Tuesday: Elite 8

Hello everyone! Welcome to another exciting Tuesday post! Dylan Nowak here, or as other refer to me as Wonka. Today I don't really have anything jersey related or logo related to talk about. Or really anything to talk about. School is coming to a close this week. I'm definitely looking forward to that. A fun semester with fun projects but I'm so happy it's over. Next semester I'm taking our school's first ever superhero class which should be amazing. I'm not even sure what it will be about exactly. My assumption is the stories of each superhero in their comic but, what do I know?

The AHL Logo Tournament coming down to the Elite 8. Last week we had the most votes ever for a round and that was awesome! Let's keep that up. However, some other votes count more on this site. So here are your voting reminders!!

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)

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AHL LOGO TOURNAMENT ROUND 3

 

1.) Manitoba Moose vs. 8.) St. John's IceCaps

 

2.) Toronto Marlies vs. 7.) Rochester Americans

 

4.) Utica Comets vs. 14.) Rockford IceHogs

 

5.) Hartford Wolfpack vs. 6.) Milwaukee Admirals

Last week all the top seeds won besides Charlotte, who lossed by a tie breaker point to Rockford. (Tie Breaker point was just me asking someone who didn't vote last week). Anywho, the last Eight stand, who will come out on top? To be continued....

Now let's get some concepts in....

San Jose Barracuda - Alan H.

 Today's post is started off by an AHL logo that was eliminated early in the tournament; The Barracuda. Honestly, just the Barracuda is still not a very good logo in my taste, but it's a lot better without the corporate logo behind it. Still, I don't think it's a good logo. The jersey puts a twist on different eras in Sharks history. I see the first jersey with the hem striping but the sleeve striping takes hints from the Sharks early 2000 jerseys. What I like it's that it's an original look. It's a mix of modern and traditional which I think can always look good. There are always a couple jerseys where it's hard to say if it would be a good jersey or not. Sometimes I almost need to see them used in game to decide and that's where I am with this one. I do like the idea and the colors used but template wise the look can get stale.

Rating: 7.4/10

Arizona State Sun Devils - Ben S.

 I like seeing college concepts and I do like when the artists go realistic with the wordmark but part of me would just like to see logos. I understand why Ben chose not to though so I won't deduct points. The jersey designs are pretty basic traditional designs. With the maroon and gold color scheme, it's hard to make a traditional style look bad. My problem with the home and away comes with the font. It looks like it's skewed to make it wider. To me it doesn't fit with the rest of the jersey. Regular block font I think would work just fine here. The Alternate is nice. I don't mind the logo used but I'm not a huge fan. Again, just a very traditional look that you can't really go wrong with.

Rating: 7.7

Lexington Men O'War - Brooks F.

 To be honest, never heard of this team ever. A now defunct ECHL team, Brooks brings them back to life. The jerseys are basically the same as they were. The side panels are cut off here though in the front and back which I think is a downgrade to what they were. The alternate is the real creative part form the jerseys. While I think there could be a better logo used, I surprisingly don't mind this at all. For an ECHL team, as an alternate I think this is not too bad at all. I think you could incorporate the black side panelling better. Instead of going up with it I think it would look better if it went down the jersey. The gradient while being something people think is gimmicky and outdated I think would add something completely new to the table. The team's primary logo I think hurts the look overall. The fact that the jerseys are basically the same to their old ones also doesn't really help but if they did return, it's not a terrible set.

Rating: 7.2/10

Hershey Bears vs. Syracuse Crunch (Candy Series) - Jack S.

This concept is awesome. The idea of it anyway. If Syracuse could get Nestle in on it and allow them to use their branding I would be all over this game. To me, the Hershey uniforms are pretty decent but I need something else on the arms. Even just a white swoosh on the cuffs would work. It's just getting empty up there. And I think you should add the team's regular logos on the shoulders. Just so that they have something to show their regular branding. Syracuse I think should have a different font. I don't think it fits the logo at all. Also, if the striping was much thicker, then this would be a nice looking jersey. Right now it's just suffering from the font choice and how thin the stripes are. Those two fixes makes this game not only a cool looking game but a very funny and entertaining game. Also, this doesn't have anything to do with the jersey but I can't stand regular Hershey and Nestle Crunch bars anymore. I used to love them. Maybe it's just a growing up phase.

Rating: 7/10

Where's Wonka?

Boston Bruins - Jared L.

 Jared sends in a concept that takes the Bruins into the next decade....or century...or..probably never. I had this idea once about going completely crazy but after awhile I realized how hard it is to make a team look good with adding crazy characteristics. First off the template looks hand drawn in paint, and while I appreciate you want your own looking concept I think picking a regular premade template on the templates page here would help you show your ideas better. Where do I start? I think the side panel to sleeve design is very innovative. I don't think I've ever seen that. So props to you. That's something that I think could possibly look good when done right. I think you're on the right track. The striping on the inside of them is cool and I don't mind that it gets cut off but I do mind that it leaks under the logo. If you had space from the side panel and logo It would look much better. Also, in this world with a futuristic design I don't think the traditional hem stripes you have would be there. I say eliminate those completely. I love that you went somewhere no one else would go, I think your next step is to just refine your concepts before sending them in. Use a regular template and take your time with the design elements.

Rating: 6.2/10

Tampa Palm Trees - Justin F.

 I'm just a little confused about this concept. Is it supposed to be if Tampa Bay Lightning were named something else? Or is it supposed to be a minor team? I'm just a little confused by that. I don't really like script logos and that doesn't change here. I think having a palm tree in some vicious wind would look cool. Like Dylan A made a flint tropics logo and the Palm tree looked like it fit a sports branding. I don't think this does. However, the jersey makes up for the logo in my opinion. While the striping mimics the Dallas stars, the color combo makes it look awesome. First Tampa copies Detroit/Toronto, now onto Dallas! All jokes aside the design looks very nice.

Rating: 7.8/10

Dallas Stars - Lucas D.

Lucas' Color Rush concept is something we are seeing more of lately. I don't know if I've said it on the blog before but I don't think gold belongs in Dallas' new logo set. The beveling to me doesn't look effective with gold because the silver is supposed to be the shadow and gold being the "shadow" looks very off. The rest of the jersey looks great though, I would say choose a different logo, or have the D be completely white with a gold trim, that wouldn't look half bad. The striping is traditional yet unique, I rarely see that striping pattern. ON the back the name and numbers look off center, so just make sure those are good next time.

Rating: 7.9/10

Anaheim Ducks Soccer Concept - Ricky M.

Ricky sent in some soccer hockey teams. The dark jersey to me is awesome. From the design to the colors used and fonts. I really like that jersey and whole uniform combo as a whole. The white jersey is where it loses me. I think leaving the sleeve all black would look better and I'm greatly confused about the pattern. With some explanation I think I would have a better idea but right now as a design standpoint, I don't like it at all. Again, with some background info, that could possibly change.

Rating: 8.2/10 for the dark.

7.2/10 as a whole. 

Atlanta Thrashers - Ryan C.

We close off today's post with another defunct team, the Atlanta Thrashers. To me, this jersey is awesome. I can't really think of anything I don't like on it. My only thing I would change is the color of the numbers on the back of the white jersey. If that's dark blue with a gold trim I think we have an absolute winner. Part of me misses seeing the maroon used on the jersey design but I can live without it. I know some hate the yoke to sleeve design but it's something I've tried out before and I think could really work. Nice job here.

Rating: 9/10 and a COTW nomination from me.