Wednesday: Change Is A Comin' (In The AHL)

It's Wednesday everyone, and you know what that means.....Another day of concepts just for you! Before we get to that though, something that hasn't been mentioned on HJC yet but the Houston Aeros are moving on up to Iowa and becoming the Iowa Wild.

Iowa Wild Facebook

 Some aren't huge fans of the move or the team's new logo, which I'm actually ok with. The team revealed a sneak peak of their white jersey the other day, which is a white version of Minnesota's green alternate jersey.

The Peoria Rivermen are also headed out of town and seem to be moving up north into Canada after being purchased from the Blues by the Canucks. It would appear that St. Louis will take over the Chicago Wolves. No news on the Rivermen's new identity yet though.

Don't forget about this week's votes which consist of the usual COTW vote as well as the 1st of 4 COTY quarterly votes, and hey, let's not forget the NYR Untouchables vote.

COTW April 15-21 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm EST)

1st Quarter vote - COTY (ends Friday @ 11:59pm EST)

NYR Untouchables Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm EST)

Massachusetts - (Bobby P.)

Another concept from Bobby's Frozen Fenway series. There's nothing wrong with the jersey itself. The crest looks nice. Only thing that bothers me is that basically the same template was used for Maine yesterday, and understandably, it's a good looking template, but with only 6 teams in the tournament, I'm sure there's enough "classic" "old-timey" looks that every team could look unique from one another.

Rating: 8/10


New Hampshire - (Bobby P.)

Another entry in the Frozen Fenway series, this one for the state of New Hampshire... I like the colors, and love that gray/silver jersey. I'm not a huge fan of the lack of contrast between the white and gray/silver on the dark jersey. I feel like a better crest could have been made. Maybe use the state shield like on the Mass. jersey. The problem with using state outlines as logos is it just looks weird. This looks like a square that has been beaten or ripped up. Still though, I really like that light jersey.

Rating: 8/10


Guelph Storm (OHL) Rebrand  - (Derek H.)

Derek rebrands the Storm by giving them a new logo, which is a good idea, because their current logo is bad and screams 90's. Derek brings back the blue that was present in the teams early years but unfortunately the logo Derek has named the team's new primary is pretty weak. I like not using a funnel cloud which is overdone but bring in a storm cloud and make the bolt bigger and bolder. Same with the jerseys. Very thin lines. They should be bolder. I'd just bold up those jersey stripes and take the logo back to the drawing boards.

Rating: 6/10


Kitchener Rangers (OHL) Rebrand - (Derek H.)

Derek's attempt at rebranding the Rangers has them ditching the New York Rangers-esque look they've been using for a while. The new scheme fits the new "Park Ranger" logo very well. The logo is good. Could use some more refinements but it's a good fit. The secondary logo is also a great nod to the team's past.

Rating: 7/10


San Jose Sharks Concept - (Dylan W.)

This new set of Sharks jerseys keeps the orange and I'm glad, I don't see why so many people want to see the Sharks without it. The new striping is very angular which reflects the logo very well. I like the striping on the arms but not so much on the hem. I feel that the hem stripe could be straight. I also love  the shoulder patch logo. Wouldn't mind seeing it on the chest. One thing I'd change is make the yoke on the white jersey teal. Personal preference. Also, I think the teal and black could be swapped in the dark jerseys striping.

Rating: 8/10


Colorado Avalanche "Colorado Pride" Alternate Jersey - (Justin C.)

Justin gives his hometown team a state pride alternate jersey using a new shade of blue outside of the team's current scheme. I like the new blue and all but now the normal Avs blue seems out of place and doesn't look right to me. The "C" on the arms is cool and clever move using for Landeskog's "C". One thing I wouldn't mind seeing instead of the workmark, is using the arm striping and "C" as a chest stripe. Just a thought.

Rating: 8/10


Merrimack College (NCAA) Concept - (Mason II)

 Mason treats us to a Merrimack concept which resembles Ottawa Senators jerseys of the past. It fits the team's nickname "Warriors" well. There's some coloring choices I would change. I'd ditch the yoke on the blue jersey and the blue cuffs on the yellow jersey as well as the blue hem. I wouldn't mind seeing the stripe pattern on the yellow jersey being yellow. I have an issue with the font too. It matches the jersey's striping patterns well in my opinion but not the schools logo or branding. The white is hard to see on the yellow jersey too so make that blue.

Rating: 8/10


University of New Hampshire Concept - (Mason II)

Last concept of the day is another NCAA concept from Mason. I really like double striping on hockey jerseys and this is a good example of it. That logo looks a lot better than their current "UNH" and the shoulder patches look good. The only thing I have a problem with is the blue cuffs on the white jersey. Any template but a Nike template and this would look good but it's angled funny and throws off the whole look for me. The font is OK but I'm sure there's a better fit somewhere.

Rating: 8/10