Friday: Happy New Year

Hello folks, and happy New Year!  Okay it's not officially 2017 yet, but for all intents and purposes this is the first HJC post of 2017.  You see, this week of concepts (the HJC week of December 30th to January 5th) will be part of the Concept-of-the-Month for January, and therefore will be part of the 2017 Concept-of-the-Year (not 2016).  So welcome to 2017 everybody!

Looking ahead, 2017 should be a interesting year for us hockey jersey enthusiasts.  The biggest story will (probably) be the NHL's switch to Adidas jerseys.  I'm staying optimistic about that change, but it also has the potential to go horribly wrong.  Also, a few teams will likely use the switchover as an excuse to redo their uniforms (hopefully Calgary and Colorado will), but I'm guessing the majority of teams will keep their jersey designs intact.  We are guaranteed at least on new set of jerseys though, as the Vegas Golden Knights will need some new uniforms before they can start play in the fall.

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There are two votes this week, both with some extra importance.  First of all, this COTW vote is the last COTW vote for 2016, so it's the final chance for someone to make a run at the 2016 COTY crown.  The other vote is for the final of "The Season".  Both polls should be up sometime in the next 24 hours.

COTW Dec 23-29 vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

"The Season" Final vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

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Boston Bruins, by Kristo L:

Our first concept of 2017 (according to the HJC calendar) is a Boston Bruins set by Kristo.  At first glance I like the black jersey, the bold yellow stripes look good and the name in the stripe is unique.  However, I'm not a fan of the white jersey, the pattern of arm and sock stripes doesn't fit the Bruins (in my opinion), and it looks weird with them being different colours.  There are also a few execution errors, the back numbers are too small, the sleeve numbers are missing, the white jersey's hem stripe is missing from the front, and the logos are a tad large.
Rating: 5/10

Edmonton Oilers, by Lucas D:

Next up we have an Edmonton Oilers concept from Lucas.  I like pretty much everything about this concept besides the striping pattern, the oil-drop on the sleeves is a cool feature, the tweaked logo looks nice, and I'm also a fan of the orange numbers.  However, I think the striping pattern is too similar to the Islanders, it's basically just the Islanders road jersey with orange and blue swapped.  There's also an execution error with the sleeve numbers, the outline is thicker on the front right and back left numbers.
Rating: 7/10

Ottawa Senators, by Phil B:

We also have an Ottawa Senators concept from Phil, which includes their unique laurel-leaf pattern.  I love seeing that pattern return, and I think it's used better here than it was previously.  Although, I wonder if this design would still look as good on a player, since the curve would form a sharp valley which might look weird (or maybe it wouldn't look weird, I don't know).  In addition to the pattern, I also like the rest of this concept, the logo choices are great, the number font is a good fit, and the hem stripes with no gold compliment the sleeves perfectly.
Rating: 8/10

Pittsburgh Penguins, by Jake M:

Today's final concept is a Penguins Stadium Series jersey from Jake, and I think this could be an early contender for COTY 2017.  The logo is really awesome, it combines the P from the old Pittsburgh Pirates (NHL team) with the Penguins golden triangle, and the result is a great blend of both modern and classic.  The jersey itself is good as well, I like the doubled up sleeve stripes, I like that there's now no white at all, and I also like the "City of Champions" hanger effect.  My only complaint is fairly minor, but the angle of the sleeve numbers doesn't quite match the angle of the sleeves.
Rating: 9/10 and my COTW nomination!

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That's all folks!