Thursday: Early Riser

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Quick note: Yes, this post was originally up at 4:30am this morning.  I was just practicing getting up early to watch the hockey games during the Olympics...

Just kidding, anyone who knows me knows I'm not that much of a morning person.  I made a goof in scheduling this post, and thankfully Ryan noticed this before too many people saw this and fixed the problem.  Hopefully that is my one rookie mistake done and over with.  Thank you to Ryan and Dylan W. for their help this morning, and sorry for any inconvenience.  Now then, on with the show.

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Hello again everyone.  I'm back for Round 2 here at HJC, and I'm excited to get this next post going.  I really like all of the Return of the Soviets concepts, voting for your favourite 5 is going to be extremely hard to do, but good luck to all who entered.

One quick note, HJC is looking for a new writer on Saturdays. Do you want to show off your blogging  skills on the coolest hockey design blog around?  Of course you do!  Click on the big white box above, download the concepts from the link on the page, write a mock-post using those concepts, and send it to us.  Its so easy, even I figured it out.  And the best part: you'll be writing for Saturday.  There's always hockey games on Saturday, so you could write about hockey, while watching hockey, and help people read about hockey.  Hockey-ception! So go ahead and send in your mock-post, and join the HJC team!

Oh, and another thing before I get to the concepts.  Voting turnout for COTW last week was awful.  Not just awful, but Buffaslug-awful!  Yes, I'm being slightly hypocritical, because I forgot to vote last week as well.  But just saying, hopefully this week people are more involved with voting.  All it takes is an e-mail.

USSR Comp To 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW Sept 16-22 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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Metallurg Novokuznetsk Concept - Frank C.

Frank starts us off with a concept from the KHL.  Currently, Novokuznetsk uses a red jersey at home, and a grey one on the road, with a red version of the logo used on the road jersey.  Frank sticks with the black logo, which I like.  I like the overall design, but it screams New Jersey a little too much to call this totally original.  Everything looks clean, and in place, besides one of the TV numbers on the road jersey  being coloured incorrectly.  Plus, as much as I like the font used for the numbers, I think Frank went a little overboard with the stroke of the road numbers.  Get rid of the white stroke on the numbers, and fix your TV numbers, and this isn't a bad set by any means.  7/10



Seattle Thunderbirds Concept - Jake88

Jake88 gives us his version of the Seattle Thunderbirds.  I love their current set, reminds me of the Hartford Whalers.  This set is...well...interesting.  First of all, I really don't know what to think of the striping pattern on the road white set.  Unique, for sure.  But it doesn't translate well on a hockey jersey in my eyes, it just takes away from what is a really classic colour scheme.  The home blue set looks more like a hockey jersey, but I have some problems with it as well.  I don't see the point of the smaller while and green stripes on the hem, especially because it isn't used on the arms.  It just looks out of place.  I don't think it's necessary on the yoke either, since the road set has a blank yoke itself.  I don't know if I like the road set, but I think I'd like the concept more if it was an identical set with that design, instead of two totally different designs.  It's cool, but I think it needs work.  6.5/10



San Antonio Rampage Concept - Kyle N.

Kyle gives us a set from San Antonio's AHL club.  I've always liked the black and silver colour scheme.  I'm glad LA went back to their 90's roots with it, and the Rampage obviously take their scheme from the San Antonio Spurs NBA club.  This is a really good set, and uses the colours well to make a unique, modern look, and not just a Kings knock-off set.  Where the Rampage's current set looks pretty bland, this really stands out.  As a few nitpicks: as much as I like the TV numbers on the arm striping, I really think they should be higher on the arm, and I think the name and back numbers are just a little too big.  But other than that, excellent work. 7.8/10



Duke Blue Devils Concept - Mike S.

Mike's Duke design takes the decent jersey of the current Blue Devils look, and changes it to look like Duke is an 'Original Six' sort of team in the NCAA.  Really cool.  Not too many teams, especially university teams, can handle such a simple, 2-toned design, but Scott really finds a match in this Duke set.  Everything is executed well, and attention to detail is big on this design.  My one problem is that the wordmark logo should stand out a little bit more.  Its hard to notice the unique detailing of the "Duke" name, so maybe a bit of spacing and stroke fixes could help it.  Otherwise, a solid 8.3/10.



Pittsburgh Penguins Concept - Scott D.

Scott D. dishes out this rather unique set for the Penguins.  It's really flashy, in a good way, and I like the yoke and collar pattern of the design.  I do have a bit of a problem with the striping pattern, mainly the hem pattern.  The hem pattern follows the pattern on the arms, except for the bottom where it finishes with the opposite colour.  It makes the bottom of the jersey look out of place from the rest of the jersey. Some people like that style I guess, I'm not one of them.  I think it's always best to have the hem and arms match, unless one has a unique design.  My only other suggestion on the jersey is to maybe lift the back number a little bit, or make it just a little larger.  Other than that, it's a pretty cool.  With a bit of work, it can be a good concept, but I'l go with 7/10 for now.



AHL All-Star Game Concept - Scott M.

Scott M. gives us a concept for the AHL all-star jerseys.  I'm usually not a fan of jerseys with mis-matching arms.  It looks trendy and never seems to translate well on a hockey jersey.  However, this looks really flashy, something an all-star set should be, and it looks clean.  It carries the theme of the AHL branding well, and it looks like a very solid set.  I really don't have any complaints here.  Personally, I'd think about changing the road pants from red to blue, just to make some difference between the two jerseys.  That might not be best, its just my vision of it.  Anyways, 9/10 and COTW nom from me.



Pittsburgh Penguins Concept - Stephen T.

Keeping on the theme of "one-armed" jerseys, as I call them, Stephen gives us another Penguins set for today.  Remember how I said I normally don't like these sorts of concepts?  That applies here.  I really think this is a unique concept, and a cool idea, but I think Pittsburgh is better served keeping their more traditional look than going to something like this.  I also think, instead of the robo-penguin logo, you should see TV numbers on both arms.  I'd also rearrange the colours on the home jersey, either by switching the black with gold to match the arms of the other jersey, or by switching the white on the arms with gold to keep the same pattern of colours from the road jersey.  Hopefully that ramble made sense.  I'd also shrink the logo a bit, and maybe think of something a bit more creative for the socks, or at least make gold more relevant. And there is also an error with the home collar, with the front being black and the back being white, small fix.  I still don't like the arm design, but it has potential to change my mind.  6.5/10



Anaheim Ducks Unused Colours Concept - Steve M.

As an aside, this contest was very hard, and it was cool to see how many unique designs came from it.  Congrats to everyone who entered on having pretty cool entries.  Steve's entry here is definitely a good, simple design, that is executed fairly well.  My favourite of the set is the alternate, no colour seems out of place, and it looks like a traditional set while having outrageous colours, and still looks cool.  The main set is designed nicely, but I have a problem with the logo being pretty much the only bronze on the entire jersey.  It just looks out of place to me.  But other than that, really good effort.  7.6/10



Toronto Maple Leafs Concept - SG-94

We end today with SG-94's Toronto Maple Leafs set.  Toronto sets are very easy to make, but very hard to master, since their style has been so simple forever, and every attempt to make them look flashy has ended miserably.  This is a nice, clean set, and I like seeing how the logo was used in the design choices of the stripes.  This set looks most like their early 2000's set, in my opinion their best look.  The small stripes give the jersey something new while still looking like it's always belonged on a Maple Leafs jersey.  The cuffs stay true to their roots too, which is a plus.  It was a hard choice for my COTW nom this week, but this loses out because this isn't a huge, mind-blowing advancement from what Toronto currently wears now.  But this is a very good design nonetheless.  8.9/10

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That's all I got for today.  I hope you guys like my reviews, and I look forward to coming back next Thursday for yet another post.  Thanks for reading, and have a good Friday!