Friday: Sea Creatures, Superheroes, and the Sovereign

Hey y'all! It's been a bit of a slow week in uniform news, so I'm just gonna cover a little bit of NHL news.  On Tuesday the 16th, the Vegas Golden Knights entered an agreement with the Chicago Wolves, making them their AHL affiliate.  The Golden Knights will share the Wolves with St. Louis, Chicago's current affiliate, and will be able to move players to and from the Wolves starting in the 2017-2018 season.  Those who read my debut post on HJC will note that Reid Duke, the Golden Knights' first signee, is currently a part of the Wolves organization after signing a professional tryout contract with them on April 7th.  This could have been a clue as to Vegas' intentions relating to the Wolves, or it could have been a move that merely facilitated the two parties coming to an agreement.  Personally, I think that the Golden Knights could have done a better job of finding an AHL affiliate a little closer to home.  With the need for a quick call up in case of injury, distance and travel time are a huge detriment to the efficiency of an affiliate team.  While there are some exceptions (most notably Florida and Tampa Bay), most teams prefer to have a more local affiliate team to make call-ups a little easier

In other news, Yahoo! Sports is reporting that numerous sources with knowledge of the selection process have pegged Tampa Bay as the host city for next year's NHL All-Star Game.  While many were hoping that the reluctance of the NHL to announce a location for next year's All-Star Weekend as a sign of their intention to reverse their position on the Olympic games, it seems that there are plans taking shape for the All-Star Game to occur next year.  If it is indeed awarded to Tampa Bay, it would mark the first time that the game has made its way to Tampa since 1999.

That's all for the news!  Check back later in the day or some time tomorrow for the COTW Poll, as well as the first round of voting for the WHJC contest.

COTW May 12-18 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

WHJC first round vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

---------------------------------------------------------

Final WHJC Submissions

Cody R.- USA

Ethan B.- Canada

Justin B.- Slovenia

Justin B.- USA

Justin B.- Canada

Matt G.- France

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Now on to today's concepts!

Adam G.- Hartford Whalers

Our first concept today is Adam G.'s design for the Hartford Whalers.  Let's start with the positives: I like the simplistic striping pattern, as well as the fact that it's a consistent pattern across the jerseys, as opposed to the inconsistent striping on their pre-1992 uniforms.  I'm also a huge fan of the return of Pucky the Whale as a shoulder patch, a design that was nixed in 1985.  Now for the negatives: the grey in this design is underutilized and seems like an afterthought, especially in the green jersey.  If you're going to keep it, I would recommend using the logo from their post-1992 uniforms on the green and blue jerseys to balance it out better.  Also, you should switch the grey and colored stripes on those jerseys because that grey is not dark enough to contrast with the white on the sleeves and hem.  As for execution, I would have liked to have seen gear and breezers to get a better idea of color balance, and the sleeve numbers read 8, while the back reads 9.  Final verdict: a good idea, and a few tweaks could easily turn it into a winner.  7/10

Anthony C.- LA Kings

Next up we have the first of three concepts by Anthony C. today, one for the Los Angeles Kings.  I really like the idea of a grey uniform, and their third jerseys this year have proven that they can pull it off.  The striping pattern seems to also be pulled from their current third jerseys, but I think the middle stripe should be a little thicker, as it could be hard to see from a distance.  I also like the decision to use a squared off yoke on this concept.  I know other guys have touched on this, but I want to reiterate that your hem stripe shouldn't stop at the side panels, and should curve to match the curvature of the template.  I would also liked to have seen gear and breezers to get a better idea of the color balance, as well as a back view of the jerseys.  On a personal note, I have never liked the home plate logo, so I would have liked to have seen a different logo as the main crest.  I think that on a simplistic design like this, you might actually be able to pull off the 2014 Stadium Series shoulder patch as a main crest, but that could just be me.  Final verdict: a simplistic, yet very plausible design for the Kings.  7.5/10

Anthony C.- San Jose Sharks

Next up from Anthony C. is a design for the San Jose Sharks.  This design reminds me of the Sharks' first Edge uniforms, but with the stripe cut in half and extended to the end of the arms and the hem.  I like the way that it works out, I think the contrasting cuffs work really well with the yoke and hem to balance the color.  You seem to have an aversion to shoulder patches that puzzles me, and I think a shoulder patch, along with a matching logo on the pants, could really help this design.  Also, I think white numbers would work better on the dark jersey, as the black could be hard to see on the dark teal.  Same execution errors as above.  Final verdict: Good design, but execution errors hold it back.  8/10

Anthony C.- Syracuse Crush

Anthony's final concept for the day is for the Syracuse Crush of the AHL.  The Crush have had roughly the same uniform (even with affiliation switches) since the switch to the Edge system, so I think a shake up is in order for them.  That being said, I don't know if this is the right one.  The chest stripe I think works well here, but in both designs the silver just fades into the white and would be completely indistinguishable on the ice.  I'm not a fan of the large hem stripe with the chest stripe, I think it just makes it look too bulky.  Once again, I think a shoulder patch and a look at the gear would vastly improve this concept.  Same execution errors as above.  Final verdict: I like the direction, but I just can't get on board with this one.  6/10

Burkus Circus- Colorado Avalanche

Our final trio of concepts comes to us from Burkus Circus, starting with this one for the Colorado Avalanche.  I personally like the idea of the Avs moving toward the design of their current third jersey, especially the Rockies inspired logo, but if they stick with the current logo, this should definitely be where they go with it.  I like the more traditional striping pattern, giving a modern team a more classic look.  The minimal amount of black in the design matches the minimal black in the logo.  I like the collar choice here as well, I think it's a vast improvement on their current collars.  As much as I love the Avs' unique font, I think the traditional numbering works better here with the more classic striping pattern.  I'm also a sucker for squared yokes, and the striping pattern is just icing on the cake.  My only design related gripe is that on the light jersey the blue, red, and black in the striping kind of get muddled together, but I honestly don't know how to reconcile that while also preserving the consistent striping pattern.  Execution-wise, the inside of the collar as well as the edges of the socks are crazy pixelated.  Also, if you look closely, you can see the outlines of the crest on the blue jersey.  I think a white outline on the logo would help the design, so the logo doesn't bleed into the jersey.  I would have also liked to have seen the gear and breezers that go with this set, just to get a better idea of color balance.  Finally, stitching needs to end at the hem stripe.  Final verdict: a few execution errors, but still a very solid concept.  8/10

P.S.: The text on the submission related to an unrelated team thoroughly confuses me.  Don't do that.

Burkus Circus- Los Angeles Kings

Our second concept from Burkus and our second Kings concept of the day.  YES.  I love the reintroduction of color to the LA Kings.  I think the black and silver worked fine when they could complement the LA Raiders, but should have been left behind when Al Davis moved them back to Oakland.  I really like the striping pattern, and the hem stripe works much better than the Los Angeles text that they have used in the past.  The inclusion of white in the striping also gives it a better color balance than some of their black and purple uniforms of the past.  I think a yoke on the white jersey would have improved color balance, and I probably would have included shoulder patches on both.  Same execution errors as above, plus you forgot to put numbers on the arms.  Final verdict: a good design, but execution errors hold it back.  7/10

Burkus Circus- San Jose Sharks

Burkus Circus once again goes head to head with Anthony C. with another concept from the Pacific Division, this time for the Sharks.  I have to start this off by saying that I love the new "Los Tiburones" logo.  It's a fiercer looking shark, and the downplay of the orange combined with the addition of more white vastly improves the logo.  I love the contrasting arms and hem, and the striping works well.  This shade of grey is dark enough that it can contrast with the white without needing another color to break it up.  I will say, though, that the top black stripe on the hem and sock striping is unnecessary.  Same execution errors as above, plus your sleeve numbers are pixelated as well.  Final verdict: a good concept, but some execution errors detract from it.  8/10 

A lot of good concepts today, but execution errors make it hard for me to pick a COTW nominee, so I'm gonna leave that up to y'all in the comments section.

That's all for me today, see y'all next week!