Friday: Football, Leafs, and an Avalanche

Are you excited yet?  You should be, because after just over 300 concept posts in 2016 featuring nearly 2,100 concepts, the battle for Concept of the Year 2016 is down to just two concepts.

This is no doubt the most important HJC vote of the year.  The winner will earn a place in HJC history, alongside past COTY winners, Josh S, Justin C, Christian L, and Ryan C.  They'll also get their name on a real-life championship plaque!

The poll for the COTY vote (and the COTW vote) will be posted sometime before tomorrow's post, make sure you come back to vote once it's up.  Even if you don't normally vote, you should for this, it really is a big deal.

2016 Concept of the Year vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

COTW Jan 20-26 vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

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Toronto Maple Leafs, by Burkus C:

Today's post includes four Maple Leafs third jersey concepts, starting with this option from Burkus Circus.  I like the overall idea of this concept, combining a blue and white version of the St. Pats 1922-25 jersey, with the Arenas "T" logo.  It's a good way to honour the franchise's previous two names.  The execution could use some work though, the logo is about 20% too big, the back name and numbers are quite blurry, and the cuff stripes should curve to follow the sleeve ends.
Rating: 6/10

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Matt G:

Our next Maple Leafs concept comes from Matt, who uses a simplified version of their original leaf on the front.  In theory I like that idea because of how it honours their history, but in reality I just don't think that logo looks good.  I do like the silhouette's of their current logo representing their Stanley Cup victories, but I think they should be placed together instead of having half on the front of the left sleeve and half on the back of the right sleeve.  The actual striping pattern I have no complaints about, I like how it's both traditional and a bit modern at the same time.
Rating: 7/10

Toronto Maple Leafs, by Ryan H:

Ryan, the blog's head honcho, also sent in a Maple Leafs concept (I guess I shouldn't criticize this too much).  I love the logo combining their current leaf with the Arenas "T", I've always thought a logo like that would make a great secondary mark for the Leafs.  I also think the arm and hem stripes are perfect (those sleeve stripes should be on their primary jerseys), but I don't like the large white yoke.  I think a smaller yoke would look better.  I'm not a fan of the oversized back or sleeve numbers either.
Rating: 7/10

Toronto Maple Leafs, by David K:

The fourth and final Maple Leafs concept today was made by David, who looked to the past for many of his design choices.  The striping pattern is based of of their 1934-37 white jersey, while the logo is styled after both the 1918-19 Toronto Arenas and the University of Toronto Varsity Blues.  That's a lot elements to fit together, but I think they do fit together very well.  I also like the diamond shaped captain's patch, but something about the back nameplate looks off to me.  Maybe it just needs the stitching to be shown, or maybe an outline like the captain's patch would be best.
Rating: 8/10 and my COTW nomination!

Detroit Lions, by Jay S:

We also have two NFL concepts today, both of them from Jay.  For the Lions he has based the striping off of their actual football jerseys.  I think the design translates very nicely too a hockey jersey.  I even like the phantom yoke on the blue jersey, I think it works better than a grey yoke would.  The block font looks good too, although I think their current font would be a just as good option.  There is a small execution error, the collar on the back view of the white jersey doesn't match the front.
Rating: 8/10

Houston Texans, by Jay S:

Jay takes a different approach with his Houston Texans concept, using an angled striping pattern instead of basing the design off of their actual jerseys.  Even without the resemblance to their football jerseys, I still think this design is a good fit for the team, the angled striping pairs nicely with their logos.  I also think using a square block font was a good choice, it fits this concept better than their actual font would.  The yoke design is my only complaint, on it's on it looks okay, but when you've already used a similar design on two concepts from Wednesday it starts to be too repetitive.
Rating: 8/10

Colorado Avalanche, by Lucas D:

Our post concludes with Lucas' redesign of the Colorado Avalanche.  He returns them to their classic style but with a new twist, placing the mountain pattern on a shoulder yoke instead of on the arms and hem.  I think this is the right direction to go with the Avalanche, their mountain jerseys were great but they could be improved with some changes.  That being said, I'm not completely sold on the this mountain yoke design, it's looks a bit too compact for me, I'd have too see it in real life to know for sure.
Rating: 8/10

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That's all folks, and don't forget to vote for the COTY this week!