Saturday: Majors and minors and college, oh my!

Man, I seem to have good luck when it comes to posting the day after Blackhawks games. The Hawks have clinched the top record in the Western Conference and now have their eyes on the Presidents Trophy. I would not mind adding that hardware to our cabinet before the Campbell Bowl and the Stanley Cup. Before the post, here are the last of the Rangers redesign entries:

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Dylan

Austin

Jordan

Derek

Jason

On to the concepts.

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Guelph Storm (by Alan)

Here is a concept for the OHL’s Guelph Storm. Removing the wordmark from the logo is an immediate improvement over what the Storm currently have. I don’t care much for the wordmark above logo (looking at you, Vancouver) so 9 times out of 10, sticking to just a logo or a wordmark, not both, is an improvement. I also like the color scheme, since red and black really work well together, but since it’s just derived straight from the Storm’s real look, it’s not really a big change. I do have a few minor critiques, though. All of the logos are really pixilated and could be cleaner. Also, the stripe from the black jersey would work really well on the pants instead of just leaving them blank. Overall, I’ll give it a 7/10.

Manchester Monarchs (by Andrew)

Here we have a concept for the Kings’ AHL affiliate. I like these jerseys for a variety of reasons. The purple is really nice and it’s a color that I wish the Kings hadn’t gotten rid of entirely. Also, I love the sleeve stripes. I’m not sure what they’re supposed to be, but I’m gonna go with a crown. Either way, they look good, but they’d be better if you added a matching stripe to the hem. I really like the Kings-inspired third, but it’d look better if you added some purple and got rid of the sleeve piping – which is what the Kings should do with their jerseys. Finally, the wordmark on the tail of the jersey could probably be removed without hurting the jersey. Overall, I’ll give it a 7/10.

New Jersey Devils (by David)

Now here’s an interesting concept and one that will never happen since the Devils are so resistant to any kind of uniform change. This one is particularly interesting because it’s not a direct color swap of their current jerseys. Instead, it’s a variation on the Devils’ red-and-green home jersey worn from 82-92, and I like it a lot. You can’t expect the Devils to have an alternate jersey but if they did, it would be something simple like this. Solid work. I especially like the simplified logo. If I had to add a critique, I’d say add a tie-down collar. I know the Devils have no history of wearing one but I feel like it would work here. Overall, I’ll give it an 8/10.

And here's David's profile card:

San Jose State Spartans (by Dylan)

And so we journey into the college ranks to take a look at a concept for the Spartans of San Jose State University. I’ve always liked SJSU’s color scheme and here it looks really good. The gold is effective in making the two blues stand out against each other, and the striping pattern is a really nice touch. The jersey mesh on the blue jersey should be blue, though, and the back number is definitely way too big. Also, I would have gone with a standard block font. The font just doesn’t work for me. Overall, I’ll give it a 7/10.

Carolina Hurricanes (by Mike)

And back to the NHL we go. Like the Devils, the Hurricanes have been incredibly consistent in their uniform design. In fact, they’ve been more consistent: their current jerseys are almost exactly the same as their first jerseys, which is more than can be said for the Devils. However, the Canes do have an alternate jersey and Mike has elected to do something different from their current alt jersey. I don’t know if anyone has ever worn a gray jersey in the NHL but if they did, it probably wouldn’t look as good as this one. The color balance is fantastic and I really like that the yoke is black instead of red. A red yoke wouldn’t work in this instance. I also like the addition of the flag stripe to the pants. That’s a nice touch. However, I’d add a second red stripe on the other side of the hem and sleeve stripes just to balance it out, and I think there would be readability issues if the name was red outlined in black. Overall, I’ll give it an 8.5/10.

Long Island Royals (by Ryan)

To be honest, I’m not sure which team this is supposed to be since a Wikipedia search turns up no results, but the concept itself is quite interesting. I certainly like the idea of an all-vintage white jersey and the striping pattern is definitely a traditional design that you can’t go wrong with, but where this concept stumbles is in execution. It’s really blurry and suffers from pixelization issues, and there are a few stray pixels above the logo. Also, the area inside the collar isn’t colored in. Finally, the logo, number and name should be bigger. It’s a good start and if you improve it, you could have a good concept on your hands. Overall, I’ll give it a 6/10.

Buffalo Sabres (by Stephen)

You don’t often see a Buffalo Sabres concept featuring the Goat Head. It’s not as bad a logo as the Buffaslug, but it still doesn’t seem to be as popular a choice, probably because of the team’s stupid decision to ditch their classic uniforms and adopt it as their new look in 1996. Why they did that, we will never truly understand – much like why the Canucks went with the Flying V jerseys or the Islanders with the Gorton’s jerseys. Regardless of that, this is much better than the actual Goat Head jerseys the Sabres wore since it uses a proper striping pattern instead of that absurd horn pattern they used. It’s a definite step up. I’d add a hem stripe matching the sleeves to the home jersey and change the color of the name on the back of the road jersey. Black outlined in red would probably be hard to read. Also, that stripe would look good on the pants. Overall, I’ll give it a 9/10.

And here's Stephen's profile card:

Seattle Thunderbirds (by Steve)

This is… interesting. It’s the kind of color scheme you’d expect to see if and when Seattle gets an NHL team, since the colors are common to two existing teams in the city (the NFL’s Seahawks and the MLS’ Sounders) and I like it, to an extent. I’m not too keen on the gray being the primary color, probably because of how light it is. I do really like the logo, though, but I don’t like the inclusion of the Thrashers’ old logo as a shoulder patch. Leave it in the history books where it belongs. Also, while it would probably fit in with Seattle, I don’t like the uber-modern design of the third jersey. In fact, if you made the home jersey green and left out the third entirely, it’d go a long way towards improving the concept. Overall, I’ll give it a 7/10.

Milwaukee Admirals (by Thomas)

Now here’s something you – as far as I know – never see in hockey: pinstripes. Teams wear them in baseball, basketball and soccer, but I don’t think any hockey (or football) teams of note wear them. It’s an interesting aesthetic choice in this Admirals concept but it doesn’t stand out too much like some other pinstripe designs do, since the stripes are muted. I like it. I really can’t find faults with this one. It’s a solid design overall that would probably look good on the ice. Well done. Overall, I’ll give it an 8/10.

On a final note, in just over two weeks' time I'll finally be able to add a picture to my profile card. You'll notice that my card doesn't have a picture and there's a very good reason for that - the only piece of Blackhawks memorabilia I own is a shirt a friend got for me that, unfortunately, no longer fits me. Soon, I will have a Patrick Kane Blackhawks jersey and I will definitely get a picture to add to my card.