Friday: Färjestad and Fauxbacks

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Friday post at HJC.  Since the new format allows for us to report news as it happens instead of waiting for that day's post, I'm just gonna jump right in to voting news.

This week we have the regular COTW vote for October 6-12, as well as the vote for our AIHL Competition, both of which end next Friday at noon EST.  Look later for the polls to be up. 

COTW Oct 6-12 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

AIHL vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

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Now on to today's concepts!

Jesper W.- Färjestad BK Ladies

Our first concept of the day is Jesper W.'s design for the women's counterpart to FBK of the Swedish Hockey League.  Personally, I hate what they do with uniforms in European leagues.  They take a nice hockey uniform and slap so many ads and promos on them that they end up looking like a NASCAR driver.  That being said, I like what Jesper has done here by putting all of the sponsors' logos in team colors, it helps to make it look like a more cohesive uniform.  I also like the elimination of gold from the logo and jersey, it gives it a nice, clean look.  The use of the team's shield in the collar insert is very clever.  I'm not a big fan of the full-length phantom yoke, and the fact that it's broken up by the Adidas logo bothers me even more.  I like the double hem stripe, it helps add something more to the design, and works better on the socks than a single stripe.  Good job on the gear, but I would have gone with a white helmet for the white jersey.  Final verdict: definitely better than their current set, but still not all that exciting.  7.5/10

Jets 96- Detroit Red Wings/Falcons

Our next concept comes to us from our very own Jets96, who has done a fauxback design for the Red Wings based upon their days as the Detroit Falcons.  Right off the bat, I really like the simplification of the Falcon's overly complex striping pattern, it gives a nod to the design while also allowing for more creativity outside of the striping.  The wordmark on the front is a good homage to the original design, and the recolored Wings logo actually looks great.  The red outline on the name and numbers does a good job of avoiding yellow-on-white syndrome, but I wish you'd used a font that better matched the text on the front.  Good job on the gear, but the helmet logo should be white, otherwise it blends in too much.  Final verdict: a great fauxback design for the Wings, and a few minor tweaks would make it really shine.  8.5/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!

Phil B.- Quebec Nordiques

Our final concept of the day is another entry from an HJC staff member, with Phil B. bringing us a design for the defunct Quebec Nordiques.  Here Phil uses the unused logo from their abandoned revamp from 95/96.  While I love the igloo logo and I'm glad the Nordiques stuck with it, I actually don't hate this logo for the era it was designed in, it's a great 90s logo.  I like the use of the lighter blue as the base for the home jersey, it's much better than the darker blue that they planned to use for the revamp.  Given that this design goes for contrasting cuffs instead of the upper arm, I think flipping the striping was a good call.  I really like the preservation of the fleur-de-lis as a part of the Quebec identity, it's a great way to showcase the province's love of their French culture.  The color balancing is off on the away set, as the lighter blue that is dominant on the home is minimal on the white, but I don't know how to fix that as swapping the two blues would put the darker blue next to black.  My main issue with this is that it's too close to the original (albeit abandoned) design without being enough of an improvement.  Final verdict: on its own it's a good design, but it's just a little too derivative of the original.  8/10

That's all for me today, see y'all next week!