Friday: Lots of News

It's over, it's finally over!  Summer is finally gone, and hockey is back once again.  Exhibition games for the World Cup of Hockey began yesterday, and I'm so excited to be able to watch the best hockey players play hockey once again.  I'm also excited to see the World Cup jerseys in action, but I'm not going to talk about that today because there's lots of other news to discuss instead.

Image from @CarolinaTBirds on Twitter

First of all, the FHL introduced the name and logo for their newest franchise, the Carolina Thunderbirds.  The Thunderbirds, who call the city of Winston-Salem home, are named after a previous team from the area who played in various leagues in the 1980's.  As you can see, the logo features a forward facing bird holding a hockey stick above the team's wordmark, however their colour scheme won't actually be black and white (you can vote for the team's colour scheme right here).  The most exciting thing about this logo is it was designed by Scott Markiewicz, who has sent in many concepts to HJC over the years.  Congratulations Scott!

Screenshot from @CanadiensMTL on Twitter

In other news, the Montreal Canadiens announced their future Laval AHL affiliate (set to begin play in 2017-18), will be called the Rocket de Laval.  The name, which won a fan "name the team" contest, is a tribute to the legendary Canadien Maurice "The Rocket" Richard.  The other two name finalists were the Patriotes and the Rapides.

Image from @Condors on Twitter

Meanwhile the Bakersfield Condors unveiled a new third jersey for next season.  It features the Condors secondary logo on a orange jersey which is nearly identical to the Oilers third jersey, the shape of the collar being the only difference.  I'm not sure why they made the change, but it looks good either way.

Image from @RiverKings on Twitter

The Mississippi Riverkings also unveiled some new jerseys, three to be exact.  The top two jerseys are their new home and roads, while the yellow third is a special jersey for their 25 Season.  I think they all look pretty good, my only complaint is that the white stripe on the black jersey blends into the yellow stripes.

Image from @Voltigeurs_DRU on Twitter

Last but not least, the Drummondville Voltigeurs unveiled new home and road jerseys this week.  The white jerseys uses the Boston Bruins template, while the red jersey is slightly different (the red stripe is a bit thicker, and there's no yoke stripe).  These new jerseys are much less unique than their previous set, but I was never a fan of their old jerseys so I'm still calling this an upgrade.

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The polls for the COTW and COTY-August aren't up yet, so let's skip the voting reminders and get straight to the concepts...

John Kasich Concept, by DT Concepts:

We begin with two concepts from DT Concepts for the US Election, starting with a John Kasich concept.  I like the striping and how it matches the logo (although it would match even better if the white stripes were slightly thicker).   I also like the smaller details, like the star in the collar, and the properly reversed US flag (the stars should always be at the front).  However I'm not a fan of the number font, it just doesn't work as a sports font in my opinion, and the sock stripes are too high (a sock stripe tutorial can be found here).
Rating: 7/10

Ted Cruz Concept, by DT Concepts:

DT Concepts also created a concept for Ted Cruz.  The striping looks very nice, I especially like the vertical stripes on the end of the yokes, and once again I like the details of the direction of the flag and the collar insert.  I'm a fan of the red pants as well, I don't think they were the obvious choice but they were the right choice in my opinion.  My only complaints are the same as the previous concept, the sock stripes are too high and the font doesn't look good on a sports uniform.
Rating: 8/10

Buffalo Sabres, by Lucas D:

Lucas thinks the Sabres should introduce a yellow third jersey, and I agree with that idea 100%.  The double stripes in the style of their 40th anniversary jersey look great, and the blue hem and cuffs really tie everything together.  I don't like the white numbers as they are though, I think they need a thicker outline (or just be blue instead).  Also the sleeve numbers don't match the back numbers.
Rating: 8/10

Vancouver Canucks, by Lucas D:

For his second concept today, Lucas created a new set of jerseys for my favourite team, the Vancouver Canucks.  Using a block font and the stick in the rink logo are both improvements over their current jerseys.  I also like the idea of striping that forms a V, but I'd make a few changes.  First I'd flip the direction of the sleeves stripes so they'd form their own V's, and I'd also move the stripes on the torso apart because it looks awkward to me how they barely touch at the bottom (although I realize my suggestions would make these very similar to the Penguins 2002-07 jerseys, so maybe you should just ignore me).
Rating: 8/10

San Jose Sharks, by Ryan C:

The Sharks' new secondary logos are proving to be quite popular with concept artists, here Ryan uses the partial shark version.  He also uses the Northern California logo from their Stadium Series game as the shoulder logo.  I like both of those logo choices.  I also like the modern design for the sleeves, it's a great match for the new logo.  The hem stripes are good as well, but I think they'd work better with the sleeves if the gap between the stripes was removed.  Lastly, I love the teal helmet.
Rating: 8/10

2016 Outback Classic (Australia vs New Zealand), by Spencer R:

For our recent International Outdoor Classic competition, Spencer created an outdoor game between Australia and New Zealand.  I love that matchup, it's fun to imagine a big hockey event down under since hockey is mostly limited to the Northern hemisphere.  I think the event logo looks great, as do the team logos.  I also like each jersey on it's own, but for a matchup I'd prefer if they weren't so similar.  The southern cross on the Australian jersey is a nice detail.
Rating: 8/10

Team Finland, by Zack R:

Our last concept today is a Finish World Cup jersey from Zack.  The striping is simple and clever, a single sleeve stripe combined with a full-sleeve yoke, which forms the cross from Finland's flag.  Their "Suomi" wordmark adorns the front of the jersey, and name and numbers are in a simple block font.  Overall this jersey is fairly simple, but it still has character, I've got no complaints.  The execution and presentation is great as well.
Rating: 9/10 and my COTW nomination!

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See you next Friday!