Bruins unveil their latest alternate jersey

I did not see this coming in terms of its release date, so you will have to forgive me for it. What makes this piece of news interesting is that none of the Boston media outlets made a mention of it.

If you were at the "State of the Bruins" town hall meeting inside TD Banknorth Garden in Boston last night, you witnessed toward the end of the event a quiet unveiling of the Boston Bruins' latest alternate jersey.

There was just a single sentence in the news feature that brought up the jersey where it said:

"A very special surprise came at the end of the festivities when Milan Lucic walked onto the ice to unveil the Bruins new third jersey."

How kind of them to mention it. It was a surprise that the team didn't set aside a separate day in which there could've been an unveiling event like the Carolina Hurricanes did hours earlier.

Boston Bruins forward Milan Lucic shows fans gathered at
TD Banknorth Garden in Boston for the "State of the Bruins" event the team's new alternate jersey on September 10, 2008. (photo courtesy: Hub Hockey)

Hub Hockey, an excellent Bruins fan blog on the latest happenings of the team, was the only source to provide any news of the unveiling and publicly provide proof. In a blog entry that was posted that night, it reveals a black jersey design featuring the current secondary logo for the crest and the primary logo on the shoulders. Two gold stripes with a white one in between them wrap around the sleeves just below the elbow area.

Lucic turns around to show Bruins fans at TD Banknorth Garden the back of the team's new alternate jersey on September 10, 2008. (photo courtesy: Hub Hockey)

Chris posted in his August 26th Icethetics blog entry what appeared to be a sneak peek thanks to The Sports Network (TSN). Toward the end of the video clip, it shows Patrice Bergeron shooting some pucks during an offseason practice session. But if you didn't look quick enough, you miss seeing him wearing what turned out to be this new alternate jersey the Bruins will wear in at least 15 home games during the 2008-2009 season.

Lucic shows Bruins fans the team's new alternate jersey on September 10, 2008. (photo courtesy: Hub Hockey)

A recap of last night's event was posted at Hub Hockey and provided a detailed look at what the Bruins' plans are for the upcoming season and beyond. Among those that took part in the town hall meeting are familiar faces on the Boston sports scene in Bruins television color analyst Andy Brickley as the Master of Ceremonies, general manager Peter Chiarelli, head coach Claude Julien, vice president Cam Neely, executive vice president Charlie Jacobs and team owner Jeremy Jacobs. Two Bruins defensemen joined them in Aaron Ward and team captain Zdeno Chara.

Whether or not this latest alternate jersey will be a hit with the fans remains to be seen, but those that did not like what they refer to as the gold "Pooh bear" jersey were relieved to see it discontinued after the 2005-2006 season. Basically if you like black, two of the three the Bruins wear are now that color. The away jersey is predominantly white.

Before I discuss it on the day of its upcoming unveiling, there is one information nugget off the rumor mill that is worth addressing. Normally I prefer to stay away from speculation on things like this, but it appears that a photo showing the design of the Buffalo Sabres' new alternate jersey had been leaked. Chris Smith first brought it up in his blog on Monday and then followed it up about 90 minutes ago. John Vogl of the Buffalo News confirms in his Sabres Edge blog entry that the jersey Chris had posted about was the real thing. It is an updated version of the classic Sabres jersey, including the original primary logo back on the front. I will post in more detail after it is unveiled at the Puck Drop 2008 event on September 20th.