Monday: Week of July 23-29, 2012

After a month long tournament we now have our champion. The 2012 HJC Open Champion is...

Justin Cox!!!!!

I was asking people to send in HJC Open Championship logos for today's post and a few came in. Oddly enough, it was Justin's logo that was chosen as the Championship logo. However, you can click here to see the others that came in.

Justin won all four of his head to head match-ups to become the 2012 HJC Open Tournament Champion. His first round entry (below) defeated Kevin's entry by a vote count of 11-7.

Justin's second round entry (below) was able to defeat Dylan's Coyotes concepts by a vote count of 12-3.

In the semi-finals, Justin submitted the concept below and it defeated Tex and his Jets concept by a score of 11-2.

In the Final, Justin's concept (below...again) beat out Stéphane's Kings concept.

The results of the Final vote are as follows.

2) Justin - 9

1) Stéphane - 3

It may look like a very decisive victory for Justin, but almost everyone who sent in their vote accompanied it with a phrase similar to, "it was very close" or, "it was very tough to choose". Unfortunately for Stéphane this is the second straight year that he has lost in the Final of the HJC Open.

With the win Justin will now receive a HJC jersey! I will email you Justin in the next 24 hours so that you can let me know how I can get the jersey to you.

A couple of people asked me how they could see all the entries that came in for the HJC Open. Well, you can now go to the HJC OPEN page and there are links to those entries. They are sorted by the round they were entered for. A big thank you to everyone who participated. Hopefully we can do it again next summer.

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This past weekend a lot of HJC readers engaged in a very productive discussion on the future of HJC. In case you missed it you can check it out here and you can still get involved and leave your thought. I will take a couple of days to decide how HJC will proceed.

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As if this day couldn't be any busier, the COTW nominees have been listed. You can see the nominated concepts by clicking the banner on the side of the page or you can go to the CONCEPT OF THE WEEK tab. Committee Members have until the end of Thursday to email their vote in.

COTW July 16-22 vote (ends Thursday @ 11:59pm EST)

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Baie-Comeau Drakkar concepts (by WhiteLightning)

I like the idea of the bright colours, but I would have gone with something different than the old Flames' sweaters. There's nothing wrong with the home and road really. They are actually nicely executed, but I would just use distinct jerseys designs to go with the distinct colours. The alternate kicks some ass though! 7/10

New York Rangers concepts (by Trey)

The jerseys are fairly simple and classic and there's nothing wrong with that. They aren't an improvement on the current sweaters though. I'm finding that the shoulder yokes are really grabbing all of my attention away from the rest of the jersey. These remind me of sweaters from the late 70's and early 80's. 6/10

Ottawa Senators concepts (by Chris S.)

These sweaters are good and have some potential. It looks like the lines and some spacing between them needs some cleaning up. There's also a couple of lines that go outside of the template. I'm not a fan of hem trim when you're using straight hem stripes. If you want hem trim, I would curve the stripes to travel along the hem. 6/10

Manchester Monarchs concepts (by Cody)

I like the colours and the stripes. I also like Cody's idea of giving the Monarchs their own look. I like the attempt at doing something different on the yoke trims, but I think it needs to be more prominent. Right now it just looks like a mistake rather than a design element. White numbers on the purple jersey might also be better. 7/10

Los Angeles Kings concept (by Dave C.)

There are double outlines on the stripes, so I would have done the same with the yokes. I do really like the whole idea of this grey jersey though. Again, I would go with a double outline on the player numbers too. Apply those simple adjustments and this concept would be rockin'. 7/10

Minneapolis Moose concepts (by Chuckie)

I like a brown and green jersey, but I think some other elements need to be either green or black otherwise the home uniform just looks like a big poo. I don't think the TV numbers should be so high up on the sleeve. It makes the sleeves look very plain and empty. 6/10

Pittsburgh Penguins concepts (by Scott M.)

We've seen this idea a few times before and that's because it is a good idea. This past season the Penguins' farm team wore fauxback unis like Scott's black concept here. Scott has done a great job turning it into a NHL Penguins sweater. He's also supplied a white jersey to make it a home and road set. I like these jerseys and EXACTLY how Scott has shown them, but I'd prefer it just as an alternate. 8/10

Florida Panthers concepts (by Nevill)

Nevill brings back the old red jersey, but he has added a second yoke outline. The stripes on the white jersey have been altered to match those on the red. These are really well executed and I like how Nevill went with the longer yoke rather than they typical size that Reebok sets. I don't know if these are different enough to try and sell again to Panthers fan, but I also don't think that was Nevill's intent. 8/10

Florida Panthers concepts (by Torin)

I really like the "swooping" stripes on these concepts. I personally think thought that there should be as much white on the hem stripes (blue on the white jersey) as there is on the arm stripes. Then I like how Torin went with some a little more "calm" with the alternate. I think the home and road OR the alternate could benefit from shoulder patches. 8/10

Washington Capitals concepts (by Brandon C.)

I believe that we have seen the blue jersey, or some version of it, from Brandon before. Now he has supplied a white road jersey to complete the set. This set looks quite regal and classy. I think to bump it up a bit further, the current numbers and font would be a great addition. 8/10

Washington Capitals concepts (by WhiteLightning)

These concepts look great. The only thing I can really see that could use a change would be a noticeable outline on the shoulder patch of the blue jersey. If I'm going to nit-pick, and I'm going to, I would say that a jersey cut similar to the Winnipeg Jets would just add something different to the look of these. 8/10

St. Louis Blues concept (by Steven G.)

The logo looks fantastic! On almost every concept that uses the trumpet logo as the primary, I say that it doesn't look good and is better suited on the shoulders. This may be the first concept where I could accept it as the primary. This is so well executed, but I really think it needs the typical Blues' yellow. Perhaps a very small amount of trim somewhere? Regardless, this deserves a COTW nom from me! 8/10

Winter Classic concepts (by Tyler G.)

The Wings jersey looks top notch. There's nothing to be critiqued there. On the Leafs jersey, I would go with a solid colour collar. The Leafs have never had anything but a solid coloured collar. The logo that you use as a shoulder patch really doesn't get across the heritage or vintage theme that the Classic tries to exude. I would go with any Leafs logo after that one. 7/10