Monday: Power Ranking the O on Turkey Day

Welcome to another Monday post on HJC!
Happy Canadian Thanksgiving/Columbus Day or whatever you call it in the State you're in.

Since last week I rated the QMJHL/LMJHQ, let's do the OHL this week.
Once again, I will be using logo and jersey, so let's get started


20. Erie Otters

Photo from thehockeywriters.com

For a team that can design pretty decent alternates (like this, this, this and this) the Otters home and road are...frankly...a mess. Where that ugly shade of green comes from is anyone's guess and it bleeds so poorly into the yellow its hard to tell them apart from a distance. There's no stripping outside of the arms and the piping looks atrocious. There's no colour balancing, and with such a good logo, you'd think they could have at least a decent jersey, but with McDavid gone, maybe it's time to start a new era in Erie...one that isn't as obviously convoluted 

19. Barrie Colts

Photo from hockeysfuture.com

It's bad enough the Colts had their look ruined by the edge templates...but for some reason....the Colts picked to not have matching home/road jerseys....and both are opposite edge cuts.....What's sad is that the blue jersey isn't awful, but we'll call this team Baie Comeau of the OHL, except with a worse since the white jersey has not 1, not 2 but 4 little panels on the arm. How hard was this to put in edge cut? Honestly! Oh yeah, this thing ...which is one of the best of this style of jersey that quite a few teams for in the mid-2000s.

18. North Bay Battalion 

Photo from the nugget.ca

If you can tell the difference between a Brampton Battalion & North Bay Battalion jersey..you can either see the red bar on the arms or are a liar. I don't mind their look...except it would make a nice specialty jersey...not an every game thing. North bay had a great identity with the Centennials...it was so great when the team moved from Brampton, they wore specialty Centennials jerseys. Don't those look great? Wouldn't they look better and say North Bay more so than Brampton Battalion jerseys with a new red thing? Also that shade of green really isn't a hockey colour, and darkening it would do the jerseys and logo a huge favour

17. Saginaw Spirt 

Photo froblm themediaplex.com

I agree there are worse looking jerseys in the league, but the Spirit have the BLANDEST jerseys in the whole CHL. Seriously! With a name like Spirit and a patriotic logo, that leaves the door open for lots of creative designs, but instead we get jerseys that are two steps up from being the previous Stars jerseys. On top of that, this team couldn't design a decent alternate to save their thanksgiving dinners. Look at these examples....boring, templated, rehashed, seen it a million times on other teams and done better.

16. Windsor Spitfires

Photo from blackburnnews.com

Getting away from the Capitals template was a decent decision by the Spitfires, but what they replaced them with were worse. The Pens/Sens template would have worked, but making the top side panel and arms red/blue marks the uncoloured shoulders stand out, like it's Arnold in Commando. The vest effect doesn't work at all, and could also look like they players are all wearing backpacks. The look doesn't mesh with the logo, and with the Spits wearing this amazing throwback, it might be time to fully retire the Taylor Hall era logo for a fresh start. 

15. Mississauga Steelheads

Photo from torontoobserver.ca

An improved logo and solid shoulder patch keep the fishes out of the bottom 3, but the team still wears Leafs copies, which...come one! You're 20 minutes from the ACC at the most, and you replaced one of the great OHL identities (Mississauga (St. Michael's Majors) for this?! Bring back the Majors!!! The team didn't get better by becoming the Steelheads, they just got lazier. (If the Majors were still around, they'd be #9)

14. Flint Firebirds

You know, I've grown to not hate the Firebirds. Sure, the Plymouth Whalers had a nice away jersey and logo, but the Firebirds logo is pretty nice its its own right. The jerseys aren't terrible, which considering the template used, it a compliment. It's a middle of the road look that will look out of date in a few years, but for now, not bad. Since this the first year of the Firebirds, they don't have a crappy alternate, so here's Plymouth's crappy green alternate

13. Hamilton Bulldogs 

Photo from: hockeysfuture.com

They're wearing the same jerseys they wore as the Bulldogs did as a Montreal affiliation in the AHL, we're mostly familiar with them. Don't get be wrong, when the Bulldogs were an Oilers entity they had better jerseys and the Bellville Bulls had great jerseys, but these are by no means bad

12. Sudbury Wolves

Photo from: ontariohockeyleague.ca

These guys usually bottom out it most CHL jersey countdowns and at one point or another, I might have said the Wolves had the worst jerseys in the OHL, or at least bottom 5. The reason being....well...their jerseys are boring as anything...they had great pre-edge jerseys and one of the few Rangers like scripts that looked good. Looking at the team now...I want their logo and colour scheme to stay the same forever, it's an OHL classic and while sure, the realistic wolf looks good....it's not the Sudbury Wolves. As for the jerseys, I think they do a decent job at being simple, which is what the Wolves need. The shoulder patch is excellent and I even like the numbers. Stay classy, Sudbury!

11. Sarnia Sting

Photo from: hockeysfuture.com

If the Sting had adopted this amazing jersey, which was designed by some nobody who doesn't write on Wednesdays and likes hats (Go Cubs), they'd be top 10. However, they didn't, they insist on keeping these things around...not back but not...the jersey you see above. They also have this weird Stars like look, which isn't awful, but id honestly does look like if you threw the Bruins, Stars & Kings together. Their pre edge jerseys were great, and I'm glad they carried the logo set over.

10. Kitchener Rangers 

Photo from: ontariohockeyleague.com

I HATE those red helmets...I really do...however, they're the only way to tell it's the Kitchener Rangers and not NY. Their blue jerseys look identical. That being said it is a good look and they've done this for 52 years now...why change now? The Rangers have only one jersey that they could turn into a new look and it'd look better. This beauty! Also the team wears beautiful specialty jerseys. 

9. Niagara Ice Dogs 

I can hear D-Bro & Jack from Halifax "IT'S A BLACKHAWKS RIP OFF YOU DUNCE!" First off...no name calling...save that for the playoffs...second...that seems to be Niagara's thing. The Niagara Thunder wore Hawks rip offs, so why not the IceDogs. These are the best jerseys they've worn in a while, and those shoulder patches look excellent. Not that the old jerseys were bad, but not great. Still, the current are obviously not as creative as they could be.

8. Owen Sound Attack

Photo from: Hockeysfuture.com

Jets...you can't be serious, you heard William yesterday, their logo looks like the Man-Bear-Pig. Well I am being super cereal when I say that I quite like the Owen Sounds new logo. The Man-Bear-Pig head on its own looks quite nice. The simplified jersey also look good, I was surprised how much more clean the team looked with red as their main colour. They are also one of the few teams that use the phantom yoke well. I think people are way too hard on this team because of how...uniquely...unique their old jerseys were and how messy the logo used to be. However, they should keep that Owen Sound Mercury's alternate, that was sweet. 

7 . Ottawa 67s 

Photo from torontosun.com

It's sad when the OHL team in your city looks better than the NHL team. The 67s have had many different light jerseys, but their striped red jersey has been there since the 60s, and only not used in some way between 2009 & 11. I do agree with William though, that the logo on its own is kinda bland, though that awful puck logo is not much of an upgrade. I'd be in favour of using their original primary, they'd be much higher in that case. 

6. London Knights 

Photo from cbc.ca

If the Knights used this jersey and a white version of it, they'd be #1 or if they had their old jerseys black jerseys, they'd be #3...but no....they wear this horrible thing at home.....I really don't like when teams do this. It's like a cop out of making a white jersey, just slap a script on their and call it a day. What makes that better than this other horrible thing? Nothing, in fact at least the green one was an alternate. Other than that, the Knights look awesome and they should never change their logo between the two seen here...and not this 

5. Kingston Frontenacs 

Photo from cunningbailey.com

Like the Kit-Rangers, the Frontenacs have been ripping off the same team for decades now (minus eight awful years where they did the whole "fierce mascot thing" which was a horrible time in the CHL and I will make a post about it at some point, maybe on the design blog. This was the first look they've had that I thought "You know, I could go with this". It was a template Boston has worn once in the past 25 years, and it's neat another team wants to go for the striped look that isn't the 67s. The team though should have kept their yellow alternate. I'm not against teams taking inspirations or using another team's template or colour scheme if they do it well, and the Frontenacs did. 

4. Guelph Storm 

Photo from guelphstrom.com

Everything flows...honestly there's not much I can say. The logos excellent, the shoulder patch goes with the primary. One thing that I miss was their sweet black jersey from a decade ago...but that gets balanced out by their own awful 3rd jersey.

3. Peterborough Petes 

Photo from mykawartha.com

When the Petes ditched the jersey on the left full time and added more colours to their scheme, people freaked out! Honestly...the old Petes jerseys are classic, but they make a good alternate. Those home and road look AMAZING. The beige and black looks fantastic with the maroon, and they keep their logos pretty well the same. It looks grown up. The Petes don't have a bad script alternate, so here's their interesting TPT Petes jerseys, another good throwback. 

2. Oshawa Generals 

Photo from nhl.com

The Generals have had MANY different looks in their history. (Here's their terrible script jersey...from 1971-1984....getting ahead of the game there). Their logo is timeless, and colours are gorgeous and the stripes are unique. However, one team beats them for having an even better logo

1. Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds 

Photo from Sootoday.com

The Greyhounds have everything a major junior team should have: recognizable name that is unique to them, simple jerseys with small additions that make their own, and a solid logo set. Say what you will about the alternate (I like it) but the home and road are gorgeous. The Stars are a must for any hounds jersey but with the white yoke gone from the how they stand to differently. They don't have a script jersey, so here's their bad "edgy" mascot jerseys from the mid 90s.

Disagree? Too bad, it's my post and I'll say what I say. However, you can always tell me how dumb I am in the comments. Come back next week with for the WHL!

Hey have you voted for COTW? What about COTY September? You should do that right now! Right.....Now.....I'll wait...

Have you voted? Okay good.

Here are today's Grey Jersey Contest entries:

Taylor R.

Lucas D.

Brooks F. 

Ben S.

Ryan C. 

Don't forget to get your entries in before the deadline, and read the rule page!

Grey Jersey Competition (entries due Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

COTY-September vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW Oct 4-10 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

On to today's 3 concepts!

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Cleveland Cavaliers Concepts (By: Jan S.)

+ One thing I love about the Cavs is their colour scheme, despite their jerseys being monochromatic for the most part, their logo and colours are perfect for a hockey jersey
+ The numbers also look great
+ I like the white jersey's pattern a lot, it shows off all the colours nicely, but I also like the angled stripes on the maroon jersey

- Stitching should stop at the hem stripes, and the stripes on the arms on both jerseys should be more filling
- The detailing outline on the blue helmet should be a darker shade of blue
- I would prefer the jerseys matched, mixing both of the two patterns into one would do the trick

Rating: 6.25/10

Anaheim Ducks Concepts (By: Ryan C.)

+ If Anaheim ever wanted to go simple on their home/road set, this would be the way to do it, a pattern based on the socks
+ I really like the font chosen, I'm getting sick of their webbed font since it is so wide, this would slim up the back of their jerseys
+ Good execution

- A shoulder patch is desperately needed, I don't care which one OC or the Duck Mask roundel, but it'll add detail to the bare shoulders

Rating: 8.25/10

Vancouver Canucks Concept (By: Steven G.)

+ I really like the Canucks colours on a grey jersey, and the white aids with that!
+ Excellent striping pattern and logo choices, this should be the Canucks logo set going forward
+ Excellent execution, as expected by Steven
+ Steven explicitly said on his blog that the Canucks should never use this jersey in reality but I think it would work quite nicely

- The numbers and yoke should have some green in them

Rating: 9.5/10 COW Nom from me!

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That's the post!

Don't forget to vote for COTY & COTW!

Also don't forget to get your grey contest entries in!

Have an awesome week!

Go Jets, Moose & Mooseheads!