Thursday: Late Night Ramblings

No real intro this week as I was irresponsible and wrote this late Wednesday night...

But stay tuned as next week starts my series reviewing goalie masks designs from across the NHL...

REMINDERS:

COTW NOV 24-30 Vote (Ends Friday @ noon EST)

NJD ReDesign Competition Entries (due Dec 15 @ noon EST) 

On to the Concepts!

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Cole W.- Edmonton Oilers

 

The Good: 

• The Blades made the right choice in returning to their old color palette. This set does the same while separating them from their Pittsburgh copies 

The Bad:

• While separating them from their Penguins-esque look, this pattern does little to establish a unique identity
• Cuffs are rendered pointless as they'd be covered by the gloves on ice

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• Pant striping is too thick
• Numbers need a thicker outline to have an impact

Overall Rating: 4.0/10

Cole separates the Blades from the Pens, but leaves us with a look that does little more.

Nick B.- Nashville Predators

 

The Good: 

• With the Preds pushing gold as much as they are, a navy alt would be a welcome addition in my mind
• Striping pattern draws well from their current look while setting up something distinctly different
• "Predators" in the collar is a nice touch and callback to their primary set

The Bad:

• No reason for pants to not match. Add a white stripe

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• As much as I love this template, something needs to be done about the shoulder,s swallowed-up shoulder patches are not the way to go

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

A competition ready look for the Preds.

Nolan K.- Tri City Americans

The Good: 

• Welcome to HJC, Nolan. Always nice to see a new face on the blog and even nicer to see one whose early concepts are well executed
• While not exclusively your own creation, TC-eagle looks great as a secondary
• This look gives the Amerks a much greater level of creativity than their current CBJ-based set

The Bad:

• While distinct from the Pens pattern, this look shares similar arm-to-hem stripe inconsistency
• I'd replace the silver in the striping with white. While clearly an intentional draw from the logo, the shades are so close it comes across as a mistake
• Never been a fan of the hip stars on Tri City's uniforms, but I won't punish you too much for preserving something they already have
• Anniversary patch would look much better on the dark jersey if the inner circle remained white

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• Helmet logos should be much larger
• As your identifier stands, it looks as if you're claiming to be a part of the HJC staff. While we certainly appreciate your contributions to the site. We'd like to keep that logo for our use. Your logo in the bottom corner gets the job done, so I'd just stick with that going forward

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

A new look for the boys from Tri City, but one that's not without questionable design decisions and execution errors. Very promising for one of your first concept though, Nolan. Keep up the good work!

Sam T.- Providence Bruins

  

The Good: 

• Sam draws some clear inspiration for this look from Providence's current alt
• If adds are going to find their way onto jerseys, recoloring them to match the jersey is the way to go

The Bad:

• If you're gonna go no-white in the striping of the jersey, I'd carry it across the board (logo, name, number, equipment, the whole 9 yards)
• If the Bruins of Boston aren't going to wear their classic yellow socks, Providence might as well, but they don't make the most sense here
• I understand this is likely due to template lines, but the horned yoke doesn't really make sense with this set. I'd either find an adjusted template or update it slightly to meet your needs

Overall Rating: 5.5/10

Creativity brings some modernity to the controversial Oil-drop, but I believe you've still got more to offer.

Four quality concepts, but no one concept clearly deserving a COTW nomination in my mind. I'm going to forgo the opportunity to voice my opinion this week, but be sure to leave yours in the comments below.

Got Questions? Send 'em our way by stuffing the HJC Mailbag.