Wednesday: The Home Stretch

After the games tonight, there's about 2 weeks until playoffs begin. But there's one MAJOR one tonight you can see in the states on NBCSN since SportsNet seems to want to shove the Leafs down your throat north of the border, for they'll be carrying the Leafs and Jackets on the main SportsNet channel.

I'm talking about Islanders-Rangers. Wednesday Night Rivalry, live from Madison Square Garden. The rivalry dating back to 1972 has gotten extremely more important for the Islanders as they try to take advantage of a potential collapse from the Bruins in order to get into a playoff spot. The Leafs currently hold the last spot, HOWEVER they are one point back from the Bruins for the final Atlantic Division spot with two games in hand. They control their own destiny at this point. The Islanders are 3 points back from the Leafs for the final wild card spot, yet they are 4 back from the Bruins in general with two games in hand. If the Leafs surpass the Bruins, with a win tonight over Columbus, the Islanders will control their own destiny. Buckle up. We have a three team race for two spots at the moment. This will be fun.

Yesterday-ish's post: http://hockeyjerseyconcepts.blogspot.com/2017/03/tuesday-ish.html

NEWS:

None to report at the moment, though playoff logos should be coming soon and I expect them to be the same as the last half a decade.

COMPETITIONS:

I love hats. I have about 30 collected from over the years between the Islanders and any sort of soccer, either MLS, EPL or NWSL soccer. So this competition speaks to me. Design a hat for a team. That's it. We have a template available on the competition page if you want it, OR you can find plenty of them online.

Entries so far:

Thomas C:

Ethan B:

John E:

Adam G:

VOTES:

COTW. That's it. A bit of a break from last week. That changes next week. Enjoy the one vote while you can.

REMINDERS:

COTW Mar 10th-16th vote (Ends March 24th @ Noon EST)

Hat Trick Competition (Entries Due March 24th @Noon EST)

ON TO THE CONCEPTS:


Anthony C: Team Italy (IIHF) Concept

So it looks like you have not heeded my advice from last week. Cut the numbers outside the template. The armpit spaces should not be colored differently on this template as a true Nike template has mesh there that is colored the same as the body of the jersey. Never mind the fact that it doesn't look good at all. Even for Il Azzurri. The double blue is nice and the font is cool, but it also suffers from a color balance issue on the white jersey.

Rating: 45%


Anthony C: North Kawartha Knights (Central Ontario Junior C.) Concept

Same issues here as I've seen for the past few weeks. Combined with a disgusting looking phantom yoke, stitching not stopping at the hem stripes and a colored hem trim and hem stripes coexisting. Also on a personal note I hate shoulder numbers. They can fit on the sleeves between the striping and the yoke. And personally I also think this template does not work well with design work on this blog.

Rating: 37%


Anthony C: Toronto Marlies (AHL) Concept

Add mismatching striping to your long list of execution errors and a poor font selection. A little bit of advice for you, because although I may seem harsh right now, I want you to succeed, because I've seen this pattern before with submissions. One of our best artists here at HJC had a similar issue that you're facing when he first started here, and that's quantity over quality. We have received numerous submissions from you and they've all been sub-par. What I highly recommend is that you slow down, take the time to notice execution errors that we point out, and learn from that. Don't send in all these ideas at once because I have seen brilliant ideas thrown away because of poor execution. Don't let that happen to you anymore. Good concepts take time to perfect. Use that time wisely.

Rating: 40%


Brooks F: Concept

The late 90s Kings redesign had brought an interesting shield logo and a glorious crown logo. This lion with sunglasses is from the shield and an interesting logo choice, combined with bold chest striping, almost sash-like and one you could see as realistic for the Stadium Series, though it seems like those jerseys are trending to simplistic jerseys. Execution is spot on and the font choice fits here.

Rating: 87%


Ethan B: Mighty Ducks of Anaheim Concept

This concept is a decent idea (especially the alternate with some yellow for once), but execution drags this once down: The numbers and letters are too small and sorely need an outline, maybe two. I'm not a fan of using their alternate logo as a primary on the main set, especially since I'm no fan of roundel logos to begin with.

Rating: 60%


Mike F: Team Georgia (IIHF) Concept

A nice red and white scheme here with a beautiful pattern on the main set. I wish it was matched on the socks. The alternate is genius. Take the Red Wings look but make it better by using that white space on the arms to put the flag of Georgia into the pattern. The Vintage look is average and the black equipment has got to go.

Rating: 80%


Mike F: Concept

An inspiration from Pittsburgh brings us a beautiful Irish concept that I think would've been better suited for last Friday's post (cough, cough, Ryan...). Anyway, I've loved this look even though I despise the Pens. Seeing the Russia-like pattern idea on the hem works well, with the stripe set outlined. That orange alternate needs to be put in production right now. The arms look like a bit of what I like to call "Paint-bucket Syndrome" but it works GLORIOUSLY. The vintage concept Is close enough to the main set, though I wish the hem stripes were spaced out with white separating the stripes. Solid pants for that one would be ideal.

Rating: 95% (Disclaimer: I am 0% Irish)


Thomas M: Los Angeles Kings Concept

This concept gives off a Winnipeg Jets vibe with the striping. The recolored crown looks ok, but I think it could look a bit better.  if purple was the dominant color. The alternate is nothing special though I am a bit of a fan of the striping pattern. Biggest takeaway here: Yellow on White. The colors get lost in each other. avoid that.

Rating: 70%


The WINNER of my Concept of the Week Nomination is:

 MIKE F 

 TEAM IRELAND CONCEPT 

As the season draws to a close, we might do something special here in advance of the postseason. Let me know in the comments if you would be interested in another sub-optimal podcast from us. I'm totally down for it. Get your votes in and get to scoreboard watching Islanders and Bruins fans!