Client News
Sharks and Seagate Unveil 'BlackArmor'
San Jose Sharks Staff, NHL.com
Nov. 21st, 2008
Announcement Marks Unique Partnership Between NHL Team and Seagate
SAN JOSE, Calif. — At 8 a.m. today on sjsharks.com, the San Jose Sharks and Seagate®, the world leader in storage solutions, unveiled "BlackArmor," the Sharks new Reebok third jersey.
The Sharks will wear their "BlackArmor" for the first time tomorrow night, Nov. 22, against the Washington Capitals and will continue to don the sweater for the next three home games. For the remainder of the season, the Sharks will wear their "BlackArmor" for each Thursday home game, marking the return of "Black Thursday" at HP Pavilion. The sweater will be worn for 14 games during the 2008-09 season, including two road games.
In addition, all fans attending the Nov. 26 game against the Chicago Blackhawks will receive a Seagate "BlackArmor" T-shirt.
The branding of the "BlackArmor" sweater is a unique marketing partnership between the Sharks and Seagate, marking the 12th season that the organizations have been partners. Seagate also serves as the presenting sponsor of the Seagate "Sharks Player of the Month" and the Seagate "Sharks Player of the Year" Awards.
The branding of the alternate sweater coincides with Seagate's promotion of its BlackArmor™ product, the world's first safe portable hard drive. The BlackArmor portable hard drive from Seagate is a storage solution that provides government-grade AES encryption certified by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), to help protect against unauthorized access to your valuable and private information. The BlackArmor portable hard drive also puts all security keys and cryptographic operations within the device, delivering stronger protection against hacking and tampering than traditional software alternatives.
"Seagate has been an amazing partner over the years and we are very excited that they decided to further enhance their relationship through this unique co-branding opportunity," Sharks Executive Vice President of Business Operations Malcolm Bordelon said. "It is a distinctive concept and I am confident that our fan base, and those watching around the NHL, will love the look on our ‘BlackArmor' nights."
"Aligning the cool new black sweater with our BlackArmor portable hard drive is a unique promotion that we think Sharks fans will enjoy," Chief Executive Officer of Seagate Bill Watkins said. "Just as strong defense is key for a successful team like the Sharks, strong defense for your valuable digital content is the key benefit of our BlackArmor portable hard drive, and we're leveraging this promotion to raise awareness of the importance of keeping your content safe and secure."
HISTORY OF THE SAN JOSE SHARKS SWEATER
Throughout their 18-year history, the San Jose Sharks have sported uniforms and team colors, which have been among the classiest and most popular in the National Hockey League.
The Sharks debuted in 1991 with their trademark Pacific Teal. That first uniform paid honor to the rich history of the NHL with a very traditional design and introduced perhaps a not-so-traditional (but what proved to be a very popular) Shark biting a hockey stick logo.
In 1998, as part of the NHL's new "Third Jersey" program, the Sharks created a new alternate jersey design. This unique pattern and a slight color adjustment to a darker "Deep Pacific Teal" proved popular with both players and fans. The following season, that design evolved into the Sharks primary home and road sweater.
In 2001, the Sharks debuted a new black third jersey. Worn primarily at home, this black jersey was an instant favorite of fans and players alike, creating a bold and formidable impression.
Prior to last season, a new uniform system — the RbK Edge — was introduced league-wide. The Sharks used this opportunity to update their primary and secondary logos, as well as complete an extensive redesign to the entire San Jose uniform. These sweaters featured shoulder caps and traditional striping. The color gray was omitted while the orange of the hockey stick in the logo was employed as an accent color.
And now, the San Jose Sharks and Seagate are proud to reveal the Sharks new Reebok third jersey, known as their "BlackArmor."
This new look combines the classic tradition of prior San Jose Sharks sweaters with the updated look the team debuted last season. Entirely black, the most striking feature of "BlackArmor" is the full-body shark logo as the crest. This is the first Sharks sweater to use a logo other than the Sharks primary mark on the front of the sweater. Previously the "full Shark" logo has been used as a shoulder patch on the Sharks home and road sweaters.
"BlackArmor" also boasts a "tie-string" neck, marking a subtle homage to hockey sweaters of the past.
The sleeves of "BlackArmor" have three stripes — two white stripes bordering a thicker swatch of Deep Pacific Teal while patches on the shoulder display a shark fin in a diamond with the letters "SJ" — a tribute to the place the Sharks call home: San Jose, Calif.
"Reebok incorporated San Jose's strong new logo system with the RbK Edge technology that supports the Sharks intimidating presence on ice," said Reebok Director of Hockey Uniforms Keith Leach.
"The Sharks new third jersey captures the true DNA of their team brand and introduces an exciting new shoulder patch," said NHL Executive Vice President, Marketing Brian Jennings.
Through Nov. 25, fans can purchase their own "BlackArmor" Reebok third jersey exclusively at the Sharks Store at HP Pavilion and at Sharks Ice at San Jose, as well as at sjsharks.com, by calling 408/999-6810 or via e-mail at sharksstore@svse.net to request an order form. After Nov. 25, the jersey will be also be available at area retailers.
ABOUT SEAGATE
Seagate is the worldwide leader in the design, manufacture and marketing of hard disk drives and storage solutions, providing products for a wide-range of applications, including Enterprise, Desktop, Mobile Computing, Consumer Electronics and Branded Solutions. Seagate's business model leverages technology leadership and world-class manufacturing to deliver industry-leading innovation and quality to its global customers, with the goal of being the time-to-market leader in all markets in which it participates. The company is committed to providing award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.