Thursday: Feeling Blue

It's Thursday, I should be happy to be writing another post, and enjoying the game of hockey (like every day). But sadly, the hockey world hasn't garnered any exciting news lately.

Jersey news? Nothing really (Thursday seems like an awful day for jersey news).

General hockey news? Well, Canada dropped the ball at the World Juniors, and the Americans did even worse. Disappointed, but somewhat expected.

Olympic news? Obviously nothing new with WHAT the players will wear, but now we know WHO will wear these jerseys.  And yet, everyone is more concerned about who WONT be wearing the Red and White (or Red, White and Blue, for our American readers).

*Sigh* Is there ANY good news today?

Why yes there is! HJC is bringing back an old rule for its competitions.  For all competitions in 2014, the winners will automatically be entered into the COTW vote for their respective week.  So if you win a competition, you have a chance to win COTW or even COTY, without having to resubmit your concept.  Save time, and give your prized concepts more exposure, its a win-win here.

Alright, now I'm cheered up with that news, but these concepts today will definitely make me feel "Blue" again...

COTY-December vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW Dec 30-Jan 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern) 

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St. Louis Blues vs Espoo Blues Concept - Stephen T.

Yay: Let's start with a "Double Blues" concept. St. Louis vs Espoo (SM-liiga/Finland).  As far as I can tell, the two jerseys are basically a swap of each other's main set, with the colours fixed. The end result are two jerseys that feel made for their new logo, and it's a great fit. A very interesting matchup aesthetically, but it works well, and execution on this concept is (almost) great!

Nay: For total accuracy, the numbers on the Espoo jersey should have a white outline similar to its counterpart, and the name should be white.  I've never liked the St. Louis style of jersey, but I can't dock marks because this is just copying the existing styles.  I think it would look better and not be too inaccurate if the St. Louis logo was coloured with the dark blue from the cuff, because it blends in too much with the front of the jersey.  Finally, the TV numbers on the St. Louis jersey should swap sides, as right now they'd read '24'.

Overall: It's a great looking concept, and a clever idea to mix the two; but there isn't much original design here, and there are a few concept fix-ups needed. 7.3/10

Boston Bruins Concept - Stephen T.

Yay: Next up is an encore for Stephen, this time showing off his Bruins design. Execution is pretty good here (hard to mess up TV numbers with a number like '33').  I don't notice many changes to their current set, besides the stripes have been reversed on the home jerseys (with yellow usually on the outside, but not this time), the black cuffs being reduced back just a little, and the home collar being more than just black.

Nay: Out of the few changes that are made here, the biggest one I'm not a fan of.  I think the stripes on the home jersey should have yellow on the outside, because it would match the away jersey more. I also think having more yellow instead of white is a better idea anyway. I also think the collar should be the same on both jerseys, so change the home collar to just black, or the away collar to black and yellow. And I think the pants stripe should be yellow, not white.

Overall: It looks good enough, but there isn't much new here. And most of the changes aren't changes for the better. If it ain't broke... 7/10

LA Kings vs Anaheim Ducks Concept - Mat W.

Yay: It's pretty cool seeing the jersey ideas of "what could have been" after the jerseys have been revealed. The Anaheim jersey looks close to what everyone was expecting, a "retro" jersey with new colours. Personally, I'd wear this jersey before the real ones. The Kings went grey instead of black, but Mat got the crest right (without the text), and it looks like what a Kings jersey should look like. The font looks good, and the colours look as great as expected for these jerseys.

Nay: Both logos look too large and too high on the jersey.  I like Anaheim's logo, but I think the Kings could do without the text on their logo.  I think Anaheim's main number would look better white instead of black.  

Overall: The logos need some resizing, but I think this is a pretty solid design overall. 7.8/10

Chicago Blackhawks vs Pittsburgh Penguins - Mat W.

Yay: For Mat's 2nd concept, we see the jerseys from Chicago's Stadium Series game against Pittsburgh.  Of course, everyone expected retro jerseys, which wasn't the case.  Still, these look great as throwbacks to the Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Pirates hockey team of long ago. The colours are perfect, and the execution looks pretty decent.

Nay: Both logos are again to high, and a little too small.  And both jersey's striping pattern seems too busy.  I know the Penguins are matching the Pirates' stripe pattern (from different eras), but the hem stripe should be 2 or 4 stripes I think.  Chicago's are a direct throwback, but I really think it looks weird that the stripes have no bottom white stripe, and the hem just looks more busy.

Overall: Accuracy wise, these would be great throwbacks. But I think a few very subtle changes would do this concept wonders. 8/10

St. Louis Blues Concept - Ryan D.

Yay: Ryan returns this week with more concepts.  First is yet another Blues concept.  As far as Ryan's work goes, this has to be one of his better efforts. The stripes are close to matching (not quite perfect yet), he's experimenting with equipment designs, and the sizes of the jersey elements are closer to being perfect.

Nay: Close to perfect, but not quite.  The striping on the front jersey left-side doesn't match the other stripe sizes elsewhere, and the name and number could be a little bigger.  The hem stripes look good, but should be a little lower on the jersey.

Overall: Definite improvement, but more is needed. 6/10

Dallas Stars Concept - Ryan D.

Yay: Ryan comes back with a Dallas jersey, which admittedly is a step back from his previous concept.  However, staying positive, I like the look of a black jerseys for the Stars, and a traditional looking stripe pattern is the way to go I think. No more funky jerseys to mock Dallas for, please?

Nay: The stripes don't match in size almost anywhere on the jersey, including the socks.  The number on the back is a good size, but looks off-centered.  The name is way too small as well.  Everything else is an execution error which I'm sure you've heard before.

Overall: The idea is great, but the execution is bad. Not as good as your other concept today. 5.4/10

Buffalo Sabres Concept - Tristan M.

Yay: As I always say, this is substantially better than their current 3rd. This jersey keeps some of the elements that make their 3rd jersey interesting, without looking like total patch work.  There is substantially less grey, the striping pattern looks great, the logo choice is excellent, and execution on this jersey is simply great. It's not the gold jersey that Buffalo wanted, but it's the 3rd jersey Buffalo deserves.

Nay: A few things I'd change up.  First, there isn't much white on the jersey at all. That's fine, but if that is the case, then maybe the laces should be a different colour too.  They stand out more than they should.  Second, I think the number on the back looks just a bit too small.

Overall: Even without those changes, this jersey looks great! 8.4/10

St. Louis Blues Concept - Colin M.

Yay: Our last of many Blues concepts today belongs to Colin, who attempts to merge the 90's style with the current colours. Does it work? Absolutely. The totally original striping pattern of the 90's Blues looks as good as ever with the new colours, although personally I miss the red look to it. I never really wanted to see the trumpet as the main logo, but it looks pretty cool now that I see it here. The equipment looks great for this concept style, and overall execution is great.

Nay: The shoulder logos should probably have a yellow or white outline to it, because it's pretty difficult to see as is. I like the yellow and blue outline to the white number in the back, but I think the outline needs to be thicker, as the number gets a little lost when it's over top of the white striped area.

Overall: Old jersey + New colours = Great success. 8.2/10

Dallas Stars Concept - Colin M.

Yay: Colin's 2nd jersey today is a cool black 3rd for Dallas. As I mentioned in Ryan's concept above, a black 3rd with some traditional striping would be cool. Well here we are.  I think it's a great idea to use the secondary "Starbucks" logo on the front, as it looks better against black. The striping pattern looks traditional, yet a style we don't see too often. If the logo didn't look so modern, this could make a great Winter Classic jersey. 

Nay: The black stripes in the striping design bug me a bit. Either make them more noticeable, or eliminate them. I personally think the stripes would look better and more classic without the black gaps. Of course, this could cause a problem with the arm star (which like the original Canucks jerseys, is a nice feature) being noticeable. But changing in colour, an additional white stripe at the top, or elongating the star are ways to fix that

Overall: For a team that hasn't had a decent 3rd since 1997 (which became their regular jerseys), a jersey like this is long overdue. 8.4/10

Charlotte Checkers Concept - Kaner88

Yay: Kaner88 brings his Charlotte Checkers jersey, with the old alternate logos subtly changed to better reflect the team's current colours. Not a gigantic change, but the logos look great nonetheless. The jersey itself is different to anything Charlotte (or parent-club Carolina) wears currently, so the original look to the team looks good.

Nay: I think the logo on the jersey would look better without the wordmark logo added. It makes the logo too long and to compensate, makes the main element of the logo too small.  The hem stripe doesn't match the arm style, and has a pretty major error with the back not having the grey stripe that the front does.

Overall: It looks pretty good, almost more like a Devils jersey than a Hurricanes/Checkers jersey, but at least it's original. A few changes before this is a great concept though. 7.1/10

Oakville Blades vs Georgetown Raiders Concept - Adam R.

Yay: The last concept of the day is an interesting jersey matchup between Oakville and Georgetown, two of the original teams from the OJHL. It's cool seeing junior teams below Major Junior (or Tier 1 Junior in the USA) that don't get much jersey exposure as the more popular teams. Anyways, this Heritage Classic matchup has everything that vintage jerseys should look like. I'm not sure about classic logos for these teams, if they have other older logos, but using text based logos is a safe way to go here. The shield captains patch on the Oakville jersey is hard to see here, but would be cool to see for real.

Nay: Oakville basically uses a NY Rangers scheme already, so maybe using their old shield look from their Winter Classic games would look even better. The Oakville jerseys also don't have a name on the back. On the Georgetown jerseys, I get why the 'R' is the front logo, but I think using 'G' for Georgetown would be more appropriate. As it is, it looks like a mix between the Red Deer Rebels 3rd jersey and the former Quebec Ramparts jerseys. A 'G' will be a huge step forward.  The captain patch on the Raiders jersey looks a little squished as well. I'd also like to see real laces on jerseys like this, instead of the Olympic faux-laces.

Overall: It's really cool to see teams like this, and while the jerseys themselves need a little fixing, there is no denying that this is a cool jersey matchup. 7.4/10

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This is a tough call today, but I'm going to go with Tristan's Buffalo Sabres Concept for my COTW nomination. 

Speaking of which, we haven't had many COTW concepts to vote on lately. Voting is important, but nominating these concepts is just as important, or else they won't be voted on at all.  So I'd love to see more comments and nominations on which concepts you like best, because I'm sure not everyone agrees with my reviews. 

Well thats all I've got for today. As always, thanks for reading, and have a good weekend!