Wednesday: Flames New Sweater, Hot or Not?

Hey everyone! So I'm sure everyone's seen the Flames' new alternate jersey, but if not, I don't blame ya, it hasn't really been talked about on the site. Now that it's been officially released I would be glad to share my opinion on the jersey.

Before that though. Go vote, right now, literally go vote now. You are LITERALLY, not allowed to read the rest of today's post until you go email your vote to Ryan. What are you voting for you ask? Well let me tell you.....

COTW Oct 21-27 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTY logo entries (due Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

That second thing isn't a vote but it's equally important.

Ok enough silliness, all business now.....

Sportslogos.net

The first thing I noticed from this graphic that was difficult to see in the leaks was the pointed yoke. That's the third new yoke pattern we've seen this year (Others being Carolina and Dallas). I wonder if the addition to points, which were originally thought to be "impossible" in the Reebok Edge system, means that the Av's classic jerseys could be revived. Also seen here are some arm stripes that don't go all the way around, a script font that includes the primary logo (a la Buffalo), and a beautiful new logo for the shoulders.

Flames Website

The pointed yoke isn't seen so easily on the jersey itself as it is in the graphic. But the jersey doesn't look half bad. I don't love the jersey, but I also don't hate it. It's in the middle for me. Very average jersey that could be better but it could also be way better. One thing I think could be changed is swapping the Flames' "C" with the new circle logo in the main crest. I think it's odd to have the "Calgary" and the "C" together. The number font also looks a little too modern to be paired with a script logo that gives off a vintage feel to the jersey.

The new logo, that's featured on the shoulders, also looks very sharp. It definitely doesn't fit in with the rest of the Flames' brand, which at this point really only features the "C" logo and to a lesser extent the assistant captain's "A". The new logo doesn't fit into that fiery, Flames' brand but being that it's on an "alternate" jersey is great. 

Overall, I give the jersey a 7/10. Very average. Nothing outside of that new logo catches my attention as being really good. 

Alright, now that that's behind us, let's take a look at today's Logo Contest entries.

Dylan W.

 Dylan W. 2

Jesper W.

Rob C.

Rob C. 2

 Rob C. 3

And now...............today's normal concepts.........

Boston Bruins Alternate Jersey - Brady S

Brady gives the Bruins a gold third jersey, something that should be done, but loses the spoked B in favor of a throwback spokeless B. I rather like it. One could argue that this jersey is too plain or boring, but being an Original 6 team, the B's can get away with such a simple look. The rounded nameplate is odd to me and the numbers on the back should be bigger so they fill out that back panel better.

Rating: 8/10 - Simple and straightforward design that works for an Original 6 team.


Buffalo Sabres Alternate Jersey - Brady S.

Brady also has the Sabres taking on a new yellow alternate. Meant to replace their current atrocity. I feel like this jersey pulls off the basic look their new jersey was trying to pull off way better than what they ended up with. Normally I don't like side panels but I'm not totally against these ones. I like the "sword blade" going down the arms, it looks a lot better when used to outline an arm length yoke. I'm not too keen on the socks though. Don't know what else you could do with them but I don't care for the white line, maybe just make it straight.....

Rating: 8/10 - Make the numbers bigger on the back and lose the rounded nameplate and that takes care of every major problem here.


Quebec Nordiques Concept - Christian L.

Christian suggests the Nordiques rock a baby blue sweater with some vintage white for good measure. I like the way the colors look together. The jersey we see right here is a good starting point. It could go further and look better. It would be nice to see the numbers, both back and tv. I'm not sold on the logo choice either. Execution error that should be fixed, the thin red line on the arms floats off the "white" stripe on the front of the jersey but on the back is hugs the top of it.

Rating: 5/10 - The jerseys off to a good start, I like the colors as well as the striping. Fix the execution errors and finish the jersey and this could look really sharp.


Team Canada Concept - David P.

Pretty straightforward look for the Canadian team right here. The gold trim on the Leaf is great. Nothing much to say about this, it's a proven look in hockey. Not super creative but when designing for a team like Canada, why get too crazy when this works just fine. There are some stripe thickness issues on the jerseys. Some of the stripes are thicker than others, and the hem stripes are thinner than the arm stripes when I think they should all be the same.

Rating: 7/10 - Fix the thickness issues with the striping and this is a solid set.


Vancouver Canucks (NHL Black Series) - Wings98

We saw the start of Wings' "NHL Black" series last week and this concept suffers from exactly what I thought it would. Poor color choices for the logo, and "paint bucket" striping on the jersey that matches the last few jerseys in the series, and the incorrect TV numbers. BUT, Wings has already checked in and said he scrapped the series in order to fix up the remaining concepts. Also, the front of the jersey has a green stripe on the left arm but not on the back of the jersey. Those pants would also look pretty bad with this jersey. I look forward to seeing your updated concepts Wings!

Rating: 4/10 - Definitely work on adding your own striping to the jerseys instead of just using a paint bucket tool to fill in spaces on the jersey, and don't change the colors in the logo unless it really works, but in most cases it won't.


Philadelphia Flyers Concept - David P.

David suggests the Flyers ditch their current threads in favor of a more simple, classic look. My favorite is the white jersey. I prefer the yoke matching the larger stripe on the arms and hem. The other two jerseys should have their striping colors swapped in order to keep their yokes. That's all just MY personal preference though. The problem I run into with this set is they then start to look too similar to other teams in the league. The Flyers have a pretty unique set as it is and I wouldn't want to see it go for something like this, NOT that these are bad by any means. I just don't see the Flyers as a team that could pull something like this off and get away with it full time. I wouldn't mind seeing one of these as an alternate though or even a future outdoor game jersey. Few "bugs", there's some slight pixelation around the logo on the darker jerseys and I really dislike how the hem striping is so thin while the arm striping is really thick.

Rating: 7/10 - Fix that logo problem and widen the hem stripes and the concept is improved by about a point.


Toronto Maple Leafs Alternate Jersey Concept - Dylan W.

Holy......What the..... I'm at a loss for words. But I'll type some anyway. Other Dylan suggests the Leafs go all out with the Leaf thing and sublimate leaves all over a jersey. I don't like the sublimation on the jersey. If the Leafs were to start using actual leaf shapes on their jersey I'd rather it be very subtle rather than turning into literal piles of leaves. I wouldn't be opposed to seeing the striping pattern used here in blue and white on an alternate or specialty jersey. In blue and white of course. The color scheme here is another thing I can't get on board with. I applaud the "outside the box" approach on this one. I also feel like Dylan may have done this to get some conversation going on. So go ahead and tell him what you think in the comments.

Looking at it again, this looks like something the Marlies would do. Total minor league move. Not that that's bad, though, when teams do stuff like this it normally ends up bad.

Rating: 4/10 - Personally, I don't like anything but the striping pattern here. Make that blue and white and we'll talk.


Team Ireland Concept - Matt R.

Matt's entry into the Bottom 10 Competition. He chooses Ireland and takes his inspiration from the Team Russia jerseys for Sochi this upcoming Olympics. The dark jersey seems to be almost a color swapped replica of Russia's dark jersey while the white jersey is an Irish version of that Russian eagle/dragon/.......dog...... thing they'll be wearing. I wouldn't be surprised if anymore Nike jerseys for the Olympics end up looking like this. I personally don't think it's a good look for a home/road set, wouldn't be against it as an alternate.

Rating: 6/10 - Swap the white out with a light version of the dark and use the current white here as an alt. Also, change up the striping on the dark so it doesn't look so similar to Russia's jersey.


Team Canada Concept - Stephen T.

Stephen takes some design cues from past Nike jerseys by using the vertical arm stripes, something I was never a fan of, but Nike managed to make them look "not so bad", but I really don't like the striping on the socks. I also don't care for the colored side panel, I'd either have the side striping go all the way to the arms or just have it stop at the end of their panel and leave the colored panels the same color as the jersey. I like the logo choice, I wouldn't mind seeing less black and more gold overall throughout the jerseys.

Rating: 6/10 - Some things are good, and some are bad. Less black more gold would be cool, and less vertical stripes.


Kansas City Scouts Concept - Rob C.

Last but not least, Rob resurrects the Scouts. It's nice to see that old school logo on a jersey but I wish the striping was bigger and bolder. This color scheme is "loud" and it deserves a jersey design that kind of matches that... not too much of course. If you wanted to keep the colored cuffs, then make the mid-arm stripes thicker so that they aren't almost invisible. I would also like to see some sort of hem stripe. Blank hems very rarely work for me. 

Rating: 6.5/10 - Bigger, bolder striping and something on the hem improves this concept. Same goes for the socks.

Well that's the post today. Anything you want to talk about? The Flames jersey, the contest entries, the concepts?  Go ahead and leave a comment! Disagree with something I said? State your opinion! Be heard! To the comments! See you there!