Tuesday: Slow(er) News Month

Hi folks, welcome back to HJC for the Tuesday post. On Monday when I started writing this post, I lamented the lack of jersey news we've had recently. Beyond a handful of NHL thirds and the Stadium Series logo, there hasn't been much to discuss.

That all changed this morning, with the Newfoundland Growlers unveiling their home and road jerseys for their inaugural season. Read our story on it here.

Source: Twitter via @CompleteHkyNews

As I scroll threw the Tweeter machine, the initial reaction is overwhelmingly positive. That said, I have to admit, I'm not as much a fan. The team appeared to play it safe by keeping it simple, but there are two miscues here I can't overlook. The first thing I noticed was the lack of consistency in the striping. It looks like the sleeve and hem stripes want to be the same, but they vary by quite a bit. It reminds me of the Maple Leafs current look. The other no-go for me is the phantom yoke on the white. Other than that, the simplicity pays dividends on this set. My favorite feature is the arched wordmark on dark jersey. Arched text over logos is a drastically under-utilized look in hockey. I'll grade it a C- on my grading scale, but a few small changes would raise it drastically.

Back to the blog, you can now vote for Round 1 in the Open competition. Check it out, along with the COTW vote. 

HJC Open vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

COTW July 20-26 vote (ends Friday @ noon ET)

Jersey Nerds Podcast (new episode every Monday)

Bpoe- NHL Comic Sans Series, Minnesota Wild

Friend of the Show, Bpoe, continues his depressing series of comic sans in the NHL. There isn't much to comment on here, though Bpoe's creative touch in morphing comic sans into cursive font in the vein of the Wild's mark is commendable. The curved "arms" of the stars also fit this horrendous style.

John E.- North Bay Battalion

John takes North Bay in a different direction from its current all-out military theme. This theme is much more subtle, taking the angles from the chevron and applying in a mighty ducks-esque jersey, with a fitting yoke. This also ties in nicely with the logo, whose authorship I'm glad to see was cited. The biggest change, however, from the current identity are the colors. Black has been swapped for blue, and the green is much brighter, close to a neon. I feel like this was a necessary change, because it fits the North Bay flag as John shows, and it better breaks from the direct military theme. For a complete sell on the theme, I wish the font matched from the crest logo to the name and numbers on the back.

Grade: A-

Jordan R.- Baikonur Cosmonauts

Jordan R. has sent in a series for a fictional Soviet league, and from what I've seen so far, this is going to be fantastic. First of all, this presentation is above and beyond, and makes this concept extra fun. The style was executed perfectly to sell this mid-century throwback style to the days when the Iron Curtain stood tall. As for the team itself, the logo fits this theme quite well. The cartoonish cosmonaut is a simple way to create the identity, and the arched text completes the look for an excellent crest. The jersey design is another great throwback to the 70's, and looks like they could have been designed by the same person doing the Soviet national teams concurrently. I only have a minor complaint about the design, that the pants should have white stripes to match the jerseys. As great as this design is, the idea is even better.

Grade: A

TC M.- Tampa Bay Lighting

Our Friday writer TC decides the Lighting need a new look, and considering the team looks like the Maple Wings, I have to agree. There are some issues with the colors and stripe thickness that really drag this one down. It took me some time to realized that the stripes within the white are actually black and not blue. Given how close the black and blue are in darkness, they would need to be put directly against each other in order to better tell the difference. This works better where TC put white directly against the light grey, but the stripes are still hard to discern from a distance, where they're starting to blend together. All four colors at once is also a bit much on the eyes, where limiting it to just three would have been more successful. The alternate is the most successful of the set, where each color more or less gets its own block. The white logo pops out against the black well, and the full-sleeve blue yoke livens the look with white and grey accents.

Grade: C-

My COTW nomination goes to Jordan R's Baikonur Cosmonauts. I love this first team of the series, and I'm looking forward to what we see next. That's it for this week, I'll see you next week, and keep your stick on the ice.