Monday: The De-Edge Three

Welcome to another Monday post here on HJC.

Rant: If you've been keeping up with HJC site news then you'll know the SPHL team that won't be named has a problem with people making concepts of them and "illegally using their logos and name". I understand that teams are concerned with counterfeit merchandise, but as far as I know, any concepts made into reality are made through a team's contest or a one off....no one here wants to rip anyone off and disapproves immensely when counterfeit jerseys are seen...I know myself and Ryan have spoken out many a time against knockoffs and how to avoid them. I think this is a person in an organization not understanding the purpose of our blog and if Ryan is right that they liked someone's redesign...(which they desperately need)...it'll be interesting to see what happens from there. However the team's site has an interesting section on logo use and how it must be applied for. In all seriousness though...don't waste your time making concepts with this team, they clearly don't want it and another team who appreciates the effort put into concepts...or at least the free publicity...is more worth your time. If they refuse to respond to Ryan's emails, there's not much we can do. Be civil with this and let's focus on the other hundreds of teams that are not hostile to concepts.

Photo from @SCStingrays

Congrats to Brooks F. on winning the South Carolina Stingrays 25th anniversary logo competition. It was a tough competition, and 3/4 of the finals are HJC regulars. Congrats to them as well for putting their best foot forward and making this competition a nail biter. Check out the entries here 

Jersey News

Starting in the SPHL, the Knoxville Ice Bears have unveiled their new set for the upcoming season, and we get a pretty tame design but one I enjoy none the less.

Photo from @icebears

Of course it wouldn't be right to look at these without look at what the Ice Bears wore last season.....oh...well....to call these an improvement would be stating an obviously obvious. Right away we get a nice balance of purple & black with some yellow throw in for good measure. The colour balancing isn't perfect, in fact there really sin't much of an attempt to add black to the whit jersey but both jerseys work on their own. The striping is a simple design but the thin stripes really add to this looks. I particularly like the thin chest stripe, something I think more teams should try. However that being said, the white jersey still needs more black, I'd suggest black numbers with yellow outlines if you wanted to keep the purple arms, hem and socks. I'd also make the arms on the black jersey the same as the white jersey. It's also the Ice Bear's 15th season so we get an excellent 15th anniversary patch on the right shoulder.

Rating: 7.75/10

In Kingston, the Frontenacs have unveiled an alternate, and surprisingly it isn't Bruins based...no no no...it's based on the Ducks. That sound weird to you too?

Photo from kingstonfrontenacs.com

I've been critical in the past of the K's cloning the Bruins in almost every one of their jerseys in their history, but their most recent 30s Bruins inspired jerseys are by far their best. This jersey reeks of lazy CHL alternate. There's nothing with the K roundel logo and a slightly modified Ducks jersey that relate to each other, no connection. I know this is said a lot but it literally looks like they slapped that logo on without checking it works. Look at this promo shot. It looks so out of place and the front view of the jersey is extremely bland without obviously seeing the arms or sides. The addition of all the stripes on the side is okay, but I wish they'd added it to the arms at least. The shadow yoke is by far the worst part of the jersey; it's impossible to make those work without shoulder patches, and even then, how bad could a black yoke looked. If Kingston had done what the Oil Kings did with their neon jerseys and made a good logo to match it, this could have worked...5 years ago. I love the idea of a yellow jersey, but this is not how you do it! Maybe the addition of numbers/NOB will save it, but I'd highly doubt that

Rating: 4.25/10

In the FHL, expansions continues in both Carolina and Cornwall, Ontario (near the Québec boarder) and like most teams to enter an American dominate league in Canada, they've gone for the name, Nationals.

Photo from Cornwall nationals official Facebook

Logo wise I think we have one of the better logos in the FHL. The beveled letters are colour scheme go together nicely, and why I'm not usually a fan of adding gratuitous maple leaves to Canadian teams because Canada, it at least adds something to the design. The main problem with this logo is that it makes a better shoulder patch. It'd be interesting to see if you can create a better logo but I think if they used the maple leaf as a shoulder patch it could work. Some may say this logo is a little plain....but wait until you see the jerseys...

Rating: 7.5/10

Photo from Cornwall Nationals official Facebook

Wow, these remind me of special event jerseys from a decade ago rather than. We often see very patriotic American concepts, so on the one hand I'm extremely happy to see a Canadian version of stars and stripes. The funny thing is there is there is no real striping pattern on this jersey, it's just a Canadian flag waving sublimated on both jerseys. I think this works a lot better on the white jersey, but I mean....it's the FHL...it should be gimmicky. Seeing the primary logo on the shoulders furthers my previous thoughts. I may have to go see this team since Cornwall is worth going to at least once not to go to St. Hubert (Think better Swiss Chalet for those non-French Canadians). I feel this team is a blank slate for sign right now. Artists take note, I look forward to seeing what you can come up with for this team.

Rating: Fun/10

Just this Afternoon, the Chicago Wolves unveiled a new alternate for this season...and it isn't a throwback, unless you want to count 2 seasons as a throwback, as they take inspiration from the 2015 All Star Game...I'm not kidding...

Photo from chicagowolvesstore.com

I mean it doesn't look bad, but I'm just not sure where the inspiration for this came from. Yes the Wheeling Nailers used the 2011/12 ASG template for an anniversary jersey...but how you connect the bright green, silver and white to a team that has basically worn the same thing for 20 years...I don't get it. The Wolves have no connection to Blue Jackets. I could get a Thrasher style jersey but this? I mean the weird arms alone are worth questions, but the striping takes inspiration from Anaheim, Tampa's victory stripes and an at best mediocre ASG jersey. It isn't as disjointed as the Frontenacs jersey and again, it's not bad...but why?

Rating: 6/10

COTW has reset for the week! Get voting!
The World Cup of Hockey contest is in its voting phase. Have your say on the 3 entries sent in and also say how we can better non-traditional contests in the future!

COTW Voting September 9-15th ends Friday @ noon

WCH Championship Competition voting ends Friday @ noon

On to today's concepts!

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Portland Winterhawks WHL Concepts (By: Taylor R.)

+ While some may try to get the Winterhawks away from the Blackhawks clone logos they've always had, however I like that Taylor is adding details to the jerseys to try to create a middle ground

+ The peach shade used in the in middle stripes look fantastic

+ It's such a small detail but I love the red collar insert

+ Near perfect execution 

- The one minor execution error is on the shoulder patch on the red jersey. The inside of the P should be red. I really can't blame Taylor for missing this, but it's just something we should all look out for

- I would have made the P the shade of peach used in the stripes instead of keeping them yellow 

Rating: 9.25/10

Chicago Blackhawks De-Edge Concepts (By: Lucas D.)

+ Red jersey is a classic Wayne's World-esuqe jersey, and while the changes are very minor, it keeps that classic pre-edge look

+ The white jersey, some may say is too modern, but I'd say what we have here is a mix of the 1940-55 jerseys with a modern logo. If we got this for a Stadium Series or Winter Classic, I'd think most would be happy

+ Good execution 

- Where's the tomahawk C on the white jersey?

- The primary logo is too large 

Rating: 8.5/10

Outdoor Showdown Classic Concept (By: Brooks F.)

+ I didn't think you could add much to the 1976 Team Canada jerseys, but arm stripes and a small hem stripe were such an obvious answer I didn't think of them, it's a nice improvement 

+ To my knowledge, this Team USA jersey is all original, but the flag stripes which we often see on Blue Jackets concepts isn't a new idea, but that doesn't mean it doesn't look fantastic with the old school Eagle/Shield logo

+ Love the stars on the yoke and pants

+Great execution 

- The event patches look different sizes but I could be wrong 

Rating: 9.5/10  COTW Nom from me!

Detroit Red Wings Concepts (By: Lucas D.)

+ I'm a huge fan of the many stripes used not he arms and hem, it reminds me of antique wire car wheels and ties into the logo ice sly 

+ The general layout of the jerseys remain relatively the same as they do today, however the additional stripes and white upper shoulders on the red jersey add more colour we didn't have on the original 

+ Love the shoulder numbers

+ Great execution 

- Same issue with the primary logo size 

- Would have like to see the arched name bar kept

Rating: 9.25/10

Halifax Mooseheads QMJHL Concepts (By: Brooks F.)

+ I love the Moosehead's green jersey, however without yellow it does have a christmas feel with the colours, Brooks corrects that by doing the yellow to both jersey. It really helps connect the logo to the jersey better than the Minnesota clones we have now (though those aren't bad)
+ The alternate is a thing of beauty. Once again a high colour/high stripe pattern looks excellent and I really like how it transitions to the yoke
+ Excellent execution, again minus one issue

- The white jersey especially suffers from flag striping syndrome, and while it isn't bad, it would be better if the first thing we didn't see int he striping was the Lithuanian flag
- The one execution error comes on the red & green jersey's primary logos, where the inside of the H should be the colour of the jersey behind it

Rating: 8.75/10

St. Louis Blues De-Edge Concepts (By: Lucas D.)

+ As I've said before, my biggest problem with the Blues' pre-edge jerseys were the double blue being misused, and white replacing one shade is a perfect way to score vintage points, without a direct throw back.
+I get vibes from every look the Blues have had since they began (aside from red & the first edge jerseys), which is awesome
+ Great colour balancing between both jerseys
+ Great execution

- NOB is too small
- I wish the striping matched instead of both jerseys looking the same. Now don't get me wrong they look good both ways, but I slightly prefer that thin white stripe to no stripe

Rating: 9.25/10

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