Wednesday: Black Bowtie Affair

So tonight the Islanders are doing something pretty cool. In addition to wearing their oh so beloved black alternate jerseys, they are giving away bow ties.

You read that right.

BOW TIES.

If anyone remembers Bill Torrey, the first general manager of the Islanders (and first for the Panthers too), he was more famous for wearing bow ties than Ken Rosenthal is now. A neat little item that I'll definitely wear to any sort of formal event.

Also for December 23rd, they are giving away a bobble head of someone not officially employed by the team for the first time in their history. The Karate Kid, posing with the Crane Kick (the leg bobbles too), Ralph Macchio, in full Islanders get-up, minus the helmet and plus the head band. Someone in their marketing department needs a raise.

Meanwhile at HJC, nobody is getting a raise. But despite that we are moving on along with our Flames Competition 2.0. With new readers and a bit of time passing by, we decided to redesign the Flames again. Here was my entry for the first comp:

What a mess. Just overall yuck. (Note to Ryan, this entry is not valid for the current competition, as it is neither a current entry, nor original design as of this posting).

However, I think these entries below are pretty, pretty, pretty good:


Adam L:

Phil B (HI GUYS!):

Glen W:

Official Reminders:

COTW Oct 14-20 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

Calgary Flames ReDesign entries (due Friday @ noon Eastern)

ON TO THE CONCEPTS!


Cole W: Calgary Cowboys Concept

While a properly executed jersey design, and a decent design appropriate for the era listed on this concept, there's a bit of a problem that drags this concept down: the logo. There's a lot to be done here. While the spur is a nice touch, the font of the letter (and size of it compared to the spur) is boring. An italicized "C" that you can see with any Microsoft Office program. I need some more excitement and this "C" doesn't provide it. Maybe make it thicker? Make the spur larger?

Rating: 68%


Justin N: Syracuse Crunch (AHL) Concept

I get the idea of the "S" logo here, because it's the same "S" you see on the chest of Crunchman in the logo. It's not even close to their strongest logo. I've never understood why Syracuse uses orange in their color scheme, but I guess anything is better than whatever the previous logo was supposed to be. White jersey needs blue trim, because the colors are not balanced well. Blue jersey I've seen before, but I can understand using that as an alternate to connect to the parent club. Sock stripes are too high, because if they were made as is, the striping would be at knee-height instead of the middle of the shin.

Rating: 74%


Lucas D: Pittsburgh Penguins Concept

An interesting idea I've tried before is to create a Penguins jersey whose striping is diagonal to better fit the logo, as we see here. I'd love to see a yellow Penguins jersey, because yellow jerseys are awesome. However the outline on this logo may have to be just a tad thicker. Look at how the numbers stand out in comparison to the logo. The outline separates them enough to help stand out. YOWS is avoided here because this shade of yellow works well against white. Striping draws on the existing Penguins uniforms while giving this its own unique look. The yellow hem trim needs to go though, as it ruins the flow of the striping on the body of the jersey.

Rating: 79%


Mike F: HC Davos (Spengler Cup) Concept

I'm happy this jersey isn't littered with advertisements (although space is saved for them here) as we usually see with the Spengler Cup. This design is intended to create a vintage look for Davos, exclusively in blue and gold, and as Sweden proves that it works, Mike proves it once again with a slightly unusual pattern, though one you can see as a vintage look. Only thing I would suggest is adding two stripes to the pants. Love the nod to the tournament participants on one sleeve, with the logo on the other.

Rating: 86%


Ryan C: St. Louis Blues Concept

Ryan uses his favorite design element, the off-colored upper sleeve, to his advantage here as he continues that pattern to chest striping. And this is guaranteed to not work had you chosen the primary logo, so good choice with the roundel logo. The elimination of the lighter blue helps with this immensely, because it not only simplifies the color scheme, but note that it isn't used in that roundel logo at all. The numbers have a big enough outline to not blend in with the bottom stripe. YOWS is minimized through the shade of yellow used. I'd love to see how the equipment works with this jersey though.

Rating: 95%


The winner of my Concept of the Week Nomination is:

 RYAN C. 

 ST. LOUIS BLUES CONCEPT 

If you are reading this just as it comes out, I'll be on my way to Brooklyn if you want to meet up and talk about HJC. Usually I hang out around Section 117 during intermissions, but my seats are in 210 tonight. Just don't be that guy who wears a Rangers jersey, because you will be mocked and/or derided, and Islanders fans will make you regret that choice.

If you are reading this after the game, well just listen to the podcast if you want to hear my voice. If not then listen to it for the range of smart and stupid I exhibit while talking. Don't forget to vote, send in those Flames entries, as well as regular entries too (it gets boring to review only 4 or 5 concepts) and I'll see you next week.