While the owners and players debate whether there will even be an NHL season in 2012, a couple of teams are already looking ahead to 2013 as they plan for new uniforms.

They may not seem like the most likely source of NHL jersey news, but Business First of Buffalo is reporting that the Buffalo Sabres have a new third jersey in the works for the 2013-14 season.

The bigger story was about a real estate deal involving the team acquiring new land near their arena, but ended on this note:

Ted Black, Sabres' president, confirmed that more than HARBORCenter will be debuting during the 2013-2014 season.

Black said he expects the team to unveil a new, third jersey for the 2013-2014 season. Yes, it will be blue-and-gold and feature the team's beloved original logo. What else is on the jersey is still being determined.

The Sabres debuted a blue-and-gold third jersey two years ago as part of their 40th anniversary celebration. But after two seasons, it's been retired. Nice to hear the original logo will be coming back. What do you guys think we could expect for this new sweater?

Also in development for 2013-14 is an entirely new look for the Dallas Stars. When the ownership changed hands last year, the process of rebranding the team was put on hold. But it looks like it's back on course for next season. And there's a new report floating around.

This Stars update also comes by way of an unusual source — LAKings.com. In a web series called 4 on 4, "four writers answer the biggest questions surrounding hockey." And at a time when the possibility of a lockout could ruin the entire season, half of the "biggest questions" have to do with uniforms. Weird, I know.

Number 3 is, "Which teams have the best and worst jerseys in the league?" That alone could be worth a read for uniform geeks like us. But what's more interesting the answer given by Fear the Fin blogger Derek Tanabe.

The alternates Buffalo have rocked for two seasons now with the city name on the front look terrific too. As for worst, it's a tossup for me between the Stars sweaters that don't even have an appropriate color scheme or logo on the front and the new Dragonball-inspired Nashville sweaters. In both cases, the teams should really consider switching back to a pattern closer to what they were sporting at the beginning of the 2000's and I've heard rumblings that something along those lines is slated to happen in Dallas.

I have to scratch my head, though. Tanabe talks about the Sabres' alternate as though it's a current jersey when he should be talking about it in the past tense. So can we really trust what he's saying about the Stars?

Lots of people have gone on the record to talk about the redesign coming to Dallas, which may involve new logos as well as uniforms. TV color analyst Daryl Reaugh and Dallas Morning News writer Mike Heika have both talked about it and you've seen their quotes in previous editions of NHL JerseyWatch.

But if Tanabe is talking early 2000s, he must think the Stars are reconsidering the star-shaped jersey design. And we know Reebok has complained that a design like that isn't conducive to the Edge Uniform System. But you never know.

We'll keep an eye on both the Stars and the Sabres over the coming year. This summer has been a quiet one for uniform changes, but 2013 is already shaping up to be much more interesting.