Friday: New Faces

Hello folks!  For today's intro thought I'd take a look at some of the players that were traded over the past week, to see how they look in their new uniforms, what numbers they're wearing, and all that stuff.  Let's get right to it!

Photo by Harry How/Getty Images

Jarome Iginla will always be remembered as a Calgary Flame, but he's been on three (now four) other teams since then, so it doesn't look too weird (to me at least) seeing him as a Los Angeles King.  What does look weird to me is him wearing number 88, it will take me a while to get used to that.

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

Thomas Vanek has been a bit of a nomad lately, as the Florida Panthers are Thomas Vanek's sixth team in just the last four seasons.  With the Panthers he returned to his regular number 26, after wearing number 62 in Detroit.

Photo by Jared Silber/NHLI via Getty Images

The Washington Capitals made one of the biggest deals at the trade deadline, landing Kevin Shattenkirk from Blues.  He kept his number 22 with the Capitals.

Photo by Francois Laplante/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images

As a Canucks fan, seeing Alex Burrows in an Ottawa Senators uniform looks very strange to me.  He was always a fan favourite in Vancouver (and hated everywhere else), but it was the right move for the Canucks to trade him and focus on the future.

Photo by Bruce Kluckhohn/NHLI via Getty Images

Martin Hanzal switched from number 11 to 19 with his move to the Wild, since number 11 was already taken on the Wild by Zach Parise.

Photo by Gerry Thomas/NHLI via Getty Images

The Kings were the only team to make a significant move in net at the deadline, adding Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning.  Bishop started his first game for the Kings on Tuesday, still wearing his old lightning mask and in number 31 instead of his usual number 30 (number 30 is retired on the Kings for Rogie Vachon).

Of course this list doesn't include everyone that was traded at the deadline, these were just the players that stood out the most to me.

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There will only be one vote here on HJC over the next seven days, it's the standard COTW vote and the poll should be up tonight.  Additionally, the presentations for the Pairs Competition will begin to appear in the coming days, Ryan will release the complete schedule tomorrow.

COTW Feb 24 - Mar 2 vote (ends next Friday @ noon Eastern)

Pairs Competition presentations beginning this upcoming calendar week!

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Winter Classic (Maple Leafs vs Rangers), by Anthony C:

• I don't dislike the overall design of either of these jerseys Anthony put together.  They both fit the vintage vibe of a Winter Classic game.
• Of the two jerseys I think Toronto's is better, I like how it combines the arm and hem stripes from their 1967-70 set, with the yoke style from their 2014 Winter Classic jersey, and their current logo.
• I'd remove the hem trim though.  Using both a hem stripe and hem trim never looks good, in my opinion.
• The Rangers jersey is okay, but it's not very original.  It's basically their 2012 Winter Classic jersey with a few small changes, and the only change I think is an improvement is using true white instead of vintage white.
• There are several execution errors.  The sock stripes are too high, the sleeve numbers are missing, the logos are too low and a tad large, both team's back numbers and "Kadri" appear off-center, the back of the Leafs collar doesn't match the front and the Ranger's collar was left un-coloured, the Reebok (or Adidas) logo is missing, and the vertical stitching should stop at the hem stripes.

Rating: 5/10

Sudbury Wolves, by TC Moore:

• Besides one detail, I like the striping pattern that TC has used.  It's a fairly traditional design, but it's still unique enough (especially the colours) to give the Wolves their own look.
• The detail I don't like is the extra stripe above the top grey stripe.  The hem of the blue jersey is missing that stripe and I think it looks much better.
• I like the choice of number font, it fits in well with the logo.
• The blue jersey should be paired with mostly blue socks, and ditto for the white jersey and white socks.  The sock stripes are also too high up.
• There are some other execution errors as well, the logo and back numbers are a bit small, and the numbers and player's name look a little off centered as well.  Also, the number outline is missing from the number six and is thicker on the white jersey's seven.

Rating: 5/10

Ottawa Senators, by Lucas D:

• Not everyone is a fan of the Senators using a laurel-leaf striping pattern, but I certainly am.  And I especially like this take on it by Lucas, specifically how the gold is always surrounded by black.
• The updated side-profile logo is also my favourite logo for the Senators.
• I like the unique-ness of using the laurel-leaf pattern on the collars, but I think it looks a bit weird because it's the only place that stripe isn't outlined in white.
• The stripes on one of the white socks was cut off.
• Also the laurel leafs in the stripes look very pixelated.  I'd suggest grabbing a clearer version of the pattern from their wordmark logo (or you might be able to find an even higher resolution version of the pattern somewhere else).

Rating: 8/10

Team Netherlands, by Mike F:

• The home and road jerseys in this Netherlands set from Mike are just simple and traditional hockey jerseys.  I'm not complaining though, I think they look good.  I also like how there's a gap in the stripes on the white jersey but not the orange jersey.
• One thing I don't like about the primary jerseys is the logo, I think the red clashes with the orange in this case.
• The alternate jersey in the style of the Flames 2000-07 set looks good, I like the orange numbers, and I think the orange helmet is interesting  (I think the orange helmet could work for a national team, especially in a video game).
• Lastly the vintage jersey is perfect, I like the striping and the white yoke, I like the orange pants and leather gloves, and I even think the red in the logo fits this jersey nicely.

Rating: 8/10

Team France, by Mike F:

• I think the curved stripes of the main jerseys look great, they work well with the curved shield of the logo.  I also like that the striping pattern is a bit different between the two jerseys, I think those differences make it a more interesting set.
• Grey is a great choice for the base colour of the alternate jersey.  It's a unique jersey colour, and all three colours in the fleur-de-lis logo contrast well with the grey.
• The vintage jersey looks good as well.
• There are no execution issues (that I noticed), even the sock stripes are at the right height!  It's nice to see that Mike has fixed that issue as his series has progressed.

Rating: 9/10 and my COTW nomination!

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That's all folks!