Thursday: International Delight

I was going to talk about the beautiful Ducks throwbacks we got to see a few days ago, but I'd say everything what others have said: they looked great and should stay that way.

So I'm gonna talk quickly about something completely different, with soccer! (wait...what...can he do that?!)  Don't worry guys, it'll be relevant to us shortly:

For anyone following the 2014 World Cup Qualifications, you probably have noticed that many of the usual suspects have qualified already, as expected.  But over the past few days, Bosnia-Herzegovina has qualified for the main tournament, and Iceland is right on the doorstep. It's a beautiful thing when this happens, as the world can set it's eyes on a country (and a uniform) many have never seen.

Jumping back to hockey, it's harder to see smaller teams compete in the world stage, as the Championships are in tiered form.  But South Korea is now only one tier below the main world championship level, and The Netherlands made a historic, almost-successful run to the 2014 Olympics, despite being ranked 24th in the world.

It would be really cool to see one of these "bottom-10" countries featured in this week's contest to make such a run, as we could see some really cool jerseys on display that hardly anyone has ever seen.

That's where I'll stop my gab for today.  Now lets take a look at some concepts, shall we?

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Note: If you haven't voted yet, or submitted your IIHF entry yet (guilty as charged), you don't have much time left, so better get on it.

3rd Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern time)

COTW Oct 7-13 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern time)

Bottom 10 IIHF entries (due Friday by 11:59pm Eastern time) 

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IIHF Bottom 10 Concepts

Stephane S.

Viktor B.

Zack M.

Ryan H. (HJC)

Taylor R.

Tom18

Matt R.

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Carolina Hurricanes Concept - SG-94

We start today off with a pair of Hurricanes concepts.  First, Steven shows us his concept for a Hurricanes 3rd jersey.  I love how the secondary logo was used, and how it stands out even though it's primarily black, like the jersey.  Gradients haven't been too successful on hockey jerseys in the past, but I think this is an exception.  The gradients on the jersey are subtle and clean, but really give this jersey a unique look.  The use of the flags as the jersey arms and sides is done perfectly. I don't really think the gradient stripes on the pants are necessary, and maybe a font that is a bit more exciting, but that's all I have to suggest.  It would be a little out there as a main jersey, but its just wacky enough and just believable enough to be an awesome 3rd jersey.  8.3/10

Carolina Hurricanes Concept - Dylan W.

On to Hurricanes concept #2.  Dylan gives us his redesign of the Hurricanes, fittingly branded to fit the 4th Staal brother.  Wouldn't that be something, 3 or 4 brothers on the same team?  Anyways, this concept gives the 'Canes their beloved flag-stripe back, and puts them on the jersey's arms to match.  There is less black on here than their former jersey had, which I think is a bonus. They look better with less-black (Dylan's concept) than no-black (current jersey).  Everything about the jersey looks great, and it's an entirely believable Hurricanes set. 9.5/10

Ottawa Senators Concept - Tom V.

Tom shows us his Senators concept, a jersey which I wish the Sens wore against the Ducks' purple uniforms.  I can assume this was made in the style of Ottawa's early road uniform when they first re-entered the league.  I found those to be bland jerseys then, but a cool 3rd jersey look now.  Tom has changed some things around, making the logo a little brighter, using gold for the numbers instead of white or red, and putting the secondary logo with the arm stripes, and raising the TV numbers.  I think I would have kept the secondary logo on the yoke, and the TV numbers between the stripes, but thats simply my design choice, and no mistake by you.  If it wasn't for their already cool 3rd jersey, I'd wish Ottawa would use these.  8.7/10

Los Angeles Kings Concept - Jets96

Here we have a Los Angeles Kings full set, filled with all of the yellow and purple your eyes could ever handle.  These jerseys were really unique to hockey when they were introduced, and the colour scheme will likely never be done by anyone else in the league.  What is cool about these is that we have a new white jersey to match the theme, and making the yellow jersey the 3rd.  It's not too often that a 3rd jersey is just a main jersey with different colours, but it works when the colours stand out so much.  The execution here is really good, staying true to traditional striping (not necesarily to LA's striping), and looking a lot more interesting than the 2010 3rds the Kings dished out. My only complaint is that the TV numbers on the main set, especially the dark jersey, are pretty hard to read. Minor details, still a great concept.  8/10

New York Islanders Concept - Jets96

Here we have the 2nd part of Jets96's Double-Dion of concepts today.  These jerseys pretty much stay true to the traditional look of the Islanders.  The equipment of the set is done really well, and the overall design is pretty good.  But I do have a few concerns. The 3rd jersey seems to similar to the main home jersey to be a good 3rd, and the striping in the main set appears mismatched.  There is a gap between the white and orange stripes on the dark jersey, effectively creating a small blue stripe in the middle.  The white jersey doesn't have that small white gap between stripes.  It was probably done that way on purpose, but I'd prefer a matching design on details like that.  Good design, at least it's not black and white... 7.5/10

Quebec Nordiques Concept - Bryan W.

I'd love to see Quebec back in the NHL, but it would be hard seeing them without their original set.  Bryan gives us a new set with all the same flavour as the old set, including the fleur-de-lis all over the design. What's new is the arm-stripes, something that the Nordiques ever had on their jerseys, as well as a stripe surrounding their fleur-de-lis design on the bottom.  The design is really cool (almost cold), but the one main change I would make is adding red stripes around the hem and pant stripe, to match the arms. Other than that, this concept is Très Bien. 8/10

Virginia Tech Concept - Mike S.

Mike continues his NCAA designs with this one from Virginia Tech.  From what I've researched, they aren't exactly one of the big name schools for hockey, but they do compete, and do have a hockey jersey to compare to. While this doesn't fit in with the traditional college hockey uniform, it looks like a great, classic looking jersey.  Nothing really exciting here, but the unique colour scheme is shown well on these jerseys without looking tacky, and the equipment was designed well.  I would probably give the numbers a faint white and orange stripe to match the logo, and maybe do something different with the yoke, but that's all I have to say on that.  I'd love to see a dark set with this design.  8/10

Colgate Autism Awareness Concept - Andrew G.

We'll end today with a pair of concepts from the Colgate Autism Awareness Competition.  The first is from Andrew.  Andrew gives Colgate the Anaheim Ducks treatment, which with the colours used looks fantastic on this jersey.  Andrew then puts the puzzle piece design inside of the blue elements of the jersey, which turns this jersey from a Anaheim knock off to a really cool design for Autism Awareness.  I'd change the pants stripe a little bit, maybe changing the grey middle to blue, or black.  Other than that, not entirely original, but great effort. 7.8/10

Colgate Autism Awareness Concept - Antonio C.

We end today with this design from Antonio.  Along with the concept, Antonio also sent in this message:

"This one is special! I dedicate this jersey to my son William who's turning 4 years old along with his twin brother Frank  on OCT 14. He was diagnosed with "ASD" autism spectrum disorder last fall of 2012. Since then I am ever so blessed and proud to see my child take such great strides of improvement, to understand and communicate with his family and surroundings. He is a great kid Daddy loves you William"

That is really awesome for Antonio to design this concept for his son.  It really gives these designs some meaning when we see things like this.

The tribute itself feels COTW worthy itself, but it doesn't have to bank on me being a softie to win that title.  This jersey is a masterpiece.  The chest stripes inside of the gradient puzzle piece design is really cool.  Out there, but perfect for a specialty jersey like this.  The colours really make every element of this jersey stand out, besides the TV numbers which could be a little hard to notice with all of the stripes on the arm. It looks good as a flat design, but from how it looks on Antonio's 3D template...amazing. 9.5/10 and my COTW nomination.

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Maybe we can all take a lesson here, from Antonio, as well as teams like Bosnia-Herzegovina soccer and the Iceland hockey (their Eagle logo is very Canadian and significant, read up on it).  It's not always about what the jersey looks like, but about what the jersey means, that makes it a good or bad uniform.  Just some food for thought.

Thanks for reading my rather wordy post today.  Hope you all have a good weekend.