Tuesday: Hats Off To Alternate Jerseys

Hey there everyone! Hope you're having a great week so far. Hope you're enjoying the summer too because before you know it it'll be gone. Time is flying right now, it seems like just yesterday the HJC Open was starting and there wasn't mention of a major competition here at HJC. All of a sudden the Open has been done for over a week and we're knee deep in entries for a competition involving an AHL team!

Speaking of which, the deadline for your entries is the 31st this month, and while you're dealing with that don't forget to vote for the COTW this week. And while you're emailing that stuff in go ahead and post a comment on the Favorite team page letting us know your favorite and least favorite teams.

COTW Aug 11-17 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Grand Rapids Griffins Jersey Competition (ends August 31st, 2014)

Favourite NHL Team Vote (ends Saturday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

SO...I'd mentioned last week how I want to start a new segment in my posts. I try to keep my posts as short as I can but that doesn't always work out, but days like today with only 6 concepts I figure we've got to have something to fill the gap. So sticking to the hat theme with my recent top ten list, every week (or whenever I feel like the posts aren't long enough as it is) I want to feature a new hat on the page. This could either be a hat I own, or a new style that's out there, or maybe even a hat from one of other writers or you readers... So let's get into that!

This week I'll feature a newer style of hat that came out this summer that I'd love to get my hands on. It's the Old Time Hockey Streak Mesh Flex.

Lids.com 

The gray front of the hat fits in with the gary jersey trend we've been seeing around HJC lately. The hat features the tri color scheme that I love so much on a hat. The mesh back is always comfortable and the flexfit is ideal for those not wanting something in between a fitted and adjustable hat.

But what really sticks out here is the design. many thin lines in three different team colors on top of a logo. I've seen one of these hats out and about and it looks just as sharp as it does in the pictures. I don't want to just share the Hawks version with you, so I'll show off some others.

I like to get other team hats outside of Chicago both for variety and I love logos. So one team that has entered my merchandise radar is Dallas with their recent rebrand.

Lids.com

And one that really caught my eye is the Minnesota hat. Out of all the teams I had seen I'm pretty sure this is the only hat that didn't feature a black or dark blue mesh back. Instead opting for a bright red. It definitely stands out but the green probably would have looked better.

Lids.com

If these caught your eye like they did mine you might want to act fast. I've only seen these sold on Lids and there's only 16 or 19 teams available, depending on which Lids you use (US-Can) I'm sure these could pop up on other sites but I may have missed my opportunity as the Hawks are sold out on Lids. 

Found a hat you think should be featured? Or own one you'd like to show off? Get a hold of me on twitter by sending me a DM - @DBroDesigns

So now how about we get to what you really came here for.... the concepts!

San Jose Sharks Concept - Taylor R.

I've been a fan of orange trim on Sharks jerseys forever and while most people get rid of it when they make a concept Taylor increases the amount of orange. Now, while I'm all for the "more orange" movement I think this may be a bit too much. Ideally, in my opinion, Teal and black are the most important SJS colors with silver and orange being under them. Now the white jersey here is close to following that. Swap the black and teal and it'll look great. As for the dark, I'd prefer the jersey be teal, and then swap the orange out with the small amounts of black that there would be. Now that I think about it, that might end up looking basically what they've been wearing the last almost 10 years, so maybe they had it nailed before they kind of ruined their jerseys last summer.....

Rating: 6/10 - I love orange but there's too much orange for this team


Detroit Red Wings Alternate Jersey Concept - Phil B.

Phil creates a new jersey for the Wings. Basic striping works best with the team so kudos on that. I think the stripes are a tad too thick or placed too high on the hem/arms as they're almost touching the numbers. I'm not a fan of the winged D. I think it could work but the way it is now it makes the logo unbalanced and makes it look off center. The pants logo should be a little bigger and bleed off the right edge of the pants.

Rating: 7/10 - Jersey is nice but the logo isn't quite there yet.


Carolina Hurricanes Alternate Jersey Concept - TG

TG gives the Cane's a new black jersey, which IMO is needed as the current alternate seems out of place with the new jerseys they brought in last summer. The striping on this jersey looks to be inspired from their past jerseys. I don't like how the hem striping comes to an end at the stitching. I don't mind it on the arms because some jerseys do that and you don't always see the underarm. I think the arm striping starts way too high up the arm, move it down.

Rating: 7/10 - Fix that hem and move the arm striping down and Bingo.

Minnesota Wild Alternate Jersey Concept - Ben S.

Ben creates a new Wild jersey that seems to mash up their current three jerseys. It's a green base, like their alternate, with the red home jersey's striping. The bear head takes up the front of the sweater like their away jersey. Not a bad idea as all three of the Wild's jerseys are good on their own but there's no brand consistency there, so why not make some? I think you're close to something really good here but I'm not sold on the lack of hem stripes and the beige shoulders. The red/green color scheme the team has can be odd to work with but I think you're so close.

Rating: 7.5/10


San Jose Sharks Alternate Jersey Concept - Jake88

Jake gives the Sharks a black alternate that isn't boring! There's only two things here I'm not too hip on, and that's the sublimated wave behind the shark and the straight stripes on the pants and socks. I'd rather see every stripe wavy or every stripe straight. I might be ok with no hem stripes here as wavy hem stripes look goofy sometimes. Execution is on point which is what we've come to expect from Jake.

Rating: 8/10 -


Team Canada Concept - Matt Mc.

Ahh buddy and fellow cool guy Matt McElroy. In case you didn't see the two of us got mentioned in the Toronto Star Newspaper yesterday in an article about the potential of a Seattle NHL team and they printed one of the logos from our Sea Lions project from a few months ago. So that's neat

But what else is neat is this jersey he made. This looks like it may have been picked up from the cutting room floor from one of his IceHL rebrand attempts. It's a very modern jersey and I wouldn't mind seeing something like this as an alternate paired with a tame set of jerseys. I feel like there's just one too many things going on so I'd either ditch the leaf on the arms, the inside-arm striping, or the cuff/hem trimming. It looks good as is, but it'd look better with less. I don't care for the double red on the pants and socks. But the subtle barberpole on the jersey is what sold me on this.

Rating: 8.9/10 and a COTW Nom


Well there it is. Yet another day in the books. Do all that stuff I already told you to do please...