Bears Unveil Outdoor Classic Jersey

Hershey Bears revealed design online Monday

The AHL's Hershey Bears are hosting hockey's only outdoor game of the 2012-13 season. The Outdoor Classic at Hersheypark Stadium will take place on Sun., Jan. 20, 2013. And just two days ago, the Bears unveiled the special uniform they'll be wearing for that game — complete with white pants and oodles of chocolate stripes!

From the press release:

When the Chocolate and White lace up their skates for the 2013 Outdoor Classic game on Sunday, January 20 they will be wearing commemorative jerseys. The jerseys will be brown and white stripe, and have the Outdoor and 75th Anniversary logos on respective sleeves. These game-worn jerseys will be signed and auctioned off following the game, with proceeds donated to charity.

Rendering from Hershey Bears (official website)

The Bears will be facing off against the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for this game. But I've yet to find the jersey the Pens will be sporting — and you know they'll have one! This is a team that will wear a special sweater just because it's Wednesday. Heck, you need only look back to this past weekend to see them in their Christmas sweaters.

So what's your take on Hershey's Outdoor Classic jersey?

Update on 2012-12-13 09:58 by Chris

Bears' Outdoor Classic uniform will NOT feature white pants

All right, so it turns out the Bears won't actually be wearing the white pants depicted above.

Photo by Andy LongenbergerDave Sottile of The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Penn. did some digging. He learned today from the Bears that they will wear their standard brown pants for the Outdoor Classic next month. And let's face it, that's probably a good thing.

Along with the photo (right), here's some what was in Sottile's report:

On Wednesday, marketing manager Andy Longenberger said Hershey would wear its normal dark brown pant shells for the game, not white ones.

The brown and white striped jerseys feature the Outdoor Classic logo on the right shoulder and the Bears' 75th anniversary logo on the left shoulder. The center crest features the familiar prowling bear on all fours, as used on previous Hershey uniforms.

Longenberger said the jerseys will be auctioned off after the game, weather permitting. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Hershey Bears Charities.

He also points out the brown is much darker than it appears in the rendering that was posted on the Bears' website. You can definitely tell in the photo.

So are you disappointed about the lack of white pants? Think there's still a place for that sort of thing in modern hockey?

Hershey Bears Unveil New Logo!

It's official. The AHL's Hershey Bears unveiled their revamped look this afternoon, which includes all new logos and uniforms. The new image is all about making old new again.

A team video unveiling the new look, says it's all about going back to chocolate and white again. But the way I see it, less is more and this new set of logos looks positively incredible. Take a look at some of the alternate and secondary marks.

Definitely beats the old logo — by a lot! Naturally, the new look was created by The Joe Bosack Graphic Design Co. (As though it could've been anyone else.) Bosack is also responsible for, well, just about every good modern sports logo out there.

The Bears' new color scheme also puts the 2013 Outdoor Classic logo into context. Hershey will be hosting the event this season.

So what do you think of this new look for the Hershey Bears?

New Look Coming for Crunch

Say goodbye to this logo. The AHL's Syracuse Crunch will unveil a completely new look on Monday, July 2, according to the Syracuse Post-Standard.

The rebranding efforts apparently come as part of the Crunch's new affiliation agreement with the Tampa Bay Lightning. So presumably, the Crunch will start wearing blue next season and my tongue-in-cheek recolor from the weekend is looking less ridiculous.

Specifically, the article says, "The Lightning deal allows Syracuse to rebrand its look, starting with a new logo and colors it will unveil on July 2." Meaning along with the new colors, we will see a new primary mark. That's probably the best news of all.

But then it may not be all that new. I'm told the Crunch could be looking at something from their history. The franchise began life as the Hamilton Canucks in 1992, moving to Syracuse, New York in 1994. At that point, they introduced the comic book-style logo seen here in purple, gold and green.

Obviously, my crudely recolored version of that logo won't be what we get. But it will probably be the basis. I imagine the new look will be a modern update that looks less like it came off the pen of a cartoonist. But I'm just guessing. I've also been told the new colors are blue, white and silver.

Now the history lesson. I've already mentioned Hamilton and the 1994 relocation to New York. Five years after that, on Sept. 30, 1999, the Crunch entered into an affiliation agreement with the Columbus Blue Jackets and changed their logo and colors to match their new parent club — a full season before the Jackets would ever hit the ice, by the way. That was also the introduction of the abominable snowman ice gorilla.

In 2010, the Crunch hooked up with the Anaheim Ducks and changed their colors again. So this rebranding shouldn't surprise us. The Crunch have a track record of taking on the look of their NHL affiliate. 

Elsewhere in the AHL, the Hershey Bears are apparently getting new uniforms with a redesigned logo. Can't tell you much about the source of this info, so take it for what it's worth. Also expecting a new third jersey for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (no surprise there), so we should certainly keep an eye on these teams throughout the summer for any news.

Loose Threads: New in the Minors

Been a bit slow news wise, lately. But there have been a few new jerseys introduced around the minor leagues I thought you guys might want to talk about. One of the best alternates in the minors has to be this one.

The ECHL's Toledo Walleye have long been mocked for their joke of a '90s-style logo — a toothless fish angrily wielding a hockey stick. (Not really helped by the addition of a Santa hat, currently seen on their website.) But I think they nailed it with this new alternate sweater. Great use of their colors and a classic design inspired by everyone's all-time favorite — the Chicago Blackhawks, who are also their NHL affiliate.

Over in the AHL, former Icethetics concept contributor Aaron Masik designed this specialty jersey for the San Antonio Rampage.

As the team's designer, Masik designs a lot of the Rampage's specialty sweaters. This one (right) was for the club's 8th annual Salute to the Badges Night.

It was worn Sat., Dec. 10 against the Peoria Rivermen, a game which San Antonio won 2-1.

Elsewhere, following the NHL Winter Classic between the Flyers and Rangers (really enjoying this season's installment of 24/7 on HBO, by the way), the sheet of ice at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia will be used once more by the AHL.

The Adirondack Phantoms and Hershey Bears will meet on Jan. 6 for an outdoor game. According to the Phantoms' website, both teams will wear special jerseys to mark the occasion.

The Bears unveiled theirs last week. You can see a rendering on their Facebook page. As for the Phantoms, I haven't been able to track down anything yet. Feel free to share a link if you've got one.

AHL: New Thirds for Bears, Stars

While I was away on vacation last week a couple of AHL teams unveiled new third jerseys.

The Hershey Bears announced they are bringing back another retro look as their new alternate sweater for the 2011-12 season. It will make its game debut on Saturday, Oct. 15 for the club's home opener as they host the Norfolk Admirals.

On Wednesday, the Bears tweeted a graphic that showed the design, though an actual photo of the jersey itself has yet to surface. It features the "skating bear" logo that's been seen on a number of sweaters throughout the club's long history.

The Bears previously wore a maroon version of this jersey as their alternate. Presumably they're switching to white to make it easier to wear at home. In the AHL, teams wear dark uniforms on the road, so if a club wants to don a dark alternate on their home ice, they need to work out logistics with the visitor in advance.

Lately, it seems whenever a new Reebok Edge jersey is introduced, the game we play is which NHL team's template is it based on? I'll give you a minute. If you came up with the Buffalo Sabres home/road jerseys, you got it. The colors may be different, but the design is the same.

AHL Stars' new jersey and logoThe Texas Stars are also introducing a new white third jersey this season. 

Like the Bears, the Stars unveiled their new sweater online on Wednesday. But just over a week earlier, they first showed the new alternate logo seen on the shoulder. It's a wordmark that reads TEXAS with a star replacing the X.

Though this week's press release doesn't mention a specific date for the new sweater's debut, it does reference tonight's home opener a number of times. I'll keep an eye out for game photos.

Now a couple of pull quotes. Here's what the team says about the new secondary logo:

The new design was developed in coordination with the Texas Stars marketing department and the official jersey provider, Reebok. The new design will feature a centered two-tone gold star as the ‘X’ in Texas and will be comprised of the team’s existing colors with the addition of a new dark gold. 

“We are excited to unveil the new secondary logo for the Texas Stars,” said Texas Stars President Rick McLaughlin. “The new design is important to our team’s branding and establishing a new way to identify us. The new design looks great and will help us stand out in the league.”

And the new jersey:

The alternate jerseys are primarily white and dark green, with gold accents. The Texas Stars primary logo serves as the jersey crest, while the Stars new alternate logo (unveiled earlier in the off-season) serves as the shoulder patch on the new jerseys. The nameplates will consist of dark green lettering on the backs of the jersey.

The numbers on the sleeves and the backs of the sweater will be dark green with gold trim. The Stars will wear black pants, black gloves and white helmets with their new alternate jerseys.

“We are excited to unveil the new alternate jersey for the Texas Stars,” said Texas Stars President Rick McLaughlin. “The new jersey is an important extension of our brand in central Texas, using a combination of our original logo and our new secondary logo. Fans will be able to identify us in a whole new way.”

This one uses the template of the Phoenix Coyotes' third jersey. It's not a bad look and I like that they're using their actual logo on the front of this one rather than the text they use on their home and road sweaters much like the Dallas Stars.

UPDATE (9:05 PM): The Stars did not debut their third jersey during tonight's 7-0 blowout of the Oklahoma City Barons. Guess we'll have to keep an eye on them over the coming weeks to get a glimpse of it in action. Their next home game is Friday, Oct. 14.

Any AHL fans reading? What do you think of these new thirds?