Friday: Having a Whale of a Time

Well HJC, another friday is upon us, and that means another weekend. There will be some important games this weekend, but for the most part, the playoff picture is starting to take shape. But you can never count a team out of it, someone could tank, someone could run the table. This unpredictability is exactly why we keep watching... unless you're the Canucks. I have been watching the games and seeing tons of empty seats. Although the Canucks aren't mathematically eliminated, they aren't going to make the playoffs. Jim Mora sums up exactly how I feel about the Canucks right now:

This week on HJC (as you always do) you have the opportunity to influence who wins and loses. We have 2 votes going on this week: our normal COTW vote, and the Top 5 vote for the Roadrunners Competition. Get those votes in by tonight!

COTW Mar 24-30 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Roadrunners Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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All-Star Game 2015 - S2dio

This concept does a really good job of bringing together the modern stadium series look, and the classic All-Star game uniforms of the past. I don't like all the vintage white. In my opinion, All-Star games should be all about modern, so vintage white just doesn't jive for me. I like how orange the West's uniform is, the orange pants work for me. I would like to see the arm striping, and especially the he striping not cut off, I know that is the modern trend, but it just doesn't work for me. Template and presentation is nice, but it would be good to see helmets and gloves. Those are part of the uniform too! 7.5/10.

Clarkston High School - Scott M.

Drake left a comment on the 'Leave an Idea' page, asking for uniforms for his high school, and Scott came through with a simple, classic sweater, that any high school team would be lucky to wear. The Clarkston logo is better used as a shoulder patch because it is a detailed, older, less clean logo, and if it were blown up on the front of the jersey it would look messy. The CLARKSTON diagonal lettering looks clean, and having a good wordmark always suits a high school team well. I also want to commend the choice of yellow. If a team is going to have only one sweater and try not to clash with other teams, yellow is a good option, it is different enough from white, and bright enough to contrast with dark uniforms. This yellow and black colour scheme also works for black equipment, which is the most common colour of equipment, and therefore easiest to match and make a team look good. 7.5/10.

Hartford Whalers - Stephen T.

Well, today Stephen is, as Captain Ahab was, on a quest to capture the essence of the Whale(rs). He has gone back and created a fictional jersey timeline, as if the whalers were still around today. If the whalers were around at the time of the EDGE switchover, I could see them going with something like this. I am never going to be a huge fan of this hem/sidepanel design, so I am just goign to leave that alone, it would look better if the arms matcher the hem. The arm and cuff stripes (especially on the blue sweater) are on point. I think the white jersey could benefit from some more blue in the arm stripes. And Pucky. Would be great as a shoulder patch, but as an oversized butt logo, it just doesn't work. 6.5/10.

Tampa Bay Lightning - Joey F.

I know everyone is hoping that the Lightning Will bring some black back into their identity. As far as the current home and road jerseys go, I think nothing needs to change. But, I do like the idea of black becoming a bigger part of their brand. I think a black alternate jersey is the way to go. I like the colour balance here, but think it would work even better for the Bolts if the sweater were black with blue hem, yoke, and cuffs. Widening the white stripes would serve this concept well. 7/10.

Hartford Whalers - Stephen T.

Well here is Stephen's second installment of the Hartford Whalers fictional timeline. As far as fitting in with the era, I think he could've gone a little bit more outside of the box. These look like classic Oilers uniforms in Whalers colours. in 2003, the jersey trend was not towards retro, but towards modern. Think about the Canucks gradient alternate, the Penguins first uniforms with vegas gold, the Thrashers mismatched double blue alternate: all present in 2003. This jersey would fit the timeline well in the 80's or even today with the move towards retro designs, but it is not futuristic enough for 2003. 7/10.

Montreal Canadiens - Justin C.

Justin Brings us an update for the Habs away uniform. I feel like this combines elements from the home sweater, and their current roads. I really like the thin red and blue stripes on the current road uniforms, and that motif is carried on to these sweaters, just the stripes are thickened and placed on the chest, like on the home uniform. All in all, I do like this update. I would be sad to see the current Habs road uniform be replaced, but this would look awesome. The Numbers on the back do need a bit of attention though. They are a bit hard to read. 8.5/10.

Anaheim Ducks - Tristan M.

I like a lot of things that are going on with this sweater. I like how the striping matches the angles of the logo. I like the colour balance. I love the main crest logo choice. The pants and socks are also REALLY creative and awesome. I think this sweater would look better if the diagonal pattern on the torso was treated more like side panels instead of a V stripe, and if they went over the hem, like the Penguins 2002-07 unis. I also feel like the angle of the arm stripes is too steep. I know it matches the stripes on the torso, but I think it would look better if they were less steep. I am also not sold on the yoke, I don't think this sweater needs one. Best to use the D logo as the shoulder patch for both shoulders, the wordmark doesn't work there for me, and I don't like the mismatch. 8/10.

Hartford Whalers - Stephen T.

Well, here is the last set of Whalers unis from Stephen's fictional jersey timeline today. Jerseys are clean, no real gripes, but again,these jerseys don't really fit where jerseys are going in the era in which Stephen has placed them. The last set of jersey redesigns saw teams move away from formulaic jerseys towards simple and unique sweaters. Dallas is the perfect example of this. Boring sweaters, redesigned as bright and vibrant, but very simple, yet a unique new striping pattern. The other trend as far as jerseys go today is retro. A retro design could have worked well for 2013, but this set seems more like of a 2008 EDGE switchover set. 6.5/10.

Florida Panthers - Christian L.

This just hurts me a little bit inside. I miss Luongo. I really like this uniform. It is plain and simple, but something we haven't seen for Florida, a yellow alternate. The rondel logo works well here. I would like to see some more blue on the sweater, perhaps on the hem. Although if this jersey were worn with blue pants, that wouldn't be necessary. This is a prime example of why you should take a few minute more and include equipment with your jersey concepts, it helps us see the uniform as a whole. If I could see the blue pants with this sweater, I could see the uniform as a whole and it would feel more balanced to me. I like the inclusion of the mask (very cool), but other equipment is more necessary to me before the inclusion of a mask. 7.5/10.

Vancouver Canucks - Dylan W.

The canucks use two shades of blue in their logo, so a two-tone blue alternate has never been off the table for them as far as I'm concerned. I am really big into these sweaters that have a different colour upper and lower portions these days, and I feel like Dylan has executed this style sweater really well. The shift is subtle, but noticeable. I would like to see some more logic to the arm and stripes. The bottom thin stripe feels like it should be silver, not light blue, but if it were then the thicker stripes between the silver stripes would go light blue, dark blue, dark blue, and that lack of symmetry messes with my eye. Maybe I just need to stop overthinking it, and enjoy this sweater for what is it, a well executed, modern sweater. 8/10. and heck, since the canucks aren't going to make the playoffs in real life, I mays as well throw a COTW nomination Dylan's way for this Canucks sweater... gotta find some way to cheer on your team, am I right?!?!

Well HJC, it has been a blast. Enjoy your weekend. Happy voting, scoreboard watching, and concept making. see you back here this time next week.