Thursday: Copycats

Hello everyone, welcome back to another Thursday post!

Again we have a little bit of news to talk about, but of course nothing that I haven't already been beaten to.

The Belleville Senators unveiled their new logo yesterday. If you haven't seen it yet I'm sure you can predict what it is, but if you'd like to see it, go take a look at Phil's post yesterday.

In my opinion, I'm not a huge fan. I think they just took the safe route, and I'm not too impressed. I also don't think the "B" works nearly as well as the "O" does. I also think the red stroke on the B could be removed to make the look a bit cleaner, though it's been growing on me. Overall, it's the safe route and it's a pretty decent look, though it just doesn't impress me. I think the jerseys will be the make or break as to whether this team will look good or not.

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This week in voting not much has changed since my last post on Sunday. The COTW vote is still going, and now less than 24 hours remain. There's also the vote for the HJC Open final, between Jake and myself. I think this is going to be a close one, and your vote could always make the difference, so go drop a quick vote for the concept you like best!

HJC Open Final vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

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

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Ben B. - Toronto Maple Leafs

A slight backstory since none of you guys are aware of this, but Ben and I talk through twitter a bit about concepts, and I've given him some minor comments along the way. So if I make a reference to something I've told him before, that's where it came from.

+The Leafs look best in a classic design, rather than a more modern one, so this fits the bill. This has probably been my favorite concept that you've shown me.

+The striping pattern is a nice way of combining their classic design with something more like the cuffs of this alt, all while being something new. And, hey, it's consistent!

+Minor detail, but I love the white chinstrap on the blue helmet. 

-The TV numbers look a tad small. The back numbers are probably borderline being a tad small as well.

-I would move the logo and the name down a tad. The logo is too close to the collar and the name is too close to the yoke.

-The loose, white pixels below the front left hem that I mentioned to you are still there.

Overall: 8/10

Brooks F. - Milwaukee Admirals

+No lack of creativity on this one, that's for sure.

+Good color balance.

+The striping here suits the logo well.

+This design wouldn't look good on an NHL team, but I think an AHL team could pull it off.

-The shoulder design leaves the patch and TV numbers a bit cramped, though I'm not sure how much you can do about that.

-The name looks a bit small, but there's not much room to make it larger.

-I'm personally not really feeling the font you chose, at least for the numbers.

Overall: 8/10

Brooks F. - Rochester Americans

+The first thing I noticed about this design was the revamped logo, which I'm a fan of.

-The script looks slightly off center from the shield, though, and it's bugging me. Either that, or my eyes are just deceiving me and it's actually okay.

-I also think the "Rochester" inside the script is a bit unnecessary. It's unreadable from a distance, and doesn't really add much if you ask me.

+Just like last concept, the striping on this one suits the logo well.

+The stars on the cuffs are a nice, subtle addition.

+The shoulder stripes/shoulder yoke work really well to give this a more classic feel.

+You do a good job of keeping the red and blue from touching.

Overall: 8.5/10

Chris W. - Norfolk Admirals

+This is quite a nice look for the Admirals, and a bit more detailed than their current look.

+I'm a big fan of the primary logo. It's not perfect, but it's a nice alternative to the incredibly simple look they went with.

-Speaking of it not being perfect, I really don't think the N/anchor logo is necessary to be on the hat. It would still be hard to decipher from a distance, and just busies things up a bit.

+I like the striping pattern, though I'm not sure the exact inspiration for it.

-I think it may look better to also include the thin stripes on the hem, though I still think it works as is if you wanted to leave it.

+That font works surprisingly well.

+The alternate is a nice way to bring in their throwback/vintage Sabres look, and making it even better by making the stripe colors consistent.

+The diagonal wordmark fits pretty well on that jersey.

Overall: 9/10 and my COTW nomination

John E. - New Jersey Devils

+Most Adidas fix concepts would probably look a bit something like this, or a bit like the concept below. Kudos to you for stepping out of the box with this one, while still having it similar enough to work as a fix.

+I think the green works, though I'm not sure I prefer it. I could go either way on this one probably.

-This is more a curious comment than anything, because I'm not actually sure this would be better, but I'd be interested in seeing what the logo on the red jersey looked like in green.

+Speaking of the logo, I think it looks pretty good isolated from its circle.

+The striping is a nice way to fix what they went with while still using the inspiration that they did. It's inconsistently consistent too, and it works.

-Not a bit fan of the thin stripe, though. Just makes it a bit too busy in my opinion.

+I love the pants design.

-I like the name font, but I'm not sure how I feel about the number font.

Overall: 8.5/10

Steven G. - New Jersey Devils

-Not a very creative concept here, but that can be excused because that's not the purpose here.

+In terms of fixing the mess that Adidas made of the Devils, I think this does a good job at bridging between a traditional and modern look and improving the base design that Adidas gave them.

+Hem stripes!!

-I don't think I'd have minded if you used the three stripes of equal thickness on the arms.

+Can't really complain about returning to the classic design, though.

-I suppose this is more of a gripe I have with the Devils' uniforms in general rather than your concept, but I've always thought there was too much black on the road jersey compared to red.

Overall: 8/10

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And that's all for today's post! I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for reading, and I'll see you again next Thursday.