Saturday: Crossing the Atlantic

Sorry about the slight lateness. I had some posting issues.

You know, I have to admit I was a little unsure about this Blackhawks redesign contest. There are just some uniforms you don’t touch, like the Blackhawks, the Canadiens, the Yankees, etc. etc. But a lot of the entries have been pretty good. We’ll see who wins. Before the post, here are the last of the Blackhawks redesign entries:

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Scott

Matt

Mason

Antonio

On to the concepts.

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Mississauga Steelheads (by Alan)

Some elements of this design are particularly appropriate considering that the Steelheads play in a suburb of Toronto. The uniform uses a variation on the striping pattern that the Leafs should be using (FOR THE LOVE OF GOD MAKE THE ALTERNATE SWEATER THE PRIMARY!) but it’s still close enough to look good. I don’t like the particular version of the Edge jersey used, though, and it’d look better with a more standard template. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

New York Skyscrapers (by CPM)

I always love seeing fantasy team concepts on here since they are so unconstrained by real-world designs and the designer can go wild. Take this jersey, for example. CPM has used the design of the Chrysler Building in New York City to design the primary logo and shoulder patches. It’s a really good look that would, in a different world, be worthy of consideration as a Rangers alternate look. In the proper colors, of course. The choice of template, again, hurts this design. The Bettman Apron is a bad look that should not see the light of day. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

Washington Capitals (by Dylan)

Changing their look to a throwback update was one of the best moves the Capitals ever made. In fact, I’ll go so far as to say it was the complete opposite of that year they wore white pants. Dylan’s take on the Capitals is very interesting, to say the least, because he’s combined their 90s look with their current colors to create a strong concept with a throwback as the third jersey. I really like this one, but I would have made the primary red and the third blue. It just doesn’t seem right, even in a semi-90s throwback, for the Caps to wear anything other than red at home. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Iserlohn Roosters (by Martin)

The advertising of Gaddafi’s Green Book was worth a bit more controversy than Martin alludes to. Recall that Libya was involved in quite a bit of unsavory activity in the 1980s, and as a result it’s not hard to understand why the advertisement for the Green Book was so controversial that the team was disbanded! I like the overall design. It’s simple without being boring and really works for what Martin is going for. I also like the fact that the jersey isn’t crowded with advertisements since it seems like European hockey jerseys always are. I’m not sure if I can get behind the vintage white, though. The color has some history in North American hockey, but what about Europe? Is it just vintage white for vintage white’s sake in this case? Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

Kölner Haie (by Martin)

Here’s another DEL design by Martin. Once again, I really like the simple designs instead of going crazy and the sharks as championship symbols is a really great idea, much like how soccer teams add stars to their crests when they win championships. It’s too bad that hockey teams wear large logos front and center, thus making championship stars unwieldy, because it’s an idea that would be pretty cool. Martin has made it work here, though. Once again, though, I’m not really feeling the vintage white. I know it’s a winter classic series but I don’t think it works in such quantities. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

Krefeld Pinguine (by Martin)

This one is really interesting because it almost looks like it could be an old-school jersey for the NHL team with the same nickname if they had been an Original Six-era team. The color combination works really well here, as does the limited use of vintage white. Sometimes mashing a few jerseys together works. This is one of those times. This might be the best of the series I’ve seen so far, and I don’t really have any critiques. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Phoenix Coyotes (by Mason)

Ah, yes, the Coyotes… the most controversial team in the league. It’s always fun to wonder where they might be next season. I, for one, think the NHL’s current realignment plan is going to get messed up pretty well when the Coyotes move to Quebec City. I’ll be happy when they do since I don’t like the Coyotes much. I do like this design, though. The moon logo is a very good choice for a primary and the gradient look certainly works for the Coyotes. It’s not like having an unusual third jersey is unprecedented for them. My only critique would be to extend the gradient down onto the sleeves. That would definitely improve the design. Overall, I'll give it an 8.5/10.

Seattle Supersonics (by Mike)

Mike continues his NBA-NHL series by hockey-izing a team that currently doesn’t play but may in the near future, if the Sacramento Kings can’t get their arena situation figured out. I previously mentioned remembering good playoff series between the Bulls and Jazz and the same goes for the Bulls and Sonics. Good memories. The jersey brings to mind the Sonics’ final jerseys which had the arched design across them, which works for both hockey and basketball. It’s an interesting take on a design that has a lot of history in hockey, and the color scheme couldn’t be any better. The name on back and number definitely need to be bigger, however, and the logos on the front need to be higher. I’d get rid of the front number and go with standard sleeve numbers, which would allow you to move the front design higher. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

EDIT (by Ryan)
A VERY BIG congrats to Mike for finishing his NBA series!!!!! The thing that stuck out to me about Mike's series is that he seemed to take some of the advice that people left as each concept was posted. Love them or hate them, you can see that Mike tried to improve with each concept. Again, well done Mike!


New Jersey Devils (by Torin)

Want a foolproof way to anger a Devils fan? Talk about changing their uniforms. If you consider the old Jets and the new Jets part of the same lineage, no NHL team has changed their uniforms as few times as the Devils have. They changed from the red/green to the red/black and then maintained that design all the way to the Reebok Edge takeover, and then used the exact same design adapted to the Edge template. Their uniform was so unchanged that while some teams held press events to unveil their jerseys, New Jersey put out a press release saying that they would hold no such event because there was nothing new to see. Torin has done the unthinkable and has made the Devils look different. It’s not a unique color scheme but it definitely looks really good. I especially like that the striping pattern from the red/green jerseys doesn’t match from hem to sleeve, like it shouldn’t. It seems like a lot of people miss that detail. My only critique is that the primary and alternate jerseys are the same color. I don’t like it when teams do that and with a completely different design here, you could have done something different like a green jersey. That’s a missed opportunity. Overall, I'll give it a 9/10 and a COTW nomination.