Wednesday: Props Where it's Due

Congratulations to the Pittsburgh Penguins on joining elite company. Since the expansion era, there were only 7 teams that ever won back to back cups: The Canadiens (twice including one streak of 4 in a row), the Flyers, the Islanders, the Oilers (twice) the Penguins and the Red Wings. They are the third team in the expansion era to have two different back-to-back title runs after the Oilers (84-85, 87-88) and Canadiens. They are the also first back-to-back champions of the salary cap era.

*** Edit by Ryan *** 

The Quad City Mallards have liked a lot of the submissions that have come in so far. I heard from them yesterday and they would like to see some ideas using PINK CAMO. So get those together and send them into me by Friday.

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NEWS:

Just a reminder that we are recording the Podcast this week. Stay tuned for it to be posted. Also that ad spot for the pod two weekends ago was recorded by me in my college radio studio right after my show ended. Maybe next time I'll add the music too instead of Ryan pasting it over, since I wanted a pause in the music for my joke. Regardless, my mic will not sound as good for the pod because the studio is closed on weekends during the summer.


As Chase brought up yesterday, Adidas and the NHL have leaked (intentionally) pieces of the new jerseys coming around. With the draft this upcoming Tuesday, I for one am excited. So let me analyze the leaks.

BUF: It's unclear as to whether the logo outlines on the Sabres leak are silver or white, but it looks silver which is disappointing to me. I'm worried that Buffalo may keep that dopey piping on the front of their jerseys.

CGY: RIP Throwback dreams. Black dominant in the logo. I hope it's more tame than the Reebok trash they had.

COL: RIP Navy? While we know the alternate is toast, we don't know if navy will be toast along with it

EDM: Navy replaces the royal blue. I'll pretend that the Islanders existence had something to do with that even though that's not the case. Hopefully the numbers move back where they belong: ON THE SLEEVES

MIN: BIGGEST news of the leaks. Chest stripe(s). Hopefully a matching away this time. Yes I'm working on a concept that I hope is the real deal based on the info we know about this new jersey: green, similar to Stadium Series and now a chest stripe, maybe two.

MIN 2.0: The HJC twitter account posted a pic of a Minnesota North Stars jersey in the same theme as the other 31 teams with the #FormTheFuture over it. Considering that I've seen the Thrashers represented in this as a joke, I expect the same with the North Stars jersey. No need to get antsy. Sorry.

NJ: RIP Green

NYI: Sigh of relief

OTT: Big disappointment, same dull logo, solid red body.

VGK: It will be a grey jersey, and now Vegas is also adding sublimated detailing to their logo for the jerseys. On the jersey it looks cool, but that pattern repeated in printed material looks dopey.

As of the writing of this post we have yet to see anything from Pittsburgh, Chicago or Toronto. If I have a chance maybe I'll edit them in later.

COMPETITIONS:

Coming soon is the HJC Open. This is probably the biggest year of the Open yet, because you'll now need FIVE BRAND NEW CONCEPTS if you have any plans of making it into the final and winning it all. Do NOT submit anything yet, because we still have....

VOTES:

...the vote for the HJC Open logo for 2017. Pick your top 3. On top of that we have COTW AND The May COTW Monthly Vote, or COTM. Get your votes in before.... crap when are they due? Let me check the....

REMINDERS

COTW-May vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

COTW June 2-8 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

HJC Open Logo Top 3 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Oh yeah. In any event, ON TO THE CONCEPTS!

Adam G: Anaheim Ducks Concept

This jersey expands the striping motif of the thin single orange stripe the Ducks employ in addition to their other stripes in the full pattern, the former of which also appears on their pants. It's a similar idea to the Islanders' Brooklyn alternates, however it won't work here, because of two things: 1) the striping around the body of the jersey and 2) the striping is too spaced out to make any positive impact on the sweater. Right now it just looks like there are gold and orange strings tying down a solid black jersey. Decent idea, poorly executed (and not in the way of execution errors as we know it here at HJC).

Rating: 20%


Adam G: Quad City Mallards (ECHL) Concept

The biggest issue I have here is the pixelation of the logos, especially the shoulder logo which looks excessively rough around the edges. Resize it on a separate palette then paste it on the existing one with a new layer, then merge the layers down after you position the logo. Don't resize the logo on the existing palette.

Rating: 68%


Anthony C: Maple Leafs vs Capitals Stadium Series (Naval Academy) Concept

That Leafs jerseys is absolutely gorgeous. Not sure if white gloves would look good alongside the thick blue sleeve cuff. The Capitals jersey is a nice fauxback based on their current alternates/original jerseys. However the shoulder logo leaves much to be desired. The Capitals have used a stand-alone W as a logo, but it was designed so that the Washington Monument was formed by the negative space of the W, which isn't the case here with a plain old W. Pant striping on the Caps one could be improved with a white stripe. One quick thing about the helmets. I like the different colored straps but it's impractical. Every hockey helmet in production right now, be it Reebok, CCM, Bauer or Easton or whatever brand you choose, has only two options for strap colors: Black and white. White will do just fine. While there are different colored straps available on shops like Hockey Monkey, you don't see it in the professional leagues.

Rating: 80%


Anthony C: Buffalo Sabres Concept

This concept is almost everything the Sabres need to do with their branding: no more silver, royal blue and classic looks. I'm not a fan of the font on the main set, and the alternate logo blends in too much because of the thickness of the outlines combined with the blue circle. Pant striping would look good if it matched as well. The alternate is great, similar to the Erie Otters' alternate which is a masterpiece. On that one a solid white stripe would work better on the pant.

Rating: 80%


Brooks F: Florida Panthers 90's Concept

Oh. My. Goodness. This jersey is insane, even more insane than the 90's ever got. Growing up in the 90's I know some crazy things that came out design-wise but this pushes it to the next level. Wave patterns, palm trees and a sun. This jersey would be the combination of the 90's ideas and Woodstock.

Rating: 90%


Brooks F: New Jersey Devils 90's Concept

While a little more tame than the Panthers concept, this is still out there, especially from the Devils' point of view. A devil's tail on the back comes around front and down to the bottom of the jersey. The crazy sock pattern matches the yoke pattern. I'm not a fan of the recolored logo.

Rating: 85%


Dino W: Team Slovakia (IIHF) Concept

I always like a jersey that embodies flag patterns on the jersey. Top is white, blue center stripe with the shield on it with red below it. Maybe lose the red logo outline to better match the flag and to lose the loose pixels around the logo. On the clash jersey I hate how the nameplate overlaps the large white yoke and the blue body of the jersey.

Rating: 75%


Jets96: Tulane University Green Waves (NCAA) Concept

A decent idea that could be aided by a few execution notes: Firstly, the numbers on the white jersey are further down the body of the jersey than the numbers on the green jersey. Also the numbers on the sleeves are spaced further out in proportion to the numbers on the back. The arm mesh on the template should be swapped so that the green mesh is on the green jersey and the white mesh on the white jersey. Maybe use some of the lighter green you find in the logo in the patterns.

Rating: 77%


Ryan C: Anaheim Ducks Concept

This pattern is pure genius, and not continuing it on the back of the yoke works extremely well. It's a perfect match of the arm and sock stripes. The Mighty Ducks logo looks good on the front. No complaints at all. No need for hem trim here.

Rating: 100%


Stéphane S: Ottawa Senators Concept

Barber-pole striping. Badly needed by the Sens. The photoshopping of the Sens in action with these concept jerseys could use some clean up work and some bending of some elements like the name and number on Karlsson's picture. Plus having the O logo upside down isn't a good idea in my opinion, however it does make the stripes behind the O mirror the pattern of the stripes. I would also include some black on the collar.

Rating: 85%


The WINNER of my Concept of the Week Nomination is:

 RYAN C 

 ANAHEIM DUCKS CONCEPT 

My next post is going to be a MASSIVE post. It'll be the post immediately following the draft. so we'll have all 31 home jerseys ready to review and hopefully some away ones as well, because I know that the home jerseys will be unveiled during the first round. I don't care who gets picked where, I just want to know what they'll be wearing in 3 years or less (if a pick doesn't bust like Griffin Reinhart did for the Islanders). See you then!