Wednesday: Hey Now You're An All-Star

Yesterday we learned from Pete Blackburn that the NHL will be removing ALL alternate jerseys for next year. It kind of builds upon my report of the Islanders dropping their Brooklyn thirds and makes sense overall with the Adidas takeover. Here's Chase's post from yesterday ICYMI.

So despite the big news yesterday, we have even MORE jersey news: THE ALL-STAR GAME JERSEYS! And FINALLY we have four jerseys, one for each division, each with colors mixed from the Kings past and present.

(courtesy of Yahoo Sports)

All are based on the same simple design: Extended yoke and outline down to the wrist, simple two stripe hem pattern with stars in the middle. first combo is purple, ahem, forum blue, with a white yoke and silver outline, white striping. Then we have a gold jersey with a black yoke oultined in silver and black striping. Then we have a white jersey with a silver yoke with a different silver outline and black striping. Finally a black jersey with a silver yoke and a white outline and silver striping. The socks all mirror the hem pattern, stars and all, except the purple, which has solid white beneath the star-patterned area.

This has to be the best All-Star Game jersey set Reebok has ever made and may go down as one of the best All-Star Game sets EVER. Just wish there was more purple/forum blue in one of the other jerseys. 95%


VOTES: Three this week. Normal COTW, obviously. Then we have the monthly vote. The final monthly vote of the 2016 COTY competition. Lastly we have the Americans Vote. I would've thought we'd have more entries in that competition. It was a fun one, especially since every artist that participated decided to create their own logos to bring this team back to life. So many new identities for a historic team.

And the best part is a friend of mine contacted me about getting my Brooklyn Americans logo made onto a hat, but in Islanders colors instead of red, white and blue. Even if I don't win, this competition has given me a great opportunity outside HJC. You could be next! Come on over and play with us!


REMINDERS:

COTW-December vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

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

Americans Top 3 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

ON TO THE CONCEPTS!

Brooks F: Vancouver Giants (WHL) Concept

The Giants have always had a cool identity, and even their current jerseys are a nice-looking set. However Brooks revamps them with a solid look as well. Angled stripes on the hem and sleeves meeting up to form a V. Also take note that the top stripe changes in thickness from the bottom of the V and outwards. A nice dynamic take on a somewhat more traditional look. Now that alternate shows why grey can work as a base color. The yoke helps balance colors with the maroon, and the points at the end of the yoke work extremely well.

Rating: 97%


Brooks F: Victoria Royals (WHL) Concept

Brooks continues his tour of the Dub to Victoria with another somewhat revolutionary idea: The sash. I think it can be a good look for some teams, but the Royals are not one of them. Look at the two most dominant colors in the logo: grey and blue. On one jersey you have a mostly blue sash and the other mostly grey. While it's a nice striping pattern to begin with, I don't think it works well with the logo for that reason. However the alternate is dope. The front view lion head logo is underutilized, in my opinion and putting it on that jersey with the V pattern on the arms and a grey yoke that extends itself on each side to just before the pattern. Beautiful.

Rating: 78%


Chris W: Kennesaw State Owls (Club Division III) Concept

Easily an improvement over the Bruins lookalikes they currently wear alongside a Red Wings-style yellow jersey. However I don't think it's much of one. Not a fan of the thin striping, especially with yellow as a dominant color on the black jersey. there's not enough yellow on that white jersey and I think thicker striping solves that. The alternate is good but I'd recommend raising up the hem striping on that jersey just a bit so you have room to fully match the arm pattern. Big fan of that number font.

Rating: 77%


Kristo L: Colorado Avalanche Concept

The Avs are always a fun team to experiment with. Mainly because of how bad their jerseys currently are. Here Kristo tries to minimize white on the home jersey. I think that's a major mistake for two reasons. One, you've gone too far with it, eliminating white from the oval in the logo. Secondly, these two colors are close to blending in with each other and the reason for that is how close to purple and blue that burgundy truly is. On the white jersey, having that wordmark not only as a logo, but also slanted the way it is? Absolutely no. The mismatching striping from the hem to the arms and socks doesn't help your cause. I'm fine with a home jersey not matching a road jersey, but I feel a jersey has to match itself. Execution: No TV Numbers, would like to see a back view, despite how nice this template is.

Rating: 45%


Kristo F: Edmonton Oilers Concept

Similar issues with this concept here, however thankfully there's no wordmark logo, but on those logos, they are massive. Here we have a set that almost matches itself and each other. This also may look better with a rounded yoke instead of a square yoke.

Rating: 54%


Lucas D: Tampa Bay Lightning Concept

First we had the sash in Victoria, now Lucas takes it one step further. A lightning bolt sash. He also brings black back as a primary color. Pure dynamic look. However the number on the back doesn't work on each jersey because of the lightning bolt. Maybe leave the bolt to the front only here, because it looks great with the logo. However I can't see the practicality in this jersey. It would make for a great fan jersey but I think it's even more impractical than the infamous "Rainstorm" jersey.

Rating: 84%


The Winner of my Concept of the Week Nomination is:

 BROOKS F 

 VANCOUVER GIANTS CONCEPT 

I am now off to Brooklyn. If any of the readers want to meet up I'll be in section 214 tonight and during intermissions I always go hang out by the Boomer and Carton Kitchen. Come say hi and, as the band Poison famously said: "Talk Jersey to Me".

OK, maybe they didn't say that but you get the point. See you later!