Friday: It's All Fauxback Today

TGIF, welcome to the Friday post.

Well what a week eh? And the biggest thing to come out of it was Minnesota and the designers of the logo, FanBradz (check 'em out, Dbro linked to their twitter in the comments) unveiling yet another amazing hockey logo, this time for an event, that being one of the two 2016 Stadium Series games.

If for some reason you haven't seen it yet, here it is:

Photo from: Wild.NHL.com

It could be said this is the best Outdoor game logo ever made, or one of them, with its appealing colours, flowing script and relative football campyness we'd hope for, but this begs a larger question; Why does Minnesota keep making and inspiring excellent designs?

That isn't to say they haven't had duds, their pre NHL expansion script was horrendous and their weird Levis Jeans logo shaped shoulder patch wasn't the greatest, but they've never had a bad or even mediocre jersey, bad primary and both their All Star Game and now this logo are excellent. 

I think it has to do with the Wilderness and Forest theme, which is visually pleasing. Green and red, when done in a way that doesn't look like a bad Christmas sweater is very appealing, and with Minnesota using brown and yellow in their early years, and now wheat in more recent years, they've created an identity that looks absolutely solid. Their Away jersey is the best in the NHL IMO, yes even better than the Jets. Their home, while inferior to the road, was one of the few jerseys that made the jump to edge nicely. Their original jerseys, while dated, were perfect for their era, and became an easily identifiable team just 3 years after they played their first game, something teams like Columbus & Nashville couldn't do.

With so many teams like San Jose, Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Arizona making terrible design choices, the AHL's turn to copy/paste jerseys and the possibility the NHL using those awful neon jerseys for this year's All Star Game in Nashville, it really begs the questions, how does Minnesota keep themselves from falling into this trend. It's simple in my humble opinion: if it ain't broke, don't fix it and if it is, keep is simple.

I look forward to what this team produces for their Outdoor experience! 

Let's check out the WWE comp entries that have come in since last post:

Edit 2.0: I check back at 5:30, nothing had been sent so they will be posted tomorrow if they are sent before the deadline! 

Nice, remember to get your entries in before the deadline, and to read all the contest rules, which can be found on the contest page.

COTW Voting, get on that if you haven't already!

COTW July 26-Aug 1 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

WWE Comp entries (due Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

On to the concepts!!!

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Arizona Coyotes Concept (By: Brian B.)

+ Brian is usually really good with this, as he keeps the goods when redesigning jerseys. The increased black, outline of the numbers, arm stripes and the new shoulder patch are all kept
+ The striping now all goes together, unlike the current jerseys which look more like a blocky mess
+ The Kachina collar and hem striping are excellent! People really hoped for the kachina to return and that would save the current jersey
+ Good execution

-  The tag on the collar has an old vector logo on it, CCM or REEBOK script logo would be proper
- The arm striping and socks and inverted, the socks would match the arms if the black was on top

Rating: 9/10- COTW Nom from me 

2016 Winter Classic Concept (By: Griffin B.)

+ Both jerseys are original, which would be perfect for this game. They each take cues from multiple eras of the team's history, but also add original elements
+ I really like how dark the Habs jersey is, especially the navy and darker red
+ The striping on the Boston jersey's arm are a solid mix of their inaugural jerseys and the hem stripe of the 1959/60 alternate. It's a nice mix
+ Good execution

- Not a huge fan of the vintage white but it would need to be in the logo as well for it to work
- The white numbers on the arms are very hard to read, and moving the numbers down in between the stripes
- Don't forget the helmet logo on the Montreal set

Rating: 8.25/10

Quebec City Nordiques Concepts (By: Alex F.)

+ I've seen this idea done in a few different ways, but an angular modernize Nords logo would look pretty cool, and the Fleur de Lis look even better, almost like a stylized bayonet
+ The jerseys, all 3 are kept simple, which is exactly how the Nordiques should me
+ I like the WHA throwback, since the Nords had excellent WHA jerseys similar to these, but the changes like the striping being more full on the arms and the FdL on the hems
+ Great execution

- One thing from the WHA I liked that the Nords had was the curved coloured name bars, which would look excellent on the alternate
- A little bit of red, such as an outline on the numbers and FdL and a thin stripe above the cuffs would add some much needed red to the jerseys

Rating: 8.5/10

Vancouver Canucks Concepts (By: Jimmy T.)

+ Jimmy's already sent a version of this concept it, but I like this version much better
+ It's a little detail, but the outline on the numbers (like Arizona's) look so much better
+ The green jersey is my favourite of the two, with the Johnny Canuck logo and chest stripe, this could be immediately implemented and be the best alternate the Canucks have had since 1995
+ Good execution

- The numbers have outlines, but the letters doesn't, which makes them hard to read, as well as the NOB being weirdly spaced out
- The collar being solid white would look better if it was dual coloured with green on the blue jersey and blue and he green jersey

Rating: 8/10

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That's the post! 

Don't forget to comment and nominate

Also don't forget to get your COTW votes in as well as your WWE contest entries 

Go Jets & Mooseheads!

Have an awesome weekend