Saturday: Lots of different kinds of wings

Another week gone and another week closer to the beginning of so many different seasons. I know that this is a hockey blog first and foremost and as one of my favorite sports I definitely look forward to it a lot, but the beginnings of the NFL, NBA and college football and basketball seasons are rapidly approaching as well, as are the MLB playoffs. The anticipation that the latter half of the year brings in the sports world is just awesome. Wouldn't you agree?

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Syracuse Crunch (by Alan)

Ah, childhood nostalgia. I remember watching Power Rangers as a kid. I looked on Wikipedia and I had no idea that the show is still going in some form after all this time. I guess it's still a cash cow. Anyway, this one is certainly an interesting concept, to say the least. The use of the parent team logo is unique, that's for sure. Also, big plus for using my modified Bauer helmet template, though I admit I'll probably overhaul it soon. As it pertains to necessary improvements, the pants look way empty and need some kind of stripe. You have two options on the jersey that would work just fine. Overall, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

CSKA Moscow (by Jake88)

It's nice to see one of Jake's KHL concepts take a turn for the conservative. Considering the history of the team in question, I'm not surprised. The look is very reminiscent of the Canadiens and the Canadiens' look is good, so this concept is good. I have no complaints other than changing the pants stripe to match the stripe on the red jersey. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

SKA Saint Petersburg (by Jake88)

My comments from the Moscow concept apply here as well. The conservative look really works well and I like the design. However, just like the previous concept, I have a problem with the pants striping. The Flames' pants have that design because it matches up with the corresponding stripes on their jerseys. Here, there's no jersey stripe for the pants stripe to match up, so the pants stripe is just an extraneous element. I'd change to a stripe matching the jersey instead. Overall, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (by Max)

This one is tough for me because I love concepts that return the Ducks to the eggplant and jade, but the template choice here really hurts the quality of the concept. While I won't automatically grade a concept down for not being reminiscent of the slanted stripe design, I just can't get behind this one because it's just too out there. Also, while this didn't play into my grading, a word of advice: Nike sold Bauer several years ago, so their products are no longer branded as Nike Bauer, just Bauer. On that same note, Reebok doesn't use the vector logo on the back of their jerseys anymore. They use the wordmark logo. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

Anaheim Ducks Stadium Series (by Scott)

Scott brings us three concepts today, the first two of which are different designs for the Ducks to wear in their Stadium Series game against the Kings at Dodger Stadium. Obviously, if the Ducks were to wear one of these they'd wear the white since they will be the road team, but both jerseys are great concepts. I've always believed that with few exceptions (most of the time, those exceptions are white jerseys), alternates should not be the same color as the primaries, and these would make great full-time alternates for the Ducks. I get the feeling a lot of Duck fans would like to see the mask logo come back and this would be a great way to do it. Overall, I'll give them a combined 8.5/10.

Los Angeles Kings Stadium Series (by Scott)

As the Kings have much more history to draw on, Scott has decided to give the Kings a fauxback jersey for their Stadium Series uniform, since the Kings never wore white in the pre-Gretzky era. Visually, this one is really good since the purple and gold really work well with the white. I've always been a proponent of the Lakers getting with the program and wearing their white jerseys full-time at home like every other basketball team does since the white jerseys are better than their golds. In fact, they're easily one of the best white jerseys in the NBA. For the same reasons, this concept works really well. I like the throwback crown as well. Overall, I'll give it a 9/10 and a COTW nomination.

EHC Red Bull München (by Stephen)

WRITER'S NOTE: The comments previously posted in regards to this concept were judged by the writer to be too harsh in retrospect. As such, they have been revised.

I really want to like this one because I've always liked the branding of Red Bull's sports teams, but this one has some issues that I can't look past. The execution needs some work and the vertical sleeve piping look still works as poorly as it did every other time I've reviewed a concept using it. If you switched the jerseys to a more conventional style and fixed the minor execution issues this could be made a great concept. The potential is definitely there. Overall, I'll give it a 6/10.

Detroit Red Wings (by Tom)

There are basically only two ways you can get away with a Red Wings alternate. The Winter Classic jersey is one. A look like this one is the other, even though this is a fauxback and not a true fauxback. Spoiler alert: the Detroit alternate I'm doing for my Nike NHL series is one of them. This one is just fantastic. Even though I'm not a Detroit fan, I think that they would like this one a lot because it's so conservative. You just have to have the Wings in a conservative look. Anything else would be sacrilegious. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.