Saturday: Backlash against the backlash against the jersey

My God, that Sabres jersey is awful. I really can't even find the words to describe how bad it is. That being said, I think the reaction to it is overblown. People are acting like it's the worst jersey of all time. Let's not forget that this is the league that brought us the Flying V, Burger King, Mooterus and Gorton's jerseys. Is it the worst jersey in the league right now? Absolutely. Is it the worst jersey in NHL history? Not by a long shot, and I think if the Sabres simply got rid of the cape design and gave the jersey a somewhat normal yoke size, it'd improve by a lot.

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Boston Bruins (by Caden)

I'm a bit conflicted about this one and most of my conflict focuses on the blue alternate. I like the idea of Boston wearing a memorial jersey for the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing, but something just seems strange about Boston in a blue jersey, even as just an alternate. To be honest, I think that combining the two alts into one and making the yellow jersey the memorial jersey would work better since yellow is one of the two colors in the Boston Strong logo and it's already a logical color for Boston to wear. As it pertains to the primary jerseys, I like them apart from the lack of hem stripes. You can't go wrong with a simple look for Boston. One really minor critique: I'd change the numbers to a block font and put the sleeve numbers on the sleeves, not on the yokes. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.

St. Louis Blues (by Caden)

I really like the idea behind this one since it's been many years since we've seen an NHL team go without a white jersey. In fact, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the late-80s purple and gold Kings were the last team to wear something other than white for their light jersey. I like the idea but I don't like the way Caden's gone about doing it. I just don't care for the half-sleeve stripe look. I really like the barberpole alternate, though. I think that look would be really good as a primary and if there was an accompanying home version it'd be really solid. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (by Dylan W.)

SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY! No, seriously, I want one. Really bad. This is just gorgeous. I hope that we see something along these lines for the Ducks' Stadium Series game, except it'll be in white since the Ducks will be the road team. My only critique is the yoke. It looks like it extends too far down the sleeve. Overall, I'll give it a 9/10.

Sundsta Solar Bears (by Frippe)

I'm a little confused about this one. Is Sundsta somewhere in Sweden? The results in Google seem to indicate as such but they're not completely clear. Anyway, the co-opting of the Orlando Solar Bears' look is pretty cool. It's certainly a unique color scheme and I really like the design choices. The striping design is unusual but at the same time conservative. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Severstal Cherepovets (by Jake88)

And so Jake's journey through the KHL continues and today he brings us the dreaded Bettman Apron. I have to say, despite the Apron, this is actually not a bad design. The color scheme has a lot to do with that because the gray complements the red and blue really well. Everything fits together. I have really enjoyed this Europe series that Jake has done. How many more KHL teams are there left to do? I haven't been keeping count. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Hyannis Port Presidents (by Jeff)

I wasn't entirely sure about this one since apparently in the movie, they're referred to as the "Hyannisport" Presidents but Wikipedia gives the city name as "Hyannis Port." Oh well, that's not really relevant. What is relevant is that, horror of horrors, I have never actually seen Slap Shot. I promise I'll change that some day. I love this concept, BTW. Not even the vertical sleeve piping is enough to make me mark it down. The simple design is good and the color scheme works so well. A nickname like "Presidents" almost demands a Rangers-esque wordmark jersey and this one delivers. Overall, I'll give it an 8.5/10.

St. Thomas Tommies (by Jeff)

Here's an interesting one. While we've had plenty of NCAA concepts, I think this is a first for me: a Canadian university concept. This one is good for the same reasons as Jeff's last concept: green and yellow is a great color scheme to work with and the design here is an excellent choice. I have one minor critique: the Reebok logo on the back of the jersey probably wouldn't show up well in black, so I'd change it to white. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Phoenix Coyotes (by Kevin)

I've long been a proponent of the Coyotes making sand and black a bigger part of their color scheme. They look so bland in just brick red and white. Jokes about the Coyotes probably not lasting long enough in the desert to see another uniform change aside, this one is an amazing concept. The only reason why I didn't give Dylan's Mighty Ducks concept a COTW nomination is because I honestly can't decide between that one and this one for my COTW nomination. This concept is simply amazing. I have no complaints. Overall, I'll give it a 9/10.

South Carolina Stingrays (by Mike)

I don't care what anyone says: despite my preference for conservative designs, I have a bit of a soft spot for asymmetrical designs. I always thought that the Thrashers' last home jersey was a pretty cool design and to be honest, if they had actually survived long enough to bring out a road version of that jersey, the Thrashers would have looked a lot better. That's why this one looks good. The asymmetrical look is good because it's not overkill. It's just one sleeve being a different color from the other, and it actually makes sense. Overall, I'll give it a 7.5/10.

Edmonton Oilers (by Stephen)

Stephen's changes to the Oilers are quite minor: he got rid of the orange yoke and switched the colors of the numbers on the blue jersey. Other than that, there isn't much to talk about. I have no problem with either change, but don't forget about the Reebok logo on the back of the yoke. Remember, they use the wordmark now, not the vector logo. Overall, I'll give it an 8/10.

Philadelphia Flyers (by Tom18)

This is a particularly interesting design choice since the Flyers have never worn a jersey in a color other than orange, white or black. The modified winged P logo makes a reappearance, and Tom added a wordmark logo as the shoulder patch. It's an interesting design choice but there are a few details that bring the whole concept down a bit. I think the name and number on the back are too small, and I'm not sure that wordmark works as a shoulder patch. I think this one would work without a shoulder patch. If you fixed those and added some numbers to the sleeve, it would do a lot to improve the concept. It's not a bad concept by any means but it just needs a few minor improvements. Overall, I'll give it a 7/10.