Sunday: Back to The Old Way

Hello everyone and welcome back to my text-friendly Sunday HJC post.

Last week's video post was a ton of fun, and while several issues (including my own procrastination) came up and the video quality suffered because of it, I'd like to think it was a cool addition to the blog.  I'd love to do that for every post I do, but so much work and time goes into it that it'll be hard to do.  But I had a blast doing it, I'm really happy with the positive feedback from it, and someday I'll bring the videos back.

But enough about me, let's talk about...STADIUM SERIES.

We've now seen all of the SS jerseys for this years' games, and I can't exactly say I'm excited for the new jerseys.  Detroit's is easily my favourite of the bunch, they kept things simple, met the "over-sized logo and numbers" requirement, and introduced a cool new logo as well.  Minny's and Chicago's are decent, but uninspiring, and Colorado's is just plain and ugly.

Side note, and irrelevant to the blog, but speaking of plain and ugly...

CFL what are you doing? That logo is the lamest thing in the league since the Roughriders' awful season back in... oh what that was this year, never mind.

Okay back to hockey with some good news: we've started a new competition!  You get to redesign the Barrie Colts of the OHL.  They have an OK logo, but some awful jerseys, and its your job to make them look good, or at least better than they currently do.  As usual, you have a week to get your entries in.

And we also have a humongous big COTW vote this week, with some great NHL, AHL, NWHL and even a video game themed concept going for COTW honours.

And with that, let's get to today's batch of concepts!

COTW Nov 22-28 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Barrie Colts entries (due Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

Indiana Pacers - Jay S.

Roundel logo looks good here.
Arm style is bold but simple, and looks great on a hockey jersey.
Equipment is well designed.
Great execution for the whole set.

Home jersey should be white, and have a yellow or blue jersey as an alternate.
You could do without the yellow outline on the white numbers.

Overall: This set needs a white jersey somewhere, but otherwise this is a great concept.  8.2/10



Atlanta Hawks - Jay S.

The white jersey has a design that I don't personally like, but is pretty suitable for a pro hockey team.
Despite how much I like the old logo better, the new "Pacman" logo works better because it doesn't have a basketball in it.  Best of both worlds here.

I think the font on these jerseys should be swapped.
This doesn't feel like a proper set since both jerseys are so different. Make a dark version of the white jersey, then make an alternate with the new logo and modern font.
If the new logo is used anywhere, it shouldn't be on a blue jersey.
The blue jersey arms and hem don't really work together well at all.

Overall: The white jersey is half of a potentially great set.  The blue jersey feels out of place.  7.4/10



Colorado vs Arizona - Duncan L.

I assume this is referring to the worst jersey matchup of the NHL schedule that week, which is ARI vs COL on November 5, but correct me if that's wrong.

Complete beige on Arizona's jersey. Finally someone gets it.
Arizona's jersey's are too complicated and clunky. This is simple and solid with great colours.
We haven't seen mountains on the Avs jerseys in over 10 years. Time to bring them back.
Substituting more white for blue on Colorado's jersey may be bold, but I think it works.

Arizona's shade of beige is almost too dark to be a "white" away jersey.
Can "fixing" the jerseys without straightening the Avs' arched namebars be even considered a "fix"?

 Overall: Arizona's is definitely a fix and looks great.. Colorado's is a fix, but I think they can still do better. 7.9/10



 Ryerson Rams - Cole P.

They have a cool logo, but their jerseys don't use it. This does, and that's a huge plus.
Good, basic arm and hem style that resembles a stereotypical college hockey jersey.

You should put your name or some ID on all of your concepts.
The font choice is bland, the name is too small, and the yellow outline doesn't help at all.
The logo looks way too big.

Overall: Decent design, but needs a lot of execution fixups.  6.8/10



Colorado Avalanche - Lucas D.

It says Avalanche, but looks like a Rockies concept.  If you're telling me the Avs should take on the old Rockies look...well I can't really argue against that.
I like the use of vintage white here.

Besides the collar, the alternate jersey and the logo don't match at all colour-wise, making the logo and collar look out of place.
The main set is pretty much the old Rockies set, except with a yoke and slightly different striping on the dark jersey, not enough to really be considered creative.
The main set should use a more traditional font if its going with the vintage look.

Overall: I love the idea, but the concept itself isn't really new or creative. And where it is new, it isn't really a change for good.  6.8/10



University of Denver Pioneers -  Taylor R.

 As far as I can tell (could be wrong), the changes here are mainly the addition of black, the addition of yokes, and inverting the stripe colours on the dark jersey.  All of these are good changes.
Execution here is perfect.
You took an already good looking college set and made it better, what else is there to say?

Maybe being overly nitpicky here, but I don't like the white outline on the gold text. Maybe there needs to be more, maybe there needs to be none, I'm not sure.

Overall:  This is great, but here's a challenge for you and everyone: I have yet to see a Pioneers concept with a "tan?" alternate, is it possible? I don't think it would look good but prove me wrong!  Anyways, this is a 9.3/10


Washington Capitals - Ryan C.

The Caps have had some cool designs. This isn't the coolest, but could easily be an awesome main set for them.
This is simpler and looks a lot nicer than their Winter Classic jersey.
Modern classic, fauxback, whatever you want to call it, this set does it well.
Execution and colour balance is perfect.

One issue, and its not entirely your fault, but the shades and red and blue are both dark, so on the red jersey, the blue stripes don't contrast very nicely. I agree having both colours is better than just two white stripes, but it still bugs me for some reason.

Overall: This could be their new main set and I would have no problems with it.  9.3/10


 Hmmm who to pick who to pick.... Taylor's is a good concept, but I'm giving the edge to Ryan C's Washington Capitals concept for my COTW nominee.

So that's about all for my post today.  Don't forget about the competition, the COTW vote and my little University of Denver challenge. I'd like to see what you guys come up with for that.

Thanks for reading, and see you next Sunday!