Tuesday: 1 in 500

Hi folks, welcome back to HJC for the Tuesday post. Well, what can I say about the elephant in the rink. An expansion team is playing for the Stanley Cup in their first season. Back on the first Jersey Nerds podcast, I predicted that Vegas would comfortably finish in last in the league. But then they won their first game. Then they won 3 in a row. Then they went 9-1. Our heads started spinning until around the trade deadline when Vegas became the favorites to win the Pacific. From then on we've watched the team playing like contenders, forgetting that one short year ago, they didn't have a roster. With 500 to 1 odds, Vegas is 4 wins away from hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup on their first try.

I don't have any cable access, so my hockey-watching has been sparse this season. But I'm going to do whatever I can to watch the Cup Finals, because there's likely never going to be an opportunity to see something like this again.

COTW May 11-17 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Listen to the recent Jersey Nerds Podcast

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We have 5 concepts today, so let's get started!

Danny R.- Canmore Eagles

Danny's first of two concepts today is for the Canmore Eagles of the Alberta Junior league. I like the simple design, though I don't understand the reason for changing the color pattern from the hem to the sleeve. There's something disorienting about having the red stripes against blue on the hem and against the white on the sleeve. Also to better fit the theme, I'd suggest omitting the piping on the shoulder, and making a white collar with red accents. Another good place for red accents are on the numbers as outlines. A design feature I wish I could snap out of existence like Thanos is having the pants a lighter color than the jersey. The resultant makes a look that is top-heavy an unbalanced. Lastly, the logo selection is terrific; the recolored West Coast logo is far superior to Canmore's existing ones, and a shoulder patch is definitely called for.

Grade: C

Danny R.- Drayton Valley Thunder

Danny's second today stays in the AJHC for Drayton Valley. The color balance works well here for an unusual palate; the primary black set against with the secondary green, accented with tertiary grey and white. The shade of grey works quite well, not blending in with the white or the black. I like the green socks in this set, it complements the theme by transiting straight from the green to black on one side, with the white and grey buffer on the other. The drop shadow on the numbers was a genius way to add the gray, integrating it beautifully into the theme. The only major criticisms I have is that Danny should have sought a way to include grey in the striping of the pants., and the shoulders seem to be missing something. A shoulder patch, maybe?

Grade: B+

Lucas D.- Columbus Blue Jackets

Lucas sends in 3 concepts to close out today's post, starting with the Jackets. I've seen a lot of Columbus concepts that attempt to tie in a chevron to the sleeves, but none have translated well from military to hockey. Today, Lucas found a way to make that work. The stripes, which excellently match the Ohio flag, work as a sweater, orthogonal to the stitching. But in 3D, the way the stripes hang over the shoulder to create an angling effect. The blocks of color at the bottom of the jersey help to keep the jersey from being too bland, and I would suggest creating a solid-color collar to match these blocks. As stated above, red pants with a blue jersey are going away as soon as I get all six infinity stones.

Grade: B+

Lucas D.- Vegas Golden Knights

Next up from Lucas, the Golden Knights. I typically don't like the angled chest stripe (I called it the "prom queen sash" when Detroit unveiled it), but somehow this actually works for Vegas. Although similar, this looks much better on the dark jersey than the light. The gold looks sharp on the grey jerseys, but doesn't stand out as much as it wants to on white. The white also seems to be lacking a black element to tie it together into the pants for a cohesive set. Blank pants aren't going to cut it for a set so colorful. The logo set isn't exactly ground breaking, but there's no need to shake things up when Vegas had it right to begin with.

Grade: C+

Lucas D.- Winnipeg Jets

Lucas ends today's post with a set for the Jets. Lucas takes the existing Jets theme, and tweaks it. The first big change from the existing I notice is the consistency, not only between the hem and sleeve stripes, but between the home and road as well. Cutting off the stripes around the arms doesn't add much interest to the design, since most of the omitted area is in what I call the " No Show Zone." I want to see the stripes go completely around, just so it feels complete. As usual, I like to see pants stripes for more color in the set, since its use and balance is so great on the jerseys and socks. The Jets' shoulder patches are just right to keep the shoulders from going too boring. There's a real issue in this presentation between the 2D and 3D templates that needs to be addressed. On the 2D, the arm stripes are shown to go roughly half way around the sleeve, while on the 3D, they're almost completely around. It's an issue because you're not communicating exactly what it's supposed to be.

Grade: C-

It's a close call today, but I'm giving the COTW edge to Lucas's Columbus Blue Jackets for this being the most successful use of the chevron I've seen for the Jackets. I've tried to do it myself, but haven't been able to find a solution as great as this one. That's all the fun on the slate for today, see you next week, and keep your stick on the ice.