Friday: Straight to the Concepts

Hello folks!  Today I'm going to begin with the concepts, and then I'll briefly talk about a couple of things at the end of the post.  Let's go...

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St. Louis Blues, by Jimmy T:

Jimmy starts us off with a slight tweak to the Blues current jerseys.  Gone are the gaps between the stripes, light blue is now the main colour on the hem and sleeves of the road jersey, and the socks better match the jerseys.  I like all of those changes, but I don't mind the way they are on the Blues current uniforms either.  Jimmy also improved the logo by making it have only two outlines instead of three.  Overall this isn't a very groundbreaking concept, but that's okay, not every concept has to be groundbreaking.
Rating: 7/10

San Jose Sharks, by Jimmy T:

For his second concept, Jimmy created new Sharks jerseys using lots of orange and their new full-body shark logo.  That full-body shark logo is my favourite of their new logos, and I also like the choice of fin logo on the shoulders.  However, I think both logos would benefit from a white outline, and only the front half of the fin is shown.  I do like the striping pattern and the amount of orange, especially on the road jersey.  On the home jersey I think it would look better if a thin white stripe was added above the orange and the thin teal stripe was removed, so that the stripes are surrounded by white.  I'm also a fan of the simple numbers, they match the simple collar design well (but I'd prefer a teal road collar).
Rating: 8/10

Arizona Coyotes, by Tyler M:

I was always a fan of the Coyotes Kachina striping pattern, but I prefer their current logo set.  Tyler combines them for this mix-of-eras concept.  The colour scheme might be my favourite part of this concept, the black-green-copper-sand combo looks really sharp.  The copper name and numbers on the road jersey are particularly neat, and I like that the Coyotes original font was used.   I do think the road jersey could use a bit more green though, maybe adding a green yoke would do the trick.

Tyler also sent in a green third jersey to go along with this set.  I like the striping pattern, the angled sleeve stripes are a nice nod to the Coyotes original jerseys.  And I'm always in favour of more green jerseys in the NHL, since green is my favourite colour.  I don't have any complaints about the design, but there's one very minor execution error, and that is the bottom of the pant stripe was left red.
Rating: 8/10

Washington Capitals, by Lucas D:

What would the Washington Capitals jerseys look like if they were designed by Nike?  Maybe something like this concept from Lucas.  No matter who's making the jerseys, I think the Weagle should be front and center.  It looks so good as the primary logo, plus I like the addition of the three stars above it.  I'm also a fan of the curved striping pattern, and it was a smart decision to keep a gap between the blue and red stripes on the road jersey.  The only decision I don't like was using blue TV numbers on the road jersey, I don't understand the reason for them not matching the back numbers.
Rating: 9/10

Boston Bruins, by Lucas D:

Last but not least we have a yellow Bruins jersey from Lucas.  I'd love to see the Bruins use a yellow third jersey, and this striping pattern would be a great option for them.  It's a good combination of old and new, the double arm stripes are very retro, but having the white stripe only one on side of the black makes it feel fresh and new as well.  The logo also combines old and new by using the serif-B of their current logo with the colouring of their classic logo, and I think it looks great.  My only suggestion would be to make the outline of the B a bit thicker.
Rating: 9/10 and a COTW nomination from me!

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Here is the final set of championship gear for the World Cup Design Competition...

Andrew W:

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By now you've probably heard that HJC has a new Tuesday writer, Chase Carlson.  Welcome Chase!  What you might not know is that Chase isn't the only recent addition to the HJC team, former writer William Butala has rejoined the staff as HJC's first ever Social Media Admin.  He's been posting a lot of interesting things to Facebook and Twitter, so you should go follow HJC on one of those sites if you haven't already.

(Photo by John Russell/NHLI via Getty Images)

In non-HJC news, the Nashville Predators announced they'll be using their yellow helmets for every home game next season.  I was a fan of their yellow helmets when they were worn occasionally last year, but I don't like this decision to switch to them full-time, I simply think their blue helmets look better.  My ideal helmet scenario for the Predators would be for them to always wear their blue helmet (and yellow jersey) when facing the other teams white jerseys, but then occasionally wear their yellow helmet (and yellow jersey) against the other teams dark jersey for a nice colour on colour matchup.  What do you think?

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There are two votes this week on HJC, the World Cup Design Competition vote and the regular COTW vote.  Don't forget to vote.

COTW Sept 9-15 vote (ends Friday, Sept 23 @ noon Eastern)

World Cup Design Comp vote (ends Friday, Sept 23 @ noon Eastern)

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That's all folks!