Friday: Today in HJC History

Hello folks!  I don't have anything important to discuss today, so I thought I'd look back and see what happened "Today in HJC History".

March 4th, 2010: Nothing too interesting happened.

March 4th, 2011: The post was routine, but check out the comment section, specifically Ryan's awesome comeback after some anonymous jerk left a stupid comment.

March 4th, 2012:  No post.

March 4th, 2013:  Nothing too interesting happened.

March 4th, 2014:  Nothing too interesting happened.

March 4th, 2015:  Nothing too interesting happened.

Hmm...  I think "Today in HJC History" will be a one off idea.  Besides the comments in 2011, there really wasn't anything else worth remembering.

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

Onto a more serious topic, I want to briefly discuss the World Cup Jerseys that were unveiled Wednesday (check out yesterday's post for a full review).  There's been a lot of negativity about the jerseys, but I'm actually quite pleased with them overall.  I'm not a fan of all of the jerseys (although there are a few I really like), but in general I like what the designers were trying to do.

The jerseys are also noteworthy as being the first produced by Adidas for the NHL as part of their new jersey contract.  The jerseys of course have Adidas's famous three stripe pattern, which caused lots of complaints (and I too would prefer they weren't there), but I'm not too worried that they'll be on NHL jerseys.  Maybe I'm being overly optimistic, but I have a good feeling they will only appear on World Cup jerseys and not on NHL team jerseys.

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

We have two serious votes (COTW and Chicago Express Competition) this week and one fun vote (best Winter Classic).  I noticed something odd last week, there were 116 responses for the Stadium Series vote, but only 51 for the COTW vote.  Yes it's fun to vote in these fun votes, but the COTW actually matters, so why not vote in both?

COTW Feb 21-27 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Chicago Express Top 3 vote (ends Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

Winter Classic Best Jersey Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern) 

Also the Pairs Competition has begun.  Click the big green banner at the top of the page for the rules. 

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

Indy Fuel, by Bradley D:

We begin today with an Indy Fuel concept sent in by Bradley.  I really like the idea behind the checker-board stripes, but I'm not completely sold on how they're implemented.  The cut-off hem don't look right to me, and I think the arm stripes should be on the outside to be more visible while in action.  I do like how the colours were balanced, which could of been a problem due to the check-board pattern.  The execution also looks good.

Rating:  7/10

Los Angeles Kings, by Steven G (me):

Next up is me!  I had an idea for a Kings concept with two arm stripes, so I made this concept.  I also slightly modified their logo.

Rating:  ?/10

Tampa Bay Lightning, by Jay S:

Jay adds black back into the Lightning's colour scheme, which sounds like a good idea, but honestly I don't think this concept is an improvement over their current set (besides the third jersey).  The roundel logo isn't a good primary logo in my opinion, but I understand why it was used, their current logo works best with only two colours.  The striping on the home and road jersey isn't my favourite either, just because the black and blue bleed together.  Although, I don't mind the black and blue touching on the third jersey (I guess in some instances it works and other times it doesn't).  I really like the third jersey, especially the yoke design.  It's almost like a phantom yoke, except for the fact that this yoke actually looks good.

Rating:  7/10

Montreal Royals (1920's NHL Expansion), by Lucas D:

Lucas has created a hypothetical 1920's Expansion franchise called the Montreal Royals.  The logo is nice and simple, an M for Montreal and a crown for Royals, and that's exactly what you'd expect from a logo in the 20's.  Overall I like the logo, but I do have a few complaints.  First, the bottom of the crown is curved which I think looks awkward against the straight top of the M, having both straight or both curved would be better in my opinion.  Also the outline on the crown isn't a consistent thickness.

The jersey Lucas created for this logo is nice and simple as well, a classic three stripe pattern on the arms and hem.  The colour scheme also looks good and fits great with the 20's theme of this concept.  The only change I'd suggest would be to remove the outlines from the number, I know it matches the logo the way it is, but I think solid numbers would be a better fit for a 1920's style concept.

Rating:  7/10

Colorado Avalanche, by Jay S:

For Jay's second concept he created a new set for the Avalanche which is loosely based off of their current third jersey.  He kept the navy base colour, the white yoke, and the maroon on the sleeves, but added a mountain pattern, added hem stripes, and swapped the logo (and made a few other minor changes).  I think all those changes are good changes to make, as an alternate I like their current third the way it is, but these work better for a home and road set.  The white jersey also looks good, I'm glad you separated the maroon and navy stripes, but I think the colours would be better balanced if the numbers were maroon.

Rating:  8/10

Ottawa Senators, by Lucas D:

Lucas also has two concepts today, his second is a white third jersey for the Senators.  I love the sleeve stripes, they work particularly well for the Senators because they could be interpreted as a modern barber-pole pattern.  I'm not too keen on the logo though, it looks a bit weird to me without any gold.  Maybe I'd get used to it, but right now it looks kind of incomplete.  Execution is good overall, except for the stripes on the back left sleeves which are in the wrong order compared to the rest of the stripes.

Rating:  8/10

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

That's all folks!