Friday: Two Kings and a Czar

Hello again and welcome to another Friday post!  It's beginning to reach the time of year when my NHL withdrawals begin to take over.  I spent all of last night watching highlight videos on Youtube on everything from best hits to goalie freakouts.  It's getting bad, y'all.  It's also reaching the time of year when we see a slump in the number of concepts being sent in, as I'm sure y'all have noticed.  I don't know if it's the heat making people sluggish, or just the fact that hockey is sort of "out of sight, out of mind" during this period, but I say it's time we change that.  I know that I'm not innocent in all of this, as I haven't been contributing as many concepts as usual either, but I think we need to gear up for the new season with some new concepts.  We have a bevy of outdoor events that we could make one-offs for, with the usual Winter Classic and Stadium Series games as well as the NHL 100 Classic.  We also have an entirely new uniform system to work with, and I know that y'all have teams that you think could have done better.

Just gonna leave this here...

So my charge to you, dear readers, is to go out and make some concepts to show Adidas where they went wrong.  Even if you aren't familiar with design, we have a great tutorial section on the site here, which I myself used when I was first starting out.  I was just a reader like you who thought I'd give it a shot, and lo and behold, it led to a job.  You never know until you try.

New voting will begin with Ryan's post on Monday, along with the announcement of this week's winners.

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Now on to today's concepts!

Burkus Circus- Team Russia

Our first concept of the day is Burkus Circus' design for Team Russia.  Right off the bat, I like the chest stripe that helps give the jersey the look of the Russian flag.  The gold in the striping does a good job of tying the logo in with the jersey while still being minimal enough to preserve the flag design.  I'm a big fan of the continuation of the flag motif in the collar, it's understated enough to be considered among more traditional multi-colored collars, but it's different enough to pop.  I've never been a huge fan of the script under the main logo, but if you chose to keep it, I would have liked to have seen a font for the name and numbers that better matched it.  I don't like the look of the gold numbers, especially on the white arms, but I can't really think of a color that would work better with this design.  I also would have liked to have seen the breezers, just to get a better idea of the overall look of this set.  Final verdict: a decent set, but nothing that I think will unseat their current uniforms.  7.5/10

Jets96- Los Angeles Kings

Next up is our very own Jets96 with a concept for the Los Angeles Kings.  I love the return of the purple and gold color scheme, I think it adds some vibrancy to their identity, and helps them match the Lakers, their cohabitants at the Staples Center.  While I don't necessarily hate the silver and black, I think that this color scheme makes for a more exciting look for the kings.  I also love the return of the original crown logo, it's much better than the home plate logo that graces their current set.  I like the nod to tradition with the gold helmet, and those gloves look great.  I'm not really keen on the generic cookie-cutter template that was used by the Avs and Preds, and when used here without the piping, it looks even more bare.  With such a modern looking jersey, I don't like the traditional striping on the breezers, either leave them blank or use a more modern striping.  I was never a huge proponent of the "Los Angeles" text on the bottom of the jerseys, and it becomes even more cluttered here with the addition of the team name.  With the text on the front, the more basic name and number font looks out of place, just use their current set.  Final verdict: a step in the right direction for the Kings, but a little too generic.  6.5/10

Joe D.- Los Angeles Kings

Our final concept of the day is another design for the Kings, this time coming to us from Joe D.  Once again, I love the move away from the home plate logo as a main crest, it works a lot better as a shoulder patch.  I like the simplicity of the single grey stripe given the complexity of the diamonds in the cuff and hem pattern.  At first I didn't really like the diamond patter with white extended all the way down, but the more I looked at it, the more I liked it.  It reminds me of the fur trim on the capes that you always see worn in old time royal portraits, which I think is a great design choice for a team with such a regal name.  I'm not sure how I feel about the white collar, while it is traditional, I think it might help the color balance to have it be silver.  Not a fan of the numbers on the breezers, it looks a little too amateurish for me.  Might also make the main crest a little bigger.  Final verdict: a nice set for the Kings that I think would make a great alternate.  8.5/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!

Well, that's all for me this week, see y'all next Friday!