Wednesday: Anything but NHL (Almost)

HJC voting committee members, do not forget to vote for the COTW this week.  Lots of concepts this week, so we'll need lots of votes.  Vote for me, vote for me!!!  (Just joking, vote for whoever you want).

COTW Sept 24-30 vote (ends Thursday @ 11:59pm EST)

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The Hartford Whalers Redesign competition is well underway.  Make sure you read all the rules on the WHALERS COMP page before you submit your entry.  Those entries should be emailed to HJCcontest@gmail.com.

Here are the entries that have come in during the last 24 hours...

Whalers Redesign (by Kevin W.)

Whalers Redesign (by WinnipegJets96)

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Before I get to the concepts, I'm going to apologize in advance for possibly sounding like an idiot today.  To be honest, I only follow hockey (NHL, AHL, CHL, and international hockey) and a bit of CFL.  There are a lot of concepts today from leagues I don't really pay attention to, so I'm sorry if I sound stupid while critiquing those concepts.

Northwestern Wildcats (by Charles W.)

Charles takes the "Northwestern stripe" from their new football uniform, and puts it on a hockey jersey (that description helped me a lot).  I like the striping, but I think that chest stripe should be slightly higher up.  Also the numbers on the back are too big, I'd make them about 66% smaller.  Fixing those issues would make this much better.  7/10

New England Patriots (by Randall A.)

This concept is okay, but it just seems kind of boring to me.  As far as I can tell, there is nothing about the striping which connects it with the football team's identity.  I feel like that's a missed opportunity to do something more unique.  And I also agree with the other writers that the name and numbers on the back of Randall's NFL jerseys are too small (same with the Miami Dolphins concept below).  6/10

Phoenix Roadrunners (by WinnipegJets96)

I like this idea WinnipegJets96 had to honour the 40th anniversary of the WHA with special uniforms to be worn by NHL franchises.  It seems like the NHL is trying to hide the WHA's history, but I think the WHA was an important part of hockey history, and it shouldn't be hidden.  About this concept, there are some minor differences between this concept and the actual jerseys worn by the Roadrunners.  I would either fix those differences to make it more accurate, or create a brand new "faux-back" jersey.  I have also always liked the Roadrunners white jersey better, as I think the yellow bleeds into the white on the blue jersey.  7/10

San Jose Sharks (by Kyle C.)

This is the only NHL concept of this post.  I bet the Lockout is affecting the amount of NHL concepts people are making.  Anyways, I like this concept.  The striping and logos are all good choices, but I think this concept would be even better if orange or grey was used in the striping.  Adding another colour would help this concept stand out better.  Also the back numbers are a kind of small.  8/10

Miami Dolphins (by Randall A.)

This concept makes more sense to me than the one for the Patriots.  The striping here is taking from the pants and helmet worn by the football team, which I think adds a lot more meaning to the concept.  Execution wise, besides the issue with the numbers, I also think the shoulder-patches are too close to the collar.  7/10

USSR 40th Anniversary (by WinnipegJets96)

Again WinnipegJets96 makes a tribute jersey for something 40 years old, but this time it's for the Summit Series not the WHA.  It looks decent, the arms are a bit bare, but then again that makes it unique.  I do really like the sublimated pattern on the cuffs, I love hidden details like that.  I'm not a fan of the coloured name-bar though, and I think the numbers on the back are too close together.  7/10

Summit Series 40th Anniversary (by Keens O.)

I'll discuss this concept one country at a time, starting with the best country (Canada, of course).  I like the retro look of Canada`s concept.  The striping is good, and I really like that logo.  I think the back numbers could either use a thicker outline, or even switch colours (white numbers on the white jersey, red on red jersey).  Also the small amount of black looks out of place, either use none at all or use it much more.  Now on to the Russian jerseys.  At first I didn't really like them, but now a few days later I'm starting to warm up to them.  They're very modern, which I don't always like, but I think most of this concept works.  The only thing I really dislike is the striping that comes from the shoulders and goes behind the word-mark, I don't think it fits with the other striping.  8/10.

Arizona State (by Kevin W.)

I really like the white and black jerseys here.  I think the white jersey has great colour balance, while the black jersey would be amazing as a third jersey.  The red and yellow jerseys are good too, but I don't think they are as good as the other two.  I don't like how the primary logo is re-coloured on those two.  I think it would be better staying the same as on the white jersey, but possibly with an outline to make it stand out.  I'll still give this a COTW nomination.  8/10