Friday: Hail to the Cheif

Well it is Friday yet again, and it's happy happier times here in Vancouver. Gillis is gone, and Trevor Linden is at the helm as the new Canucks president. I was very happy to see Gillis go, but I'm not sold on the Linden hiring, but I think it is something the fans want, but I'm scared at his lack of experience.

On a Trevor Linden note. I saw him while I was out grocery shopping last week. So to all you kids playing NHL 14 be a GM mode with dreams of running a hockey team, shop in my neighbourhood, and you'll end up scoring a sweet gig as president of hockey operations...

I know I shouldn't make promises like that. But I can make promises like this: vote for HJC's COTW and COTY votes this week, and you'll feel good about contributing to the democratic process!

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

COTW Mar 31-Apr 6 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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Edmonton Oilers vs Winnipeg Jets - Heritage Classic - Stephen T.

To me this match up seems like the most plausible one for when the Jets host a heritage classic in 2016. I like the idea of the Oilers throwing back to the Edmonton Eskimos, but I have a couple gripes with this sweater. The arm stripes are too thin, they would not look good on TV, the OILERS lettering looks uneven, and The orange randomly shows up in the numbers without being anywhere else on the sweater. The Jets look is great. It's hard to get a faux-back feel with such a modern logo though. I would like to see a lace up neck for the Jets. 7/10.

Pittsburgh Penguins vs Philadelphia Flyers - Christian L.

Nice to see some new logos, and a rivalry match up concept. While I can't say I would want either of these logos to replace the current logos, they do have a likeable modern quality to them. That Penguins logo is especially cool, I could see it on some very popular unofficial fan merchandise. The sweaters are okay, I like the striping pattern and the colour balance on the Flyers uni, but do no like the flyers wordmark above the logo. I like the angled stripes for the Pens, but overall, the jersey feels a bit empty. 7.5/10.

San Diego Roadrunners - J3

Here is J3's entry into the recent Roadrunners Competition. He placed them in San Diego (San Di-AH-go) in the ECHL. This colour scheme is Penguins-esque, and I think works well here, but I would like to see another splash of colour to brighten the overall look a little bit. Maybe a red or a light blue. Jerseys use a fairly modern template, which works for the ECHL, but I would like to see the piping gone from the white jersey, it would look better, and it would be consistent. 7/10.

Tampa Bay Lightning vs Florida Panthers - Stadium Series - Stephen T.

Well, as the LA stadium series game showed us, outdoor hockey can happen in any climate. I think this match up will happen in the next 2-3 years. As for the jerseys, I like the Panthers in yellow, but don't think the yoke is necessary (especially if Tampa is also going to have a blue yoke). I don't like the Lightning in grey. At this point in uniform design we are on the verge of reaching a grey for grey's sake trend, much like the black for black's sake trend of the 90's. Grey doesn't show up in Tampa's colour palate, and I think it should be avoided for their sweaters (and helmet). 6.5/10.

Ottawa Senators -  Christian L.

The red and white jerseys striping wise are fantastic, a unique original take for the Sens, but still drawing on their heritage. The logos on the other hand are a mess. no one wants to see the SENS nickname one the fron of the sweater again, it happened before and went over like a lead balloon. also the log seems unbalanced, and is missing the centurion's plumage, and the subtle O (for Ottawa) formed by the outline/ general shape of the logo. I like the third jersey. it is retro and modern all at the same time. It would be really good to see the 2D senators logo on the shoulders though. 7.5/10.

Eagles - logo concept - Stephen G.

Stephen creates a fictional team to serve up some logo work. since the focus here is on the logo, I am going to focus my review there as well. I really like the secondary logo, it is simple and has a good double meaning (E for Eagles, plus it is an Eagle talon), The main logo is pretty good. I feel like it would look better if the back of the neck was a bit more diagonal, instead of going straight down. I also think this seems a bit too much like a "nature postcard" instead of a sports logo. Perhaps giving the Eagle some wings (giving us a full body view) would help in this manner. 7/10.

Philadelphia Flyers - Justin S.

Ok, I know I haven't been the biggest fan of the shoulder yoke as of late, but the black yoke on the white jersey is so prime. logic says to me don't love it, but my eyes and my heart say otherwise! However, on the black jersey, the yoke doesn't work for me... funny how that goes. I get that the arm stripes are meant to be consistent from the black to white sweater, but the hem stripes aren't, so that bothers me a bit. I think having the hem and arms match on the white sweater would really kick this concept up a notch, having them match works really well on the black sweater. I would also like to see plain black names on the white sweater, and plain white names on the black sweater. love the look overall. 8/10.

Team Netherlands - IIHF - Jake88

I would really like to see a hockey team pull of the sash stripe, I feel like it would look really good on the ice. It looks good here, I like that it continues to the back of the sweater, it gives a nice modern touch and adds some continuity from front to back. The logo looks good, and I like that orange as a colour is synonymous with the Netherlands on the international sports scene.For me, the equipment needs some work. The black pants and gloves don't fit with everything else going on. I know this may be overkill, but why not orange ants and gloves (and an orange helmet to go with the orange sweater)? If anyone could get away with head to toe orange, the Dutch could! 8/10.

Chicago Blackhawks - Justin C.

Justin gives us a bit of a throwback alternate for the Hawks. I like how it evokes Blackhawks jerseys from eras past, without sacrificing the logic of the modern hockey sweater. I like the return of the C logo to the arms, very retro. One thing that I think could be omitted are the red and white stripes below the shoulder yoke, and above the hem. They don't match the other stripes on the sweater, and that bothers me a bit. I think if those were left off, the jersey would look cleaner and more cohesive. 8/10.

Hartford Whalers - S2dio

S2dio revives the Whalers, and they look fantastic! The green sweater is the perfect look for a future revival of a classic team. I love the green pants on the white uniform, but would like to see a striping pattern that is a tad more simple (keep the stripe widths the same as the home sweater and go green, blue, white, blue, green maybe). I also like the return of Pucky to the shoulders, but I never understood why they made him green instead of blue, it makes more logical sense to have a blue whale. Anyways, I really like these sweater. 8/10, and a COTW nomination from me.

well that wraps it up for this friday's post. be sure to get those votes in by tonight, an enjoy the finak few days of the regular season!