Friday: The 13th

Let's hope there's no bad luck with this post!

With the World Cup in full swing, and of course (more importantly) the Stanley Cup Finals, probably ending tonight, not to mention the Calder Cup finals continuing in Newfoundland, the sports world is extremely busy!

That doesn't mean you can't make the time to be a part of HJC. Voting, for the millionth week in a row is extremely important to the running blog, soooo....vote!

Along with that, the NHA re-design enters its final day of the entry phase...or so we thought. The Entry phase has been extended to next Wednesday.

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

COTW June 2-8 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

NHA entries (tentatively due Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Here are some of the entries that have come in since yesterday:

Ricky M. (6 entries)

J3. (2 Entries)

Christian L.)

Taylor R.)

Danny R. (2 Entries)

Jeff C.)

Coby S.)

Joey F. (3 Entries)

A lot of entries, and some solid competition!

In jersey news...not much. It's all speculation at this point, outside of what you all already know (Pittsburgh's new 3rd, L.A.'s new 3rd and Tampa's new 3rd) but other than that, not too much else going on. However, this coming season will be the first season to feature an All Star game in two seasons. There's no word on whether or not the game will remain to be a draft system, or we will switch back to East Vs. West, or even North America Vs. World? Jerseys are also up in the air, and while most people like the current jerseys, but maybe they'll flip the colours around, where red wears red and blue wears white, or entirely different jerseys.

In awesome news, TSN's social media site bardown.com showed off several recent concepts featured on HJC and mentioned HJC in the post. Of course this is awesome, but get this...tweet your concepts to @BarDown and they'll feature it (I tweeted my Arizona Coyotes concept)!!!

Check out the post here

On to the Concepts!!!

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San Jose Sharks Concept (By: S2dio)

Orange, Orange, Orange! This is certainly the most unique Sharks concept in a while, but not a completely original concept, I've seen this idea before, and it certainly works. The orange doesn't overwhelm the jersey, but at the same time the super contrasting black aids the jersey in being too bright or too....dim. Now, the black and orange would usually draw the eye of ripping off the Flyers, but S2dio uses the right amount of teal...gradient teal non the less. The jersey may not be light, but it would catch the eyes of fans. (8.5/10)

Pittsburgh Penguins Concepts (By: S2dio)

Nothing like a great modern Pens concept, in yellow no the less. It's not the '91 cup edging isn't down, but this original concept for sure makes up for it and then some. The angled arm striping is one thing, a solid design the Pens should adapt, however, the angled striping in the sides is especially unique and makes up for the lack of hem striping. This would be the perfect Pens jersey, but it feels a little too Wilkes-Barre Scranton. It's not bad, far from it, but I couldn't see the Pens wearing something this modern right out of the gate, 10 years from now, sure. (9/10) COTW Nom. from Me! 

Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins Concepts (By: Trent D.)

Speaking of the baby Pens, they are in need of a redesign as well, and we've seen a few sets come through, all similar with the inclusion of red. Trent gives us his take, using heavy influence from the 90's Pens away jersey and some 80's elements too. There are quite a few execution errors, but Trent is on the right track in making a solid, classic uniform set for the baby Pens. The front logo is way too large, and the shoulder patch is done improperly. The shoulder patch should be cut in half and placed on both sides of the jerseys The numbers are done properly, however, the NOB is some font from Paint, the fonts are paired with the numbers in the templates section. The helmet logo is a nice touch but it should be slightly smaller. (5.5/10)

Pittsburgh Penguins Concepts (By: Phil B.)

The 3rd Pens concept of this post, Monday writer Phil reworks to Pens, keeping the Vegas Gold but readopting the angled stripes from the early 2000's. The striping is an improvement for sure, and a unique one at that. The smaller black stripes would look better uniform rather than the hem and arms being thicker than the yoke. The jerseys would look better without the yoke altogether and the white jersey, while it doesn't look bad, would seem more uniform if the Vegas gold and black were switched. I'd also mess around with the stitching to match the striping better, but as is, it's a neat idea and the same creativity Phil injects into his concepts is clearly seen! (7.5/10)

Buffalo Sabres Concept (By: Scott B.)

This might be Scott's first or 2nd concept he's sent to HJC, but none the less, Hey Scott, welcome! For sure the old Pepsi bottle Bison's logo would be a decent throwback for the Sabres (better than the yellow mess they have now) and Scott puts that logo, recoloured on this jersey. The problems with the jersey are obvious but with practice, a little risk taking and the additions of some key missing features, we're have a solid concept. The logo is far too small, it needs to be 40% bigger, and there are no TV numbers, NOB or numbers. If you don't wanna put an NOB or numbers, don't include the back of the jersey and just do the front. TV numbers need to be put on, and you can find a bunch of number styles in the TEMPLATES page. The stitching (grey lines) need to stop at the hem striping (easy mistake, a lot of people make it). Keep making concepts and use the tips you get from me and all the writers and you'll be a pro in a couple months. (3/10)

Buffalo Sabres Concepts (By: Mario A.)

For the past few posts, Mario has sent in a lot of unique concepts, taking inspiration from Stadium Series and of all the football leagues, the XFL, so Mario has vision. For the Sabres however, this would be a little too extreme, and some of the errors from the previous concepts. The shade of yellow is far too bright for the Sabres and doesn't match the logos at all. The striping is mostly just fill bucket, aside from the arm band yellow stripe which cuts through the other stuff. I'd certainly tone the jersey down a bit,  and make an actual striping pattern, especially on the hem. The arms are the most cluttered, and the pants should be one colour with the logo much smaller on the bottom front corner. There is potential, but the execution errors need to be fixed first. (4/10)

Boston Bruins Concepts (By: Justin S.)

We've seen a couple of de-edge series come through HJC in the past few weeks, and Justin is in the middle of his. The Bruins had their best jerseys in the days of Neely and Moog, and it's clear Justin wants to throw back to those days without completely going back. The striping needs a top white stripe, or to have the white and yellow flipped to fix the yellow on yellow and black on black with the numbers and colours touching. The logos are slightly too small, bit other than that, it's a nice, simple concept. (7/10)

East Germany Concepts (By: Stephen T.)

I'll admit, when I saw another Germany concept from Stephen, I became very interested but also concerned. Has Stephen changed? The answer, I think is somewhat. The jersey is somewhat unique, for sure the chest stripe is what makes this concept actually different, as the arms we've all seen before. The logo is not a common hockey logo, and is in fact the Coat of Arms for East Germany, which should be credited. The red jersey has a soccer feel to it, but there are some persistent errors. The pants and helmets lack any striping, logos and are just cut copied and pasted from the two jerseys. The jerseys are in the right step, but maybe not far enough. Keep at it though! (6/10)

Coulee Region Chill Concepts (By: Trent D.)

This has a very collegiate vibe to it, but this concept needs so execution work to be the awesome concept I'm envisioning. The home and road match decently, though the arm band and hem striping are not thick enough, especially on the blue jersey. The Swift Template may not be the proper template and the stitching needs to be fixed farther than leaving it or taking it off all together. The alternate is my favourite of the two, but it doesn't have the proper vector logo, the front logo needs to be smaller, and I'm not sure if the beige works, silver maybe? (4.75/10)

That's you Friday post. Enjoy Game 5, remember to vote and use this time wisely to work on your NHA entries. I'm Jets96, Go Jets Go!