Thursday: Quarter Finals

Hey gang, welcome to another Thursday post from yours truly, William!

As you may have noticed, today is Thursday, so voting for the HJC Open Quarter Finals begins today.  Voting turnout was pretty decent for the first round, and hopefully it will continue for the rest of the competition.

Sadly my concept didn't make it, it bombed actually.  Spent too much time on the 3D model, and rushed the actual design and presentation (including clipping off the head of my models, oops).  But the scores were really close for the top 8 spots, with 12 artists that were half a point or less away from qualifying.  With that kind of fierce competition, it gets me excited to see the next rounds' concepts.

Now for something completely different.

Everyone has been doings some of their "my # favourite hockey-related thing" lists lately, and I've been missing out, mostly because everyone else beats me to the punch on what list to do.  Well I'm not as much of a jersey collector as some of the writers on here, and I haven't been to as many NHL games as others have. But I do have a big hockey card collection, and I think it would be cool to share my 5 favourite cards from my collection.

5. Wade Redden - 1996-97 SP Premier Rookie

 Nothing too special about the card itself, but it was one of the first cards I ever received, and it was shortly after I got to meet Wade Redden at a hockey camp.  He's always been one of my favourite defencemen in the league, and was the reason I was a Senators fan in the early 2000's.

4.  Sean Monahan - 2013-14 Black Diamond Rookie Gems

I took a bit of a hiatus collecting cards until earlier this year I decided to try my luck again. This was the first card I pulled.  I'm a big fan of Sean Monahan, and anything Flames-related is collectable for me, so this was a nice find.


3. David Leneveu - 2005-06 Hot Prospects Hot Materials

David Leneveu is from my hometown of Fernie, BC, and also helped my hometown Fernie Ghostriders dominate the league in the early 2000's. At one point, the team from this small Canadian town of 5000 people had the 3rd best "Jr A" team in the USA, and Lenevue was part of their backbone.  He also played backup behind Marc-Andre Fleury at the World Jrs for Team Canada.  Finding this card was particularly difficult, but I was happy to add one of my hometown heroes to my collection.


2. Jonathan Toews - 2012-13 SP Authentic Team Canada Moments Auto

Most of these cards have a sentimental value attached to them.  This isn't one of those, but it is likely my highest valued card in my collection.  It's a Jonathan Toews autograph with an awesome Team Canada moment attached to it. I could watch this shootout performance on repeat for days, it was that great.


1. Jason Krog - 2000-01 Pacific Autograph

This one is entirely sentimental.  Jason Krog was pretty much the guy who taught me the basics of hockey, how to skate, and have confidence in my game.  He's been my hockey idol since I first hit the ice at the age of 4.  He gave out these cards after one of his hockey camps, and it's been my most prized hockey possession to date.

Now it's your turn.  Anyone have any cool cards or collectables they'd like to show off?

Anyways, it's concept time!

COTW July 14-20 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)
HJC Open Rd 2 Votes (ends Saturday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Washington Capitals Concept - Justin F.

Yay: Let's start today with some Winter Classic artwork from Justin.  Justin makes this concept with stripes aplenty, but otherwise sticks to a pretty traditional look.  The theme for the stripes is interesting and very suitable for a team like Washington.

Nay:  I like the idea of the stripes, but 13 stripes just doesn't work that well on a jersey, plus the design is so busy that it makes the plain yoke look really out of place. Maybe if there were some white stripes in the stripe pattern, and maybe some blue outlines on the yoke or collar, it could look a bit more balanced. The red outline on the name is way too much; I can barely see the blue text.

Overall: Like the idea, but it's not that visually pleasing. 6.5/10



Carolina Hurricanes Concept - Christian L.

 
Yay: Next we go down the coastline to Carolina, where Christian has this very interesting 3rd jersey design.  Considering how boring the Hurricanes look now, this would be a great way to stand out on the ice and on the jersey rack.  I like the (very subtle) inclusion of the warning flags, and like the execution of the collar and the equipment.

Nay: The problem is that the flags are way too subtle, especially in between two bright red stripes. I think the top stripe could be taken out, and the gradient be reversed so it gets more in view closer to the bottom stripe.  Everything else looks good, but I'm just not liking the look of the two red stripe pattern.

Overall: Close to a great design, but I'm not quite sold on the stripe pattern. 7.8/10



Boston Bruins Concept - Gerard M.

 
Yay: Next is a pair of Bruins concepts from Gerard. This one is inspired by jerseys from the 1920's and 1940's. I'd love to see Boston make this work as a 3rd jersey or future Winter Classic jersey, as it is looks perfect for old-time hockey.  This logo looks great on these uniforms, and would perfectly combine the new and the old Bruins identities.

Nay:  It's perfect as is if it wan't to replicate the old jerseys mentioned, which is the goal here. You could argue that the logo is too cartoony and modern, but I don't think it's a huge problem. I'd like to see the collar as the vintage-white, and move the arm stripes down the arm a bit, but that's really all I'd want to change.

Overall: I'd buy this. Twice.  8.4/10


Boston Bruins Concept - Gerard M.

 
Yay: Gerard's other Bruins concept is more modern, being a "fix up" of their current set.  This set doesn't have a lot of giant changes, but a few key subtle ones. The most noticeable is the away yoke being changed to yellow, and I really like how that looks. The font is changed, and the shoulder patch is edited on the away jersey to say "Boston" instead of "Bruins". These subtle changes are great, even to such an untouchable jersey as this one.

Nay: I think the black cuffs currently go right to the arm striping, and I think that looks better than the shortened cuffs on here.

Overall: It's hard to grade this too high, because most of the jersey is what is being used today. But the changes that are on here are well done. 8/10



NHL vs KHL - Team NHL Concept - s2dio

 
Yay: NHL vs KHL.  I think this idea is a matter of when, not if. This would be a huge hockey event if it ever did happen, so naturally the jerseys have to be perfect for such an occasion. Even though orange isn't really the NHL's colour anymore, everyone would love to see them use orange as a fauxback to the days where the NHL dominated hockey globally. The classy stripes and yoke perfectly complement this uniform.

Nay: Again, hard to see the fine details with a template like this.  The uniform isn't as flashy as most All-Star game ones, but if they are going for a pre-1990's look, then it would work alright. Unless the NHL logo is all black and white, I'd like to see some silver in the jersey somewhere as well, or else the logo will look out of place.

Overall:  Not flashy, but classy. A perfect way to represent the NHL. 8.3/10



NHL vs KHL - Team KHL Concept - s2dio

 
Yay: Next is the Team KHL uniform, which is donning a sleek dark grey uniform. The colour is kind of odd, considering the bright logo colours, but I think it contrasts well with the NHL uniforms, and it looks great as a backdrop to the red, white and blue stripes. The striping pattern, although I don't agree with it's use, looks just as classy and solid as the NHL's.

Nay: If the NHL's uniforms are meant to be a fauxback, then the KHL's uniform should be more modern, signifying the new era of professional hockey. Old vs New, North America vs Europe, Rocky vs Drago, etc. The jerseys should contrast not only in colour, but in style.

Overall: I wouldn't be as positive about the concept, but the double-grey colour scheme with the bright-colour highlights looks insanely cool. Execution brilliant as always. 8.7/10



Chicago Blackhawks vs Washington Capitals WC Concept - Thomas H.

Yay: We'll end the post the same way as we started, with a Winter Classic concept. Thomas shows us his idea of introducing "new" colours into these teams' jersey collection. I can't believe how sharp the Blackhawks logo looks black and white, and that uniform is probably the best fauxback to their original jersey that I've seen.  I wouldn't go that far with the Capitals jersey, but it still looks pretty solid.

Nay: The only thing I'd change for the Blackhawks is the pants, where I think going all-black with corner numbers would be the best way to go.  For the Capitals, putting the stars closer to the collar and the logo being higher like the original would be better, and for readability I'd make "Washington" white instead of red.

Overall: Not perfect, but a leap of faith in creativity for both jerseys, and it worked fantastically. 9/10

While s2dio and Gerard had some fine looking concepts today, Thomas's concept is well executed, and used ideas that are unique yet look so natural and believable for both teams. That's why Thomas' Winter Classic concept gets my COTW nomination today.

The last few weeks have had some great concepts, and I'm sure we'll see more as the HJC Open continues. Make sure you vote for your favourite HJC Open and COTW concepts!

That wraps up another post for me. Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!