Wednesday: Let the HJC Open Commence!

The first round of the HJC Open should start tonight! Hopefully all the entrants have their concepts in, if not, they're due tonight at 6 PM Eastern!

I've been looking forward to this years Open after losing last year in the second round to powerhouse Justin Cox. I made it out of the first round by beating our good buddy Jets96, who I am also facing off against in this years' first round, as well as fellow writer Ricky. I'm sure the "All-Writers Matchup" will be a good one!

Don't forget to vote for the COTW vote, as well as the JUNE vote.

COTY-June vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW July 1-7 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Anyway, let's get to today's concepts, shall we?

Hershey Bears Concept - (Charles W.)

Charles gives the Bears, who are oen season removed from being rebranded, and besides giving them a new striping pattern he switches them to the rarely used Under Armour template. The new striping is very classic which fits the team well, I do miss the cream color. Not too hip on the logo under the wordmark, I'd ditch the wordmark, on both jerseys actually. They just got these shiny new beautiful logos, why not use them?

Rating: 6/10


Ottawa Senators Alternate Jersey - (Chris S.)

The striping on Chris' jersey takes the Sens back to their early days. Which is nice, I really like those early Sens' jerseys. Not a huge fan of the side panels, I'd rather see a hem stripe. I really like the winged shoulder patch as well. I would have liked to see their current, underused, 2D Senator head, but this one fits in better with the wing.

Rating: 8/10

Peterborough Petes Concept - (Darren H.)

I believe it was last week I had a Petes concept using a similar color scheme. I really like how this one looks. It's a lot more subtle with the gold and black that it keeps the very traditional and basic look that the Petes are known for. I really like the alternate though. I like it better than what they currently wear.

Rating:8/10

HC Vitkovice Steel (Czech Extraliga)- (Jake88)

I Googled the team's actual jerseys, and actually saw a few different sets, all gaudy and very European with their ads and overall gaudiness. This set looks very nice and even if there were a few ads on it it wouldn't look bad due to how good the jersey looks. The gradients on the logo throw the colors off a bit so the red in the striping looks off but maybe that's my monitor but oh well, not really your fault Jake88...

Rating: 8/10

Pirati Chomutov (Czech Extraliga)- (Jake88)

I've always kinda liked this template. And I think it looks really nice here, especially with the logo. I'm happy with the color balance and with how the sock striping matches the arm striping. Really solid concept. Not sold on the number font though, and the numbers seem spaced apart too far.

Rating: 8/10

Calgary Flames Concept - (Stephen T.)

Stephen gives the Flames a swiftification in this concept. Very clean look but I feel the red jersey could use a bit more white. The whole concept is basically their current jerseys slightly simplified and transfered into a Nike concept, so i guess I'm just pointing out what I don't like about their current look. Still, not a whole lot of creativity points and the execution is alright.

Rating: 7/10


Carolina Hurricanes Concept (De-Edge Series) - (Steven G.)

Steven continues De-Edging the NHL with the newly rebranded Hurricanes. I like how he keeps the same basic jerseys that they will use next season, but kept the hurricane flag. I feel like the red jersey could use a tad more black on the arm stripes, like the white jersey. There's so much black in the hem stripe and the thin black stripes on the white jerseys arms balance that out. The red jersey doesn't have that balance. I also like the name in the yoke, but it's angled funny on the front, I'd just keep that straight.  Well done, I'd like to see this "Edgeified"

Rating: 8.5/10


St. Louis Blues (Saturday Night Classic Series) - (Jets96)

Love the idea of ditching the double blue scheme. Very clean jersey, definitely calls back to the simpler jerseys in the Blues' past. Almost an exact replica of what was worn in the 70's and early 80's. I feel like the numbers could have a thicker yellow outline. One of the best jerseys in this series so far in my opinion!

Rating: 8/10

Winnipeg Jets (Saturday Night Classic Series) - (Jets96)

We finish today with another Jets96 concept, featuring the team he loves! The Jets! The "Jets" are a classic team, but technically, this incarnation of the team has no history before 2000. That wont stop the new Jets from having a classic jersey. The white arm length yoke calls back to the original Jets' jerseys. I like it. I would, however, like to see it maybe with the yoke the lighter blue. But the way this jersey is now, I'd rather see a different hem stripe, one with more white in order to better match the yoke. Still, a sharp sweater. And I notice the nameplate is slightly rounded, that's different and I like it!

Rating: 7.5/10