Thursday: RedBlues

Hello everyone, welcome back!

Not news or anything today really, so let's get right to it.

Before we get to the concepts though, there are a few votes to talk about. As always, we have the COTW vote. Along with that we have the Toronto alt competition, which is almost over, so make sure to wrap up your entries soon. Last, but most importantly, we have the COTW 4th quarter vote. Soon after that we have the COTY vote!!! It's what the entirety of 2016 has come down to, and the few people who remain in the running have the chance to have their concept named as the best among hundreds, if not thousands, of concepts submitted over 2016. Yeah, it's a big vote.

4th Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

COTW Jan 6-12 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Maple Leafs 3rd entries (due Friday @ noon ET)

Leafs Entries:

Zack H.

Ryan C.

Matt G.

Burkus Circus

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Adam G. - New York Islanders

+Ah the four stripes...typical Islanders look (though not necessarily a bad one).

+Good color balance throughout the set.

+I like the look of white cuffs and hems on a dark color, and I think it looks good here.

+I think this concept does well at staying within the Islanders' brand while bringing something new to the table.

-The logo is very pixelated. The name is also a little pixelated.

-The relative small size of the stripes plus the large amount of them (7 if you include the spaces in between) plus the hem and cuff coloring makes this design look a bit busy.

Overall: 7.5/10

Avi S. - Chicago Blackhawks

+Well, at least it's something different than a slight adaptation to their white jersey.

+I love the slight historical nods in this one, while keeping those nods minimal enough to not overdo it for the modern era.

-I think the hem would look better either with a white stripe above it or just flat out matching it to the arms.

+Good color balance.

+The collar looks really nice. I love single color collars.

+The placement of the centennial patch also is much better than where they actually decided to put it.

Overall: 8.5/10

Lucas D. - Chicago Blackhawks

+Another historical inspired Hawks set, this time staying much close to their current look.

+The recolored "shoulder" patch looks great, and I like the placement of it. The vintage primary logo looks nice too.

+I personally love the look of single color numbers, and I think they look great here too.

+The shoulder stripes look really nice on the white jersey, and is easily the most different part of this concept from their current uniforms.

Overall: 9/10

Lucas D. - Toronto Maple Leafs

+Much better than their actual new uniforms.

+A more vintage look is perfect for a team like the Leafs, plus this is already a callback to their own history. A win-win.

-I think it would look better with an extra hem stripe on each jersey. It makes the hem look a bit more full and also matches better historically.

+The Arenas logo fits well on the pants.

-Unless it's just the template or something, the sock stripes look smaller than the jersey stripes. They should be consistent.

Overall: 8.5/10

Steven G. - Vancouver Canucks

Since there's technically 2 concepts here, let's review them separately.

New Look:

+While I may not aesthetically love all of your new look concepts, I really love the idea behind them all.

+While the last thing the Canucks need is another identity change, I honestly think this would look pretty good on the ice. 

+The historical nods are are really nice touch (such as the flying V reference on the arms)

+The font looks great on this style of jersey.

-I know there aren't many that agree with me, but I hate the Johnny Canuck logo as a jersey logo. I just think it looks too cartoonish to be a hockey logo. I'd stick to the stick-in-rink logo.

-Your pants logo should be cut off a bit, it's too far to the side the way you have it.

Overall: 9/10 

Ideal Look:

+This one honestly makes more sense for the Canucks since it doesn't depart much from current and historical designs. This design really fits them and it looks great.

+Like I mentioned earlier, I love the single color font. The font itself is a really nice fit, too.

-The same comments I had about the Johnny Canuck logo above also apply here.

-I think the outer stripes should be thicker. They'd pop more if they did.

-Same comment as above about the pants logo.

Overall: 9/10 and this concept set gets my COTW Nomination

Tyler M-S. - Calgary Cowboys

-This concept makes it seem like the Cowboys never folded and the Flames never moved to Calgary. If that was the case, their original color scheme of red and white would make more sense, as the yellow doesn't make much sense to me here.

+It doesn't look bad by any means, though.

+The two arm stripes keep the arms from looking too empty, while the single hem stripe keeps the hem from looking too busy. Great combination. I think this would have worked well for the Leafs.

-I'm not sure if this is just an execution error...but the red socks don't really go well with a white jersey. In fact, not a single NHL team uses dark socks with a white jersey (at least not this year).

Overall: 8/10

Zack H. - Calgary Flames

+This is the type of set the Flames need: something that calls back to their history yet modernizes it.

+The name/number font was a great choice.

+I love the removal of black, too.

-I think you need some separation between the yellow and white, mainly on the home jersey. It begins to blend together a bit.

-I think a pants logo would be a benefit here.

Overall: 8/10

Zack H. - Chicago Blackhawks

-Not a very creative concept, but this looks more like it's supposed to just be a fix, so it can slide.

+For a fix concept like this, it's best to keep close to the Hawks' current look.

-I think the pants would look better with some red still, and a logo.

-Make sure your stripe lengths stay consistent. I can tell that this is just an execution error, but on the left arm of the bottom jersey the top black stripe is a bit thinner than the rest.

-I like the thicker stripes on the white jersey, but I think they're a bit too thick.

-The name, and especially the numbers, look squished.

Overall: 7.5/10

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And that's all for today. I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all again next week!