Friday: The Great outdoors

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Friday post here at HJC.  Despite fighting off a cold, I find myself in a good mood today due to the Rangers' latest win.  As you no doubt heard in Justin's post yesterday, the Rangers overcame a two goal deficit in the third to beat the reigning cup champions in OT.  As a result of that win, I won a wager with one of the (frankly, too many) Pens fans on staff here at HJC, with a prize that I will disclose at a later date.  Beyond that, I think I know why the hockey gods were smiling upon the Blueshirts that night. 

During warm up skate, Pavel Buchnevich noticed a young fan on the glass wearing a familiar jersey.  Upon seeing that it was his own jersey from his days in the KHL, Buchnevich showed his appreciation by giving the young man a stick to take home as a souvenir.  Later in the night, the young fan even got to meet his hero, snapping a picture with him that was posted to the Rangers' Twitter account. 

Twitter

This.  This is what hockey is about.  It's not about breaking records and contract negotiations.  It's about forming a community and connecting with the fans.  Sure, other sports have fan meet-and-greets, but this wasn't a special event.  It was just a moment shared between a fan and his hero on a random Wednesday night.  It wasn't done for the press, the PR department didn't give it a go-ahead, it was just a spur of the moment act of kindness on the part of a player.  That, my friends, is what separates hockey from the other professional sports.

In voting news, we have the regular COTW vote for March 9-15, as well as The Season Finals vote, both of which end Friday at noon EST.  

COTW March 9-15 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

The Season Finals vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

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Now on to today's concepts!

David K.- Hearst Lumberjacks

Our first concept of the day is David K.'s design for the Hearst Lumberjacks.  The current Lumberjacks identity relies heavily on a Flyers motif, honoring hometown hero and Philly captain Claude Giroux.  While I can see the reasoning behind honoring a local boy who made it big, I prefer the idea of giving the Lumberjacks their own identity, especially given that they are in no way actually affiliated with the Flyers.  I like the use of plaid in the striping, it wouldn't work with a pro team, but looks great on a juniors uniform, and it fits in perfectly with the team's identity.  I really like the white cuffs and hem on the dark jersey, it makes me wish you'd done something similar on the other jersey to break up all that white.  That being said, I think the combination of the hem and arm contrast with the white yoke is too much, I'd probably eliminate that.  I really like the shoulder patch on the white jersey, which frustrates me with its absence on the red one.  The drop shadow on the captain's C is an odd choice, as it creates three different fonts across the set.  Gear looks fine, but the TV numbers on the front view of the jerseys look chopped off on the top.  Final verdict: a good idea and some chances pay off, but some choices hold it back.  7.5/10

Jared L.- Sonic the Hedgehog

Next up is Jared L. with a design for the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series.  I like the color blocking for the striping pattern, it's a good look and incorporates all of the colors in the sonic scheme.  Font choice is great, it matches the logo really well.  It kind of bothers me that this is a Sonic concept without the eponymous hedgehog, I would probably have incorporated one of these logos as a shoulder patch to tie him in to the set.  The execution on this set is atrocious, it's sloppily filled in, there are multiple spots on this set where the template has been left uncolored, and the striping looks like it was just added on with a paint brush.  Final verdict:  not a bad idea, but execution really drags this one down.  5/10

Taylor R.- Quinnipiac Bobcats

Our final concept of the day is Taylor R.'s design for the Quinnipiac Bobcats.  Quinnipiac's hockey identity has always frustrated me, as they use a different color scheme than the rest of the university's athletic teams.  Here, Taylor tries to reconcile this by bringing Bobcats hockey into the fold of the rest of the athletic department.  The Bobcats have a pretty busy color scheme, but Taylor manages to work it into a complex striping system fairly well.  While I'm not usually a fan of busy striping patterns, this design really makes it work by thinning out the bordering stripes so they act like accent marks to the main gold stripe.  Leaving the breezers without striping is a good call, I think trying to match it would be a misstep and introducing a new one would be a letdown.  As much as I usually love a white yoke, I'm not sure it works for me here, I'd probably eliminate that and go for a gold collar.  Final verdict: an ambitious design that pays off.  8.5/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!

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