Hawks Convention Yields News

The Blackhawks are holding a big hockey convention this weekend to, I suppose, intensify the city's interest in the team and the sport. As part of the event, Saturday at noon there was a panel discussing the Winter Classic set for New Year's Day at Wrigley Field. Hawks president John McDonough and defenseman Brian Campbell were on hand along side the NHL's marketing director, Brian Jennings.

According to an email I received summarizing the event, there was a discussion about whether the Blackhawks and Red Wings would be wearing vintage jerseys like the Penguins and Sabres did last season. McDonough said they would be and suggested it may be styled after a 1930s sweater, like the one seen below.


credit: Andrew @ NHLUniforms.com

According to this same email, Jennings spoke about the selection process for last year's Winter Classic sweaters. He apparently said the Penguins liked theirs so much they'll be unveiling a similar powder blue design as their third jersey this season. This isn't really news but it's coming straight from the Director of Marketing at the NHL so I felt like it was worth mentioning.

As with anything, I can't vouch for the veracity of this info as it comes by way of a reader email and not any official channels. B But what's the point of lying? Thanks to Brent for the info!

Want To See Philly's New Third?

An interesting photo turned up in my inbox this afternoon. It shows Daniel Briere's new third jersey hanging up in the locker room.

The Flyers haven't made anything official yet, but rumors have been floating around since March.



For what it's worth, my opinion on this photo is that it's legitimate or a Photoshop job too well done to be an amateur — though folks here do love their Photoshop. But seriously, I think it's an actual photo of a jersey. It doesn't differ much from the cell phone photos that surfaced several months ago. Here's another look at them.



The main difference appears to be the nameplate. On the March leak, it appears the orange jersey has a white nameplate with orange lettering. Here, it's switched to a matching nameplate.

Other than that, they look the same to me. So it appears we've gotten our first real look at what the Flyers will wear as an alternate jersey this season. Hope you guys like it.

UPDATE (7/21 2:25 AM): So it's definitely a photo of a jersey, it's just a vintage replica being sold on ebay. Kudos to Hockey Week for the find. I think we should probably expect to see something more like what's in the two cell phone pictures. As always, I'll try my best to keep you updated.

Bruins Confirm Alternates

It seems like over this past week the news leaking about next season's third jerseys just will not stop. And I don't see anyone here complaining about that. As far as news tonight, we've got newspaper journalists confirming alternates for the Bruins and Hurricanes.

Fluto Shinzawa of The Boston Globe wrote in the Bruins Blog last week that the Bruins will in fact have a third jersey for the new season — something we've all kind of known for quite some time now. Shinzawa also wrote, "The final design has not been released, but it will most likely feature the retro bear, on the shoulders of the current uniforms, on the chest."

Below you can see a sample of the new sweater in action. During a game last season, NESN broadcast video of a player skating around in it — it's not actually Patrice Bergeron.



The full video was originally posted on YouTube but has since been removed — whether by the person who uploaded it or by YouTube, I don't know.

And this is just a followup to yesterday's post. News & Observer writer Luke DeCock said in his blog there was "a good chance" the Hurricanes would have a new alternate sweater this season. A similar story was published in today's paper. You can read an excerpt from the article below.

The Hurricanes will unveil a third, alternate jersey this season and hope to have it ready to reveal at the Caniac Carnival on Sept. 21, Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said.

Rutherford declined to comment on the design, but team officials have talked for years about a black jersey with the team's secondary, waving-flag logo on the chest.

The team planned to unveil the new design last season, but the debut was pushed back a year because of the introduction of the NHL's new "uniform system" from Reebok.

The Hurricanes are one of three NHL teams not to use a third jersey at some point, with the Red Wings and New Jersey Devils the others.

If you want to send in tips regarding this season's new crop of third jerseys, email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Leafs Confirm Third?

This is a followup to a story I posted on Wednesday about a jersey that turned up on the Maple Leafs' official web site recently.

According to a reader who emailed me, that is going to be the Leafs' new third jersey this season. The following is the email sequence that was forwarded to me:

Whats the deal with this? thats not the Leafs jersey! Is it being altered to fix what was broken last year? Please tell me it's true!!!

Thank you for your email,
The jersey in the link you have provided is the new Maple Leafs third jersey.
Thanks for being a fan!

Names have been removed for privacy reasons. I have no other corroboration this information so take it for what it is — I'm sounding like a broken record, I know. But I don't want to pass stuff off as factual before I know it to be so.

The thing is, the majority of rumors swirling suggest a vintage white sweater as next season's alternate. That could just be excited fans promulgating wishful thinking... or not. But if the above does turn out to be true, we saw the Toronto Maple Leafs' third jersey 11 months ago. Here's another look at it.



If anymore support for this surfaces, I'll let you guys know.

Third Jerseys For 'Canes, Sabres, Oilers

Long day. I've been awake for too many hours now but I've just gotten so many emails I'd feel bad about going to bed before updating you guys on the news of the day.

The biggest news — what I got the most emails about today — the Hurricanes have confirmed a third jersey for this season according to a report from The News & Observer's Luke DeCock. He wrote the following in his blog today:

When the Hurricanes take on the Red Wings in the second home game of the season, there's a good chance only one team will be in red.

The Canes hope to unveil their new, NHL-approved alternate jerseys — expected to be black with the team's secondary, waving-flag logo on the chest — at the Caniac Carnival in September and could wear them on the ice as early as Oct. 13 against Detroit.

“We wouldn’t wear it Opening Night,” Hurricanes general manager Jim Rutherford said. “Our jerseys as they are now are really nice jerseys in red and they’re really popular. … It could be (Detroit). It won’t be Opening Night, but after that sooner rather than later, probably. We haven’t made that decision.”

A little research on the Hurricanes' official web site turns up a date for the Caniac Carnival — September 21. That's going in the countdowns.

By the way, DeCock even cites a graphic found on NHLToL. You can read the full post at Lord Stanley's Blog. For what it's worth, he says 18 teams could have new third jerseys this year.

The other third jersey news for today comes by way of WGR 550 Sports Radio out of Buffalo.

The Sabres will indeed have a third jersey for the new season — to be unveiled to fans on September 20. The following was posted on their web site:

Sabres managing partner Larry Quinn ... announced that the Sabres will unveil their 3rd alternate jersey at an open practice to the fans on Saturday, September 20th. Fans will have to wait until then to see the new-look uniforms.

Another radio station has third jersey news. Dan Tencer of Alberta's 630 CHED reports on his blog that "the team will unveil a new 3rd jersey for the 2008-09 season, likely with an announcement in August."

It's not very informative as far as the design of the jersey, but it's one more source confirming that an alternate sweater will exist for the Oil.

The reason I'm more apt to trust this information is that they're coming from reputable media sources and not random personal blogs (like this one). So as with anything, take it for what it is.

By the way, the next time I'll be able to update the site will likely be tomorrow night. If any news surfaces, I'll get it posted then.

Isles, Thrashers Confirm Thirds!

It's true. In roundabout ways, the Islanders and Thrashers have both confirmed third jerseys for 2008-09.

Evidently a customer service rep with the Isles has been in "contanct" with the team store. He says no release date has been set but it will be available for purchase before the season begins. He also says the there will be an announcement made on the team's web site at some point.

He posted all of this on the Isles' official message board and even though you have to be a member to read it, fellow blogger Sean was happy to oblige.



By the way, you should read his latest post at Puck Daddy. It's all about us.

Onto the Thrashers, now. They're much more about beating around the bush. In an email to fans, the club says "fans will have the opportunity to see a new look for the Thrashers" on July 26.

So let the countdowns begin. Here's the email that was sent. The pertinent information is highlighted.



Thanks to Taylor for that one.

It's been a rather prolific week for me — three posts a day and all — but I'm afraid that streak will soon end. I'm not sure how much updating I'll be doing over the weekend while I'm on a mini-vacation in Orlando. I'll try to keep an eye on things though and get any important info posted quickly.

Ducks Logo Enlarged?

Apparently the Ducks' uniforms will be slightly altered for the 2008-09 season. Don't get too excited though, it's nothing huge. It's just bigger — by that I mean the logo (er, wordmark?) on the front of the sweaters. Based on the looks of things at the draft, this is the case.

Examine these two photos as evidence. On the left is Todd Bertuzzi in game action last season. On the right is first round draft pick Jake Gardiner.



Compare the size of the logos on the two sweaters. It does appear that the logo stretches farther across the sweater on Gardiner's jersey.

But this could all be in our imaginations. Thanks to Jason for pointing out this possibility.

QMJHL Logo Champion

Congrats to the Huskies!
With 68% of the vote, the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies' logo has been declared the best the QMJHL after defeating the Saint John Sea Dogs. Nearly 1,500 votes were cast in the final poll of the tournament which began at the now deceased ToHL. Thanks to all who voted!

I won't be able to get to designing the banner until next week, but rest assured it's on my to-do list.

Up next will be the CHL Memorial Cup poll between the Broncos, Knights and Huskies. Expect that to be posted on Sunday or Monday and run throughout the next week.

The NHL Center Ice Tournament will be starting soon. I don't have a date yet, but I will say before the end of the month.