Sunday: Sunday Sans Steve

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Sunday post here at HJC.  Don't be thrown off by the Southern colloquialism, it's just TC filling in for Steve.  Don't worry, our favorite Pittsburgh resident hasn't defected south of the Mason-Dixon, he'll be back next week.  For now, just sit back, relax, and enjoy our Finals Eve edition of HJC.

In voting news, we have the regular COTW vote for May 18-24, with polls closing Friday at noon EST.  We also have the ongoing HJC Playoff Pool, with predictions for the Finals being accepted until the puck drops Monday night. 

 COTW May 18-24 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST) 

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Now on to today's concepts!

Anthony C.- Washington Capitals

Our first concept of the day is Anthony C.'s design for the Eastern Conference Champion Washington Capitals.  I love the use of the Weagle as the main crest, it's a great logo and for the life of me I can't figure out why they don't make it their primary.  I like the simple hem stripe, and I think the striping in the yoke works pretty well here.  That being said, I don't think it works well with the stars on the arms, I would have rather seen matching arm striping.  As it is now, it just doesn't mesh right and looks a little bare.  Also, with the gear it becomes a color balance nightmare, with a white jersey, navy breezers, and red socks.  YOu rbest bet to fix that is probably to just flip the sock design upside down so that it's predominantly white with a red bottom.  Final verdict: some steps in the right place, but not even the mighty Weagle can pull this one up.  6.5/10

Lucas D.- Chicago Fire

Our next concept is Lucas D.'s MLS crossover design for the Chicago fire.  I really like the striping pattern, the little triangles from the logo make for a really interesting design.  The contrasting cuff and hem on the white jersey is a great way to preserve red as the dominant color, especially with its absence in the striping.  Your treatment of the collar is great, and the hanger effect using the Chicago flag looks fantastic.  Font choice looks good and the gear seems to work well with the set.  My only note for improvement would be to remove the thin white line that borders the striping, it's unnecessary and muddles up the design.  Final verdict: a great looking crossover set that could be perfect with only minor change.  9/10

Sook- Duluth, Missabe, and Iron Range

Next up is Sook, whom I believe is a first time contributor, with a design for the DMIR railroad.  The arrow design forming an almost full-length yoke design is a clever way to include it into the uniform, and definitely an idea I can't remember seeing before.  The simple hem is a good call, as the arrow design should really be the main design point of the jersey.  The contrasting name plate works surprisingly well, but I'm not a fan of the font choice here, I would have gone with something that better matched the logo.  Finally, I would have liked to have seen gear for this set, just to get a better idea of the overall look.  Final verdict: an intriguing and unique design, and a solid start for a first time contributor.  7.5/10

Danny R.- Sherwood Park Crusaders

Here we have the first of two AJHL designs from Danny today, this one for the Sherwood Park Crusaders.  Sherwood Park currently wears LA Kings recolors for their primaries and Wild Alt Clones for their alternate, so I think an update is badly needed for them.  I like the simple striping pattern on this set, and the third hem stripe that runs to the bottom looks good too.  Numbers look good, especially with them matching the striping, and the choice to flip the colors for the name was a good way to make it pop.  I like the idea of the Crusaders using green instead of black in theory, but seeing it here with the green C makes me realize why they use black, it just blends in a little too much.  Back of the collar looks great, which makes my wonder why you didn't continue it all the way around.  Gear and presentation look good.  Final verdict: a good looking update for a team that badly needs it, but it needs a few tweaks to really get it right.  8/10

Danny R.- Spruce Grove Saints

Our final concept of the day is Danny R.'s design for the Spruce Grove Saints, featuring  a tribute to one of my favorite players of all time.  Spruce Grove has recently made a huge upgrade from Ducks recolors (featuring navy despite the fact that their logo uses black), to these beauties.  That being said, I like the idea of such a storied franchise paying tribute to its past, and I think this set does a great job of doing that.  The script logo looks great, and the recolored angel works fantastically as a shoulder patch.  The striping looks great, and works better this way than if you'd tried to match the logo exactly.  Numbers matching the logo look great, and gear looks solid as well.  Kudos for not trying to force an Adizero split collar onto such a classic design.  Final verdict: a great looking set that pays tribute to a historic franchise.  9.5/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!

That's all for me today, see y'all again on Friday!