Sunday: Who's Review Is It Anyway

Hi welcome to Sunday's post, where everything's made up and the scores don't matter. That's right, the scores are like all of John Scott's ASG votes.

Seriously though, welcome to today's post. Today we have some NHL, AHL, OHL, NWHL and...wait can it be... a RHI concept?

But first, do you like voting? Well you should, because this week is totally full of big HJC votes! COTW, COTY-November, and Barrie Colts competition votes are all happening this week, and because of our new polling system, its never been easier to get your voices heard!

Before the post I'm going to throw some interesting numbers at you:

15/30 NHL teams,
14/30 AHL teams,
19/30 KHL teams,
15/28 ECHL teams,
9/20 OHL teams,
6/18 QMJHL teams,
and 11/22 WHL teams have blue in their logo

 (don't hold me to the exact numbers, I made that count at 6 in the morning)

My question is this, why is blue so popular in logos? All sports use blue frequently, not just hockey. But why? Why more than other colours?

Well the next frequent colour is red, especially in American leagues, and the reasoning is patriotic for many of these logos. Blue also contrasts well with most other colours. There's also tons of shades of blue that can look really independent from each other. It is harder to distinguish between different reds and yellows (which is the 3rd most frequent colour).

But here is the issue. In the NHL, less than half of the league has a truly unique colour scheme from the rest of the league. Someone wearing an Oilers jersey could be confused as an Islanders fan. People complain that Anaheim "stole" Philadelphia's colours. Toronto's "untouchable" combo has been adapted by the once colourful and flashy Tampa Bay Lightning. (Why the hell are the Lightning blue, anyways?). Teams with cool logos like Nashville, Buffalo and St. Louis lose a bit of spotlight because of their colour similarities.

Maybe 30 different colour combinations are too much to ask, but its a wishful thought that some day I can "bleed blue" without having an identity crisis. Thoughts?

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

COTW Nov 29-Dec 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Barrie Colts Comp vote (ends Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

Alright, here's today's concepts!



Saginaw Spirit - Ryan C

Current jersey set is pretty bland. This has a bit more going on at least.
Colours are well balanced.
Good outlining on text.
Arms and hems match enough to give jersey good visual balance.

Without an outline or shoulder logo, the yokes look really dull and bare here.
I'd argue that this design is an improvement to their current set, but a newish team with a flashy, bold logo could really use a more exciting jersey.

Overall: There's not really anything wrong with the concept, but I'm just not excited by it. 7.8/10



Barrie Colts - Ryan C.

Compared to their current set, these look fantastic.
This seems loosely based on their 2003 alternate (correct if I'm wrong), the last time they had a decent jersey to work with.
Stripes are well balanced to avoid looking too busy.
Number font is cool, and could work for a hockey jersey.

The aforementioned 2003 alternate had a blue hem to match the arms, and I think this set would be better off using a blue hem too.
No knock to this concept, but all this set would need is a blue fauxback alternate (better than what they have now) to be a perfectly balanced full set.

Overall: Great improvement to what they currently use. 8.4/10




Grand Rapids Griffins - Lucas D.

Grand Rapids has never subtly used their connection to the Red Wings. They've done their own thing, or blatantly copied their parent club. This is perfectly somewhere in the middle.
Chest stripe and roundel logo is always a good combination.
Roundel logo version of this logo looks less cartoony than with "Griffins" at the bottom.

Back numbers look like they should be bigger, and have more of a white outline.
Not sure if the yoke is totally necessary, not without a shoulder patch or two at least.

Overall: An AHL team showing their parent connection without just using the parent club's jerseys? I was beginning to think it couldn't be done.  8.2/10




 Grand Rapids Griffins - Phil B.

The logo used here looks really BA and awesome with the new colours.
Really unique arm style, and it goes well with the hem.
This is bold. More teams need to be bold.

The square numbers with the "3D" shading just doesn't work with this set. Maybe for the Motor City Mechanics, but not here, even if there is a bit of a Terminator theme going on.
TV numbers are really hard to see.

Overall: I love the theme, and I really want to like this jersey, but it's not quite ready yet. 7.9/10




New York Islanders - Phil B.

Phil adds more white and a bit more colour to an alternate desperately needing it.
I love the orange stripes on the numbers.
The skinny orange stripes on white look much better than their skinny white on black look.
The black and orange logo on the arms is a nice addition.

The logo looks awkwardly high on the jersey.

Overall: Maybe this is too white and colourful for the theme they were going for, but that theme was a bad idea anyways. Even without the whole Brooklyn thing, this is a cool alternate. 8.9/10


NWHL All-Star Jerseys - Brooks F.

This is a pretty sharp design for any All Start Game set.
I really like the balance of colours used. I'd say yellow vs blue would stand out more, but this is an ugly yellow to use as a primary colour.
This set has a great excuse to use stars everywhere, and it doesn't disappoint.

I'm not sure if these colours really stand out enough to be used in the same game. White vs dark blue might be better.
The back numbers don't have enough of an outline.
The yellow stars on a light blue jersey is kind of hard on the eyes.

Overall: Despite some colour issues, this is an awesome ASG set, better than what the NHL has put out in quite a while. 8.3/10



Ottawa Loggers - Brooks F.

I think I mentioned that I'd like to see RHI concepts coming in, and I got my wish.
The "tree" cuffs are perfect.
The checkerboard sides and yokes are so beautifully 90's. 
As far as I can research, the Loggers' jerseys were pretty boring. This is the treatment they deserve.
The cartoonish, wacky soul of the league lives on with this set.

The colour balance is all out of wack. I love the sum of the parts, but the whole just doesn't jive together well.
The number font kind of works because of the rigidness, but reminds me more of calculators than trees.
This set could never be top-tier pro hockey, but this would be gold for the ECHL or other similar league.

Overall: I love it, despite it's overall awfulness. But the awfulness encompasses everything that the RHI designs were about. This set is awfully perfect, and perfectly awful. 8.5/10



Phil B's New York Islanders concept gets my COTW nomination today. Disagree with me? Of course you do, so send in your nominations in the comments!

Don't forget to complete the voting hat-trick this week. Thanks for reading, and see you next Sunday!