Friday: Vegas Baby!

Hello folks, happy Black Friday!  Today's topic of discussing will once again be the Vegas Golden Knights new identity.  I know you're probably sick and tired of reading about the Golden Knights by now, and they've already been covered here on HJC twice, but I have some thoughts I'd like to share.

Image from NHL.com/GoldenKnights

Thought #1:  Overall I'm pleased with the identity for the Vegas Golden Knights.  There are some things I dislike, but as a whole I'd give it a thumbs up.

Thought #2:  The V in the negative space of the helmet is genius!  It's my favourite part of their whole identity.

Thought #3:  I don't have much to say about the secondary logo or the wordmark, I think they're both solid complimentary logos.

Thought #4:  The steel gray on the helmet looks weird to me, I think those parts of the logo should be black instead.  However, I think a steel gray jersey would be great, and if that's the case then including steel gray in the logo makes more sense to me.

Thought #5:  Right now I don't like the decision to use Vegas instead of Las Vegas, but I may get used to it over time.  It's just that I was expecting them to be called Las Vegas, so right now using only Vegas sounds kind of strange.

Thought #6:  Many people have compared the use of Vegas (instead of Las Vegas) to a team from Los Angeles using just Angeles, but that's not really a fair comparison.  People actually use Vegas as a shortened version of Las Vegas ("Vegas Baby", "What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas", etc), but no one refers to Los Angeles as just Angeles.

Thought #7:  The name Golden Knights could be used for really any location, which is why I would have preferred the name Desert Knights.

Image from @NHLonNBCSports on Twitter

In other news, NBC unveiled the Penguins Stadium Series jersey earlier today during the Flyers vs Rangers game.  The jersey is yellow (the Penguins first yellow jersey since 1984) with black sleeves, and a single yellow stripe high up on the arms.  The triangle from their logo has been removed, and the penguin's stick has been recoloured yellow.  The captain's C is in a triangle, and there's a City of Champions keystone patch on the left sleeve (here's a link to a video on the Penguins Twitter page for a better look at the jersey).

My initial reaction to the jersey is very positive.  I love that it's yellow (the more colour in the league the better), and I think the triangle-less logo looks awesome.  But we haven't seen the whole jersey yet, the numbers are still a mystery, and we don't know if there's a hem stripe or not, so it's still a bit too early for me to form a true opinion of the jersey.

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We only have one voting reminder today, and that's for the standard COTW (expect the new poll to go up later tonight).  Tomorrow Ryan will add another voting reminder, as that's when the new week of "The Season" will go live.

COTW Nov 18-24 vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

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Anaheim Ducks, by DT Concepts:

We'll start off today with a Ducks concept from DT Concepts, which if I remember correctly was part of a simplification series on CCSLC.  In that context I like this concept, the simplification goal was achieved and the design doesn't look bad.  However, the simplicity of the design does make the concept feel quite generic.  I do like the amount of orange used though.
Rating: 7/10

Wichita Thunder, by Tyler K:

Tyler K is up next with a new set of jerseys for the Wichita Thunder.  I love the unique lightning design on the primary jerseys (and pants and socks), and the number font is a great fit.  I also like the striping on the vintage third jersey, but the modern logo and numbers look out of place on that jersey.  Execution is fairly good, but the helmet is incorrectly coloured (correctly coloured example here).
Rating: 8/10

Philadelphia Flyers, by Tyler M:

We go from one Tyler to another, as Tyler M sent in this Flyers concept.  The use of the curved yoke and contrasting upper-arms is very clever, the result still looks like a Flyers jersey but it's a new design as well.  However, I'm not a fan of how there's a gap in the arm stripes but not a gap in the hem stripes.  Equipment wise, I like unique choice of the orange helmet, but I think it needs to be used with the orange jersey.
Rating: 8/10

Philadelphia Flyers, by Avi S:

We have a second Flyers concept with an orange helmet (and orange pants, and gloves) from Avi, which is part of his colourway series.  I love the idea of this series, especially for teams with unique colour schemes like the Flyers.  The jersey itself is nice too, the simplicity of the striping works well with the colourway theme, and the version with black gear proves it would also make a good alternate jersey.  However, I don't think the rounded collar is the right fit here.
Rating: 9/10

Buffalo Sabres, by Avi S:

Avi has also created a colourway concept for the Sabres, dressing them in yellow from head to toe.  To be honest I don't think the all yellow uniform looks good, but I still like it as a concept because it's a unique idea.  The blue gear version looks great though, and I like the choice of fonts and logos.  I'm also a fan of the unique pant stripe, but I think the stripes on the jersey should be beefed up a bit.
Rating: 8/10

Boston University, by Taylor R:

We also have two concepts today from Taylor, starting with the Boston University Terriers.  The ever popular contrasting upper-arm design is used here, and I think it looks quite nice with the double stripes.  The wordmark, numbers, and player's are decent as well, they're all fairly standard looking.  Really there's nothing I dislike about this concept, but nothing about it stands out to me either.
Rating: 8/10

Boston College, by Taylor R:

Taylor also sent in a concept for the Terriers' rival, the Boston College Eagles.  I like the striping pattern, the angles look good and I like how the area under the stripes is coloured on the light jersey but not the dark jersey.  I'm also a fan of the number font, and all the logo choices are good.  Once again, there's nothing I dislike here.
Rating: 9/10

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My COTW nomination today goes to:  Avi's colourway Flyers concept!

There were many good concepts today (by the way, thanks for sending so many in), but Avi's colourway concept for the Flyers stood out to me because of the unique orange equipment.

That's all folks!