Wednesday: Let's Talk Day

Welcome to a special Wednesday post here at HJC. As you Canadian folk are probably aware of, today is Bell's annual "Let's Talk" Day. I also know that many of you in the states, like myself, are quite familiar with this cause. Every time a tweet is posted with the hashtag #BellLetsTalk, Bell (owners of CTV, partial owners of the Canadiens, the Bell Centre and MLSE) will donate five cents to mental and emotional health research. An important cause because it hits home. For the past several years, I have been struggling on and off with anxiety and depression. There's a stigma associated with it that makes it hard to talk about anxiety and depression, which in turn makes the condition worse in a person. By working to end the stigma and add to the research of the brain's emotional functions, Bell says that if you're struggling, you're not alone, and openly encourages discussion about this without repercussion and judgement. So I want to share this with readers: If you are struggling with depression, anxiety or both, just know that I understand what you are going through. I've been there. I'm still there on occasion. I feel for you. I support you. We'll get through this together.

THE SEASON: The schedule is out, as the 15 teams are now set. GET YOUR ENTRIES IN AND MAKE THEM ANONYMOUS. It was kind of obvious that last year I was the Islanders, but they aren't in this year.

We have the Kings, North Stars, Senators, North Bay Centennials and Ontario Reign in Pool A.

The Canucks, Marlies, Solar Beats, Ice Flyers and Riveters take up Pool B.

Avalanche, Brazil, Checkers, Inferno and Tigers finish the competition in Pool C.

In total, 4 current NHL teams, 3 AHL teams, 2 dead teams (NHL and OHL) and 1 team each from the OJHL, ECHL, SPHL, NWHL and CWHL, as well as one international team. The variety is awesome and this will be a fun competition this year.


CONCEPT OF THE YEAR: THE VOTE IS FINALLY HERE! WHO HAD THE BEST CONCEPT OF 2017? YOU DECIDE! The winner gets a nice plaque with the COTY logo and their name. Nice award to show off.

REMINDERS:

 COTY Final Vote (due Fri @ noon) 

 COTW- Jan 19-25th Vote (due Fri @ noon) 

 HJC Season Entries Due Friday(due Fri @ noon) 

ON TO THE CONCEPTS!


Artist: Concept

The one thing that disappoints me about this concept, besides the execution errors of the front numbers on the helmet, is the angle of the striping in comparison to the script logo. Otherwise this is a solid concept. One more execution note, The striping on the back of the yoke has to stop at the template lines that surround the adidas logo. Look at the back of both the Rangers' Winter Classic jersey and their away jersey. Maybe throw some red on the pants between the yellow and white?

Rating: 75%


FC Macbeth: Team Japan Concept

I think Japan rocks the blue and pink very well on the soccer field. A lot better than the black white and red they wear on the ice. I like this pattern on the blue jersey. It's a clever look on the arms. Maybe add one set of stripes to the hem? The pink jersey is cool too, but I think having two sets of different colored stripes isn't as good looking as, say, a blue-red-blue pattern on both sets. Gloves could have the blue and pink swapped on the wrist where the manufacturer wordmark logo sits. One of your better concepts of late.

Rating: 80%


Jeff T: Jacksonville Jaguars (NFL) Concept

I always appreciate a good crossover concept. This one I got a sneak preview for before I received it from Ryan, thanks to TSN's Instagram page, as they posted this, as well as crossover concepts for the other 3 teams that were in the conference championships this year (New England, Minnesota and Philadelphia). And I like a crossover that incorporates elements from the original existing team jersey. The off-color upper arms are a perfect example of this. The Jags wear black with teal colored sleeves. The collar is too as there's gold that surrounds the inner portion of the collar. The font accuracy, especially black numbers on the teal, and though the Jaguars have their numbers on their shoulders not their sleeves, it looks better here, combined with the Jaguar head logo alone on the shoulders. The crest choice is perfect, as not only is it a better hockey-style logo, it is also the logo you see on the front of their regular jerseys. Ditch the front numbers and we have a perfect crossover concept. Not because the front numbers are on NFL jerseys anyway, but because they just don't look good on hockey jerseys.

Rating: 97%


Noah K: Western Michigan Broncos (NCAA) Concept

Western Michigan currently uses black and gold as their dominant two colors. Noah decides to make brown one of them, relegating black to a tertiary color. Can't say I'm a fan. I've never been a fan of brown as a dominant color, more so when it's paired with this Vegas gold we see here. The other issue I have is the color inconsistency with the white jersey. In a vacuum, it's a good jersey. Paired with the equipment, the gold and brown clash severely. In addition, the white gets lost in the gold striping on the brown jersey. As for the third, the angle of the wordmark not only overlaps the yoke stitching, but also is so narrow that it's harder to see then if it were at a less vertical angle. EXECUTION NOTE: Collar inconsistency on the secondary jersey. Is it black or is it brown? Because you have it as both.

Rating: 65%


The WINNER of my Concept of the Week nomination is:

 JEFF T 

 JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS CONCEPT 

We'll get you information about the Semiahmoo Comp as soon as we can. Don't forget to listen to this week's podcast, as I make a rare appearance on the show. Send in those Season entries. You can't compete if you enter a team without a jersey. Tweet #BellLetsTalk and help support mental health initiatives. And with that I will see you next week when the Islanders will hopefully stop playing like trash.