Winter Classic Jerseys Leaked? EDIT: Philly's Included

According to multiple photos and threads on HFBoards (viewable here and here), the Bruins special edition Winter Classic jersey has been leaked a few days early. The Flyers were supposed to release their jerseys today and the Bruins on the 17th, but two different photos appear to show the new jersey in the possession of Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who was recently in New York City filming promotional material for Versus.

Photo 1, posted by HFBoards user "Todd Elik":


And photo 2, posted by HF user "Morris Wanchuk"which gives a much better look at the sweater. Not sure yet where/when this was taken and who Thomas'...uh..."companion" is:



Again, these are "alleged" leaks, and may not be the actual jerseys. However, if they are, they appear to be a take on the B's jersey from 1942-1947, a jersey that some are saying the B's wore for the club's 25th anniversary season in 1949. One of the early points of contention is the more rounded and cartoonish-looking "B" on the crest of the sweater. The "B", or a form of it, can be seen here at SportsLogos.net. (I couldn't save the picture for some reason.)

My take? Overall, a pretty nice looking sweater. The gold jersey is much better than their last attempt at a gold uniform (though as I've said before, I kind of liked the "Pooh" jerseys), and I like the bands and piping on the jersey. Some may be turned off by the different looking crest, but, as Pittsburgh's Winter Classic sweater showed, different isn't necessarily bad.

Once more, these are alleged leaks, and could be all wrong. However, if they are the actual jerseys, I give them a thumbs-up. The B's went traditional without going too old school, and should see a decent amount of these jerseys peppered in the Fenway Park crowd come January 1st.

Opinions on the sweaters? Yay? Nay?


EDIT, 5:02 PM: Here are some pics from Philly's official unveiling earlier this afternoon. All are property of the NHL, no copyright infringement intended, and the entire gallery can be seen here.

I think the Flyers' jerseys look pretty sharp as well. I like the stripes down the arm and the horizontal orange stripe across the bottom. My only issue is with the black nameplate visible in the first picture. It seems a little out of place, but basically what this jersey seems to be is an "away" version of the Flyers' extremely popular third jersey. The black nameplate isn't necessarily bad, just a little "different".

Though the contrasting colors between the nameplate and the letters will help fans be able to read Ray Emery's name from under the Fenway scoreboard in center field...maybe it was a good move after all.

B's Begin Informal Practices

While training camp is still a couple of weeks away, the Bruins have started to come together as a group for informal practices in Wilmington. Attendance isn't mandatory, but a number of B's have already shown up and skated, including Steve Begin, Marco Sturm, David Krecji and Tuukka Rask.

The Globe's Bruins Blog has had running coverage of the event, including a piece stating that Krecji may be ready to play by October 1st. He is still unable to skate full-tilt, and may not be by the start of training camp, but isn't ruling out being ready for the opener and hopes to be back in action at some point in October.

Other tidbits from the Globe:

• Steve Begin is wearing number 27, most recently worn by Peter Schaefer and Glen Murray. Bad karma for the former Hab?
• Marco Sturm is skating without limitation and feeling good.

All practices the rest of the week are open to the public and begin at 11:30 AM.