Wednesday: Happy New Year from HJC!

     To start off todays first post of 2014 I'd like to say Happy New Year to everyone! 2013 was my first full year of following this site, and I don't think this year will be much different. People seem to always have New Years Resolutions, mine is to just be myself I guess. Theres nothing in my life I want to drastically change. My HJC New Years Resolution however is to participate in every contest, and vote every week. So hey, voting only takes about 5 seconds once you're logged onto your e-mail. So instead of opening a box of doughnuts, stay a little healthier by working out your fingers and voting? Everyone here would appreciate it!

Right now I'm watching the Winter Classic. At this very moment the score is still 0-0 and there is 8:41 left in the 2nd period. Shots on goal being 19-10 Detroit, but hits are 22-7 Toronto. I'm just listing random stats that came up on screen when I looked up. The beginning with the snow falling was beautiful in my opinion. I know some people at the freezing stadium likes the snow stopping, but sitting at home, I wished it would pick up again.

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENTS

This week it's the jersey portion of the Delaware Pioneers contest. All I know is you have nothing to lose when you send in your concept. Could you imagine getting a jersey you designed and having a real team wear them? Take a chance and send yours in! Speaking about these jersey's there are a few today that we can take a look at, maybe some of you can get some ideas flowing after seeing these. Go to the 'Delaware Pioneers COMP' tab above to see all the information you need. Good luck to all!

Entries as of 3:54 PM eastern.

AJH

William B.

Zane B.

          Delaware Pioneers Entries - Saturday, January 4, 2014 @ 11:59am Eastern

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Voting Reminders

COTW Dec 23-29 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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Now let's see some concepts!

2016 Heritage Classic - Winnipeg vs. Edmonton - (Tristan M.)

Tristan give us the 2016 Heritage Classic designs. Well...his take on it anyway. I think this would be a cool game to see if these two teams go up head to head. It seems to me like these two jerseys are almost like the two teams wearing what the other team has worn in the past. I like the Jet's jersey because it just looks nice. Can never go wrong with that look. The Oilers like I said looks like a Jet's throwback. However, I do think with the piping colors it looks pretty great. I think if you had the striping from the hem and put it under the arm color (like the half stripe they used to wear) I think that jersey would be perfectly complete for me. I have no complaints from the Jet's jersey, it looks nice. 

Concept Rating: Jets - [8/10]  Oilers - [8.2/10]  Overall - [8.1/10]

Toronto Maple Leafs Concept - (Caden P.)

With the topic of Outdoor games so far on this post, let's keep that mind set with the team that's a part of the Winter Classic this year. Caden goes Pats colors here in bringing back the green for the club before the Maple Leafs. Caden mixes around a couple of jerseys to complete this set. The green jersey taking points from the 1925 jersey, but adding the arm striping. The home jersey taking points from the 1922 jersey. Both are pretty good looking. no complaints on the green one other than one point I'll get to later that both jerseys have. The white jersey I feel should have white numbers on the back with a thick green outline. Sort of like the first Detroit Winter Classic jersey. I'm never a fan of nameplates, so I'd get rid of those. The point about both jerseys would be the use of two different number fonts for the TV numbers. I don't know why it's like that, but I'd say use the numbers on the back. 

Concept Rating [7.5/10] If those changes are made. [7/10] as it stands.

Macon Whoopee Concept - (AJH)

I love these colors together. I wish Vancouver would take their latest stick in the rink jersey and make an away version for it. Then there set would probably my favorite in the league. This is slightly similar to a Vancouver set, biggest difference is the 'M' 'W' in the striping....almost like the Vancouver 'V'. I wish the striping in the middle that connects to the 'M, and W' were thicker. It's almost hidden in the striping to make it really bunched up. Make that change and the rest looks good to me. I'm starting to second guess the front hem striping now that I look at it. Maybe it's an overkill with the M,W on the logo and the striping directly below. You can keep it everywhere else, but maybe in the front it can be left out.

Concept Rating [7.8/10] Maybe not an NHL uniform (which it's not meant to be) but I could see it for minor leagues.

Colorado Avalanche Concept - (Stephen S.)

Stephen gives us some info on bottom about the intentional large numbers and logos. Before I start off I would like to know why. As it stands regardless I don't know if it would fly with me. Maybe the larger numbers, but the larger logo seems like it would be a nuisance. The jersey designs more importantly look good though. I miss the avalanche-esqu mountain striping, but going with similar 3rd striping looks decent enough, especially on the white jersey, I think that looks sharp. For the white jersey though I would make the number base color blue or burgundy. It might be confusing for some people just to look at an outline. Maybe that could work for juniors or minors, but I don't think that would fly for an NHL team. The alternate looks decent. The logo is a cool interpretation of the Nordiques. I have gotten some criticism from people in the past when I've done that though. People say that they are a whole different identity than Quebec and it should stay that way. I like the idea with the 'c' logo on the bottom but I would use a different one. Just not my taste I suppose. 

Concept Rating [6.8/10] Making the numbers and logos regular sizes would be better to me.

Brampton Beast Alternate Concept - (Ryan H. - HJC)

Let me just start off with this one saying that I love the hanger effect. That's a nice touch for the team name. I like the jersey design, however, I think the striping (hem) could be larger. I think the jersey feels a little empty with the striping being kind of smaller. I like the yoke treatment, but I would like that to be larger too. Maybe bringing it down lower to where the collar starts. Everything else is fine. What can I say? It's a nice jersey design and I like it. 

Concept Rating [8/10] Larger striping I think could make it a nice 8.5/10

Michigan vs. Michigan St. Outdoor Game Concept - (AJH)

This concept gives us another outdoor theme with the NCAA. The two Michigan's would be battling off in this one. I like the logo for the Wolverines, but not so much on the Spartans jersey. For the logo I would say have the 'S' base color white, bordered by silver and black like the striping, so there is a more unified look to the jersey. Michigan one isn't bad, but I think it could look better if the striping was switched to white in the middle like the logo again. Also a number outline for Michigan I think could look better. 

Concept Rating: Michigan - [7.7/10]  Michigan St. - [7.2/10]  Overall - [7.45/10]

Oklahoma City Barons Concept - (Kyle N.)

I really like the yoke treatment on this jersey. It's unique and I really don't think I've seen it before. I really like it too! The striping is pretty unified throughout which is always good. I'm not a real fan of the color scheme. I've never really liked the bronze color at all, and I don't think it looks good with two blues. These look decent, but the colors just don't do it for me. I like the effort though with the yoke and what not, and the subliminal tower in the jersey. 

Concept Rating [7.8/10]

Phoenix Coyotes Concept - (Stephen T.)

I already like this more than the current jerseys. Mostly because it uses more than two colors. Another thing I'm a fan of is the white yoke on a dark jersey. You rarely see that in the NHL anymore. The striping is similar to the current striping which makes it good because they're not straying far from a look they have. I think some shoulder logos would work good here since it seems pretty basic and empty. I'd like to see a sand color worked in here too. The away jersey had sand in the logo but doesn't have any. Don't know if that's a mistake or not. Theres things I love about Stephens work, then one thing that annoys me. He's so close to becoming that artist that we all like, but there always seems to be a big execution error on his concepts. Right here..it's the no TV numbers on the white jersey. Double check 'em!

Concept Rating [7.6/10]

Swift Current Broncos Concept - (Jayson T.)

This is a team I don't see often have concepts of. I like the base look, but there are some problems. I think the hem striping could be lower to give some breathing room to the numbers and logo. I also think that the numbers on the white jersey should be blue since blue seems to be the primary color from these sets. The fact that it's basically a recolored Nashville jersey will lose some points, but the jersey looks nice on them. 

Concept Rating [7.2/10]

Philadelphia Flyers Concept - (Stephen T.)

The last concept today is by Stephen again, and again, we get some notes here. I'll start out with it to get it over with. I don't know if it's on purpose but the logos are not centered. If it's on purpose I would like to know why. If it's good enough maybe it'll be fine then. Also...back of the hem on the black jersey...has an extra stripe. Always that one thing. Double check 'em! I believe that these are similar to the second Winter Classic jerseys they wore. I really do like these a lot. If it wasn't for the execution errors I might nominate it. Another thing that draws me off is the nameplates. With no orange jersey I don't think it's needed at all. And I think the yoke area is missing orange. To fix that I would put orange next to the white on the collar. Then it should be good to go!

Concept Rating [8.6/10] with the changes I said as it stands though [7.8/10]

That's the first post of the New Year! Hopefully it's a nice year here at HJC and we see more artists start to contribute a long the line. Have a great week everyone and I'll see you guys on my last post net week!