Friday: Post-Holiday Post

Hey y'all, and welcome to another Friday post here at HJC.  I'm currently writing this on (the superior American) Thanksgiving, as on Friday I will be catching an early morning flight back home so that I can head straight into work for Black Friday (Woohoo).  As such, I will keep today's post short and sweet since I want to spend as much time with my family as possible, as I'm sure all of y'all would do the same.  

In voting news, we have the regular COTW voting for the week of November 16-22, as well as the Nashville Predators ReDesign Competition vote, with polls for both closing Friday at noon EST.  Be sure to cast your votes, as I've seen a lot of quality designs come in for the Preds, probably because they so badly need a retooling.  

COTW November 16-22 vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

Jersey Nerds Podcast (new episode every Tuesday)

Nashville Predators ReDesign vote (ends Friday @ noon EST)

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Now on to today's concepts!

Burkus Circus- Toronto Maple Leafs

Our first concept of the day is Burkus Circus' latest Digital Six design, this one for the Toronto Maple Leafs.  Much like the actual Digital Six jersey for the Leafs, Burkus seems to draw inspiration from the legendary Team Canada 1972 Summit Series jerseys.  Rather than a more direct paint bucket fill copy like NHL 19 went for, Burkus went for a little more creativity by switching up the arm striping and including the Toronto script in the leaf design.  I really like the use of the patch in the arm striping, it looks really good and is well executed.  While I love the leaf on the front, having it on the back cut off by the numbers seems like a misstep to me, as the original design didn't even bother trying to attempt that.  The socks do a great job of matching the arm striping, but while I get what he was going for with the tan breezers, I don't really think it works well.  Final verdict: some improvements on the Digital Six design for the Leafs, but also some downgrades.  8/10

Mac W.- Los Angeles Kings

Next up is Mac W. with a design for the Los Angeles Kings.  Mac does a solid job here of combining different eras of the Kings, using the 80s jersey template with the Gretzky-era color scheme and the late 90s-00s logo style and hem script.  I like the simplified crown logo, I think part of the problem with the old logos were how intricate their design was, and this fixes that.  I like the use of the forum blue and gold color scheme on the alternate, and the striping is solid, but I'm not sure the more modern number font is a good call for the more classic look.  I'm really not a fan of the font chosen for the lettering here, it looks odd in the hem stripe and looks especially bad in the alternate logo as it isn't italicized and thus doesn't flow with the slanted nature of the logo.  As always, not a fan of the split collar, and would have liked to have seen some gear.  Final verdict: the base jersey is a solid combination of eras, but some of the smaller miscues really drag this one down.  7/10

Taylor R.- Carolina Hurricanes

Our final concept of the day is Taylor R.'s design for the Carolina Hurricanes.  While the Canes' current designs look good on their own, it's frustrating to see how close the designs are without actually matching, and Taylor seeks to solve that problem here.  By combining the striping design of the away and the warning flag pattern of the home, Taylor creates a solid striping pattern that works for both jerseys.  This consistency really helps the design, and excuses the exclusion of the black cuffs from the home.  That being said, I would have still liked to see the red yoke on the away, as it looks a little too white here.  I may be nitpicking here, but I think they've abandoned that logo as a shoulder patch and would include the updated logo, as much of a downgrade as it may be.  Gear looks solid, but I might have made the striping on the breezers match the arm striping, just for consistency's sake.  Final verdict: a solid set that fixes a lot of the problems that most people have with the Canes' current set.  9/10 and my COTW NOMINEE!!!!!

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