Wednesday: Merry Christmas...Post!

     Welp, it's Christmas. Or for people who don't celebrate that, Happy Holidays to all HJC contributors! Writers, artists, commenters, and to Ryan! He does a lot for this site to keep it organized and running everyday!

     All in all I'm probably going to make this a quicker post than usual. Not going to talk about much other than how much I want to get a Hasek jersey, but I can't figure out how to use all of my VISA gift cards for one order. Oh well, my Buckeye stickers on my laptop look nice enough to get me through without the jersey!

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Take time to vote for the Holidays? 

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

Pioneers Comp Friday, December 27, 2013 @ 11:59pm Eastern

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I'm not the best drawer in the world, but I'm sure not missing the opportunity to have a chance to have my logo picked to be used by a team. Make sure to get your Delaware Pioneers logos in by Friday! You never know what could happen!

Only entry as of 11:00 EST (The only time I'll be checking today)

Rob C.

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Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - (Justin S.)

Justin takes a crack at the Lightning to start us off on the Christmas post. I don't hate the look, however, I think it might be too plain for my taste for the Lightning. I think in general it's really plain, but nothing you can do with the logo. Some nice hints back at the original jerseys, but I still feel like it's missing things. Maybe adding some shoulder patches could help out that problem. I mean, with a traditional style like this I don't hate it, but I think it could definitely be better. 

Concept Rating [7/10]

Vancouver Canucks Concept - (Justin S.) 

Next team is the Canucks on Justin's list. He makes some small and big changes to the current look of the Canucks. I like the addition of more white being apart of the look. I don't hate the green, but I think everything pops out more when white has a bigger role. I like the white yoke on the dark jersey, vice versa for the white, but again I think it looks very empty without shoulder patches. Johnny Canuck seems to be a favorite for that. One thing Justin adds to this is higher striping. He puts it up to where the TV numbers are. I don't hate the move, but white numbers in white striping? I think you'll have to make those green for it to work. 

Concept Rating [7.5/10]

Philadelphia Flyers Concept - (Matt Mc.) 

When I see a jersey for an NHL team I always look at it first and think 'would I want these instead of their current uniforms?' For this I'm not quite sure. I love the throwback look for the Flyers. As a concept though these are better than most. Part of the reason is that people don't really stray far away from their current look (I'm included in that list). I do like both jerseys, the striping is simple yet strong. I don't really hate anything about the look or dislike anything, but nothing really stands out strong. One thing I like that other people are against is the black text on the orange jersey alone. People say it would be hard to read, but I think it could look fine.

Concept Rating [8.3/10]

 Phoenix Coyotes Concept - (Matt Mc.)

Matt brings a popular element back to the Coyote sweater, the Aztec motifs! I think this one is going to be pretty similar to my Flyers review (although I would want this over their currents) I really like the look, at the same time I don't love it. I think to me it's just the Coyote's color scheme. Not much anyone can do for that unless they overhaul a completely different look. Nice, no complaints, maybe add the regular stripe below the Aztec stripe to keep a three stripe look the Coyotes like to use.

Concept Rating [8/10]

Pittsburgh Penguins Concept - (Matt Mc.) 

One thing I love right away with this one is the original gold color from the Penguins scheme. I love this compared to the vegas gold. I think the vegas gold gives a much duller feel. Anyway I like mostly everything here. I like the thin stripe to separate the upper arm color and the two color striping. My one suggestion would be to thicken the white stripe on the hem for both jerseys to even out the striping from the arms and hem. Nothing else much to say other than I like everything here. 

Concept Rating [8.7/10]

Hamilton Tigers Concept - (DDragon60) 

It feels like a century since that contest was on HJC. Dragon brings us back to Hamilton and gives them a new set. I really can't say I'm a fan. Maybe if it was left to the arm and hem striping. However, with the football shoulder stripes, then the added stripes on the arm along with the northwestern stripes near the cuffs, it all seems really bunched up. Especially with the 'H' inbetween. I say lose the 'H' and the shoulder stripes. I like some of the out of the box thinking with the striping inside of striping, but I think it should be left off here. 

Concept Rating [5/10]

New York Islanders Concept - (Phil B.) 

Another competition concept for today's list. This one looks like a nice modernized fishstick jersey. The striping is great to be for the logo it is using. I think the classic and generic yoke though is kind of out of place. Maybe if you added a fitting design to it, or eliminate it it would make the jersey feel more complete. As it stands, that would be my only suggestion. 

Concept Rating [8.3/10] However, I wouldn't want to see it for the Islanders, I hope you understand why.

 Iowa Wild Concept - (Ryan D.)

Ryan gives us a look at the new AHL team this year in Iowa. I think when white and wheat (vintage white) are used together on a concept it makes everything look very weird to me. Like half of the jersey is supposed to be vintage and the other half is regular. I think the look is decent, nothing too special. Past execution errors (name size, NHL logos on AHL jerseys, irregular stripe sizes) are all in this concept as well. To make it better I would get rid of the front number, it seems like that is disliked throughout the hockey jersey community. Also I think you should take out the vintage white in an area, either leave it in the middle of the striping, or below the striping. I just have a couple of things left to say. I love the fact that Ryan likes making jerseys and is sending them in. However, with the amount they're coming in at I just want to tell Ryan that it isn't a contest or anything to get these in, so I recommend to really take the time. My first concepts using Paint took me a couple of hours to finish a home and away set, unfortunately, but they definitely looked a lot better. Keep working though, when you see the reviews don't get too down, there is always the learning curve to the execution freaks like me.

Concept Rating [5.3/10]

Detroit Red Wings Concept - (Stephen T.) 

Stephen makes some changes to the Red Wings set. Like the stripe on the hem for the home jersey. The number font, and the inverted colors for the crest on the home jersey. I like the number font change actually. However, this is a concept we've all seen before. I like it some changes, but it doesn't add a whole lot. 

Concept Rating [7/10]

 New York Islanders Concept - (TG)

Hmmmm...very different. Some fishnet design is on this concept sent in for the fishsticks concept. Do I like that element? Not really. Do I hate it? Not really. I think that design is left for a fan jersey. On the shelves in the arena, but on the ice, I wouldn't be a fan. I think it's cool that you attempted something different though with the design. Especially putting it on the numbers. The striping itself though is fine, nothing too fancy, but I think it's missing orange. I know orange is on the net design, but I think the jersey could use more. Maybe in place of the silver or inbetween some colors. 

Concept Rating [6.8/10]

Calgary - Edmonton Rival Colours Concept - (William B.) 

The last concept on the Christmas post is by a guy you will hear from tomorrow. William is doing something really cool here with switching the teams colors. I'll start off with the Oilers. Though not a fan of the logo here, I do like seeing that instead of the primary crest in black, orange, and red. The arm striping is similar to the Flames but the side panel striping brings a different feel. I think if the arm striping could match more to the side panels it could look better. For instance the arms could be (red, gold, black, red, black, gold, red) Making those into the sizes you see on the sides. Calgary on the other hand really puts 3 teams in mind when I see it. Bruins, Avalanche, and Vancouver. Well...the arms striping is similar to the Heritage jerseys they wore. So I'll throw Vancouver off the list. I can see how I see Avalanche, with the logo depicting mountains, but I think the yoke could be different. Maybe the new 3rd yoke they introduced to us just recently. I think some white could be added on the arm striping, it seems a little left out compared to the rest of the jersey. Also a thicker outline of the jagged hem striping could possibly make it look more appealing to me. 

Concept Rating [8.2/10] I really like this series so far! Keep it up!

Again, hope everyone has a Happy Holidays and maybe got what they wanted for these times. One thing I will love about this Christmas was that it was the first year I got everyone in my family a present, so I was really looking forward to all of their reactions.