Get ready for 7 amazing minor league jerseys this season

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They're as certain as death and taxes. Theme night jerseys in minor league hockey. And the 2014-15 season looks promising with a handful of sweaters we won't want to miss. I've combed promotional schedules around the AHL and ECHL to find these seven gems.

Among them: a pair of NBA-themed jerseys, a pair of sitcom-themed jerseys, and a jersey based on a mathematical constant. So you should keep reading this.

Reign take the crown

From Stanley Cup champion to ECHL novelty, the Los Angeles Kings' crown takes a mighty fall from grace as the Ontario Reign celebrate affiliate night.

The Reign will sport these Kings-inspired jerseys on Sat., Oct. 25. But even these simply can't compete with the most epic Kings' affiliate jersey of all time. The AHL's Manchester Monarchs wore a replica of L.A.'s infamous 1996 third last February.

A jersey about nothing

The Bakersfield Condors have surely seen their share of oddball theme jerseys — including the time they dressed like convicts on Rod Blagojevich Night in Las Vegas. But this season the ECHL club is honoring the classic sitcom Seinfeld.

On Sun., Nov. 16, the Condors will skate out sporting Jerry's famous puffy shirt. Because who wouldn't want to dress like a pirate? The club is going all out with this Seinfeld Night. Instead of player surnames, the back of each jersey will feature the name of a character from the show.

It may sound silly, but nights like this actually do a lot of good. The Condors, owned by the Edmonton Oilers, tout that they've raised almost $900,000 for local charities over the team's history. And that's not nothing.

Duh-nuh duh-nuh, BATMAN!!

The Caped Crusader will skate in Toledo on Sat., Nov. 22. Prepare for Heroes Night from the ECHL's Toledo Walleye, who will sport Batman-themed sweaters for the game. And to make things even more fun, their opponent, the Evansville IceMen, will wear villain jerseys!

I'll be looking forward to the release of those jersey designs. But until then, take a trip down memory lane and check out the "Gotham City Crusaders" jerseys worn by the CHL's Tulsa Oilers in 2012.

But I get the feeling the Walleye's jerseys will be more Adam West than Christian Bale.

Hardwood to hockey: Charlotte

A couple weeks ago, visitors to the Concepts page were treated to a collection of hockey sweater designs for the NBA's Charlotte Hornets by Justin Wiltron. They were a huge hit and one of the highest-rated concepts of the year.

But that little fantasy will become a reality on Sat., Nov. 29 when the AHL's Charlotte Checkers celebrate Hornets Night with special jersey inspired by the local basketball franchise. I don't mean to say the Checkers are using Justin's designs — just that we're going to see an actual Hornets hockey jersey soon.

The Checkers even released a version of their logo in Hornets colors. All we can do is hope their jersey is half as cool as the ones Justin designed.

Cosby sweaters on ice

December will be dotted with the traditional ugly Christmas sweaters, but they've got nothing on the sweaters the Huxtable family made famous in the 1980s. On Sat., Jan. 24, the Toledo Walleye will grab our attention again with Cosby Sweater Night!

The Walleye have yet to release images of their Batman or Cosby jerseys, but I can't wait to see what they come up with. The concepts alone present a world of amazing possibilities. I'm betting the charities benefiting from the auctions will be well taken care of.

Hardwood to hockey: Cleveland

Another NBA franchise will get the hockey sweater treatment as Cleveland's Lake Erie Monsters celebrate Cavaliers Night on Sat., Feb. 7. That night, the AHL club will give away what promises to be a hilarious bobblehead of a Cavs player in a Monsters jersey.

And wearing number 3.14159265359...

Pi Day. It's that thing your math teacher pretends is some kind of fun holiday. Or maybe just an excuse to bring pies to school. Really, it's the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. And it always equals about 3.14 — or what one might read as March 14 on the calendar.

It's particularly "interesting" this year because the next two digits in the sequence are 1 and 5 — 3.1415 (if you're not rounding), or March 14, 2015. So the ECHL's Evansville IceMen are cashing in with Pi Day jerseys!

This is a new one even for me. I truly have no idea what a Pi Day jersey looks like. So I'll be eager to see what the IceMen come up with. Meantime, I'd love to post some concepts if you have any bright ideas.

Look for another blog post like this closer to the season after more minor league teams announce special jersey nights! 

Checkers theme jerseys average 10 goals per game

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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?

Checkers Get New Uniforms

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Following the lead of their NHL parent club in Raleigh, the AHL's Charlotte Checkers unveiled new uniforms on Wednesday. The redesigned sweaters are based on those of the Carolina Hurricanes, who revealed their look to the world on June 4.

Photos from Charlotte Checkers (via Flickr)

On first glance, it looks like they duplicated the Canes and swapped out the crest. But first glances can be deceiving. There are more differences than that and some are key to making this uniform work for Charlotte in a way it didn't for Raleigh.

By now you've probably read my review of what Carolina did. Overall, it wasn't great. But the Checkers have changed some details that really make their version easier to swallow. So let's go through them. The Checkers have made this very easy, outlining the differences on their website.

Some differences between the Hurricanes and Checkers' new jerseys

First, and most obvious is the black stripe on the red Checkers jersey. Come on Carolina, how hard would that have been? It wouldn't saved all the Team Canada grief you've gotten over the last week and a half. Then there's the lace-up collar on the white jersey. This isn't a big deal for me. A lot of folks bemoaned the non-matching home-and-roads in Carolina. I kind of liked that.

The Checkers also have a shoulder patch, something the Canes went without. Of course it's the standard Hurricanes logo, but at least it's something. Other changes pointed out on the Checkers' website include the Checkers retaining the shiny silver on the crest while Carolina opted for a matte finish. And, naturally, the collar doesn't have a row of storm flags like it does for the Hurricanes.

Photo from Charlotte Checkers (via Flickr)

The reason I like Charlotte's version better is quite simply the black stripe on the red sweater and the shoulder patches. Seemingly minor details can turn out to be important.

And there's something else. The Checkers identity dates back to the 1950s in the old Eastern Hockey League. That's about 60 years of history there. Because of that, a traditional-style hockey uniform works for them in a way it doesn't for the 16-year-old Hurricanes. Plus, it never made sense for them to wear those storm flags around their waist like it did for their parent club. Moreso now that the Canes themselves stopped using that particular feature.

So for Charlotte, this is an impressive upgrade to the look. They will be one of the AHL's best-looking teams in 2013. How can two teams wear jerseys so similar and yet look so different? Now you know. 

More photos of the new Checkers uniforms on Flickr

The Checkers have posted a series of artsy shots of their new uniforms on Flickr. I highly recommend taking a peek. There's also a video if you're interested in seeing the jerseys in motion.

Your turn. Did the Checkers make the right move? Share your take in the comments.

Minor League Notes, No Joke

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I have a big JerseyWatch update coming tomorrow. Not posting it today for obvious reasons. No one would believe me. Instead, just a few minor minor league notes. First, a new logo was unveiled yesterday!

The AHL's Syracuse Crunch officially unveiled their new colors just a week after announcing a new affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Ducks. The Crunch's tweaked logo now matches their new parent club.

The revised logo features the club’s classic moniker depicting the face of an ice gorilla biting through a hockey stick with the word ‘CRUNCH’ emblazoned in ice block letters above him and showcases the new team colors of black, ice blue, metallic gold and burnt orange.

In addition, the Crunch will unveil a brand new uniform design that includes the new team colors in the upcoming weeks.

What the team doesn't mention in that release is the color in the gloves of the ice gorilla, which are neither metallic gold nor burnt orange. Looks to be some kind of brownish gray.

When the ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs franchise makes the move to Greenville, S.C. this summer, the team will allow fans to pick the new name.

Team owner and GM Neil Smith said the Chiefs name will be staying in Johnstown and a name-the-team contest will be held, according to the Greenville News. The newspaper also said "the horrendous moniker Grrrowl will not be back." We can all breathe easy now.

Greenville is hopeful that hockey will be a success again as it once was. After all, they've seen the Kelly Cup in that town. And everybody likes a winner.

Finally, Icethetics reader Chip pointed me toward Dan Krieger's Weekly Sports League and Franchise Report at OurSportsCentral. Krieger keeps tabs on all the goings-on with the often on-the-move minor league clubs. A couple of things stood out in his reports from the last couple of weeks.

With the Albany River Rats moving to Charlotte at the end of the season, it looks as if the Lowell Devils could replace them — returning the New Jersey Devils-owned affiliate to New York's capital city.

Krieger had the following in his report:

Now that the AHL's Portland Pirates have ended negotiations about a move to Albany (NY) for next season, Albany is reported to be negotiating with the Lowell (MA) Devils, the AHL affiliate of the New Jersey Devils in the National Hockey League.

The Devils had their AHL affiliate in Albany operating as the River Rats for 13 seasons before moving it to Lowell and purchasing the Lock Monsters for the 2006-07 season. The Albany River Rats have been affiliated with the Carolina Hurricanes since 2006, but Carolina is moving its AHL affiliate to Charlotte next season.

If that happens, the name would likely change to Albany Devils. However, I'm not sure if they'd bother changing the logo, despite the fairly obvious L it forms. We'll have to wait and see how it all pans out.

Krieger also reported that one group was attempting to bring back the ECHL's Charlotte Checkers franchise as the San Diego Gulls for the 2010-11 season. Evidently, those plans have fallen through.

The Checkers' name and logo will be appropriated to the AHL's River Rats when they move to Charlotte next season. That means the ECHL team will likely be disbanded this summer.

The Gulls played one season in the ECHL after it merged with the West Coast Hockey League.