Leafs Go With Third For Opener

The Toronto Maple Leafs began their season on a high note, defeating the Stanley Cup Champion Detroit Red Wings tonight. And they did so wearing their new third jersey — unveiled earlier this week.

That makes the Leafs the first team to wear a third jersey in the Rbk EDGE era. Hooray for them. Pics ensue!

credit: Gregory Shamus / Getty Images

First up, Niklas Hagman in action in his new alternate uniform.

credit: Michael Sackett / US PRESSWIRE

That would be Mike Van Ryn above. And below, I have to say, I did not recognize Pavel Kubina in that No. 77 sweater.

credit: Michael Sackett / US PRESSWIRE

Kubina was No. 13 forever when he played for the Lightning but I believe opted for for No. 31 when first joining the Leafs.

Whatever, not the point. The point is, the first third jersey has hit the ice. A momentous night!

Bolts, Flyers Thirds Leak!

My Reebok mole — who shall remain nameless to protect the innocent — has more offerings. I first broke these during the Live Chat earlier tonight, so if you participated or watched the replay, then you already know.

I have high quality promotional images for the third jerseys of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Philadelphia Flyers to share with you today. My team first.

All the rumors were right for the Lightning's new third jersey. It's blue and it spells BOLTS right across the front, slanting downward. Even looking at it now, the colloquialism surprises me. It's an unusual sight for a professional sports uniform — but then so was a giant humanoid duck bursting from beneath a sheet of ice until 1995.



The first thing you'll probably notice is the obviously misspelling of Lecavalier on the back of the jersey. That particular image was probably never meant to be made public. Oops. But allow me to draw your attention away from that and to the bottom of the sweater.

Notice the TAMPA BAY stitched along the black stripe? Are we taking a page out of the Kings' book now? At least it's on the back. So speaking as a Lightning fan, there are some things I'm not thrilled with, but overall I'm happy with it and I will be wearing it on Christmas morning — likely before then too.

Next we move onto the Lightning's first ever playoff foe, the Philadelphia Flyers. This is another one the rumors got right. But then we've known what it will look like since March when cell phone photos first surfaced.

The Flyers are joining the handful of teams going retro with their new third jerseys — as you can see.



No egregious spelling errors on this jersey, but the nameplate is a cool feature. They're leaving out no detail on this throwback sweater, opting for black text on a white nameplate on an orange jersey. Bold. Well done.

You may have noticed the orange numbers on the sleeves seem to be overlapping onto the orange of the jersey. I'm not sure if this is accurate as the numbers were clearly added digitally and weren't on the photographed jersey. For that, we'll have to wait for the official announcement and unveiling by the team.

Keep in mind that these images are not from the teams and I do not consider them to be official unveilings. They're leaks and I almost feel bad about posting them, ruining the surprises for the teams. However, they're out now and I'd like to get your feedback.

By the way, if you decide to post these images elsewhere on the interwebs, I'd love it if you could link back to Icethetics!

Goalies Get New Looks

Lots of emails on this. Martin Brodeur has had his mask repainted and Dwayne Roloson debuted his specially-designed third jersey equipment.



Brodeur is changing a mask design he hasn't touched in years while Roloson will wear a special mask paying homage to Oiler great Grant Fuhr.

There will be further coverage of both of these items at a later date. For now, discuss...