Friday: TC's Animal Kingdom

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Friday post here at HJC.  I don't know about y'all, but I'm excited about these Conference Finals match-ups.  After the first two games in Tampa, I thought that the Caps were gonna make a clean sweep of the Lightning, but the Bolts were able to come back and give the Caps a taste of their own medicine by beating them twice at home, evening out the series at two games a piece.  On the other side of the bracket, the Jets seemed fully in the driver's seat for game one against the Golden Knights, but Vegas was able to rally back for games two and three, giving them the series lead heading into tonight's game four.  I love a good, competitive series, so I love watching these games go back and forth rather than have on team a clear victor.  It makes for a more exciting series to watch, and it gives us more hockey to watch, so it's a win-win situation.  Here's hoping that both series come down to the final minutes of game seven.

In voting news, we have the regular COTW vote for May 11-17, with polls closing Friday at noon EST.

 COTW Vote May 11-17 (ends Friday @ noon EST) 

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Now on to today's concepts!

Danny R.- Calgary Mustangs

Our first concept of the day is Danny R.'s design for the Calgary Mustangs of the AJHL.  Here, Danny appears to pay tribute to the franchise's past, using the color scheme of the Calgary Royals, their moniker up until 2010.  I really like the striping pattern on this set, it's a unique style that I think works really well here, especially with the full length yoke.  While at first I wasn't a huge fan of the main logo, it's grown on me and definitely works better with this design than their primary logo would.  Gear all looks good, and good job properly citing the source of your logo.  Final verdict: a good looking uniform for the Mustangs that would definitely improve on the Sabres clones they currently wear.  8.5/10

Lucas D.- Arizona Coyotes

Next up is Lucas D.'s design for the Arizona Coyotes.  Here he seems to want to revive the kachina jersey, but with a new pattern for the native inspired design.  While I usually love attempts to bring back the kachina, I'm not really sold on this new design.  To me it's a downgrade, and with so many kachina jerseys coming in to us, for one to really shine it has to knock it out of the park.  Execution and presentation are great as usual, but there's just nothing here that really makes me say "wow".  Final verdict: a decent design for the Coyotes, but it's too close to so many others to really impress.  7/10

Matt G.- California Kingfishers

Our final design of the day is Matt G.'s design for a new NWHL expansion team, the California Kingfishers.  I really like the design of this logo, it is a great depiction of a kingfisher, but it also gives off a the look of a crashing wave, which I think fits with a California team.  The color scheme is also great, I love the way the blues play off of the orange.  The striping pattern on the jerseys, reminiscent of the '06-'07 Ducks jerseys, also play into the wave motif quite well.  My main issue with the main set is that the dark jersey uses a third shade of blue as the base, I think that's too many blues in one color scheme, just make it match the top stripe.  Also, I'm not a huge fan of that shoulder patch, I think it's just a little too bland looking.  The alternate is a great extension of the main set, and really shows the role of an alternate related to a main set.  The fauxback looks fantastic, that alternate logo gives a great old-timey feel, and the striping on the arms reminds me of an old barber pole jersey.  Presentation is fantastic, and I love the addition of the apparel.  Final verdict: a great identity with a great uniform set that I would love to see take the ice.  9/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!

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