Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Isles To Get "Entirely New" Jersey?

The New York Islanders will unveil their third jersey on October 27, according to the team's official web site.

As part of the announcement, the Isles have indicated that "they will have an entirely new look" when they first take the ice with it against the Canadiens on November 1. This is not what we've been hearing. All the rumors have pointed to a throwback blue sweater — which obviously wouldn't be entirely new.

Interestingly, the countdown clock is back on their site. I wrote about it when it first appeared two weeks ago. It was quickly replaced with a countdown to the Isles' home opener. Here's a look at their site today.



You can also read the statement on the new third jersey.

You might have noticed that in the top right-hand corner of newyorkislanders.com, there is a clock counting down to 7 p.m. on Saturday, November 1. On that night, when the Islanders take the ice against the Montreal Canadiens, they will have an entirely new look—donning a brand new “Third Jersey.” But the Isles will be wearing more than just a new jersey. For the first time since 1996, the Islanders will skate in a game wearing a completely new uniform—including a new jersey, pants, helmet, gloves, and socks.

The new uniform—which will be officially unveiled on October 27—will serve as an alternative to the ones the Islanders wear at home, and will be worn 15 times during the 2008-09 season.

“Looking back at the Islanders uniform history, I noticed that there had been no change in the total Islander player uniform since 1996 and seized the opportunity to bring our fans a great new look,” said Terry Goldstein, the Islanders Director of Retail Operations. “During the past 15 months, I have worked very closely with our Head Equipment Manager Scott Boggs to engineer the change in the player equipment to coordinate with the new uniform."

In addition, the Islanders will introduce a special edition of the game puck which will only be used when the players wear the new uniform.

This marks the eighth time since the Islanders entered the league in 1972 that the team has made a significant change to their jersey or complete uniform. The last time the Islanders played in a “Third Jersey” was in 2006-07 when the team donned an orange jersey for a number of home games.

So we'll keep an eye out for this "completely new uniform" on October 27. The sidebar countdown has been updated to reflect this new information.

Canucks Allude To Special Date

Do the Vancouver Canucks have something up their sleeve for later this month? Several fans who watched the pay-per-view game against the Capitals last night saw an interesting promo air.

It's been described as alluding to jerseys of the past then reveals a date — perhaps, the unveiling date of the new third jersey? However, accounts vary based on the emails I received. Some say the date was October 24. Some say October 25. The Canucks play the Oilers on the 25th — no game on the 24th.

It's believed that the third jersey will make its on-ice debut on November 15 against the Maple Leafs — who will also probably wear their third jersey.

So what does all of this mean? Here are some of the emails I received.

It was an all black screen with just white text changing.... it said stuff like "It survived the flying V" and "It survived the plate of spaghetti" and "it survived the downwards skate".... and then the screen simply read "Oct. 24, 2008".

They're using the new thirds for the first time on Nov.15, but I'm thinking this might be a revealing ceremony.... which the Canucks are pretty big on (they had a huge one last year). The Canucks don't play on the 24th and are at home on the 25th, which would make the 24th a perfect time for one of those ceremonies again.... just a thought.

During yesterdays PPV game in Vancouver there was one single ad that said something along the lines of..

(Paraphrasing)
It's coming...
October 25th...
A sign of surrender became a sporting tradition...
a team mocked for the flying V and the downhill skate...
history is back...
October 25th

During the canucks pay per view game today against the capitals, during a commercial a date was mentioned....October 25th. The commercial listed previous historical moments in canucks history and made references to canucks jerseys....saying that they had all survived different eras and whatnot. I am thinking that maybe this is in reference to a third jersey unveiling or a new logo ( johnny canuck!)...

Thanks to Dawson, Daryl and Dennis for sending this in. If I hear anything more on the subject, you know where to find it. But until there's more information, I'm not changing the sidebar.

Pens To Debut 3rd Against Classic Foe

According to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, the Pittsburgh Penguins will debut their new third jersey on Saturday, November 15. The date Icethetics has for the unveiling of this sweater is Thursday, November 6.

It's expected the Pens will go with a design similar to, if not the same as, what they wore at the Winter Classic against the Buffalo Sabres — their opponent for the November 15 game.

The article doesn't cite a source but does say the team is finalizing plans for some sort of unveiling event. You can read an excerpt below or click here to read the full text.

The Penguins will debut their alternate uniforms Nov. 15 at home against the Buffalo Sabres, the Tribune-Review has learned.

The uniforms will mirror the retro-themed ones worn against Buffalo at the New Year's Day NHL Winter Classic. The alternate design borrows from several early uniform incarnations and consists of a predominantly baby blue sweater and socks, with navy pants, gloves and helmet.

The Penguins had no comment Monday regarding the alternate uniforms debut date. However, they are finalizing plans for a formal re-introduction, which could include players modeling the alternate uniforms sometime prior to the Nov. 15 contest.

The alternate uniform is slated to be worn at select home games throughout the season.

By the way, the image associated with that article is the jersey from the Winter Classic — NOT the third jersey.

Thanks to Ken for the tip.

By the way, I mentioned a rumor the other day that has the Pens dropping the gold for the two-tone blue color scheme in two years when they move into their new arena.

It wouldn't surprise me considering those were their original colors when they joined the league more than 40 years ago and throwbacks seem to be all the rage. This new jersey may be a step in that direction. But don't shoot the messenger. We'll see what happens.