Friday: At least we have concepts...

Hey guys, I am tired of this lockout. looks like negotiations took a turn for the worse yesterday. I wish I could bring you all some good news, but I can't.

I will bring you guys some concepts instead.

before we get to that, here is a quick reminder to vote in the expansion competition. voting ends tonight.

NHL Expansion Top 3 jersey vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm EST)

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Today's concepts

Detroit Red Wings (concept by WinnipegJets96)

Likes: The top (home) jersey. I like the minor modification of making the white hem a hem stripe instead. I also like the white sweater. Very simplistic, a classic look.

Dislikes: I always ask myself "is this concept better than what it replaces?" For the home sweater, I think it is, even though the change is so minor. For the road sweater, it most definitely is not. In my opinion, the reverse colour sleeves are the single coolest thing about the Red Wing's entire uniform set. I was sad to see them left off.

Rating: 7/10

Detroit Pistons (concept by Mike S.)

Likes: The execution is good, but all in all nothing to write home about.

Dislikes: No offence, Mike, but I have found this series pretty dull. There are no TV numbers, no shoulder patches, no attempts at customization (all jerseys are 00, ADBCE). If you took put a little more effort into making each jersey in this series more unique, they would be more interesting (if you want pointers on this, take a look at Brian B.'s NFL series, they have been really solid).

Rating: 5/10.

Team Canada (concept by Stephen T.)

Likes: I understand what you are trying to do here, making the jersey look like the Canadian flag. very creative.

Dislikes: I don't like how this looks on a jersey though. I think it could work, but, you need to think it through more. Also, use a shade of red that matches the flag better. Also, this looks like this entire concept was done with the fill tool, add some custom elements.

Rating: 5/10.

Edmonton Oilers (concept by WinnipegJets96)

Likes: good clean execution. 

Dislikes: even though these sweaters are done cleanly, they are not to my liking. I think the Oilers need to be in orange and royal blue, not navy and copper. If you are going to go with the copper and navy colour scheme, you need to use a more modern jersey style, not the classic orange and blue look. still a good concept, just not to my liking.

Rating: 7/10.

Indianapolis Colts (concept by Brian B.)

Likes: The horseshoe looks great as a main crest, and the COLTS wordmark looks good on the shoulders... I really like how it interacts this the shoulder yoke stripes.

Dislikes: not much. It does seem a bit empty overall, and would benefit from thicker striping.

Rating: 8/10.

Colorado Rockies (concept by Steven G.)

Likes: The Colorado State flag chest stripe is COOL.

Dislikes: not much. I would like to see a little bit more red on the sweater though (maybe in the numbers?).

Rating: 8/10. and a COTW nom from me.