Friday: Five Years of Jets

Hello folks, welcome back to another Friday post here on HJC!  We've got seven concepts for you to enjoy today, plus I review the Winnipeg Jets logos five years after they were unveiled, but first let's get to the HJC Open results.  Four great concepts were battling it out for two spots in the final, many votes were cast, and the results are...

Congratulations J3 and Brooks!  It hasn't been an easy journey for them to get to the final, and it won't get any easier, hopefully they've both saved their best concept for last.

The good news is that they have until Tuesday at noon Eastern to perfect their next concept.

HJC Open Final entries (due Tuesday @ noon Eastern)

Meanwhile, the rest of us have until next Friday at noon to vote for the COTW.

COTW July 15-21 vote (ends Friday, July 29 @ noon Eastern)

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Now it's time for another segment of "Today in HJC History" (actually this time it's more like "Today in Winnipeg Jets History").  On July 22, 2011, the Jets rushed to unveil their new logo after it had been leaked earlier in the day.  Before I review those logos, let's take a look at some reaction from that day's HJC post.

Image from jets.nhl.com

At the time Ryan thought the primary logo looked "like something I (Ryan) could have drawn on Paint.net", but he also said "I like it! I like how simple it is. I like how even though it's a new logo it has some heritage behind it".

A few people in the comments section weren't as nice, Brad said "Ya.....no.  That jets logo.....no.  Military supported, 18 different colours, a rip off maple leaf....um, no....bad, bad!  I grade it a C".  An anonymous commenter added "Total Garbage, this is not a military team.  If this is the logo they can go back to Atlanta for coming up with something so putrid...!!!".  Yeah, I don't think they liked it.

Image from jets.nhl.com

Here are my thoughts five years later.  I like the direction they went with the primary logo, it's completely new compared to the original Jets logos, but it still has some meaning behind it since it's based off of the Royal Canadian Air Force's roundel.  The notch pointing true north is also very clever.  However I don't think the idea was executed as well as it could have been, the grey jet doesn't contrast very well from the red leaf behind it, and the leaf almost makes it look like the jet is exploding.
Primary Logo Grade: B

Image from jets.nhl.com

I think the secondary logo is nice, as a secondary logo.  The chevrons further emphasize the military theme, and the hockey sticks let you know that the Jets are in fact a hockey team.  I have no complaints about this logo, but it should stay in a secondary role.  It wouldn't work on the front of a jersey in my opinion.
Secondary Logo Grade: A-

The Jets also unveiled a wordmark logo that day, which I think is just okay.  Mostly I dislike the thick outline, but this wordmark isn't used much in their branding so it's hard for me to be too upset about it.
Wordmark Grade: C

Image from ic.gc.ca

Lastly, I want to add that at the time I was hoping the Jets would be called something else (something like the Falcons), since the original Jets franchise still exists in Arizona.  The Avalanche weren't called the Rockies, the Wild weren't called the North Stars, and I didn't think Winnipeg's new team should of been called the Jets.  I understand all the fans in Winnipeg wanted the team to be called the Jets, and it would have been foolish for the owners not to listen to them, but part of me still disagrees with the decision.

Do you remember your initial reaction to the Jets logos five years ago, and if so has your opinion changed at all?

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Winnipeg Jets, Burkus Circus:

Speaking of the Jets, Burkus Circus sent in this mostly hand drawn third jersey for them.  I say mostly because the logo and numbers were added on the computer beforehand, which is a smart since they're hard to draw.  I like that the jersey is grey, as I mentioned last week, grey works well for the Jets.  The star and chevrons look good on the sleeves, but I don't like the chevrons on the hem, and I think the hem stripe should either be straight or curved on both the top and bottom.  The execution is fairly good, but there's a bit of drawing outside the lines, and some of the details like the TV numbers are hard to see.
Rating: 6/10

Hartford Wolf Pack, Bradley D:

Next up is Bradley with a concept for the Wolf Pack which isn't much different from their current uniforms.  The most noticeable change is that the pants are now blue, but I prefer their red pants.  The shape of the shoulder yoke is also different, I don't think it's any worse than their current design but I don't think it's an improvement either.  Execution wise, the blue in the Wolf Pack wordmark doesn't match the blue of the jersey.

Bradley also sent in a red third jersey, which is different from their current third jersey.  This jersey does look much better with the blue pants, and I like that blue is the secondary colour (their current red jersey has white as the second colour).  I don't like those sleeves though, I think the outer blue area clashes with the yoke, and the actual stripes would be hidden under the arms most of the time.
Rating: 6/10

Hartford Whalers, by Jamie R:

We'll stick in Hartford for our next concept, a new set of Whalers jerseys from Jamie.  The white jersey is the better of the two, in my opinion.  I like its hem stripes, and I like that the sleeve stripes are doubled up, but I think those sleeves stripes should be thicker to match the hem stripes.  The green jersey is okay, but there's nothing about it that stands out to me.  The outer blue stripes sort of blend into green, and I'm not sold on the white yoke.
Rating: 7/10

Cleveland Barons, by Jamie R:

Jamie's second concept today is a very vintage sweater for the defunct Cleveland Barons.  The striping pattern is perfect for a retro concept.  The logo, both the script and the baron, also look great here.  The back number is a bit smaller than normal but that's okay, the large striping forces it to be shrunk, and it's size actually works well with the vintage theme.  The front number doesn't fit that theme though, and it crowds the front of the jersey.  Also, with the black outline that surrounds the jerseys, I think it should continue around the front view where it overlaps the back (see Lucas' concept for an example).
Rating: 8/10

Amur Khabarovsk, by Jimmy T:

Jimmy's up next with an Amur Khabarovsk concept, who rebranded to this beautiful logo a couple of years ago.  Their current jersey are pretty good looking as well, but I think this concept is even better.  I like the choice to use an orange jersey instead of blue, it makes sense for a team with a tiger logo.  The striping pattern looks great, however it loses some creativity points since the sleeves are just copies of the Penguins template.  The font for the back numbers is nice, but the sleeves numbers should match.
Rating: 8/10

Chicago Blackhawks, by Ryan H:

Ryan, the owner of this website, created this Blackhawks Winter Classic concept.  I think the striping pattern is superb, the chest stripe is a great nod to Blackhawks old barber-pole jerseys.  I also like that the hem stripe uses a different pattern, it adds to the vintage factor.  What I don't like is the black and white logo.  I don't think the logo needs all of its colours, but I think it could use at least red and tan.  The back number also looks quite large, but that might just be an illusion due to the this 3D template.
Rating: 9/10

Winnipeg Jets, by Lucas D:

We end today's post where we started, in Winnipeg.  I like the double stripes Lucas used on the sleeves and hem, it's a nice update of their current striping pattern.  I also prefer these straight numbers over their current italicized version.  The white yoke works well on this concept as well, however I think the yokes would look better without any outlines.
Rating: 9/10 and my COTW nomination!

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That's all folks!