Monday: Open Season

"It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year! 

With the kids concept-drawing and everyone voting

Our hearts start to cheeeer, 

It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year!

We'll have concepts for rating,

some entries for voting,

and hockey fan smiles that glow!

There'll be scary loose pixels

A crossover Sixers

And fixes from long, long agooooo!

It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year! 

With the kids concept-drawing and everyone voting

Our hearts start to cheeeer, 

It's the most wonderful tiiiiime of the year!"

It is here! The HJC Open has begun! And I write horrible parody songs! We have many entries so far and many more to come. Let's show you the current entries before I ruin the blog with another parody song.

Quick news break:

First in regards to future concepts, I have noticed a trend of CCM branding. This is only the case in the AHL and the CHL, not the NHL. The new Anaheim Ducks road jersey did have the Reebok branding as per shop.nhl.com. I will make note of that for every NHL concept using the Edge template with CCM branding instead of Reebok, as the change is not official yet. If anyone has news or evidence otherwise, let me know in the comments section.

Also your voting reminders!

 2nd Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW July 7-13 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

HJC Open Round 1 entries (due Wednesday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Ok here we go!

Avi S:

Ben S:

Caleb B :

Dylan W:

Jake88:

Jamie R:

Justin C:

Mike S

Phil B (Hi, guys!):

Ryan H:

Taylor R:

TG:

Now onto the main concepts:

Florida Panthers Concept by Christian L:

What I said above about CCM/Reebok applies here. ESPECIALLY since you are using Reebok socks with the outdated vector logo too. The home includes some much needed white, the road has minor changes from the current. Best parts about the main set are the hem striping and the arm striping wrapping around the arm. The alternate is out there. The hem stripe seems unusually high. The crest logo is the right way to do the Panther head by itself, unlike what Florida did with their double blue alternates. I would like the socks of the alternate here to match the striping of the jersey. EXECUTION NOTE: There is no reason why the font size should be different between Huberdeau and Barkov, as well as no reason why the space between the letters should be different between Barkov and Ekblad. Maybe lower the nameplate a few pixels and you'd have room to fit any name uniformly.

Final Score: 74%


Edmonton Oilers Mario Lemieux Hockey Concept by Mario A:

This is definitely an interesting series to tackle. I am unfamiliar with the game, so I cannot judge the accuracy of the jerseys. What I can judge is execution and style, and the execution here is off. The Edmonton wordmark is off center. Having the captain's patch that far into the corner does not look good. That font is not my font of choice, even if it is in the game. The striping style I dig, and purple and pink do look good together, as well as the black. Having said that, I would not put the Oilers in those colors. It may work for the game, since it is an old game with minimal graphics capability, but it doesn't work for me. Game over Edmonton.

Final Score: 58%


Los Angeles Kings Mario Lemieux Hockey Concept by Mario A:

Now this one I can go with. At the time the game came out, LA wore the first round of black white and silver, so the color scheme is mostly accurate, unlike the Edmonton concept above. The lettering effect is cool enough with the logo, continuing it with the name and number on the back makes it even cooler, and for a team like Los Angeles, its appropriate. The only complaints I have is the use of that dark tan-ish color, as it looks like a darker version of the ugly mustard Predators jersey, and that the striping looks too similar to your Edmonton concept, but that ma just be because of the game, which is understandable.

Final Score: 67%


Team Belarus Concept by S2dio:

First of all, spelling counts in country names. Otherwise this is a simple solid set. I'd prefer thicker striping, or else the socks and arms look plain. I'd make the pants on the white set red, because most teams only have one set of pants. Solid look, simple look, nothing unusual, nothing special. Colors are used well, though we could use a white outline on the logo of the green jersey.

Final Score: 80%


Team Kazakhstan Concept by S2dio:

Very nice, very nice, how much? Since the blue is so light, having navy numbers on both jerseys work well, especially with that bright yellow outline, however in the stripes, it gets lost against the white. Otherwise, the chest stripes work well. Maybe a navy yoke would work better on the white jersey, even on the blue jersey as well. Arm stripes are unusually low, however. Solid concept that Borat would be proud of.

Final Score: 84%


Los Angeles Kings Concept by Scott B:

That crown logo looks SPECTACULAR in silver and black. That said, this is a relatively simple concept, with a few things that don't have to make it simple. First off, get rid of the "ABCDEF" nameplate. There are very few ways to be lazier with concepts than an ABCDEF nameplate. Give the jersey personality. I always put my name and number 60 on my concepts, seeing Gretzky 99 is OK, or even Quick 32. ANYTHING but ABCDEF 00. Another lazy sign is the hem. The striping must not just overlap the stitching, but also end the stitching. There should not be any stitching below hem stripes on a jersey. Other notes, I would either add small black stripes between the silver and white to match the numbers or I would remove the black from the numbers. Also, wordmark logos should not double as shoulder patches. It just doesn't look good, especially thin silver on black. I guarantee you will improve, but you need to stop being lazy and put some care into your concepts before the ratings increase.

Final Score: 56%


Team Sweden Concept by Stephen T:

We close with two international concepts by Stephen. I love having flag patterned jerseys, the same way flag patterned Morphsuits look. I'm slightly bothered that the classic three crowns logo is on one shoulder, but there really isn't another place for it with the logo already at the stripe intersection. Continuing the stripe around back is a mistake on the blue jersey, as the number gets lost in the striping. HOWEVER, if the stripe is thick enough, making the number the same color as the main jersey can work, as the Red Wings proved in the 2010 Winter Classic. One thing I will say is how far Stephen has improved as an artist, which his next concept will also prove.

Final Score: 78%


Team USA concept by Stephen T:

Wow. OK then... If this doesn't scream MURICA, then I don't know what will. HOWEVER, I do not believe vertical stripes work well implemented like this. I find it clever that the stars are only on one sleeve, and that there are about 50 stars on the sleeve if you put the partial stars together. On the other sleeve is the state that the player came from, also reflected in the nameplate, for example, Patrick Kane was from New York and TJ Oshie was from Washington (Not DC), a clever addition. With that addition, however, the template does you no justice as New York, for example, is mostly on the other half of the sleeve, including NYC and my Long Island. The logo is fantastic, merging the Seal of the US and the previous Olympic logo, however it is slightly pixelated. I just can't get by those vertical stripes. Solid concept, but not necessarily one I'd like to see on ice. Great fan jersey option however, and definitely a good idea for a soccer jersey that I can get behind.

Final Score: 86%

And the Oscar, I mean my Concept of the Week nomination goes to  STEPHEN T. and his TEAM USA CONCEPT!

Keep sending in those entries for the HJC Open, send in your votes for Concept of the Week and COTY- Second Quarter. Good luck to everyone involved in the Open and I'll see you next week. But I leave you with one question to debate in the comments: With the CCM branding on jerseys appearing in the CHL and the AHL, when do you think the NHL follows suit, despite the new Anaheim road jersey sporting Reebok branding? See you next week!