The Avalanche are one of a handful of teams who will not go with a third jersey in 2008, which means we're stuck with just the fugly uniprons for at least one more year. Some of the other teams' alternates are starting to show up, and so far things are looking good.

Note that ALL of this info is from the cool Icethetics blog, so if you already frequent that site, NONE of the following is going to be new.

So far, my favorite is the Hurricanes 3rd. I know that black is way overplayed in the jersey world, but I'm still a sucker for it. My "lucky" Avalanche jersey is one of the older Center Ice practice jerseys - like this one, but black. I'm not a big fan of the 'Canes, but I could definitely see myself picking up one of these.

I also dig the (unofficial) new Buffalo 3rd's, although I could do without that extemporaneous piping under the sleeves (does Reebok get to charge extra for that crap?).

I'm a little more on the fence with the new Bruins alt. I'm a big fan of the regular Bruin jerseys, and I think that Boston patch makes for a dandy sleeve patch. I just don't like it as much as the front patch. Still, it could certainly be worse.

The Habs won't have alternates per se, but will wear a couple of throwbacks as they celebrate their 100th season. I'm looking forward to seeing those in action.

Finally, the Minnesota Wild had been rumored to bring back their old green jerseys as an alternate this year (remember, last year when teams had to pare down to 2 jerseys, the Wild ditched their home jersey and kept their 3rd jersey), but it sounds like that won't be happening. Too bad, I really dig the green sweaters.

*this article originally appeared at inthecheapseats.com*