Thursday: The Reddest Shade of Blue

Hey gang and welcome to another Thursday post!

So... Brodeur is a part of the Blues... odd.

I figured he would find a gig somewhere this season, but St. Louis surprised me.  I'm not surprised that they took him, considering their current goaltending troubles, but I figured another team would have snagged him up first.  I'm sure Edmonton would have taken him, but he likely would rather retire than go there.

So the first few images of the new-look Marty surfaced and I'm really happy with what I see. He looks out of place in his new colours, but I absolutely love what they did with his helmet, basically taking his old helmet and recolouring it.  To me, Brodeur had one of the most iconic helmet designs in hockey history, so I'm glad they kept with that style.

What do you guys think of Brodeur becoming a Blue? (Is a member of the Blues called a Blue? The grammar makes sense but it sounds really strange).  Will he help the Blues with their playoff push or be a temporary fix?

Now let's just go straight to the concepts! I see that my recent rating style has been used by some of our other writers, which is cool and flattering. But for the sake of being different, I'm going to be going back to my original method of reviewing concepts.

COTW Nov 23-29 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

CWHL ReDesign Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

 Peterborough Petes - Taylor R

 

Yay: Until this year, one could argue that the Petes had classic yet very boring uniforms.  This year they updated the logo and got some awesome new jerseys to go with it.  This set is fairly similar, but sticks with regular white and uses a maroon dark jersey instead of black, both of which are positive changes.

Nay: The inside stripes of the maroon jersey should be maroon and not white, so the pattern matches the other jersey better.  I think there should be more black in the uniform, so the black pants are a good idea, but I'd use it for both jerseys.

Overall: Definitely works as a modernized Petes uniform, although it's tough to beat their new set. 7.9/10

Bentley University Falcons - Brady S.

Yay: Brady shows us his concept for Bentley University, his current school.  I like the logo being on the front instead of a standard wordmark, and the yoke design looks pretty cool.  Going with blue and black looks a lot cooler and more original than their Nashville-esque colours they're currently using (as far as my research tells me).

Nay:  The TV numbers and logos are way too big.  The stripe and hem pattern don't really match nicely between the two jerseys.  I think if the black jersey's stripes were more similar to the white jersey, where the last stripe goes all the way to the end, it would look really nice.

Overall:  Not the prettiest concept, but it's a good design nonetheless. 7.4/10

Nashville Predators - Conner J.

Yay: If Nashville was around during the WHA days, this would be their jersey.  I always thought Nashville looked too flashy, although their newest set is the best out of the bunch.  But a full blue jersey with classic stripes like this would be a perfect contrast to their flashy, modern identity.

Nay:  The hem stripe is too high up, and the number, logo, and TV numbers look too small. The pants should be yellow, otherwise you get an overload of blue. Its hard to tell if the small arm stripes are blue or black, but irregardless you could do without them.

Overall: The concept needs work, but I love the idea of a retro Preds uniform.  7.1/10

Windsor Spitfires - David K.

Yay: Our second OHL concept today takes us to Windsor. Windsor's uniform history isn't too exciting, and in the last decade they traded off their kinda-ugly traditional uniforms for their kinda-ugly Capitals rip off, and then whatever the heck they're wearing now.  This looks great, with a fantastic logo and a classic look that a classic hockey town like Windsor deserves. 

Nay: The red jersey is missing some blue striping, and maybe a blue outline of the yoke.  The big stripes should be a little smaller to give more room for the middle stripe, which should be blue on both sets.  The OHL logo should be a different colour than white on the white jersey.

Overall: Not great, but a huge improvement to pretty much anything the Spitfires have worn in the past.  8/10

St. Louis Blues - Greg D.

Yay: Next up is a Blues jersey with some 90's red mixed in, something I'm a huge fan of.  There's nothing better than what they're wearing now, but their red uniforms were really cool at the time.  This time, the blue looks a littler darker, and the diagonal stripes have been substituted with a very subtle but classy stripe pattern, which looks really nice.

Nay: The only real problem I have with this uniform is the white/red lines outlining where the yoke would go.  There is and should be no yoke on these uniforms, so any sort of outline is unnecessary and distracting from the better parts of the jersey.

Overall: Fix that, and this concept would be near perfect.  8/10

Florida Panthers - Jack H.

Yay: We get another 90's blast from the past with Jack's Panthers concept.  What we have here is essentially their original set, with a slightly recoloured stripe pattern.  The colouring is interesting, and the presentation of this concept looks very professional.

Nay: However, the concept itself is a bit of a letdown. There's nothing really new here besides the recolouring, and I think the colours of their original set balanced better than what we see here.  The rounded yoke is switched for a trapezoid style, but that doesn't really looks as nice either.

Overall: Great presentation, but not that exciting of a concept.  6.5/10

Daniel Alfredsson Tribute Banner - Nevill C.

Our last "concept" today is a little different, as it is a banner idea for Daniel Alfredsson's "farewell" in Ottawa.  The Swede is retiring as Ottawa's most important and respected player in it's history, and he really deserves a huge "thank you" from the fans for sticking with them for so long, despite leaving last season.

This banner is very cool, as it covers the 3 eras of the modern Sens' jersey history. It's hard for me to put a grade on it, but it's a really cool design that would be perfect for a banner.  A resized version of this would be cool as a desktop background as well, something I'm half tempted on making.

Anyway, I wont give a score for it, but I approve of this design! Thanks for sharing.



I think I'll pass on awarding a COTW nomination today. Lots of good concepts, but nothing that stands out enough for me to nominate it.  If you disagree (and I hope you do), feel free to nominate your favourite concept today in the comments!

Don't forget to put in your votes for the CWHL competition, as well as our COTW vote.  Every vote counts!

On that note, I'll end my post today.  Thanks for reading, and have a great weekend!