Coyotes reveal new Arizona wordmark logo

/

Next season, the Phoenix Coyotes will be renamed the Arizona Coyotes. It'll require the team to have new secondary and wordmark logos.

The team previously said the new shoulder patch would be unveiled at the first pre-season game of 2014. But it seems we don't have to wait that long.

The team recently launched a new microsite to promote 2014-15 season ticket renewals. The site's splash animation introduces us to the new wordmark, seen above.

It's the same as the old wordmark, but with "Phoenix" swapped for "Arizona." Easy.
0311-azc-secondary.jpg

Also fairly easy was a new secondary mark, seen at the top of the page. The resolution is low but it's the existing shoulder patch with PHX replaced by AZ. Whether that ends up being the shoulder patch next season is not yet confirmed. But it's pretty likely.

Thanks to Ross Elliott for pointing out the new logos to me via Twitter.

Visions of Modano's big night in Big D

/

A quarter century after he first took the ice for the franchise, the Dallas Stars honored former superstar and current executive Mike Modano on Saturday by raising his No. 9 to the rafters at American Airlines Center. It was the fourth number retired in franchise history.

With this post, I don't have too much to say. I just wanted to share some of the photos I enjoyed from Modano's big night. And if it involves lots of North Stars jerseys, all the better!

Modano was joined on the center ice stage by fellow members of the Stars' 1999 Stanley Cup championship team. Great to see those jerseys again!

Things kept getting better in the pre-game! It's typical, when a team is honoring a particular player or retiring a number, for all the players to wear that number during warm-ups. But the Stars took it a step further as players wore a variety of jerseys from Modano's career.

As you can see in the slideshow, we got sweaters from four different eras. Be sure to flip to the end to see shots of Modano wearing all of them!

It's only right we take a look back at Modano's history. That's what this slideshow is about.

0310-hatcher-cup.jpg

Speaking of looking back, after watching Derian Hatcher walk up hoisting the Cup, I had to track down the original. All I can say is the jersey still looks great!

Finally, here's a look at the Dallas Stars Alumni logo which is only noteworthy because it's our first time seeing the Stars' new primary mark without black.

0310-dal-alumni.png

By the way, I couldn't help but notice that conspicuously absent from the 1999 Stanley Cup team was Conn Smythe winner Joe Nieuwendyk. But perhaps that was because his jersey number was being honored by the Calgary Flames just a night earlier! Look for that blog post this week.

0310-dal-nieuwendyk.jpg

Springfield marks 20 seasons with a few theme jerseys

/

We'll get back into regular blog posts today with the AHL's Springfield Falcons, who are in the midst of their 20th anniversary season. To mark the occasion, they've sported a handful of theme jerseys throughout the season. Let's take a look.

Hometown Heroes Night

Over Veterans' Day weekend, the Falcons celebrated their hometown heroes with a very patriotic sweater. It was a blue jersey emblazoned with stars on the right sleeve and a field of red and white stripes on the left sleeve. Both shoulders feature the team's 20th anniversary logo.

It's hard to deny this one's pretty ugly. The sleeves are what do it. The numbers there are barely readable. And what's with the generic text on the chest? I'm just not a fan of this one.

That aside, on Fri., Nov. 8, the Falcons hosted the Adirondack Phantoms to the tune of a 3-0 shutout victory. Even the ugliest of jerseys looks a little better with a solid win.

20th Anniversary Night

On Sat., Jan. 18, the Falcons celebrated their 20th season with a special set of blue jerseys. Now these I can get behind. There's nothing special about them, but it's a solid, traditional sweater design.

Front and center on the chest is the anniversary logo — nothing special about it either. But what I really like is the original Falcons logo used as the patch on the right shoulder. The current primary logo, which debuted in 2010, is on the left side.

As you can see from the photos, the Falcons faced the Providence Bruins — wearing yellow from top to bottom, helmets included. Springfield managed a 5-3 win, improving to 2-0 on theme jersey nights.

Pink in the Rink Night

The Falcons wore their third and final theme jersey of the season last week. It was Pink in the Rink Night at MassMutual Center on Sat., March 1.

As pink jerseys go, this set stands out for its unique ribbon. The design, featured in small form on the shoulders and large form near the waist, creates crossed hockey sticks at each end of the ribbon. Teams don't usually tend to be that clever with these jerseys.

The crest is a pink-infused version of the 20th anniversary logo and some sweeping ribbon-like stripes wrap around the waist. It's one of the nicer pink jerseys I've seen this season.

According to the Falcons' promotional calendar, that does it for theme jerseys in 2013-14. Which of the three was your favorite? Vote in the poll on the right or leave a comment below. Or both!

Are you ready for Brett Hull Night? It's a real thing

/
0228-stc-hull.jpg

Down there in the Central Hockey League is a first-year team named the St. Charles Chill. You may remember them from their logo contest in 2012.

Tonight, this St. Louis Blues affiliate will take the ice looking like their NHL parent club for what they're calling Brett Hull Night.

Apart from the NHL team, what's the connection between the Chill and Brett Hull? Brett's younger brother Bart is the VP of business operations for the team. So we can probably guess where the idea originated.

Their dad Bobby will also be honored at the Heroes Night game next weekend. But it seems there aren't any special jerseys for that one.

I'm looking forward to seeing how this turns out. It's a great looking jersey. And lest we forget the Blues are rumored to be launching new uniforms next season. Just something to think about.

Checkers theme jerseys average 10 goals per game

/

The AHL's Charlotte Checkers have entertained fans with a couple of unique theme jerseys in the last few weeks. And the games resulted in goal-scoring bonanzas.

On Thurs., Jan. 23 and Fri., Jan. 24, it was Race Night at Time Warner Cable Arena. The Checkers donned the race track inspired sweaters you see above, complete with a "checkered" flag. Get it? You get it.

The first game saw the Checkers shut out the Oklahoma City Barons 4-0. Not so crazy. But the following night was wild one that ended with Charlotte thumping the Barons 9-3!

Six of the Checkers' nine goals came on the power play. And the final five minutes of the game saw the teams trade three goals a span of 97 seconds. But this story isn't over. It takes a hilarious turn (for non-Checkers fans) when you scroll down.

By the way, they've posted more game photos on Facebook. And there are Flickr galleries for Thursday and Friday.

On Fri., Feb. 7, the Checkers hosted the Barons for a theme jersey night for the third time in two weeks. Though it was a very different jersey — with a very different outcome.

It was Pink in the Rink Night and the Barons wanted revenge. Which they got. The final score of this one was 8-5. Clearly the Checkers' specialty jerseys are bringing on the goals this season — averaging nearly 10 per game.

The Checkers went with primarily red jerseys with pink accents — a different take on what they usually do for Pink in the Rink. It definitely grabs the eye though.

There are more photos on Facebook. And here's another gallery on Flickr.

So which of these two jerseys is your favorite? Do I even have to ask?