Friday: Back-to-Back for Brian

The winner of the July 16-22 COTW vote, for the second week in a row, is Brian B. This is also the second week in a row that Brian has won with a Tampa Bay Lightning concept. You can see that winning concept on the CONCEPT OF THE WEEK page. Here are the results from the vote.

Brian B. - 5

WhiteL... - 2

Justin C. - 1

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The OHL's Mississauga Steelheads revealed their "new" sweaters today. In a very smart move they are using the Toronto Maple Leafs' jerseys. Not just their jerseys though, they are going with a complete copy, head to toe, of the Leafs' unis. They went about it the proper way as well by getting permission from the NHL to outfit their team in Leafs gear.

I say it's a smart move because teams near Toronto that aren't the Leafs always get criticized for that if they fail. People say, "well no one went because they're not the Leafs". So, the Steelheads are going to embrace that they are in Leafs territory and form anything but an official alliance with the NHL club.

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A lot of emails have come in this week and I haven't had time to get to a lot of them. That includes those of you who have applied to be a writer with HJC. I promise I will be crushing through those emails tonight, so you should have a response from me by Sunday at the latest.

If you want to be a writer for HJC, click the banner at the top of the page and read the instructions carefully. There are four writer's spots open.

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Rouyn-Noranda Huskies concepts (by WhiteLightning)

The home and road concepts feature too many typical Reebok aspects and too much gradient for my tastes. The alternate, though featuring even more gradient, is my favourite of the three. However, it's all still too much gradient. 6/10

Dallas Stars concepts (by Stephen T.)

I like the white jersey and I would like the black jersey...as an alternate. Major execution error though, why does Ribeiro turn into #36 on the front of the jerseys? As for the alternate that is here, it's a little dark and a bit to "Christmasy". To prevent that I would suggest adding a bit of gold trim. I'd also like to see the stripes arranged in the same order on the hem as they are on the arms. 5/10

Dallas Stars concept (by Tristan)

I really like this design as a potential third jersey for the Stars! The simple stripes fit with their current "less is more" look and the sublimated star is a great nod to their most popular jerseys. Just to fill out the jersey a bit more I would suggest placing the TV numbers in their usual location and not inside the stripes. 8/10

Hartford Whalers concepts (by Cody) *Description on concept. 7/10

Florida Panthers concept (by Justin N.)

The arm design leading into the side design is a really good idea. I just feel like this could use some white or even blue trim in those areas to help it look less like a practice jersey. Right now it's somewhere in between a practice jersey and a game jersey. 7/10

Florida Panthers concepts (by Jesper)

The alternate and road concepts are excellent, don't change a thing. On the home red jersey, it is also quite good, but I feel just it lacks some white. The other two jerseys use a double outline on the numbers effectively, but I feel that the red does not. Some white there would be good. 8/10

Montreal Canadiens concept (by Mazzz)

I like the jersey design here, which Mazzz intends as a fauxback. All of the different logos all over the place make it seem a bit cut and paste. If you just focused on one era with this jersey design then it could be a real winner. 7/10

Smashing Pumpkins concepts (by Caz) *Description on concept. 8/10

"Billy Corgan, Smashing Pumpkins"
"Homer Simpson, smiling politely"

Colorado Avalanche concepts (by Brady)

I like this double blue direction that a lot of people want to take their Avs concepts in. Too bad double blue is being over used by other teams right now. I like all of the jerseys I just feel that the blue numbers on the dark blue jerseys would not be easy to see from the crowd or on TV. 7/10

Los Angeles Kings concepts (by Thallos)

These look really great! I'm a big fan of the current look so it would take a lot to sway me, but as concepts these are terrific. I'd like to see a thicker outline on the numbers as it's hard to notice the silver outline on the white jersey right now. Also execution wise, the wordmark does not appear on the back view of the cuff on the black jersey. 8/10

Toronto Maple Leafs concepts (by Dylan)

All of these are very good. No need to change anything on the third jersey. On the home and road I would just go with the current shoulder patch as opposed to having two different Leafs logos with text on the jersey. COTW nom from me, I'm such a homer. 9/10