Fuzzy leaks precede Caps' Winter Classic jersey unveiling

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In a matter of hours, the Washington Capitals will unveil their uniforms for the 2015 NHL Winter Classic. But we have a preview of a some branding elements already.

First, the Capitals are celebrating their 40th anniversary this season and will wear a patch on their uniforms to mark the occasion. You can see a couple of photos that showcase it on the right.

The logo was first unveiled two weeks ago. It's already being worn on jerseys during preseason games in the last several days.

Then this morning, in a Facebook post reminding us of tomorrow's event, the Capitals gave us our first official look at the text treatment for the 2015 Winter Classic branding.

Notice how they've worked in the stars above the word "Classic" calling back to the Caps' original logo and uniform designs.

It's pretty much par for the course on Winter Classic wordmarks. I'm more interested in seeing the full logo, which I presume we'll get tomorrow during the ballpark press conference.

But the most intriguing details came this morning by way of leaked photos on the blog RMNB (Russian Machine Never Breaks).

The photos appear to show Nationals Park — the site of Tuesday's unveiling and the Jan. 1, 2015 game — decked out in Winter Classic branding, including the special Blackhawks and Capitals logos.

They're blurry cell phone images, yes, but they seem to show a Capitals logo unlike anything we've ever seen before — which is becoming more commonplace for the Winter Classic in recent years.

They used to simply dig into a team's history for a classic jersey and logo. But we've seen the Red Wings and Flyers among others come out with completely new designs for the outdoor game.

So what sort of Capitals logo are we looking at here? We won't have to wait much longer. The Capitals will reveal all on Tuesday at noon ET.

Drop by Icethetics for full coverage.

Capitals set unveiling date for 2015 Winter Classic threads

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Today, the Washington Capitals announced the 2015 NHL Winter Classic will be held at Nationals Park on New Year's Day — Thurs., Jan. 1, 2015.

But two weeks from now — on Tues., Sept. 23 — they will hold a press conference at the ballpark to unveil their jersey for the big game.

The Blackhawks will be the Caps' opponent for the Winter Classic, but it's unclear if their uniform will be unveiled at the same time.

Also missing the Winter Classic logo itself. Perhaps we'll get that between now and Sept. 23 or they'll wait to unveil it at the press conference too.

I've heard the rumblings the Caps are considering a simple red version of the throwback from their last Winter Classic appearance. That would be the least surprising way to go.

But that's not all we got from the Capitals today.

The team announced it will celebrate its 40th anniversary this season with a special logo and commemorative jersey patch.

From the press release:

The Capitals’ Opening Night at Verizon Center ... against the Montreal Canadiens on Oct. 9 marks the anniversary of the franchise’s first game. ... To commemorate the occasion, Capitals legends will participate in a ceremonial puck drop, and the Capitals will wear white alternate uniforms during the home opener.

There's our confirmation that the white third will stick around at least another season, by the way.

The club has not released a third jersey schedule for the rest of the year, but typically wears the sweater for a number of road games during the season. Since it's white, seeing it at a home game is rare.

So what are you hoping to see at the Winter Classic? If you have an idea, I'd love to share it on the Concepts page!

NHL marks St. Patrick's Day with weekend of green

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As part of the annual tradition, the last few days have seen a handful of NHL teams go green in honor of St. Patrick's Day. Typically, clubs wear green practice jerseys during warm-ups and auction them off for charitable causes. Let's take a look.

Boston Bruins

There's no way the team from Boston could avoid celebrating Irish heritage. The Bruins wore their green tonight before beating the Minnesota Wild 4-1. By the way, they wore their third jerseys during the game.

Buffalo Sabres

The Sabres did the green thing on Sunday prior to facing their old captain Thomas Vanek and his Montreal Canadiens. Buffalo was shut out 2-0 while wearing also wearing their new thirds for the game. That jersey sure is taking a beating.

If you're interested in adding a green Sabres jersey to your collection, here's the auction.

Chicago Blackhawks

The Blackhawks also donned their green on Sunday ahead of a 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. If you want one, here's the auction page.

Nashville Predators

The Predators got pretty creative with their St. Patrick's Day jerseys. Skip to the other photo in the mini-slideshow above to see the musically-themed screen printed numbers. Fittingly, they then faced the Blues, but lost 4-1.

New York Islanders

St. Patrick's Day celebrations started early on Long Island. The Islanders wore these Saturday prior to beating the Sabres 4-1. Okay, at this point I have to ask. What is it with all these 4-1 finals?

Pittsburgh Penguins

The Taking-It-Too-Far Award this St. Patrick's Day has to go to Pittsburgh. The jerseys might've been fine but then they started adding flags to the sleeves. But that's not what won them the honor in my book. For that, you have to flip to the second image.

The Penguins took their primary logo and dressed the penguin up in a leprechaun suit. They've been using that as their Twitter icon the last couple days. Then they had to go and put it on a T-shirt as well. Amazing. Winner, hands down.

The green jerseys were worn Sunday in advance of a 4-3 loss to the Flyers. If you want more photos from warm-ups, the Pens have dedicated an entire gallery on their website.

Washington Capitals

We can usually count on the Capitals for green jerseys. They round out the list this year, wearing this set on Sunday before a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Speaking of the Leafs, I'll leave you with this tweet.

A handful of minor league teams also wore special St. Patrick's Day jerseys this weekend. I aim to gather some photos for another post later this week.

Capitals Hosting 2015 Winter Classic

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Opponent, location and uniform designs still unknown

The Washington Capitals officially announced this morning that the American capital will play host to the NHL Winter Classic on Thu., Jan. 1, 2015. But that's about all they revealed.

Still unknown are the opponent, location and uniform designs for the game. But in the press release on their website, the Caps said that all of this will be announced "in the coming months."

Until then, there's only speculation. I know we started this a little yesterday, but now that it's official, who would you prefer to see the Capitals face and what jerseys should the teams be wearing?

Isles Ready for First Game in Brooklyn

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Photo by Joe DeLessio / New York Magazine

Special Brooklyn patch seen on jerseys in team store

For the second time, the New York Islanders will attempt to play an exhibition game at Barclays Center — their future Brooklyn home — tomorrow night.

The inaugural Brooklyn game was scheduled to take place last year during the preseason on Oct. 2. But we all remember the lockout, right? So they're trying again this weekend. Above you can see the variations of the Brooklyn logo the Isles have been using to promote the event.

Interestingly, the newer one can be seen as a jersey patch in the team merchandise store at Barclays Center. The photo was included in a New York Magazine piece by Joe DeLessio. Does this mean the players will be wearing them tomorrow?

A lot of readers have been emailing and tweeting that photo to me so I wanted to get it on the record in comparison to last year's which went unused. The biggest question: Will this be the new Brooklyn shoulder patch when the team moves? I highly doubt it.

This is a marketing logo designed for a specific event. It's essentially the same design we've seen from the Islanders art department for every special event logo over the last few years. When a new shoulder patch is designed, I'm sure it'll be something a little more creative and timeless in style.

Unrelated: Caps to host 2015 NHL Winter Classic?

I don't think it warrants an additional blog post just yet, but the Washington Post and USA Today are reporting that the Washington Capitals will host the 2015 NHL Winter Classic. According to the Post, the announcement will be made tomorrow morning. If that's the case, I'll have a blog post then with all the pertinent facts.

In the meantime, feel free to speculate. What should the Caps wear for their second outdoor game? And who should their opponent be?