Tuesday: My First Post of 2014 AKA - "Throwback City"

Hey everyone! I hope you're all warm and cozy wherever you are. Here in Northern Illinois, it go down to about -15 F with wind chills approaching -40 F. I know most of our continent is going through extremely cold temperatures and snow but if you're in like, Florida, or California, and you're "coooold" I want you to get over it. Just kidding, everyone stay safe.

I also hope everyone had a great holiday season, my last post was New Years Eve where I made sure the post was up and made a stupid decision to take a 2 hour drive on the highway to be with some hockey friends for the holiday, but that drive took about 4 hours and I don't regret it. Ha! Any of you guys have any adventures over your holidays?

Hey new year but same ol' same ol' around here, don't forget to vote!

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

COTW Dec 30-Jan 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern) 

Also, new rule around here, well sort of new. Back in the early days of the blog Ryan had a rule where the winner of a competition would be added to the next COTW vote, and we'll be bringing that back. So look for that in the new year.

Also, another new writer will be needed to help us out in the new year. So don't forget to get your applications in by Friday!

And let's get to the concepts!

We'll start today with a concept artist profile card

Washington Capitals Concept - Stephen T.

Stephen throws the Capitals back to the pre Reebok Edge era. This was the look the Capitals had while I was growing up so I'm partial to this look, even though I prefer what they have now. The current "Weagle" is on the shoulders but I don't know how I feel about two different eagle logos that don't exactly go together outside of the fact they're both birds. Other than that, this is mostly just a template change for an older jersey, not much of a concept. Plus the Logo on the front of the jersey seems to be too low.

Rating: 5/10


Staten Island 61's Concept - Thomas G.

Thomas explains his reasoning behind relocating or expanding the ECHL to Staten Island so I'll let you read that on the image itself. As for my opinion on the jerseys, I like them. They are similar to the Rangers but that's what was intended. The colors make the jerseys resemble the Michigan Wolverines though. The white jersey's striping seems fine, but the blue jersey has some inconsistencies between the hem stripes' thickness and the arms. Fix that and this is a decent set.

Also, Thomas put some sort of ID on the image outside of just the name on the back of the jersey.

Rating: 6.5/10


New York Islanders Third Jersey Concept - Dallas K.

I, for one, think the Fisherman logo looks better in a darker color scheme like this. The color scheme is very "San Jose" so I don't know if this would fly for a full time set, but if this was the "Brooklyn Alternate" we've been hearing about I think it'd be ok. One thing I'm not cool with is the Brooklyn Nets logo on the shoulders. Unless the two teams enter some sort of partnership I don't think logos like that should be used interchangeably. Because of how the hem stripes seem to come to an end at the side of the jersey i'd like to see how the striping on the back looks.

Rating: 6.5/10


Vancouver Canucks Concept - Dallas K.

Dallas takes the Canucks back to their red, yellow, black days. I honestly hope the Canucks never wear these colors again. They spawned some pretty bad jerseys over the years. I don't think Johnny Canuck looks very good in red. The striping on the jerseys doesn't look bad though. Especially the white jersey. If you could find a Canucks' logo that works in this scheme and that white jersey striping, then I'm all in, but as this is right now, I'm not a big fan.

Rating: 7/10 - That white jersey saves this concept in my eyes.


2015 Winter Classic Concept - David P.

David has both participants in his Winter Classic throwing back to the 80's. (Technically 70's with the Caps, but it's the same basic jersey) The Capital's jersey seems like the logical choice. As for the Flyers, their jerseys have been basically the same their whole history, so I'd rather see another fauxback. That white jersey was last seen as a primary in 2007 so it's hardly a "throwback", even though it was born in the 80's. Execution is nice but these jerseys are nothing new.

Rating: 6/10


Team Russia (IIHF) Concept - Stephen T.

The Olympics are upon us, and the teams' rosters have been announced. Stephen's white jersey is a lot better than what the Russian's actual white jersey will look like. Both jerseys here utilize the actual jerseys arm striping, but I think I prefer the red jersey. So if the red is added to this set so there were three jerseys, I'm in. Otherwise, the actual red paired with this white would be fantastic.

Rating: 7/10


Toronto Arenas Concept - Christian M.

Very modern Nike look for this old team. The jerseys really pull off the throwback look. A lot of jerseys back when the Arenas were around were pretty dull. I don't like how high the stripe comes up on the arms and I don't care for the shoulders on the white jersey. Also, that's an odd color for the vintage white. It looks more yellow.

Rating: 5/10


Quebec Nordiques Concept - Christian L.

Christian gives the Nordiques a very modern jersey here. I can appreciate the chest stripe but I don't like the arm stripes that don't match. I don't like the fleur de lis having the bevel while everything else on the jersey is flat. The logo is alright, but you can see where the white stripe is making the logo brighter. The white panel that the Reebok logo sits on is odd as well.

There's a good idea here, but it needs some more organization and thought put into how it's carried out. I'd like to see a revision on this one.

Rating: 6.5/10


Team Canada Concept (Olympics Version) - Alan H.

Alan sends in two Canada concepts today, even though it's basically the same jersey set, just with a different logo. This here is the "Olympic" version. On Olympic jerseys, teams can't use their "corporation logos", so USA can't use this and Canada can't use this. Which is good, because the jerseys tend to look better without them in my opinion, (see 2010 Canadian Olympic jerseys)

Now with this set, I'm normally OK with gold trim or black trim for Canada, but I feel like it's overkill here. I'd say no need for both. Same with the logo, there's so much going on in it. Ditch the 5 rings for sure, no need for the Olympic logo. You'd see enough of that during the tournament. Lastly, the leaf in the arm stripe is neat, but why the box around it?

Rating: 7/10

Team Canada Concept - Alan H.

Here's the version of those last jerseys you'd see for a few years after the Olympics. The Hockey Canada logo takes over as the crest. I know I said jerseys tend to look better without the corporate logo but here it works. Simply because the jersey already had a lot of black in it, it looks more at home. Here I'd just ditch the gold trim and make everything Red and white, with a little bit of black. I'd still ditch the boxes around the arm leafs.

Rating: 7.5/10


Well that's it everyone. There's a lot we could talk about down in the comments. Olympic rosters, hot topic lately, you know, what with the snubs and everything. Or any of these fine concepts from today. Or maybe you want to talk about the frigid temperature that everyone seems to be sharing? Come on guys, let's talk!