
• 5:30 PM — STARS UNVEILING: Two hours have been blocked off for this event. I don't know what time exactly the new logos and uniforms will be revealed to us, but if you're following my tweets, you'll know as soon as I do.
• 7:30 PM — The great folks in Dallas agreed to set up an interview for me with someone who can talk about the new branding efforts. I don't have any details on that yet. Any write-up would probably come later in the week.
• Late Tuesday — Following that interview, I'll get to work on a blog recap of the Stars' unveiling event as well. Not sure where I'll be squeezing in meals on this trip, but food is for chumps anyway. Amiright?
• Wednesday, 8:00 AM — I'm on a plane right back home. (Gotta get back to my real job, you know.) I'll use to the flight to try to put together some thoughtful reviews on the new looks we were treated to on Tuesday. Oh, and did I mention it's my birthday? I can think of worse ways to spend it.

Fair warning — I plan to tweet the whole trip. Or as much as I can without overwhelming your feed. It'll be like you're right there with me — good or bad — for about 30 hours.

I'm extremely psyched about tomorrow. It'll be a long, hectic day — but I'm sure completely worth it in the end.

Hurricanes Reveal Final Teaser

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

Last two photos reveal two different collar styles

This morning the Carolina Hurricanes released the final two images in the lead-up to Tuesday's uniform unveiling. The biggest thing thing we learned is they will have two different collar styles. The white road jersey will have the standard V-neck while the home sweater will use the traditional laces.

After 11 separate images, we still don't have a clear picture of what the jerseys will look like. But I'm pretty sure that's what the Hurricanes were going for. Tease us just a little bit without giving it all away. It was a fun and satsifying little run and I hope more teams employ this strategy for future unveilings.

They've definitely whet our appetites for Tuesday morning. Speaking of which, the team's web producer, Michael Smith, promised me a little in-flight entertainment on my way to Dallas. The Hurricanes will apparently be streaming the event on their website.

@icethetics Heads up that we should have the event streaming on CH(dot)com on Tuesday at noon EST if you want in-flight entertainment.

— Michael Smith (@MSmithCanes) June 1, 2013

I'll do my best to share a link when the time comes, but that'll depend a lot upon my ability to get Internet access at 30,000 feet. So just keep an eye on their home page. I'm sure they'll have a link front and center.

By the way, a few concept artists have worked up designs based on what's been revealed so far. Check them out in today's post.

Finally, as I've mentioned numerous times (and not just in this post), I will be in Dallas on Tuesday evening for the unveiling of the Stars' new branding. I'll have a post up tomorrow with details about how you can follow along with my trip as well as the big event.

Update on 2013-06-03 17:41 by Chris

Photo from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

Carolina surprises with bonus teaser photo

The Hurricanes surprised us this morning with one more cryptic shot of their forthcoming uniforms. But what exactly are we looking at?

After talking it over with some readers on Twitter, I think it's safe to say this is a shot of the inside of the collar. This is based on the type of material and the stitching visible in the corner of the image. It's the part you can't see while the jersey is actually being worn. If it is the collar, the photo seems to have been rotated (or at least shot with the collar going up and down instead of side to side).

In the graphic above, you see the original photo on the left. On right is my edit. Rotated, it's very clearly a collar. With shadows bumped up a little in photo editing software, you can see more of the detail. Looks like carpet underneath.

That makes me wonder if this bonus image wasn't a knee-jerk on the part of the Canes' PR team. Perhaps seeing the backlash to the lack of storm flags on the new sweaters led them to rush out one more photo to quell fan disapproval. A "hey look, it's still here, don't panic," if you will.

We'll find out for sure in about 24 hours. The Hurricanes will unveil the new threads at noon ET and stream the presentation live on their website.

Update on 2013-06-04 05:31 by Chris

By the way, there's proof the storm flag photo wasn't originally supposed to be part of the series of teaser photos. See this tweet from Doug Warf of the Hurricanes marketing department.

We didn't plan to show this pic but we're grateful for the response to #NewStorm. Tomorrow will be fun. instagram.com/p/aGWuzVL9lS/

— Doug Warf (@dougwarf) June 3, 2013

Building the Canes' New Look

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

Hurricanes add more teasers to Instagram

On the last day of May, the Carolina Hurricanes are continuing the daily sneak peeks at their new sweaters, being referred to as the "New Storm."

In the last two images, we got a few more insights into the new design. Thursday's photo showed what looks to be the left sleeve of the home jersey. But many have questioned whether the number is white or gray/silver. The dramatic lighting is not our friend here. What's your call?

In today's release, we get the left shoulder of the road sweater. I'm basing that on what looks to be a swatch of white in the lower left corner of the photo. That would make the visible red area part of the shoulder yoke. From this angle, it looks like the secondary logo may be gone — or we may just be looking up too high on the shoulder to see it.

The black collar then seems to be confirmed for both sweaters. Now all that's left to figure out is the striping. Two more photos are scheduled to be posted this weekend — so by then we'll have all the team wants to give us ahead of the actual unveiling on June 4. That happens at noon ET.

Update on 2013-06-01 17:53 by Chris

Today's teaser gives us a more complete look at the collar.

Photo from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

AJHL Celebrates 50 Seasons

Hey, let's keep this streak of new daily blog posts going. The AJHL, or Alberta Junior Hockey League, unveiled its 50th anniversary logo on Monday. The league has all sorts of plans for celebrating the occasion, which you can read about here.

Piecing Together the 'NewStorm'

The Carolina Hurricanes have been giving us a sneak peek at their new home and road uniforms by way of a series of teaser photos on Instagram. Every few days I'm taking the time to get us caught up on what's been revealed so far — in case you don't follow them on Instagram or me on Twitter.

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

Between Thursday and Sunday, we got the four images above. They show us a new striping pattern (perhaps on the sleeve), a new collar and a new name and number font, which I believe to be the following.

It just so happens to match the font used for the hashtag (#NewStorm) seen in each of their Instagram posts. It's much simpler and cleaner. And isn't that the trend these days?

Photos from Carolina Hurricanes (via Instagram)

Since Monday we've gotten these previews. The shot of the glove and pants show us a lot of red. A lot. Almost a Red Wings amount of red. The white jersey photo appears to give us a possible glimpse of the sleeve striping. And today's seems to show the waist striping of the new home sweater. A new double stripe?

From what we've seen so far, it's definitely looking like a more traditional hockey sweater — at least compared to what the Canes have been wearing since they moved from Hartford in 1997.