Monday: Indiana Takeover

Welcome to the Monday post!

One week later and we're still looking for a new Tuesday writer! No this isn't a bad thing, we've done so on purpose to give you time to apply and work on your mock posts. You have until the 29th at 6pm EST to get your mock posts to Ryan! One piece of advice I will give you is to be unique and this may be cliche but write as yourself. The writer position is NOT a professional position, it's YOUR opinion. Make unpopular calls, tell the hypothetical reader what YOU THINK, not that you think the readers want to hear read. That's what makes the writers so interesting, is that we disagree A LOT. For example- I think, rightly so, that the Islanders original black jersey, is one of my favourites and I think it's a solid jersey. TC and Phil have had a few choice words for me on that subject, but I understand where they're coming from. Another example is how I, rightly so, don't usually mind black for black sake jerseys with the exception of Anaheim and Columbus's pre-edge alternates, TC thinks its a terrible design trend, but again, isn't that a little more interesting than "Ryan is good, Ryan is right, go Leafs go!"

Don't forget we also have the COTW vote, and the 3 Arena Comp entries to vote for. Both of those polls can be found on the side of the blog and are due at the usual time- Friday at noon EST


On with today's concepts!

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Toronto Maple Leafs Concepts (By: Alan H.)

+ The Busher Jackson era striping has always been something I really like, this is no exception
+ I've never really thought of a collar striping pattern, but this works pretty well
+ Logo choices are pretty solid
+ Good execution

- I don't hate the font used on the jersey, but it doesn't work the same way the modern font of the later 90s did, I'd go with a longer font
- Pant stripes crowd the kit as a whole, I'd go with a single thick stripe

Rating: 8.75/10

Washington Capitals Concepts (By: Alan H.)

+ Striping is solid, I love the call back to the 80s hem stripe and the double stripe by using the cuff as a set of stripes
+ Stars are well laid out
+ Glad you kept the Caps edge numbers
+ Alternating stars on the pants

- The inverted colours on the Weagle really don't work
- Primary logos are way too small, and then on the white jersey is way too hard to read
- I wouldn't have brightened the colours, or at least not the blue

Rating: 7/10

Washington Capitals Concept (By Lucas D.)

+ The look of a Weagle as a primary logo and a white yoke looks amazing
+ Striping is excellent on the arms
+ Good execution

- No shoulder patches
- The bottom of the jersey is really blank, and I usually like that with jerseys like this but even just adding another blue stripe would work better
- Numbers are too small

Rating: 7.75/10

New York Rangers Concepts (By: Noah B.)

+ I'm getting a blend of 3 teams here, Rangers, Americans and Amerks, and all 3 really work
+ Normally I'd prefer the hem stripe match the arms but here, this surprisingly works
+ Solid colour balancing for the most part
+ The single star as a shoulder patch looks amazing
+ Great execution

- Blue TV numbers on the white jersey would add that little bit of blue to push it into great colour balancing

Rating: 9/10

Winnipeg Jets Concepts (By: Alan H.)

+ I don't usually like it when my dear sweet Jets primary logo is altered, but this I like
+ Striping is solid for the classic Winnipeg fan
+ Helmet logo is pretty sweet, nice to see you designing  logo yourself, Alan!
+ Solid colour balancing
+ Good execution

- Not a fan of the repeated shoulder patch of the primary logo; that's Buffalo's ting
- The striping is very similar to the new Oilers jerseys, even more than just the striping, but the layout of the colours

Rating: 8.75/10

University of Indiana Hoosiers NCAA Concepts (By: Steven M.)

+ If there's one thing Indiana rocks, it's the candy stripes! Really adds something to the team's identity by having them so prominent
+ I don't usually like non matching jerseys, but here it really works
+ Rest of the jersey is well executed, and has a solid colligate feel to it
+ Great execution

- Wish the gear was included here, would be nice to see what colour you chose for the pants

Rating: 9.25/10 COTW Nom from me!

2018 Winter Classic Concepts (By: Ryan HJC.)

+ That Sabres jersey is a beauty. I love the blending of the Bisons jerseys and the numbers form the 40th anniversary jersey, great stuff!
+ The Rangers jersey is good too, the stitched numbers work there too
+ Really well executed and it has that Winter Classic feel, including a second colour rush game
+ Fantastic execution

- I'm not a huge fan of the brown gloves, but most people are, so call it a matter of preference
- The logo on the Rangers pants need some white on it
- I've never also been a fan of white collars that make the jersey look like there's a dress shirt under neath, red would look better

Rating: 8.75/10