Thursday: Winter Wonderland

Happy Thursday, everyone. Seeing as Christmas is just around the corner, I'm going to steal a page from Ben's book and give you a look into my letter for the Man upstairs. Santa Claus, of course

- For the Penguins, a third line center and some gosh darn consistency. After losing Cullen and Bonino this off-season, the once center-heavy Penguins are sorely lacking up the middle. GMJR has been hinting at a move to fill this gap and gave the Pens the ability to get it done by adding another D-man earlier this week. So now we sit, wait, and watch JR and Sully do their darndest to pull the Pens out of the Metropolitan's basement.

- EXPANSION. Both as a designer and just a fan of hockey, the progress surrounding a team in Seattle excites me. Seattle seemed to offer everything necessary for expansion, but simply lacked a rink big enough to house the team. With the Key Arena renovation starting soon, it now seems a question of when rather than if we will see a team in Seattle. With that brings balance to the 4 divisions of the NHL and a whole field of concepts. Metropolitans? Storm? Sockeyes? Let's see them all.

- Successful Special Event jersey reaveals. After a qualified success in the 100 Classic and Winter Classic and some absolute beauties for Toronto's Next Century Game. I'm quite excited to see what the guys at Adidas have in store for the All Star Game and Stadium Series.

- Alternate Jerseys! It seems all 31 teams will have an alternate in the arsenal when they take the ice next season. Golden Knights in Gold? Winter Classic promotion for Buffalo? Send in your best guesses to concepts@HockeyJerseyConcepts.com

- While less optimistic than Ben, I'm gonna jump on the bandwagon and second the request for a last-second redesign of the Olympic sweaters. Let's see what you got, Santa!

REMINDERS:

COTW DEC 8-14 Vote (Ends Friday @ noon EST)

NJD ReDesign Competition Top 3 Vote (Ends Friday @ noon EST) 

On to the Concepts!

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Noah K.- The Bats (2.0?)

 

The Good: 

• Nice to see you getting a bit more adventurous in your striping patterns as you continue your roller coaster series 
• Logo is really nicely done, albeit a little horizontally focused. Love the fact that the striping is based off the logo
• Yokes work fairly well on both sets

The Bad:

• Striping would translate better on the jersey if it was a bit thicker across the board.
• Orange pants wouldn't be my first choice, though they grow on me a  bit more each time I take another look at this concept

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• #OB and TV numbers are too close to each other
•  Thin hem and cuff stripes would add nothing once gloves and pants are worn

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

A BIG step forward here for Nick that shows the impact that listening to constructive criticism and applying a few suggestions can have. Great work, Noah. Thanks for shwing us what the blog is all about.

Nolan O.-2019 Winter Classic

The Good: 

• Interesting take having both jerseys based around the same idea
• Socks and pants of each set instill a nice consistency within each.

The Bad:

• Bruins jersey is a direct template transfer of their 1936-39 set. So there's really no point in me reviewing that (It's nice to do a throwback look for a WC, but please add or adjust at least something to give some originality to your designs
• Hawks jersey shows this off a little better, by meshing their early 1950s look with the Bruins look seen here. Unfortunately, it borrows the worst parts of that Bruins look, employing a football-esque look and subjugating the primary to the sleeve

Overall Rating: 3.75/10

Tough rating here, mainly since I'm reviewing half a concept (with questionable design choices) and the equipment on the other set.

Vaughn R.- 2018 AHL Winter Classic

 

The Good: 

• I like the use of the retro AHL logo here, nice way to connect with a retro-centric event
• Retro Amerks logo works here as well
• Numbers match striping patterns well
• Pant patterns work well here, matching each set while still providing something new

The Bad:

• Where we don't see something new is on the jerseys themselves, where both striping patterns are highly templated designs
• Hartford monogram is a bit too modern for a WC event
• Winter Classic logo with the overlaid AHL logo is a big no-no in my book
• While I like the use a cream in past WCs, it doesn't really work for the Amerks here. Note that when the Rangers did a cream away, they accented it with Navy and a deeper red
• Don't see the point of only having the Rangers logo on one shoulder

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• Shoulder patches and TV numbers are too small on both sets
• Not sure why this would be an Under Armour event...

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

A swing and a miss in my book. I like the idea of the Sabres' and Rangers' AHL counterparts meeting outdoors for a parallel event, but the jerseys for such an event beg more some more creativity.

Vaughn R.- 2018 Winter Classic

 

The Good: 

• Some more creativity here. I'm a big fan of color on color and wouldn't mind seeing Buffalo try to work its way out of a yellow-jersey past marred by the turdburger
• NYR had fans clammering for a chest logo with their reveal this year, so its nice to see that applied here
• Numbers play off the striping very well again

The Bad:

• Red and yellow seems like a tough matchup from a viewing standpoint. I'd put one team in blur to fight the color vibration
• Both teams unveiled quite nice logos for this event. It's a shame to see neither applied here
• Don't understand the pant decisions here. Neither match the looks and for NYR you trade in a nice, storied design for one that creates a meaningless discontinuity
• I'd move the WC logo to one of the shoulders to keep from cluttering the front of each look 

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• Shoulder patches are small yet again
• Buffalo "A" is quite small
• Still don't get the Under Armour branding...
• NHL logo frankly looks awful on the back hem and there's no precedent for it being there 

Overall Rating: 8.0/10

Some more creativity from Vaughn here, but design and execution errors hold back a well-intentioned set.

Will S.- Team Canada DIY

 

The Good: 

• Now how's this for some creativity, eh? Will has removed us from the 2D world of concept design by actually producing an idea he had by cannibalizing parts from other jerseys 
• If Canada wants to separate from the Maple Leaf in the future, this beaver-based crest would be a nice path to travel down
• Striping pattern seems to be an improved edition of the 2006 Olympic jersey, reorganizing the color hierarchy and adapting the vertical stripes into a more tasteful full-length yoke
• Alternate logo from that year works well on the shoulders as well 

The Bad:

• I'd extend the black stripe across the back of the yoke rather than cutting it off a la Reebok Edge Colorado Avalanche
• White numbers on the white yoke is questionable, I'd swap those for red numbers outlined in black

Overall Rating: 9.5/10

Easily the coolest thing I've seen since joining the site and a beautiful design too. If you'd be willing to share it, I'd love to feature the story of your process of the site. If you're interested, shoot us an email and we can get that story told.

Couldn't be happier to  extend my COTW Nomination to Will S' very deserving Team Canada DIY Concept. That's all I have for you today. Have a very Happy Holidays and I'll see you on the other side of it all next week.

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