Tuesday: Dear Santa

Welcome back to HJC for the Tuesday post. It's hard to believe, but this is the last Tuesday before Christmas. Before the day arrives, I'd like to share my List of things I sent in my letter to the North Pole:

- For my Red Wings, health for Jimmy Howard, a new defense, Yzerman to be our GM, and cap space. Lots and lots of cap space. The men dressed in red and white have put up a solid effort thus far, but have played to everyone's expectations. And if Santa tries bringing an alternate jersey for next season, I'll personally block off the chimney at Little Caesars Arena.

- A team in Quebec. If Winnipeg can have a meaningful fan base, then so can the heart of French Canada. Sure, a certain commissioner will start whining about Canadian Monopoly money, but his desert and beach teams sure aren't a rousing endorsement of the greenback. There's been talks of bringing one of those teams up north, but compared to Vegas's instant success via the expansion draft, I think French Canadians would prefer to find a brand new franchise under the tree.

- A real arena in Long Island. The Barclays Center is an absolute mess, even for bounceyball. Not sure how Santa is going to fit that in his sleight, but hopefully he has some magic up his sleeve. If not, a promising proposal for an arena district is being considered near Belmont.

- Any team but Chicago in next season's outdoor games. This is on everyone's list, isn't it?

- A last-second redesign of the Olympics sweaters. Wishful thinking? I believe in you, Santa!

What would you like to see under the Tree on Christmas morning? Let me know in the comments!

We have two polls up this week: the New Jersey Devils redesign has reached its voting phase, and as always our Concept of the Week, which has a charming outdoor concept that I'm sure you'll enjoy (nudge nudge, wink wink).

COTW DEC 8-14 vote (Due Friday @ noon EST)

Devils Redesign Competition Top 3 vote (Due Friday @ noon EST)

We have 5 concepts today, so let's get started!

Cole W.- New Jersey Devils

Our first of two Devils concept, Cole shows us his entry from our New Jersey competition. This was a good way of taking the historic striping pattern and building off of it for a concept. Cole separates the stripes of the classic pattern, and throws in an off color upper sleeve to make it his own. The consistency of the stripes can't be overlooked, and looks especially good on the pants. As great as the striping is, the colors applied to it don't take it to its full potential. The pants and shoulders go well together, but the logos fall flat against them. The numbers on the back are characteristically too large for Cole's concepts, and still needs to be made smaller.

Grade: B-

Lucas D.- New Jersey Devils

Up next, Lucas shares his Devils entry. Lucas takes a different approach, keeping the current striping pattern and applying it over the yoke and down the sleeves, and a half-pattern at the hem and socks. The theme started with the stripes up the arm is made unfinished by the blank pants, which also needs some color to tie the look together. You've completely lost me with the alternate. It's a modernist approach, the logo in a similar direction as Detroit's Stadium Series from a few years back, no hem design, but the few stripes that are there are a direct throwback. It's an incoherent, stale, and frankly, boring look. There's a few inconsistencies between both templates. Some minor problems, on the home/road sets, the yoke stripes extend too far down on the realistic template, and shoulder patch is too close to the collar. The bigger issues is how the yoke stripes clearly appear to taper on the non-realistic template.

Grade: D

Noah B.- Fremantle Dockers

Noah B takes us out of New Jersey and Down Under for the next stop in his AFL series. What I like about a lot of Noah's designs from this series is the striping patterns, and today's doesn't disappoint. The thin stripes pattern works especially well with the logo, and the off color upper sleeve is a great way to have a jersey element match the pants. The biggest issue I have with this set is the template. I've voiced my concern about not being able to see the pants stripes, but the arm stripes don't come across as clearly as possible. With the skater's arms on an angle, it can be difficult to tell whether or not a stripe is meant to be straight, where as here it's angled as in a "V." A callout or detail to show your intentions would help bring your idea across more clearly. Be sure to double check your work, because there's a stray line underneath the skater in purple's left arm.

Grade: B+

Noah K.- Indiana Express

Keeping on our theme of a Noah series, Noah K continues his Kings Island coaster series. Subtlety is always better than the obvious, and the tracks are too forced in getting the point across. In addition, the solid yokes clash horrendously with the wispy, spaghetti strand tracks. The coaster logo works surprisingly well as a hockey crest, though I could have done without the same gradient applied to the numbers. One thing I've never liked is when the pants are a lighter color than the jersey, especially when the pants are red (I'm looking at YOU Columbus and NYR). The balance is thrown off because the pants should appear heavier than the jersey; it comes across as unstable otherwise. Some of these coasters' graphic identities come over well to hockey, but this one especially needs to have some liberties taken.

Grade: D-

Ryan H.- Toronto Maple Leafs

Blog Guru Ryan takes us to the end of the Tuesday post with what he wants to see his team wear at this season's Stadium Series. There's a lot of era-blending going on here, some of it works while some of it doesn't. The striping pattern is a mix between the current jerseys and the 2014 Winter Classic, though the thickness consistency issue between the hem to sleeves would have best been left out. The thin-thick-thin look was the best pattern to fit the throwback look in a more modern context. The white pants are a bold move, but fall short here. The same stability issue as with Noah K's is applicable, and a vertical white stripe on blue pants could have matched the white stripe over the yoke; it's an opportunity lost. The Arena's "T" logo fits the helmet and pants nicely. There's a discrepancy between the sock templates; the realistic template shows solid stripes, while the other shows thin-thick-thin stripes. 

Grade: C+

My COTW nomination goes to Noah B's Fremantle Dockers. That's it for today's post. Our mailbag is running low, so if there's been a pressing question on your mind recently, let us know. Enjoy the rest of your Advent, of whatever you're celebrating, and keep your stick on the ice.