Thursday: A Return to Normalcy

Had another Olympics-fueled intro planned for the day, but my professors seem to have other plans as I have to large a pile of assignments and exams to develop that story just yet. Keep your eyes open for that in the near future as I hope to get it out before we all forget of the spectacle we witnessed in Pyeong Chang throughout the past month.

As always, don't forget to vote! We have both the regular COTW vote and the 4th Season vote as one of our more exciting competition nears the playoffs. Be sure to check out Phil's Wednesday post for a number of clinching scenarios we may see this weekend.

REMINDERS:

COTW Feb. 16-22 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

The Season Week 4 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

On to the concepts!

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Adam G.- Washington Capitals

The Good: 

• Pretty solid timing with this concept as I just added a blue screaming eagle jersey to my collection last week
• Even though red white and blue is a fitting scheme for the nations capital, I've always preferred this more unique look for the caps. You've got to love that blue, black, and gold combo

The Bad:

• For the most part though, this is just a paint bucket fill of the old capitals alternate. And what changes that are there only downgrade it in my opinion
• The black-heavy striping of the old away played a lot better off the blue than the gold does here
• With so little black on the jersey, the black-heavy equipment really throws the color balance off
• Striping is also a little thicker than the original (another slight downgrade IMO)

Overall Rating: 5.0/10

A little more creative than a simple template update. Unfortunately, what changes are made only seem to detract from the original.

Joe D.- Vancouver Canucks

The Good: 

• Joe brings us a refreshed look for the Canucks that's eerily similar to the Canucks entry that's tearing up The Season at the moment 
• White Cuff and hem and cuff fill bring some life to a set that's focused on the darker blue and green
• Stick in the rink beats the hell out of the Can-orca they use current. Love seeing Johnny Canuck on the shoulder as well
• Collar looks pretty solid, as far as Adidas collars go 

The Bad:

• Not a fan of the addition of grey to the look. I'd swap the grey on the logo and striping for white to add even a little more to an already solid look
• Pants could use something to give them a little life, moving what you have on the socks to the pants could solve that issue nicely
• Socks could use some white

The Ugly (Execution Issues):

• #OB are too far separated

Overall Rating: 6.0/10

A step in the right direction, but a few more need to be taken before this set is battle ready.

Matt G.- Ilves Tampere

The Good: 

• Always look forward to a Matt G. concept. As always, you can expect excellent execution and presentation
• Updated logos (while not entirely your own) set a much better identity here
• Throwback jersey is beautiful and a well-executed update for a unique look in their past
• Striping pattern and number font follow a similar theme on the main set. Both are things I normally wouldn't like (unnecessary inconsistent striping and one color numbers on a colorful jersey), but both are effective here

The Bad:

• Color balance leaves much to be desired in the main set. Typically if I'm making a jersey with no white in the striping, I'd go full throttle and remove white from the jersey altogether (rather than shoehorning it in in the numbers)
• Makes no sense for the road to be devoid of yellow with it playing such a large role on the home and throwback
• Sock striping could benefits from matching the jersey striping, with the base color breaking up the two colored areas
• Pants could use some striping as well (matching the hem perhaps)

Overall Rating: 6.0/10

A solid update for Ilves, but a number of inconsistencies and design decisions hold it back more than any level of execution can hope to redeem

That's it from me this week. Nothing in particular stood out today , so I'll leave you the full force of COTW Nomination powers in the comments below.

Got Questions? Send 'em our way by stuffing the HJC Mailbag.