Saturday: Nike ahoy!

CLICK HERE FOR LIVE CHAT!

My apologies if this post seems a bit off but I am currently battling an illness and have a massive headache.


Also, here's my new HJC writer profile card!

And now, the concepts.

--------


Vancouver Canucks (by Austin)

Austin's concept takes the blue out of the Canucks and gives them a color scheme more reminiscent of the Whalers than the Canucks. It's certainly an interesting choice, but almost seems unnecessary since the Canucks are already the only blue-green team in the league. I really like the addition of the negative space Vs on the sleeve stripes. That's something that the Canucks should definitely use full-time.

My sole critique of this one is the logo. The modern stick-in-rink is better than the original and I would have used it.

Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Florida Panthers (by Brady)

Brady's design throws out the color scheme the Panthers have been using since their inception and instead makes their double blue scheme the focus of both jerseys. It's certainly an interesting direction to take the Panthers in and isn't a design you see too often since the Panthers' third jersey wasn't well-liked.

I'm not sure the roundel logo works. It seems to me that there are too many teams in the league with roundel logos and this one is like the Lightning playing Maple Leafs dress-up. It would seem like the team was trying to throw back to an era they never played in.

Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Los Angeles Kings (by Brady)

Brady Nike-fies the defending Stanley Cup champions by creating a pair of faux-backs that combine their modern logo with their original color scheme. I've long been a proponent of teams wearing light colors at home and the Kings should definitely be wearing gold as their current home throwback instead of purple. I don't know if the Kings would adopt this design since teams tend to cling to Cup-winning aesthetics but this one definitely works. Purple and gold is a really good color scheme. Also, thank God you didn't give them yellow pants for the home jerseys.

No critiques here. This one's solid.

Overall, I'll give it a 9/10 and a COTW nomination.

Anaheim Ducks (by DDragon60)

DDragon's design takes the Ducks' current third design and adapts it to a road version. I definitely like this one, but the execution problems really detract from the design.

The image is really pixelated, and the stripes aren't symmetrical. If you copied-and-pasted the stripes from one side to the other so they were the same, it would definitely improve the design. There is a lot to be worked on with this one but it's on the right track.

Overall, I'll give it a 5/10.

Los Angeles Kings (by Jordan)

Our second Kings design of the day is also a Nike design, but instead of throwing back to a past era, Jordan has crafted an entirely new identity for the Kings. It's certainly interesting, to say the least. The purple fits the Kings but the addition of the neon yellow (I believe Nike refers to that shade in their advertising as "volt") is definitely a unique choice. The logos are superb. You can't get much more regal than a lion wearing a crown.

I think the design of the Lion and the crown is a bit too detailed, though. Detail like that would get lost on a jersey, especially on the smaller logo used in the roundel. Cameras don't usually show a close-up of the jersey's front so it'd be difficult to see all of the detail.

Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Acadie–Bathurst Titan (by Kyle)

First of all, let me start by saying that the QMJHL logo is one of the best in hockey. It's a very cool logo. This concept certainly lives up to that. The color scheme is really good, especially with the addition of gray as the primary color, and while I'm not totally sold on the use of the Capitals' old number font, it's not terrible.

The stripe below the yoke on both jerseys is unnecessary. What I'd do instead is put a smaller stripe going around the entire yoke.

Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

Washington Wizards (by Mike)

I'm certainly not a Wizards fan but I was definitely happy from an aesthetics standpoint when they brought back their old color scheme, and it really works here with Mike's Montreal-esque NBA conversion. The DC logo as a shoulder patch works really well.

The logo on the front is too small, and I'd remove the wordmark. Also, I'd add a hem stripe matching the sleeve stripes.

Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Chicago Blackhawks (by Stephen)

Nothing really needs to be said about this design. Stephen has taken an all-time classic design and moved it over to the Nike template. When you have such a simple design (such as the other Original Six teams, Edmonton, New Jersey, the Islanders, etc. etc.) it's not that hard to migrate it over to a new template. Case in point: the fact that the Blackhawks' design required no significant alterations when the Reebok Edge system was adopted. I have no doubt the Blackhawks' design would persist if Nike took over and Stephen's concept is an excellent rendition of what that would look like.

The pixelation of the logos hurts the concept, though. You can make those cleaner. Also, the Blackhawks' home helmet should be black. They've always worn black helmets with the red jerseys and I don't see that changing anytime soon. Also (and this is a problem several people have) I don't like it when people don't change the color of the dots in the "mesh" on a dark jersey. It's off-putting to have all those white dots on a dark jersey.

Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.