Super Bowl Malaise

I write this during the halftime celebration of the Super Bowl. I'm not watching it, but it seems that everyone else is. And that's cool. I'm just not a fan of the NFL whatsoever. In any case, a few things caught my attention this weekend, so I'm going to open this up with some randomness. Much like yesterday, some bullet point topics will be presented, and I'll break into a little bit of an explanation. Pretty much standard fare for the weekend on HBIC. Let's get going before someone wants to check out the newest GoDaddy commercial on my PC.

• The ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers played against the Bakersfield Condors on Friday night, and gave their fans quite a show. If you remember, the Wranglers were hosting the Condors on Rod Blagojevich Prison Night, and the scene on the ice was that of a prison yard. Overall, the jerseys looked pretty good, and this promotion, despite being called "tasteless" by some scribes, gets a pass from me.
• St. Cloud State University participated in Hockey Day in Minnesota festivities on January 17, 2009 with a game, and they decided to bring back the past. Normally, the St. Cloud State University men wear these jerseys and the SCSU women wear these jerseys, but the men took to the ice in throwbacks for the day. Solid look, and I approve of these simple yet classy jerseys.
• March 26, 2009 will see the Canadian men's and women's hockey teams from the 2002 Salt Lake City Olympics inducted into the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame. Both teams won gold medals in Salt Lake City, and the Canadian men broke a 52-year drought for gold medals in men's hockey. Congratulations to all the athletes on those teams, and the other athletes who will be inducted that evening!
• Looking back at jersey changes this weekend from the NHL, we'll start with Toronto who honoured Doug Gilmour on Saturday. All the Leaf players wore the old-style Leafs jerseys with Gilmour's name and number on the back during the warmup, and the players donned their normal blue jerseys with the added patch for honouring Gilmour during the game against the Penguins.
• Today saw the Montreal Canadiens break out the 1913 throwback jerseys for their game against the Boston Bruins. The jerseys looked great in my opinion, yet it seemed that the majority of people who watched the game on TV didn't approve of the look. In any case, Carey Price broke out the throwback-style pads for the game, keeping the historical aspects of the game up front. The look on the bench was a little much, but the names and numbers in solid blue made them easy to read. Overall, I like these jerseys. Nothing wrong with them at all, despite what Ron MacLean may think.
• Something that I missed noting from a week or so ago was in the game before the Bruins and Maple Leafs on Wednesday, January 21. The Maple Leafs came out in the warmup wearing "Ace" jerseys in honour of Ace Bailey, similar to what they had done for the Ace Bailey Benefit Game in 1934. They also wore the jersey patch that game, but I totally missed the "Ace" jerseys in the warmup. Classy move, TML. Very well done.
• Speaking of Toronto, I was hunting for some older TML jerseys today, and came across a photo of a jersey with an alternate captain's "A" on it from 1986-87. I think they should go back to the font that uses the serif on the "A". That's a pretty iconic letter for the Leafs.
• As for my new banner, two comments received - one for changing it, one for keeping it but updating the NHL logos. I'm still interested in what you may have to say about it, so let me know what you think. This is the prototype I am floating out there, but I'm open to all suggestions. Let me know.

Ok, that's all for now. Enjoy the Super Bowl, everyone! Tomorrow, I'll have a major contest announcement that I am a part of, and it looks like it's a good one. The contest officially started today, but I want to start Monday off with this so I can dedicate as much time as I can to it. Details to follow tomorrow!

Until then, keep your sticks on the ice!