Friday: 4th of July

Happy 4th of July! I'm not American but it rolls off the tongue like something that rolls off a tongue easily. No matter what you're doing to celebrate, enjoy your day off!

It's a big day for America, but it's also a big day for HJC. Why you ask? The HJC Open is coming in 8 days. For those who are newer to HJC, the HJC Open is like the Masters of the concept world. This is where you display your best work to compete against the best work of others.

Remember, you must enter a concept that has NEVER been seen on HJC yet. If you need clarification  on rules, email HJC, but first, read the contest page through the tab above.

Also, to those who enjoyed the free agent frenzy on Canada Day, special shout out to Ryan for making the constant twitter feed go updates really entertaining.

I've thought about handing out an award for best signing, to me it's obvious, Jonas Hiller was the best pick up. I'm still waiting for him to collect his prize though... Sigh....

Along with the anticipation for the HJC Open, there is the COTW voting, the bread and butter of HJC. Voting ends tonight to let's get those votes in if you haven't voted yet.
COTW June 23-29 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

On to the concepts!

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New Jersey Devils Concept (By: TG)

The Devils dropped the green because Wayne Gretzky's incredible ego insulted them...okay maybe it wasn't like that, but imagine if the Devils have just added black rather than drop green? The red jersey actually looks sharp. I didn't think I'd like the black and green together, but since the white separates the two from blending into each other, it looks good. The white jersey is good too, but the yoke would look much better green instead of black. This concept was a pleasant surprise, and it would have been nice to see the Devils try something like this for an outdoor game of St. Patrick's day. (7.75/10)

Washington Capitals Concept (By: Garret F.)

It's concepts like these that make me think the Weagle can for work as a primary logo on any alternate. The striping is clearly based on the American flag, which is patriotic on it's own, but the stars on both the cuffs and shoulders continue the theme all over the arm. The only issue with this concept is the stars not matching between the yoke and cuffs. It doesn't look bad, and if it was a design choice, it's okay, but I would have made them both red with a white outline so they didn't match the numbers, or make them match the numbers. (9/10)

Anaheim Ducks Concept (By: Dylan W.) 

Mr. Wonka, who I'm not sure if he likes Anaheim's new set or not, has made an alternate that would match the set perfectly. The yoke style reminds me of the Mighty Duck's 2nd set from the late 90's, but he updates it so it doesn't look like a practice jersey. the striping is solid, I like the slight angling ing the arms. The execution is perfect, as we would expect from the Candy Man himself. (9.5/10) COTW Nom. from me. 

Dallas Cowboys Concept (By: Victor B.)

This hyper-realistic concept is fitting for today since the Cowboys, according to their fans, are America's team. Obviously, this jersey is based on the Wild's home jersey, but seeing the Cowboys is grey just seems...odd. It really doesn't say Cowboys, it says what if the Cowboys looked like the Wild. The execution is okay, it's hard to work on a template like this, I couldn't do it with my current software, but it needs work. The Reebok logo on the front crowds the collar and logo, it might work on the left side or right side, and the logo is slightly too small. Also, TV numbers are a must. (5.5/10)

Columbus Blue Jackets Concepts (By: Ben A.)

This concept tis very similar to Garret's Caps concept, in that the striping is based on the American flag (again fitting for today). The Blue Jackets pull this concept off quite well, the home jersey looks solid,  but the white jersey suffers from the same problem similar concepts suffer from. The white jersey's arms and hem lack blue, and without the yoke would have no blue aside from the logo and numbers. Making the cuffs and hem blue will solve that problem. (6.5/10)

Calgary Flames Concept (By: Scott B.)

Obviously this is a very unique concept, and one that could work, but with doe work and execution practice. The soccer esque striping is a cool idea, I've seen it done with Columbus, but any team with a circular logo can make it work. The numbers on the front and back are done right, but on the arms, they are too small. The arms and chest stripe are different thicknesses, that is a fix that needs to be done. Also, as Ryan mentioned in the Weekend Update, putting ABCDE on the back of a jersey is really lazy, just put your name or a players name, something other than the 1st 5 letters of the alphabet. (5.75/10)

Nashville Predators Concepts (By: Victor B.)

Victor's second concept of the day gives the Preds a much more unique striping pattern, based on guitar strings and racing flags. Both jerseys are unique, and have the Music/Autoracing theme, however, this jersey is not without errors. The striping is too thin, both jerseys would look much better with thicker striping, the white jersey's hem especially. The blue on the logo doesn't match the navy on the striping and numbers. If you're going to feature the number on the concept without the back of the jersey (which is fine, better to not show the back than give us a blank back) adding the TV numbers will make up for the empty arm space. (5.75/10)

That's the Friday post, dear readers. Remember to vote for COTW, and work on those amazing HJC Open entries! As always, I'm Jets96, Go Jets Go, enjoy your weekend and 4th of July celebrations !