Thursday: Playoffs In Review

Hello everyone!

Last year for the playoffs, I made a post of my predictions. Not of the outcome, but of the jerseys that would be worn (I mean, this is a jersey blog). This year....I completely forgot to do that until it was too late.

However, that doesn't mean I can't reflect on the jerseys that were actually worn and give my opinion on the choices, so let's get on with it!

(Note: I'll be rating these just based on which jersey I think is better, a team's home or alternate. You can almost always make the case that using the regular home/away set creates consistency, so I won't factor that in. Also, not all teams will be mentioned here because not all teams have an alternate jersey that could be used.)

Likes
Minnesota: This is the one case in which wearing the alternate actually creates better consistency with the road jersey. Kinda backwards logic on that one...
Anaheim: I'm personally not a fan of their alternate jersey, I like some parts of it, but the inconsistency is a killer, plus the orange and gold don't look the best together, it just makes the gold look even more drab.
Edmonton: I'm not sure if I like the alts or homes better, but this is the right move since they're wearing them full-time next year. Plus, their orange ends up as a unique color in the playoffs.
New York: Their alternates are still a really nice look, but you can't beat their classic home jerseys with the brighter blue.
Boston: Again, you can't really beat their home jersey. Plus their alternate really isn't that great (but it would be better if you add a hem stripe).
Columbus: This may be an unpopular opinion, but I have two reasons. For one, I like their primary logo much better than the cannon logo. I think it's more unique and just looks sharper. Along with that, the gray and vintage white on the alternate jersey clash and just look ugly in my opinion.
San Jose: Similar to Edmonton, the teal they wear is a unique color in the NHL, let alone just the playoffs. Plus, black jerseys without a lot of color just look really bland on a white sheet of ice.

Dislikes
Washington: I would say the Caps fared better than most teams that got the Reebok Edge treatment in 2007, but you can't beat a traditional design. The jersey would look much better with the weagle, but that's besides the point.
Calgary: On the other hand, the Flames fared awfully from their Reebok Edge redesign, and their alternates are a sharp, vibrant, classic design. So basically this is a more extreme case of the Caps situation: their regular jerseys are worse and the alternates are better.
Ottawa: Honestly, just take what I said about Calgary and replace the word "Flames" with "Senators". The only difference is that the Sens' alts aren't really vibrant.

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This week for voting we have the 1st quarter vote, the Admirals competition vote, and, as always, the standard COTW vote. We're also accepting applications for a new writer, but you have a bit more time for that one, those are due Sunday.

1st Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

COTW vote April 7-13 (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Norfolk Admirals Top 3 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

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Anthony C. - Kitchener Rangers

+This is much better than a NY Rangers copy, and even still ties into their branding to a degree. A good medium I suppose.

+Something like this would make a much better primary jersey set than what they have now since they would have something unique to them.

+The red base color really helps that.

+I like the placement of the "shoulder" logo patch and the TV numbers.

-I think that logo would be more suited for the front of the jersey, though, instead of an arched wordmark.

-The name and numbers are a bit too close together, and the letters and numbers themselves also look too close/squished together.

+Good color balance.

Overall: 8/10

Dino W. - ZSC Lions

-Presentation note: your text in the top right is way too dark, I can barely read it even on full brightness.

+These are much better than the add-riddled jerseys they wear now.

+Good color balance.

+Simple, effective striping.

-Not a very out of the box design, though.

-Keep the arm and hem stripes consistent. The hem stripes are also too thin.

-Not a fan of the front numbers.

-The numbers are a bit small.

Overall: 6.5/10

Jamie R. - Toronto Maple Leafs

Despite the lack of fire related concepts on a day like this, at least I have a few leaf related concepts.

+It's hard to go wrong with a traditional looking concept, but ones that put in a lot of thought like this are the ones that are really over the top. All of the meaning and symbolism in this jersey makes a good jersey even better.

+Ignoring all that and just focusing on how the jersey looks, you've still got a winner. It's a really nice "vintage" look, and it fits perfectly for a team with a history like the Leafs.

+Again, ignoring the meaning behind them, you have the perfect amount of arm and hem stripes on this jersey. Any more on the hem and you'd have too many.

+I really like that logo. Maybe not as a primary logo for the team, but it makes a great alternate.

-I'm not a big fan of the front of the collar blue, I think it would look better white for a full collar look, but it's not bad.

Overall: 9.5/10 and my COTW nomination

Lucas D. - Toronto Maple Leafs

+Another "vintage" looking design, again a very fitting look for Toronto.

+Good combination of the St. Pats and Maple Leafs.

-A pretty basic concept though...I've seen a lot of concepts like this. It's not bad, just not very unique.

+The shoulder patch looks really nice, as do the TV numbers inside the stripe.

-I see what you're trying to do with the front wordmark taking it from the Leafs current logo, and I like it, but the proportions are off and it looks a bit odd. I'd say make "Maple Leafs" smaller and arrange it more similarly to the the St. Pats jersey I linked earlier, but then the "Maple Leafs" text would be way too small. Your best option may be to just triple-stack it like the current logo does.

Overall: 8/10

Ryan C. - Bloomington Thunder

+I really admire your attempts at modern jersey designs, as you seem to be doing a lot of those recently. Those are tough to pull off, so props to you for working with it.

+The Thunder would be a great team to have a modern design like this for. It meshes well with the logo.

+The fonts you use almost always look great, and this is no exception. If you don't mind me asking, where do you get them?

+For once, I think the piping works...

-But only the shoulder yoke piping. I'd lose the vertical piping.

-I'd make the side panels more consistent with the arm design: a smaller gray bar on top of the white.

-The CCM logo looks a bit horizontally squished.

Overall: 8/10

Vaughn R. - NHL Playoff Sock Hats

Since this isn't a normal jersey concept, I'm going to switch up my review style a bit. I like the idea of having striping on a hat like this, though it might not be my personal style. A good choice using the sock striping, as not every team has actual jersey striping to use (which is probably why you did choose the socks). I like the idea of the white bill to represent ice as well. Having a second line of these hats using the white socks for each team could work too. One thing I think could be improved is to show the sides of the hat, or at least on one hat. That would both show whether the stripes go all the way around the hat (which would remind me a bit of these), and it would also show the placement of the patches.

Overall: 7.5/10? I'm not really sure how to rate hats...

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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.