Friday: The Sweet Taste of Victory

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Friday post here at HJC.  As I mentioned last week, another writer and I had a little wager riding on the Rangers-Pens game.  While I couldn't tell y'all my prize last week, it came in the mail two days ago and I can now happily share my victory.

That, ladies and gentlemen, is a custom made, one-of-one Rangers Navy Lady Liberty design from our very own Jersey Casual line.  There is nothing quite like the feeling of knowing that I own an HJC shirt that has never been produced before and never will again.  I imagine this is what parenthood is like, but without all the dirty diapers and orthodontia expenses.  While this particular design is currently, and will forever be, unavailable, we have a plethora of other great designs available right here at the HJC store.  The designs really do look great and not only can you find at least one design for your favorite teams, but we're also constantly cranking out new designs.  For those of you that aren't in the market for a shirt, you can get the design on a wide variety of items, including stickers, hoodies, posters, and clocks.  So go ahead, click on the link above or the "SHOP" tab at the top of the page and let everyone know your love for hockey jerseys.  

In voting news, we have the regular COTW vote for March 16-22, with polls closing Friday at noon EST.

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

                                              

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Now on to today's concepts!

Lucas D.- San Jose Sharks

Our first concept of the day is Lucas D.'s design for the San Jose Sharks.  Personally, I think that the Sharks are one of the teams that most need a redesign, as their current set is nauseatingly bland.  Right off the bat, I love the use of the new "Tiburones" logos, I still don't understand why they came out with these great logos a couple years ago and haven't moved to them yet.  While I'm not usually a fan of the gradient look on a jersey, I like it here in the half sleeve design, especially fading to the white yoke on the dark jersey and the main body on the away.  That being said, I wish it were a more natural gradient instead of the blocky look that this one has.  The contrasting hem looks great, it's something really simple that the Sharks neglect, and it really hurts their color balance.  Gear looks good, but I wish there was a way to make the socks look better.  I can't think of one, so this was probably the safest bet.  Final verdict: a decent design for a team that badly needs a revamp, but I'm not sold on the block gradient.  8/10

Mitch S.- Toronto Blue Jays

Next up is Mitch S. with his third design for the Toronto Blue Jays.  I really like the shoulder patch on this one, and the angled striping is a good look for a team like the Blue Jays.  While I'm not usually a fan of the split collar, I think it actually looks pretty good here, especially with the light blue trim continuing all the way around.  I've never been a fan of the muscle jay logo, and using such a baseball-heavy logo for a hockey jersey is a misstep in my eyes.  As Justin noted yesterday, the striping matches the Jays' font really well, so I think it's a missed opportunity by using this font instead.  In terms of execution, the loose pixels between the red and blue in the striping needs to be fixed, and the logos look a little blurry.  What perplexes me the most about this set is that on your previous red and blue jerseys you used the same logos, but decided to switch it up on the white.  If this was meant to be presented as a set, as the consistent striping leads me to believe, I would have used the same logos on the blue and white and put the muscle jay on the red as an alternate.  On a final note, the lack of gear hurts these concepts, as we're getting an incomplete view of the overall look of these uniforms.  Final verdict: not bad for an early attempt, but some design choices confuse me.  6/10

TC Moore- Minnesota Wild

Our final concept today is a fauxback third for the Minnesota Wild designed by yours truly.  As a special treat, our Tuesday writer Ben has graciously offered to step in for me to review this concept.  With that, I give you Ben's review : "TC takes the Wild's "State of Hockey" identity and runs (skates?) with it.  I like how TC took the theme from the Wild's current identity and interpreted it as a fauxback.  The complementary red and green look fantastic on vintage white, but the yellow is dragging it down.  It doesn't contrast as well with the background enough in the logo, and clutters the collar with too many colors.  Wordmarks are really underutilized as crests, and the classic script logo taking the spot fits for a fauxback extremely well.  I'm not as sold on the shoulder patch logo; the state really gets lost in the yoke.  If the state could be omitted, the oval portion alone would look really sharp, I think.  I tend to overlook the gloves in concepts, but this one looks like TC gave it some thought and didn't throw it in after the fact.  The split green and white with red to accent complements the rest of the design.  The green helmet was the right color selection, but a logo like the Wild's demands to face forward.  Grade: B."  Thank you Ben for stepping in for me and giving such a fair review.  

In light of me being an entrant in today's group of concepts, I must recuse myself and leave it up to y'all to nominate a concept for COTW.  

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