Saturday: Collections

Hey everyone! Welcome to another Saturday edition of HJC! Today's post is completely made up of alternate and event jerseys, so if that's your thing, you're going to love today's concepts.

One of the most interesting things about the individual artists, writers, and contributors to this fine blog is our collections. Sometimes you see guys who make conservative concepts, but buy more radical designs. Some guys only buy authentic jerseys, while others are fine buying replicas off Ebay. We had a great discussion about our respective collection criteria during the HJC Live Chat a few weeks ago. I thought I would share mine with you today, but first let me tell you what I have in my own collection:

• Nashville Predators gold home jersey - When the Predators redesigned their jerseys, I had to have one of the gold jerseys. This is the only jersey I have ever paid over $100 for. I bought it off SportsK, and had it customized. If you ever want quality customization at a good price, I highly recommend them. 
• Nashville Predators navy home jersey (06-07) - This was my first hockey jersey.
• Nashville Predators navy home jersey (07-11) - I actually bought this one for my wife. It's actually a boys' XL. She's short. These jerseys actually look better on women. I think it's the side paneling.
• Nashville Predators white home jersey (98-01) - I wanted a jersey with the old radio tower patch. Can you tell who my favorite team is yet?
• Nashville Predators navy "checkerboard" third (09-11) - I looked for one of these for quite awhile. Smalls (my size) were hard to find. I finally found one with the tags still attached for a good price a couple months back.
• Atlanta Thrashers alternate jersey (2004) - I have an unusual love for this jersey. It's asymmetrical, has a bad logo, and an odd ATLANTA wordmark down one arm. I don't care, though. I think this jersey has an oddball coolness about it. I bought one of the numbered 5th anniversary jerseys off ebay a few years ago. 
• Florida Panthers red away jersey (93-98) - Another odd choice, but I've always liked these jerseys. I have a thing for unconventional market teams and underdogs.
• Mighty Ducks of Anaheim eggplant/jade jersey - Love this one. Like many American kids in the Southern United States, my introduction to hockey was the Disney movie Mighty Ducks. I found one of these jerseys in great condition at a Goodwill in Tennessee and freaked out. I couldn't believe my luck. This was the best $3 I ever spent.
• USA men's 1980 Olympic replica jersey (blue) - I had to get a US hockey jersey to gear up for Sochi. My favorite USA jersey is the 1980 set, so I bought a replica off SportsK.

It's a modest collection of jerseys that were mostly bought for under $30. Only my gold Preds jersey has a name/number on the back. I'm hoping to get them all customized eventually with different players. (Rinne, Weber, Cliff Ronning, Steve Sullivan, Lehtonen or Slava Kozlov, Bure, Selanne, and of course, "AMERICA" and 76 on the USA jersey)

My jersey criteria:

• No knockoffs - This almost goes without saying, but buying a counterfeit jersey is  inexcusable. There's enough slightly used jerseys on ebay to get a jersey on a budget without having to give money to counterfeiters.
• Must be wearable - I like to wear my jerseys. Because of this I only buy smalls, and I prefer replicas and dark jerseys. I don't want to wear a $250+ jersey out and get a stain on it.
• No rivals - There are certain teams I really don't like, and I don't want to wear their jerseys, or have anyone mistake me for a fan of those teams.
• If numbered, must be stitched - Few things look worse than a poorly-done customization with iron-on numbers/letters.
• No pariahs - Who wants to own a jersey for someone who is almost universally disliked, even by the team's own fans? Think Alexander Radulov, Ilya Kovalchuck, Matt Cooke, Dany Heatley, or Corey Perry. Players who burned bridges with their teams with trade requests (Martin Erat, Martin St. Louis - lots of Martins) can also get lumped into this category.

My current wish list:

1. Hartford Whalers green Gordie Howe jersey

2. New York Rangers blue Lady Liberty jersey

3. Minnesota North Stars green away jersey (88-91)
4. Sweden IIHF jersey
5. Unused Predators white "checkerboard" alternate (a guy can dream)

What rules do you go by with your collection? What is in your current collection and/or wish list? Let us know in the comments section!

Let's get down to business.

Binghampton Senators Concept - Trent D.

Positives: I like the striping pattern and the logo. Both complement each other well. The captain's patch is interesting as well. I like how it is presented here. 

Negatives: The major issue is execution. The striping is inconsistent at times, being most obvious with the gold accents and the yoke outline on the back of the jersey. There are a few places where the striping leaves the template. There are loose pixels in the jersey striping, the shoulder patch, and the front of the collar. There are two different shades of black. No name is used on the back, which could be done on purpose, but you'd need to explain why, as that is not normal in the AHL. With the shoulder patch, you should place it where it is split in half between the back and front, as you did with the sleeve numbers. Otherwise, it looks as if it is placed off-center on the shoulder. You need to take the NHL logo off as well, and the inside of the jersey should the yoke color, instead of gray.

Overall: There's a great design base to work with here, it just needs tighter execution. (6/10)

Michigan Wolverines Concept - Trent D.

Positives: The barber pole effect on the arms isn't bad, and the hem doesn't detract from the look. I don't mind the contrasting namebar here.

Negatives: The logo is just too big. It takes up a majority of the front of the jersey. The Reebok logo on the back of the jersey should be replaced with the wordmark currently being used on hockey jerseys. 

Overall: Not a bad alternate for the Wolverines. (6.5/10)

Team Canada Alternate Concept - Danny R

Positives: I confess I had no idea the beaver was a national animal of Canada, so upon first seeing this concept, I was really confused about the logo. I like the striping here. Execution is clean, and the shading helps the jersey pop off the screen. 

Negatives: The beaver is challenging. I don't like it. I know it's the national animal of Canada, but do enough people know that? Would many people see this jersey and associate it with Canada? Probably not. 

Overall: An interesting idea, but I'm just not convinced this works. (7.5/10)

New Jersey Devils Concept - Scott B.

Positives: I think there are several people out there who would like to see a New Jersey Devils black alternate, and I think if that ever happened, it would looks something vaguely similar to this.

Negatives: This isn't much more than a color swap. The primary logo has too much white. The best part about the Devils jersey is the squared-off yoke, and I wish this one had a similar treatment. The stitching overlaps the striping on the hem. There are some loose pixels around the front of the collar, and the red used to outline the numbers doesn't match the red used on the rest of the jersey.

Overall: Close, but some changes need to be made. (6.5/10)

Quebec Remparts 2015 Memorial Cup Concept - Connor L.

Positives: There is potential here with the overall design. I would like it better if the striping matched.

Negatives: There's a lot going on with this one. There are eight logos and patches on this jersey, and that's too much. The primary logo is really complicated, so that makes it seem worse. I wish the arm striping matched the chest stripe better. I think this is an instance where the name doesn't need to match the numbers. The name is difficult to read unless you zoom in on the concept. The old Reebok logo is used here instead of the wordmark currently used on hockey jerseys. There is a darker shade of red used on the collar from the rest of the jersey. It just looks off.

Overall: There are some things I would change, personally, but the overall design has strong potential. (7.5/10)

Vancouver Canucks Third Jersey Concept - Steven G.

Positives: I really like the "Johnny Canuck" Logo. As far as Canucks logos go, I rank it second, just behind the "Stick-In-Rink" for number one. The 'V' looks great in the striping, and the yoke and hem match well. The name/number really pop off the jersey. This jersey has many of the base characteristics that I love so much about the Hartford Whalers old green jerseys (#1 on my jersey wishlist). There's some great detail here as well. Execution is perfect.

Negatives: The yoke and hem are a bit plain, but I really don't mind it here.

Overall: Add a home/away with the "Stick-In-Rink" logo to go along with this, and you have the perfect Vancouver set. (8.8/10) COTW nomination from me!

Ottawa Senators Alternate Jersey "Fix" - T.G.

Positives: The "SENS" wordmark was a failure, so changing the logo helps. The Reebok logo on the back has been updated.

Negatives: Only two things have been changed here. It seems TG essentially took an image off nhluniforms.com, and just changed two logos. I know the goal was to simply "fix" this alternate, but I can't get behind that. It's properly credited, but it probably only took 2 minutes. I still don't like the template. I know some do, but I'm not one of them. To me, the only fix for this alternate was to discontinue it.

Overall: Not much to see here. (6/10)

That's it for today's post. I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. Don't forget to vote for the NHA Redesign Competiton! The voting process is different this time, so be sure to read the rules! There were some great concepts today, so don't neglect to give them the proper credit they deserve if you want to see them up for next week's COTW vote. Let us know what you think about today's artwork. Let's get some discussion going about today's concepts and your collections! I'm currently in St. Louis, taking in a Cardinals game (also called a Missouri Mass) at Busch Stadium with my wife. See you all back here tomorrow!