Tuesday: Third Time's the Charm

Welcome back to HJC for the Tuesday post. Today's post is brought to you by: the number three. Why?

The Stanley Cup Final (at time of writing) is three games in. Washington has a 2-1 lead, winning back-to-back after dropping Game 1. It was the first time Vegas has lost consecutive games all postseason. It's been a great series so far; Holtby and Fleury has been monsters in goal. Neither team has been able to solve the enigma at the other end of the ice. I hope the rest of the series can stay this exciting.

In the jersey world, we've been seeing release dates for Adidas's new thirds in the NHL, so as soon as Lord Stanley finalizes its move out of Pittsburgh, we'll have plenty to talk about. Today's post has three concepts envisioning how the thirds may go, but before we head into that, be sure to vote for COTW, and check out the Pairs Competition submission criteria if you haven't done so.

COTW May 25-31 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Pairs Competition entries (due June 22 @ noon ET)

New episode - Jersey Nerds Podcast (every Monday)

Adam G.- Vegas Golden Knights "Stratosphere" Specialty Jersey

Adam continues his creative series of Vegas resorts, today for Stratosphere and The Luxor. Up first, the Stratosphere. The resort's marquee feature is its Space Needle-esque tower, but Adam focuses on the colors instead. It's a move I'm in favor of, because something like that wouldn't translate well into a hockey jersey without being extremely tacky. That said, bright colors as striping could really represent anything on the Strip, and they way it's used here doesn't mean anything to the resort. I can see how the shoulder patch logo uses that theme, but that's not the strongest connection to make. A resport isn't going to tout its logo even remotely like a sports team. Even so, the black shoulders pair with the logo great, and gives the bright stripes something to "lean" against in the design, without completely standing out in left field.

Grade: C-

Adam G.- Vegas Golden Knights "The Luxor" Specialty Jersey

Unlike the Stratosphere, this jersey goes straight for the punch with the pyramid/light scheme right on the arms. I'm not opposed to this design, which lends itself really well to setting up the sleeve number. With that said, the pyramid is hard to make out, because the white stripe is so create the triangle is so thin. Using a solid block of color to create the triangle would have been much, much stronger. The hem stripes complement the logo nicely in terms of color, but in the design, they come out of nowhere, clashing with the rest of the set.

Grade: D

Anthony C.- Boston Bruins

Anthony is up next with a third jersey for the Boston Bruins. The fauxback vibe creates a strong theme for this jersey. To really sell this as a fauxback, the Adidas stripes have to go. I think my favorite part of this, interestingly enough, is the font. It looks like it came right out of Fenway Park, and how could it be anything else? The arched nameplate over the recolored Pooh Bear logo sets the tone for the simple shoulder and pants stripes. It's far too modern of a look to integrate into the design, especially since the thin stripes don't fit with the thicker stripes and blocks of color elsewhere. Lastly, it's typical for third jersey to be the team's secondary color, and with how great the black, accenting features look on the yellow base, Anthony definitely made the right call with that.

Grade: B

Burkus C.- Anaheim Ducks

Next with the thirds jerseys, Burkus shows us his look for Anaheim. Anaheim's last third jerseys were well received, so Burkus takes it and tweaks it to make it his own. The biggest change on here is the inclusion of a yoke, a move I'm in favor of to keep the bright orange from running to wild all over the jersey. The other change involves the hem and sleeve stripes, which I also think is an upgrade. The thicker bronze stripe with support white matches the logo better than the old third jerseys, which I feel tried to cram too much in. The only design feature I feel is a downgrade is at the collar, which splits off for no apparent reason. While this isn't the most original design, I think it's changes worth making.

Grade: B+

Chase C.- Anaheim Ducks

Chase ends today's post with another take on Anaheim's thirds. The striping on this isn't quite ready for the ice; the orange stripe looks way out of proportion compared to not only the white and bronze stripes, but the jersey as the whole. This is especially apparent at the crest, where the logo seems constricted. This is also problematic on the back, where the number is shifted upward, squeezing the nameplate, while still awkwardly sitting on the stripeAside from proportion, the angling pays homage to the team's history without directly copying; it's always great to see a design play off of history, while still giving it creativity. On execution, the inside of collar shouldn't be bronze; the inside of the collar should always be the same color as its reverse side.

Grade: D+

My COTW nomination goes to Burkus Circus's Anaheim Ducks. That's it for today. Enjoy Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final, and keep your stick on the ice.