Tuesday: Fun Fair at the State Fair

Hello again, and welcome Hockey Fans, to this Tuesday's post! 

(First off, I'd like to apologize for the late post. Someone added a WiFi router in my dorm, and that threw the schools WiFi off, meaning nothing was saving as I wrote this... ) 

WELCOME TO THE GREAT MINNESOTA GET-TOGETHER!!!! Ooops I mean, HJC! 
Over the past weekend, I went to the greatest State Fair in the Country, and went to the NHL's 100 FanFair event. I was able to take a good look at all of the memorabilia and even the Stanley Cup! I took a few pictures of the vintage jerseys and got a good look at the quality of sweaters through the years. It was pretty fascinating for people like us, the jersey fanatics!

Here's a good look at an inaugural Minnesota Wild jersey, with Minnesota Native Darby Hendrickson! The stitching around the numbers and letters are just as intricately done as today. But one thing I noticed is that the nameplate is a little larger than his name, which is rather odd for

Next, I took some pictures of the Cleveland Barons, and their Ohio state number patch. This is one of the coolest, and one of my favorite features! It's also odd to see that the patch has a double outline, even though it's on a white jersey.

This is the Original All-Star jerseys from 1949. You can really see the wool base of the jersey, and the felt-stitched crest! The detail that was put into it is interesting. The year is also a cool feature.

Here's a good look at the California Golden Seals, and a close-up of the authentic tie-down collar, nothing like the fake tie-down crap that Adidas has now...

Here's a picture of the Montreal Maroons, one of my favorite jersey designs of all time! There's not a whole lot to see in this picture, other than just the detail of some of the older sweaters. The collar, the felt logo, and even the sleeve cuffs! 

There's also the Eagles logo, which up close, you can see has a little blue eye, incorporating all of the team colors!

Another fascinating element they had in the tour bus is the Old referee sweaters! These were brought back for the 2004 NHL All-Star game in Minnesota, but haven't been seen officially since the 1950's. What's odd is the fact that the logo isn't felt stitched like the Eagles or All-Star logo, but it's just a felt material.

The last two sweaters are for the New York Americans, and the Philadelphia Quakers! Just imagine having to create each one of these jerseys, with all of these intricate details, especially the stars on the Americans jersey.

I also got to kiss the Stanley Cup! #LivingTheDream

We also have our regular COTW vote, as well as the Toledo Walleyes comp! So don't forget to vote!

COTW (Aug 25-31)

Toledo ReDesign Top 5 vote

On to the concepts!

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Anthony C.- Calgary Flames (NHL)

Anthony starts the day off with a Calgary Flames concept!
Good-

• I like the simple striping pattern! 
• I also like the collar pattern!
• Good logo choice!

Bad-

• I don't like the lack of yellow on this concept. The NHL has too many red and black teams, so ditching the yellow just makes another one...
• The name should also have an outline

My rating: A solid concept for the Flames, but ditching the yellow was a big mistake... 6.5/10

Brooks F.- Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL)

Next up is Brooks, and his Grand Rapids Griffins concept!
Good-

• I really like the identical striping pattern on both jerseys! 
• I also like the white hem on the black sweater
• The number font looks great, and matches well with everything else!
• I really like the logo! 
• Good color balance! 

Bad-

• While I really like the white hem, the arms should have white cuffs as well. 
• The pants stripe doesn't really fit with the rest of the design... 

My rating: A fantastic set for the Griffs! I would love to see these take to the ice! 9/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!!!!!

Matt G.- Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

Our third concept of the day goes to Matt and his Bolts concept!
Good-

• I really like the blue drop shadow on the logo! That's really clever! 
• The squared off, and minimal shoulder yoke looks good too!

Bad-

• The collar should be blue, to better balance the colors of the sweater. 
• The numbers have too many outlines compared to such a simple logo... 
• There's not a whole lot of Creativity here, as you just updated the Cup Winning Set

My rating: A good update of the Bolts Cup winning set, but a few choices hold this back. 6/10

Matt G.- Tampa Bay Lightning (NHL)

Matt's second of the day is another Bolts concept...
Good-
 
Bad-

• Once again, this is just an older jersey on a modern template, you did almost nothing original. We like that you're sending in concepts, but we're more interested (and you should be) in your concepts, not NHL jerseys that are since long gone... 

My rating: 0/10

Ryan H.- New York Rangers (NHL)

Next up is our own Ryan's Rangers concept!
Good-

• I like the simple design pattern, that matches the Rangers road style!
• The drop shadow looks great on the numbers! 
• The navy and red scheme looks good!

Bad-

• The logo has too much silver for it to not appear anywhere else in the jersey
• The name should also have the drop shadow, and be arched like the normal home and road sweaters
• I also don't like the half blue, half red collar. It should be all red... 

My rating: A great sweater that would serve the Lady Liberty logo well if it ever came back! 8/10

 TC Moore- Dallas Stars (NHL)

Our very own TC Moore rounds out the day with his Stars concept!
Good-

•  I like the inclusion of gold in the color scheme!
• The striping looks good!
• I like the collar!

Bad-

• The whole jersey is a little busy, so keeping the pants plain would work out the best...
• The recoloring of the Stars logo looks a little odd. Keeping it mostly white would have looked better!
• Gold also would have been better as an accent color, and not the most predominant, after black... 
• The NHL crest should be on the Adidas Pentagon in the front... 

My rating: This is an okay Stars concept, but it's a little busy, and a few choices hold it back... 7/10

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Well, that's all from me, your Tuesday writer, Chase! Come back for more!