Unveiling Dates Confirmed

I got some third jersey release dates confirmed. The Lightning, Coyotes and Flyers have been added to the Countdowns — so that means we've got everybody covered. All three are jerseys we've already seen via leaks, but it'll be nice to see what these teams do for official unveilings. By the way, these dates don't come from the teams, but rather Reebok.

The Tampa Bay Lightning will unveil their third jersey on Sunday, November 23. The Bolts play the Devils at home on that night so that could also be the on-ice debut of the sweaters. However, if they just use that date for the unveiling, the next game would be the day before Thanksgiving against the Rangers.

We'll wait and see as the dates get closer.

The Phoenix Coyotes and Philadelphia Flyers will be the last to unveil their third jerseys — doing so on Friday, November 28. I can't say if either jersey will make its on-ice debut that night, but both teams do have games.

The Coyotes play the Avalanche then the Sharks the following night. The Flyers face the Hurricanes on Friday and the Maple Leafs on Saturday.

And just to recap, out of 11 teams that yet to officially unveil their third jerseys, we've seen six of them either through official or unofficial leaks. The five sweaters we have not yet gotten a glimpse of belong to the Penguins, Stars, Sharks, Kings and Senators. So the rumors continue to swirl.

My the way, I'll have more image leaks later as well as news relating to the new banner at the top of the page.

New Third Jersey Image Leaks

Apparently, there's a guy or some illegitimate company selling bogus Rbk EDGE third jerseys on ebay. How do we know they're fake? Well for one thing, Reebok hasn't started shipping them yet. But that doesn't mean there weren't legitimate pictures of them.

The listings included six teams in all: the Atlanta Thrashers, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Phoenix Coyotes, St. Louis Blues and Tampa Bay Lightning. That's three teams that have officially unveiled them and three that haven't. Let's start with those.



There's nothing that we haven't already seen, but there are pics from different angles than what we've already seen. This is most helpful with the Coyotes in seeing what those sleeve stripes look like. But what makes me think these pictures show us what the actual jerseys will look like? Because of three others we've seen officially that were right.



Among the plethora of pictures were some close ups of the crests. First, the new ones...





...and then Atlanta's just because I thought it was a cool shot.



Thanks to Charlie for the tip on these pictures.

Hope that satisfies your itch for third jersey news tonight. I'll have more tomorrow, plus an announcement regarding the new banner some you have already noticed at the top of the page.

Sens Tease Third On Facebook

Hey, who says a professional hockey team can't start a viral marketing campaign on a popular social networking web site? Certainly not the Ottawa Senators.

The Sens have posted a teaser image of their new black third jersey on their Facebook page. And this is it.



Looks like we'll see it on Saturday, November 22. I've added that date to the Countdowns. Thanks to Julian for the heads up on this image.

I like the lace-up collar and the red underneath. I think it'll be a nice jersey. I just can't wait to see what they put on the front. We've heard it's going to be the word SENS but we haven't seen what it will actually look like.

In case you missed it, I posted my thoughts on what the text might look like a couple weeks ago. Nothing official, just some musings based on various leak descriptions.

Minor League 3rd Jersey Update

Once again, I'm going to try my hand at posting some third jersey news from the minor leagues. Hope it's at least somewhat accurate.

We're starting with the AHL's Worcester Sharks, who have a new grey third jersey. Below you see Brendan Buckley sporting the rather ugly threads. You know its hard to find a jersey I really don't like, but the Sharks have done it.

Let's hope the San Jose club doesn't try anything like it.



The image to the right shows the Hartford Wolf Pack's alleged third jersey. This one I'm not really sure about it, but people kept sending in pictures, so they can't all be wrong, can they?

Still, it's another one I just don't like. But let's move away from bad jerseys and toward better ones.

Like this one. It's a little nicer. The Manchester Monarchs are introducing a new monochromatic third jersey. There's a joke to be made in there, right? The Monochromatic Monarchs... I can't think of it.

Here, have a look.



Some have wondered whether to expect a similar jersey design for the Monarchs' NHL affiliate Los Angeles Kings when they unveil their alternate next month. I'm going to say no way.

But there's something I like a little more than all of these. And shockingly, it's an ECHL third jersey. The Victoria Salmon Kings introduced this new sweater to celebrate their fifth anniversary. It's very sharp.

I like the multi-purpose V on the front.



I'm a big fan. Better than a choking fish wearing a crown, I guess. (He's choking because he's not in the water... in case you didn't follow my line of thinking.)

As always, I'm happy to post new information, but you guys have to let me know what's out there. I'm pretty retarded when it comes to the minor leagues. I'm trying to get better though. Let me know if I've missed anything.

In the meantime, what do you think of these? Comment away.

SI's Goalie Gallery

Sports Illustrated has posted a new NHL goalie mask photo gallery on their web site, showcasing every mask from around the league. They have some great pictures up there that really show off the details of each individual netminder's mask. Definitely worth a look. It'll be a great resource for the next goalie mask tournament in the spring.

Thanks to Mike for the link!

Bruins, Stars Set To Unveil Alternates

Confused? You're not alone.

For weeks I've been assuming the the Boston Bruins unveiled their new third jersey when Milan Lucic wore it in front of season ticket holders at the State of the Bruins event. I now have new reliable information that says that was not the "official" release of the sweater.

In fact, the Boston Bruins will officially unveil their third jersey on Monday, November 24. I don't know any details regarding plans for this unveiling, but I do know the team has plans to show the new alternate sweater to fans and the public on that date.

I'm now considering the pictures from the State of the Bruins event a "leak" — which is technically what it was. The team never officially released photos of the jersey. The photos we had were taken by people in attendance.

Confusing, I know. We've already seen the Bruins third jersey (multiple times!) but I'm big on getting my facts straight. The fact is, the Bruins have not unveiled their third jersey and they won't until November 24. When they do, I'll add them back to the unveiled list. And who knows, maybe they'll have made a change or two to the design we last saw.

Now, about the Dallas Stars. Several fans have emailed in to say that they've seen messages appearing in the American Airlines Center on the scoreboard confirming the Tuesday, November 18 unveiling date.

No details on what it will look like, but here is one email I received from a reader.

I was at the Stars game last saturday and on the jumbotron they had an ad for their charity luncheon, which is November 18, and they said that those who go to the luncheon will be the first to see the new third jersey. So, November 18 is definitely the date for the unveiling. I thought that you'd like to know.

Both the Bruins and Stars dates have now been added to the Countdowns in the sidebar.

Islanders Unveil Third Jersey!

The New York Islanders have officially unveiled their new third jersey for the 2008-09 season. It's the classic throwback from the 1970s featuring royal blue and orange.

A major improvement over the new EDGE jerseys they introduced last year.

Here you can see Bill Guerin modeling the new uniform — and we now see what the Isles meant by new "uniform." The last time they had a third jersey, the rest of the uniform remained the same.

Overall, it's a great look. It surprises me that more jerseys, like some of the throwback thirds that have been unveiled, weren't introduced as the primary jerseys last year when Reebok took over.

On their web site, the Islanders have a cool 360-degree view of Guerin in the new uniform. What's interesting is the way the horizontal stripes around the socks seem to be broken at the calf.

You can see a picture of what I'm talking about below.



This third jersey will make its game debut on Saturday when the Isles face the Montreal Canadiens for "Throwback Night." I'll be sure to grab some pictures from the game.

One more shot of Guerin in the new sweater.



Group photo! Bobby Nystrom, Josh Bailey, Mike Sillinger and Clark Gillies model the new sweater below.



Having not seen any high resolution images of the jersey, something I hadn't realized was the extra lines around the stick signifying the number of Stanley Cup championships.

"I think the new jerseys are fantastic," said Bob Nystrom, a member of the original 1972 Islanders squad. "The colors really bring me back to our early teams. I think the fans are really going to buy into the jerseys because anybody who saw the team when we played, will appreciate the original colors. Plus, I like the subtle change the made to add another strip to the stick, signifying the four Cups."

And if you want to watch the actual unveiling during the Islanders Business Club event today, here's the video.



So there it is. What do you think of the new uniform?

Isles Unveiling Third Tonight

Just reminding everyone that the New York Islanders will be unveiling their new third jersey tonight at the Islanders Business Club event. They have more information on their web site.

I believe the event is scheduled for 5 PM but photos will be posted online tonight for those who can't be there or at the game afterwards.

The event is exclusive for IBC members, but following the event fans in attendance tonight’s Islanders/Rangers game will get their first look at the uniform.

Once again, the team's description of the new sweaters seems to indicate something more than a throwback but I'm not so sure.

Current and former Islanders will be on hand to unveil the Islanders first complete uniform change since 1996. The Islanders will take the ice in the new uniforms for the first time on Saturday against the Montreal Canadiens. ... They will wear the uniform a total of 15 times this season.

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.

I would consider the 2006 orange third jersey a significant change in uniform, so why they're going back to 1996, I'm not sure. I'm really excited to see what they've come up with now.

I'll have pictures up tonight — probably not right away — but they'll be here. Keep an eye on the Isles' web site.