A couple of people wrote in asking about the stickers appearing on the backs of players' helmets. Since the Vancouver Canucks seem to be a hot topic as of late, I'll use them in my example.

For most teams, players are wearing two decals on the backs of their helmets. On the right, the NHL shield and on the left a square logo you can only make out up close. It's the Hockey Fights Cancer logo. However, for the Canucks, they're wearing both decals on the right side while they wear a tribute decal for Luc Bourdon on the left.

That's the back side of Alex Burrows, demonstrating this quite nicely. Goalie Roberto Luongo isn't bothering with the NHL shield but he does have the HFC and LB decals on the back of his mask.

And while we're on the subject of Luongo, he's either got a second mask or he repainted it to make the C on the chin white instead of blue.

Luongo was named captain of the Canucks but league rules prevent him from wearing the C on his chest.

Back to helmets for a moment. A couple other readers noticed that the Dallas Stars have made some modifications to the logo on theirs.

The green star within the gold star appears to have gone away in exchange for a large gold star on the black helmets.

Meanwhile, I can't tell if the star on the white helmets is still green or has been switched to black. Not enough good photos out there. But many have asked whether this is a sign of things to come in Dallas. Will the green go away completely, forever severing ties with the North Stars? I sure hope not.

By the way, the wait is almost over for Part 6 of the Icethetics Season Preview. It's coming this weekend.