Dallas Stars April Fools

Earlier today this post appeared on sportslogos.net showing the Dallas Stars new home sweater...or so it would seem.  Sitting in my college algebra class staring at this on my tiny Virgin Mobile phone got me all sorts of excited, to the point we even retweeted @sportslogosnet original post.

At first I was disgusted, the Stars have such a great opportunity to truly set themselves apart from the rest of the NHL with their new sweaters and this is what they came up with?  It looks as if the Dallas Cowboys, Detroit Redwings and Tampa Bay Lightning had an awful three way and this is the result of one drunken night in Vegas.

Then it hit me...it's April 1st...April Fools day.  Quickly I refreshed the page and sure enough, at 12:25 PM an update was posted.

UPDATE (Apr 1/13 12:25pm ET): Happy April Fool’s Day, everyone!

 The scary thing is everything about the template looks like something legit.  It's scary good and one has to congratulate @sportslogosnet on creating such a great forgery.

As for the Dallas sweaters, one can only hope they aren't as terrible as these (no offense!).

Wings, Leafs 2013 Winter Classic Sweaters Leak on eBay

As the NHL lockout stretched into mid-December, the decision was made to cancel the 2013 Winter Classic.  We've seen "leaked" images of t-shirtsThe game between the Detroit Red Wings and Toronto Maple Leafs never happened and no merchandise was ever made available to fans, until now.

Over the last week on eBay two Winter Classic sweaters have made their way onto the online sellers website. The first to be put up for sale was from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a whopping $499.99.

Leafs eBay Sweater

At first glance this sweater seems pretty legit, the first glance is so convincing it's made Icethetics believe this is an authentic sweater.  This looks like the sweater the Leafs wore from 1930 to 1934, but I'm not sold this is an authentic Winter Classic sweater.

Here's what doesn't make sense:

• No Winter Classic Patch:  Even the leaked images of the Winter Classic t-shirts had the logo, why is it not on this sweater.
• Black collar laces:  Blue jersey, white striping, black collar laces...one of these items doesn't fit.  That just makes no sense.
• No tags:  Where's the Reebok tag that comes with every sweater?  Replica or Authentic sweaters all come with some sort of Reebok tag.
• Name, Numbers and Shoulder Patches:  These do not exist on this sweater as far as we can see from the photographs provided by the seller.

In just ten minutes of research I was able to find 19 different blank Toronto Maple Leafs sweaters for sale, some of which are very similar to the sweater above.  I was also able to find small NHL shield patches for sale.  A quick search of eBay reveals no shortage of Leafs crests for sale, though I was unable to find that exact crest at this time.  All of the components .

Red Wings eBay Sweater

A few days ago another 2013 Winter Classic sweater found its way to eBay, this time from the Detroit Red Wings, priced at a modest $150.00.

This one looks a little more legit than the Leafs sweater.  It looks like a New York Rangers 2012 Classic sweater mated with a Minnesota Wild alternate sweater.  Again the logo is spot on with the leaked images of other merchandise and the numbering seems spot on as well.  The collar laces appear to be the same "vintage" white as the rest of the sweater and look to be the proper length for a Reebok sweater.  You can also see the Reebok tags that were lacking on the Leafs sweater.

Still there are a few issues with this sweater:

• Vintage White:  If you look closely the vintage white color on the thick stripe on the bottom of the sweater doesn't quite match the thinner stripe just above.  Likewise, the vintage white on the wheel logo doesn't match the vintage white in DETROIT, same with the numbers on the back of the sweater.  Could possibly be due to the flash from the camera as these are not professional shots, but worth pointing out anyway.
• Alternate Captain:  Datsyuk is one of Detroit's alternate captains...where's the A?
• No Patch:  As with the Leafs sweater above, there is no 2013 Winter Classic patch anywhere on this sweater.

In my opinion, the Leafs sweater is too easy to fake, that logo has been used for years by the Leafs in some form or another.  Someone with enough time could order each piece separately and assemble it on their own.  I'm sure that if you looked hard enough you could even find a few REEBOK patches to replace the old vector logo or another sweater manufacturers logo.  The Detroit sweater however is much harder to fake, but still could possibly be done.  Unless you knew someone that could make a crest for you from an image from the internet it's nearly impossible to recreate that sweater.

Rumor is the 2014 Winter Classic will still be Red Wings and Maple Leafs at the Big House in Michigan, so maybe we'll get to see if these sweaters are for real or (more than likely) fakes.

Flames Trade Karlsson To Chicago

The Calgary Flames have made their first trade of the season, trading goaltender Henrik Karlsson to Chicago.

The news was released on Twitter a short while ago, no further details were given.  We'll update this post as soon as we have more information.

//  UPDATE  //
Karlsson is headed to the Blackhawks for a 7th round draft pick at the 2013 NHL Entry Draft.

Earlier in the day the Flames assigned the 6'6" goaltender to the Abbotsford Heat of the American Hockey League.

Flames Announce Opening Day Roster

Here's a look a the Flames official opening day roster from www.flames.nhl.com.

Puck drops in Calgary on Sunday January 20, 2013 against the San Jose Sharks.  Puck drop is set for 4:00 PM MT.

Irivng Earns Spot on Flames Roster

Going into training camp there was no clear backup goaltender for starter Miikka Kiprusoff.  Leland Irving knew he would have to battle with last years backup Henrik Karlsson.  Today all that hard work payed off for the 24-year-old as he was named to the Flames opening day roster.

Irving will serve as Kiprusoff's backup to start the season.

The opporuntiy has been long awaited for Irving, who's spent the past five seasons in the American Hockey League, playing in 182 games after the Flames drafted him at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

"It's awesome, no better feeling," Irving said of being named to the opening day roster.  "It's taken a lot of hard work and a few obstacles along the way but I couldn't be happier."

Irving has appeared in six games for the Flames' top affiliate in Abbotsford posting a 2-3-1-0 record 3.72 GAA and a .871 save percentage.  In fact was the Heat's third string goaltender behind Danny Taylor and Barry Brust.

With one final opportunity to show he was ready to be the number two man in Calgary, Irving posted a a shutout in a 40 minute exhibition and turned aside all five shots he faced in a shootout.

"We felt he was better," Flames head coach Bob Hartley said shortly after naming his backup.  "It was a battle but we felt from the first day to yesterday Leland was the clear winner.

Irving traveled between Abbotsford and Calgary frequently last season, seeing action from December onward.  During his six games with the Flames he psoted a 3.20 goals against average and a .912 save percentage.

"I came out here, took every day very seriously.  I didn't want to waste a day, I tried to get better every day and I proved I can play at this level."

With just two days until the Flames hit the ice, much is left to be seen with regards to Irving's playing time.  Kiprusoff played 70 games last season.  With just 48 games this season, how much rest with Kipper really need?

Red Wings, Flyers Name New Captains

The Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers have named their Captains for the 2013-13 season.

Zetterberg, right, is just the third Wings captain since 1986.

Detroit named 32 year old Henrik Zetterberg their captain this afternoon at a press conference in Detroit.  He becomes the third Captain since 1986, taking over for Niklas Lindstrom who retired at the end of last season.

"He's not afraid to communicate," coach Mike Babcock told reporters.  "He doesn't mind getting mad at me one bit.  He's just not shy about what he thinks.  We've had a relationship like that for a long time."

Zetterberg has spent nine seasons with the Red Wings, scoring 252 goals and assisting on 372 more for 624 points.  He's had 68 points in each of the past seven seasons.  Zetterberg signed a 12 year, $73 million contract in 2009, a contract that will keep the forward in Detroit until he's 40.

Giroux takes over as captain for the Flyers.

The Philadelphia Flyers replaced injured captain Chris Pronger today, naming Claude Giroux to the position.

"Claude is the undisputed leader of this team," general manager Paul Holmgren said. "He always exhibits a tremendous work ethic in games and practices. He is a great professional both on and off the ice."

Giroux is entering his fifth full NHL season, all with Philadelphia.  The Flyers picked him in the first round (No. 22 overall) at the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.  He scored 28 goals last seasons and finished third in the NHL with 93 points.  The 25-year-old center was the best players in the NHL on the power play scoring with 38 points, including 32 assists.

Red Wings 2013 Schedule "Leaked"

The ink hasn't dried on the NHL's new Collective Bargaining Agreement and already we have our supposed first look at what a 48-game season will look like...in a word:  brutal.

The Detroit Red Wings schedule was allegedly leaked earlier this evening...you can see the full schedule here.  Here's the run down:

• Detroit opens the season January 19 against the St. Louis Blues.
• Their final regular season game is scheduled for April 27 against the Dallas Stars.
• No  games are scheduled vs Eastern Conference teams, mostly divisional opponents with some inter-conference games scheduled as well.

For the record thats a 69 day season with 48 games being played.  If this schedule holds true it's going to be a brutal season in the NHL.

...more to come as things unfold.