Friday: Goalie Gear Again

Hello folks!  A few goalie have unveiled and/or worn new noteworthy pads since I last talked about goalie gear, so that's what I'm going to discuss today.

(Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

Marc-Andre Fleury broke out his yellow pads once again the last few times the Penguins wore their third jersey.  Earlier this year he was just wearing his regular equipment when the Penguins went old school, although he did wear these pads last season.

(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images)

Speaking of going old school, the Canucks looked beautiful in their 90's jerseys last Saturday (their performance wasn't so pretty).  Ryan Miller joined the fun and wore these awesome black pads.  I also loved the simplicity of the helmet design, I think most goalie helmets are too detailed nowadays.

(Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Jacob Markstrom (seen here arguing with a fan during pre-game warm-up) didn't play in that game, but that didn't stop him from getting a new set of gear of his own.

Photo from @eddielack on Twitter

Saving the best for last, my favourite goalie Eddie Lack tweeted out this picture of what just might be my favourite set of goalie gear ever.  These are black versions of his current set, and they check both the boxes that I look for in goalie gear, a custom design and a non-white base colour.  He hasn't worn these yet, but I couldn't wait to talk about them.

If you have an opinion on any of these goalie pads, don't be afraid to leave a comment.

---------------------------------------------------

I wrote a poem for this weeks voting reminder...

Red Wings are red,

Blue Jackets are blue,

I just voted,

and you should too.

I never said it was a good poem.  What did you expect?  I'm not good with words.

COTW Feb 7-13 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

White Jersey Comp Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

---------------------------------------------------

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Jared L:

Jared starts us off today with a Leafs concept using their new logo.  The striping pattern is similar to their current jerseys, except with yokes added and no arm stripes.  I like the addition of the yoke, especially on the white jersey, but I don't like the decision to remove the arm stripes.  The bare arms don't pair well with the new detailed logo.  The name and number font looks good though, it a good mix of traditional and modern.  There are a couple of execution errors, most noticeable is that the logo is too big.  Also I can still see the outline where the arm stripes used to be, if you using Paint.net you'll want to use the paint-bucket tool with antialiasing disabled (other programs have a similar setting, I don't know).  The last issue is that this image was sent in at only 240x320 pixels big, which makes it hard for me to see the smaller details.
Rating:  6/10

Macon Whoopee, by Brooks F:

The Macon Whoopee are the only defunct ECHL team that we've had a competition for (I think), and if Brooks had a time machine and entered this concept it probably would've received several votes.  The striping pattern is the star of this concept, it's similar to the 90's Sharks jerseys (which I think were quite underrated) but not a direct copy.  The number font is a great choice, it matches the 90's look of this concept.  I have a couple of minor suggestions, I think the name should be lowered so it isn't overlapping the striping (there's lots of room since there's no hem stripes), and the shoulder yoke stitching near the sleeve numbers should be removed.
Rating:  8/10

Orlando Magic, by Jay S:

Now we'll take a short break from hockey teams for this Orlando Magic concept from Jay.  This concept is a good translational of their basketball jerseys to a hockey template.  The hem stripes on this concept match the design of the side panels on their actual jerseys, and Jay even including their pinstripes.  I like how (for the most part) the pinstripes are kept to the arms, but if you doing that I think they should be completely gone from the torso, and I think they'd look better in silver to match the Magic's basketball jerseys.  The rest of the concept looks good, good number font, good use of the vintage logo on the shoulders, and good execution (especially switching the NHL logo for the NBA logo).
Rating:  7/10

2017 All-Star Game, by Alan S:

This concept is also sorta a basketball concept, it's for the 2017 NHL All-Star Game but heavily inspired by the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers identity.  I don't agree with the Alan's idea of using the Clipper's as inspiration for the All-Star jerseys, but moving past that I really like this concept.  The striping pattern is awesome, it's very unique, similar to the Clipper's basketball jersey but it's also an improvement since there is no piping running down the sides of the jerseys.  Also the Clipper's colour scheme works great for the four team format, since the four colours are all different enough from each other.  Overall, a visually pleasing concept that I wouldn't want to see in real life.
Rating:  8/10

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Lucas D:

The Leafs decided to look to the past for their new logo, but for this concept Lucas looked forward and created something new.  We've seen several concepts that combined a Leaf and the letter T, however this might be my favourite.  It's a simple logo, just a bevelled Toronto Arenas style T on top of their current (soon to be former) leaf, but that's all that is needed.  Lucas also created a new striping pattern with silver added, which I think looks pretty good.  Possibly the best part of this concept are the Maple Leafs in the back numbers, I love unique little details like that.  Execution wise, the sleeve numbers are too close to the stripes, and inside of the collar on the blue jersey should be white.  Also on this template the square yokes look very narrow, but that's not your fault it's mine, since I created this template (maybe I should create a new template without this issue).
Rating:  8/10

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Alan S:

Sticking with the Maple Leafs, we have this concept from Alan which uses their new logo and pairs it with a very nice striping pattern.  That striping pattern is kind of a variation of the pattern on their current third jersey, with a shoulder yoke added and the bottom of the sleeves the opposite colour.  I'd be happy if the Leafs wore these next year, the jerseys and logo look very good together.  Execution and presentation are great, overall this is a very nice concept.
Rating:  9/10

Toronto Marlies, by Lucas D:

We'll end today's post with a concept for the Leafs AHL affiliate the Marlies.  Lucas takes inspiration from many past Leafs/Marlies jerseys, sometimes such a mash-up works and sometimes it doesn't, here it definitely works.  The combination of the hem stripes from the Leafs third jersey, with the sleeves of the Ballard era set, plus the double stripes on those sleeves, create a great overall jersey that fits the retro look of the Marlies new logo perfectly.  My only concerns are kind of nitpicky, first the AHL logo on the blue jersey shouldn't have a box around it, and the same issue with the inside of the collar from Lucas' previous concept applies here as well.
Rating:  9/10 and a COTW nomination!

---------------------------------------------------

The last four concepts we're kind of a battle between Alan and Lucas, any of them could of gotten my COTW nomination.  Which concept did you like best today?  Let us know, but also explain why you liked it.

That's all folks!