Friday: Prototype Blues

Hello folks!  Do you remember those St. Louis Blues prototype jerseys from back before their inaugural season (pictured below).  Many people were hoping they'd wear those jerseys for the Winter Classic on Monday, which they didn't (you already knew that).  But if you were one of those people hoping for the prototype jerseys, I have some good news....

(Getty Images/Bruce Bennett) via TSN.ca/BarDown

The Blues are bringing those jerseys back and they'll be wearing them this weekend!  Well kind of, they won't be wearing them for an actual game, instead they'll be worn for the teams skill competition on Sunday.  Still though, I think it's cool that the Blues are reviving these jerseys at all.

Image from NHL.com/Blues

I'm also impressed at how accurate the Blues were at recreating these jerseys.  They got all the details correct, they even used the right fonts for the wordmark and the numbers.  It would have been easy for them to cut corners and produce jerseys that were close enough, especially since they're not even a game jerseys, but the Blues cared enough to do it right.

I'd still like to see these jerseys in a game one day though.  What do you think?

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These are the final Bring Back the Americans contest entries...

Adam G:

JJ:

Ryan C:

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There will be three votes this upcoming HJC week, the final Concept-of-the-Month vote for 2016, the first Concept-of-the-Week vote for 2017, and also the Bring Back the Americans Competition vote.  The polls will be up either tonight or tomorrow.

COTY-December vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

COTW Dec 30 - Jan 5 vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

Bring Back the Americans vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

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AHL Winter Classic, by Vaughn R:

Our first stop is in the AHL, for an outdoor matchup between the Icehogs and Wolves from Vaughn.  I love the bold colour choices made here, using blue and tan for the Icehogs is very unique, as is using yellow as the main colour for the Wolves.  I also like the striping pattern of the Icehogs jersey, except the back hem stripe is too low, it wouldn't line up with the front.  The Wolves jersey is okay, but I can't get past the use of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers logo.  I think Chicago's "WOLVES" script would be a better option.  Also, the sleeve numbers are very crowded in the sleeve stripes, I'd try widening the stripes, and using black for the names would make them more legible.
Rating: 6/10

Baltimore Blades, by Tyler M:

Our second concept of the day, which comes from Tyler, is a redesign of the short lived Baltimore Blades of the old WHA.  I like the updated colour scheme, the added silver helps freshen up their look.  The striping pattern is nice too, you can't go wrong with a classic design like this.  However, I think the outlines on the logo need to be thicker, they're barely noticeable right now.  Also the socks could use stripes, and there should be a white pair to go with the white jersey.  Lastly, the yoke stripes on the back of the red jersey are in the wrong order.
Rating: 7/10

Colorado Eagles, by Lucas D:

We also have a concept from the ECHL, a Colorado Eagles design courtesy of Lucas.  Most concepts I've seen for the Eagles have switched their primary colour to blue, but Lucas shows that black is a good option as well.  The coloured stripes really stand out on the black background.  I also like how the single colour numbers look on the black jersey, I'd recommend using single colour numbers on the white jersey as well.  Execution is mostly good, except there's a bit of a box around the logo on both jerseys.
Rating: 8/10

Saskatoon Blades, by Brooks F:

We'll finish up today in the WHL with a Saskatoon Blades concept from Brooks.  He uses an angled striping pattern (similar to the Capitals 1995-2007 jerseys), which works well for a team called the Blades.  The only thing I don't like about those jerseys is the number font, I don't think the rounded and italicized numbers are a good fit.  I love the grey jersey though, grey is an underused jersey colour, plus the more traditional design compliments the modern primary jerseys well.  However, the shoulder logos are missing from the back view of that jersey.
Rating: 8/10

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That's all folks!