Wednesday: Round 2, FIGHT!

After two days of rest, the NHL playoffs are back! I had a brutal first round in the HJC Playoff Pool, but when in my full bracket, the Blackhawks are listed to win it all and then get SWEPT for what seems like no good reason, then you can see why. But it's redemption time. My picks are in for round 2. Get yours in before puck drop tonight, as the Western Conference gets under way tonight with the East beginning tomorrow, and the West-East pattern of game schedules will continue until May 1 when the only Eastern Conference match-up is the Penguins and Capitals.

NEWS: Nothing major to announce this week in terms of design but keep your eyes peeled as the offseason looms. Vegas expansion will be on June 20th and we may see jerseys unveiled there.
In the mean time WELCOME TC MOORE TO THE TEAM! He'll take over Fridays

COMPETITIONS: LET'S GO CRAZY! It's the Random Competition! We have taken all the colors in the NHL and shuffled them around. Now it's your task to make it work. Each team has been assigned two colors that they must incorporate into their color scheme, either in addition to existing colors, in place of existing colors or even alongside completely different colors. Click the banner for more details. Entries due next Friday at noon.

ENTRIES:

Ryan C: Ottawa Senators Black and Yellow

VOTES: Concept of the Week only this week. Congratulations to Jake M. on winning the COTY 1st Quarter Vote!

REMINDERS:

COTW April 14-20 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Random Competition (entries due May 5, 2017 @ noon ET)
HJC Playoff Pool Round 2 (Picks due Wednesday @ 8 PM)

ON TO THE CONCEPTS!


Anthony C: Montreal Canadiens Alternate Concept

At best, a decent design that would look better with the Canadiens' current primary logo instead of the one seen here, just for the sake of color balance, or with this logo and the red and white swapped. At worst, a sloppy, hastily made concept. Stitching doesn't overlap the striping in concepts despite what we see here. And what really gets you here is the yoke stripes. It would look so much better if they followed the curve of the yoke on this template.

Rating: 57%


Ethan B: Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) Concept

The biggest problem I have here with this concept is that template lines and shadows have been recolored to go with the color scheme. This template is a hard one to work with, and if you don't put in the extra effort to make the template work, don't use it. On top of that, the numbers need to be rotated slightly counter-clockwise in order to not look slanted against the arm striping. I like the basic idea here though, as it's based on the Wheat Kings' alternate jerseys. A good look made better with a matching black jersey, but made worse with a white jersey that is in desperate need of yellow. Maybe add some white trim on the home and alternate and yellow trim on the away OR yellow striping with black trim. Because if you notice the actual alternate Brandon uses, the numbers are white with black trim.

Rating: 50%


Jake M: Temple Owls (NCAA) Concept
 

Having lived in Philadelphia for a few years, I'm quite familiar with Temple University, as they were one of the City 6 schools (Well, Big 5 plus my former school, Drexel University). The striping pattern we see here is a common pattern that we see based on the "T" logo of Temple. It makes sense, but one thing I do not really enjoy on a hockey jersey is vertical arm striping. I hated it during the 2006 Olympics and subsequent tournaments and it was even dumber on the socks back then. I'll pass.

Rating: 83%


Jamie R: Vegas Golden Knights Concept
 

This concept isn't very golden for the Golden Knights. I like the idea of the red star pattern on the arms but other than that the color balance isn't doing it for me. There's too much red and not enough gold. Too much emphasis on the alternate logo and not enough on the primary logo. Otherwise a fantastic idea.

Rating: 86%


Ryan C: Saginaw Spirit (OHL) Concept
 

This is a striping pattern that has always seemed daring to me. Better than a simple vertical arm stripe pattern, but not good enough. Especially since I don't feel the balance of color here with the use of blue equipment along with the white jersey dominated by red. Jury is still out on this.

Rating: 86%


TC Moore: North Dakota State Bison (NCAA) Concept
 

Looks like today's post theme is color balance. And with all the yellow involved here the least you could do is use some more yellow on that white jersey. Maybe in between the green stripes? Or swap the yoke and trim colors? The full NDSU logo doesn't look good enough to be a shoulder logo. It's better as a primary logo, but the Bison head alone is too strong of a primary logo to replace here. Maybe go without a shoulder logo? EXECUTION NOTE: I still see an NHL shield on the inside tag. This is an NCAA Concept, not an NHL concept.

Rating: 75%


TC Moore: Southern Methodist Mustangs (NCAA) Concept
 

This is a much better concept. The yoke striping is a great touch, even with the retro shoulder patch. Seeing this wordmark with the mustang logo underneath is brilliant. The Mustang logo with the Dallas skyline is a great logo that fits on the helmets well. There is nothing I can hate about this jersey except for the template used, but that's just out of personal preference in my own work. Well done.

Rating: 95%


The WINNER of my Concept of the Week Nomination is:

 TC MOORE 

 SMU MUSTANGS CONCEPT 

GET YOUR PICKS IN TONIGHT! We have an 8 PM puck drop between the Predators and Blues at Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Tune in tonight on NBCSN or CBC. Afterwards at 10:30 you'll see the Oilers and Ducks on NBCSN and Sportsnet. NBCSN features the new TV voice of the Islanders, Brendan Burke paired up with former Islanders and current Rangers analyst Joe Micheletti. I'm looking forward to it. Game on! See you next week!