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If you haven't heard, Wednesday is the big day for all three Canadian Hockey Leagues. The OHL, QMJHL and WHL teams that have yet to unveil their new Reebok Edge jerseys will do so on 9/9/09. It's going to be a busy day here at Icethetics.
However, it seems Regina Pats fans may not have to wait that long for a sneak peek. The WHL team's new sweater may have been inadvertently leaked by their own play-by-play announcer today.
On his blog, Rod Pederson posted what I would imagine is some kind of marketing photo. It depicts a wild, screaming Pats fan decked out in red face paint and, interestingly, a red Reebok Edge jersey with the Pats' secondary logo on the front. Take a look.
Pederson writes:

I love this photo. Get used to it because I'm going to be using it LOTS this fall/winter whenever discussing the Regina Pats.

You can't see much, but it's definitely red and it definitely lacks the "Pats" wordmark fans have become accustomed to seeing on the front. Instead, it looks like the secondary mark has taken its place.
You can see in this picture to the right — taken last season — it does appear to be the same logo (facing in the opposite direction of course).
I'm not much of a WHL fan but I've always thought of the Pats in blue so it's a little strange to see the jersey in red. However, I can't really say for certain that this is the new dark jersey. Perhaps it's a third? Maybe nothing more than a marketing thing?
Icethetics reader Curtis wrote in with the link to Pederson's blog and even himself questioned the validity of the photo. Obviously we'll know for sure one way or the other on Wednesday. But I at least wanted to share the picture in the meantime.
What do you guys think? I'd especially like to hear from Pats fans. I know you're out there. Are you happy with a change to red in the Age of Reebok and all the piping that goes along with it? Or are you distraught by the hostile corporate takeover of the last remaining bastion of decent hockey sweater design?
(Were those questions a little too leading?)
Update on Friday // Sep 4, 2009 // 11:31 AM PDT by Chris
Brett LefflerI've warned you guys I'm horrible when it comes to minor leagues — even worse for juniors. As Dustin and Jorden point out in the comments,[link widoczny dla zalogowanych], it seems this jersey was introduced on a promotional night late last season.

As you can see in the picture at right, taken from the Regina Pats' official web site, there's nothing new about this jersey. However, it's still a Reebok Edge jersey worn during the season prior to the WHL's Age of Reebok.

Therefore, who's to say this isn't going to be introduced as the Pats' new Edge jersey? Perhaps even just something similar.

Still, the red makes better sense in context for that one event — having to do with Canadian soldiers. Here's the description from the web site:

The Regina Pats are proud to put on special red jerseys Friday night [March 6, 2009] against the Medicine Hat Tigers, all in support of the Canadian Forces Soldier On Fund (CFSOF). The jerseys have the Pats bulldog on the front with the Pat logo within the Canadian flag on one shoulder and the Princess Patricias Canadian Light Infantry patch on the other.

So maybe it is more likely that a blue Edge jersey is in the cards for the Pats and this was nothing more than me not knowing my CHL facts.

But I do appreciate the corrections in the comments. You guys always manage to set me straight to make sure Icethetics isn't doling out inaccurate information. So thanks for that.

Meantime, as I said, Wednesday is the big day for the entire CHL. We'll see over 100 new Edge jerseys and I'm sure most of us will be disappointed by the vast majority.