Wednesday: The Theme Is Red

Last week, I talked a little bit about hats. One of Ryan's tweets led me to the @SabresStore Twitter page, and I saw this picture:

Photo: @SabresStore Twitter Account

Do you see the hat on the center of the top shelf? Could that really be a hat matching the Sabres new alternate jersey? Not only would you look awful wearing the jersey, you could buy a matching hat!
 
Here's a very rough Photoshop job of what the announcement would have looked like:

Original Photo: buffalowins.com

Look how happy Steve Ott looks now!
      
Tonight at Midnight is the deadline to enter your best concept into the first round of the HJC Open. Only 8 artists move onto the second round, so in my opinion, your best concept may be the one you want to use first! We also have a couple of votes going on. The second quarter COTY vote will determine the second concept to be in the final COTY competition. The COTW concept from this week could very well be the Q3 COTY winner, so make sure you can help decide that contest as well.
   

2nd Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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

HJC Open Round 1 entries (due Wednesday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

 

HJC Open Entries

    
Alex O.

  
Danny R.

   
J3 Hockey

   
Jacob S.

   
Michael G.

   
Vincent M.

      
Here are the concepts that aren't in 'The Open.'
  
Mario A. - Carolina Hurricanes Concept

Design: Mario's concept drew my attention, because I recently made a concept with Tampa's rip tide pattern as well! After spending all of that time working on my own concept, it never occurred to me that it would be a perfect pattern for a Hurricanes concept. Props to Mario on that! My only complaint is that the pattern isn't really integrated very well into the jersey. It's just kind of there.
   
Score: 7.5/10 - I would continue the warning flag pattern all the way around the sleeve, and definitely do some more design based around the waves.
  
  
TG - Team Romania Concept

Design: Believe it or not, Romania's most recent national hockey jersey featured no arm stripes, but only a hem stripe. I guess that would be like the opposite of the new Sharks jerseys. TG fixes the stripe shortage with the colorful array on the sleeves. I very much appreciate that the arm striping isn't simply the flag striping. A lot of concepts do that, and creativity is lost. The placement of the stripes is also very creative as well. I kind of like the change from elbow stripes.
   
Score: 8/10 - Time for my classic "Nike should hire you" joke. But seriously, these jerseys are awesome!
  
  
Riley C. - Carolina Hurricanes Concept

Design: The Hurricanes, which were the Whalers, have never hung onto jersey designs for a long time, so there is no harm in changing things up. Teal is an interesting choice, and I'd love to know Riley's inspiration for this concept. Part of me wants to think that the Whalers green & blue heritage came into play, but that may be a stretch.
   
Score: 7/10 - I don't think that there is any good way to recolor a Hurricanes logo, but I can live with this.
  
  
S2dio - Montreal Canadiens "What If" Concept

Design: If the NBA thinks that they are creative by adding a gold tab to the jerseys of teams that have won a championship, they should take a look at the Canadiens 1924-25 uniforms. The Habs changed their jerseys for a season after winning their second Stanley Cup. I can't decide whether it would be a good idea to allow teams to do something like this in their reigning season, but if the Canadiens were to ever wear an alternate, this would be a great option.
   
Score: 7.5/10 - This template is cool, but for me it's a little hard to look at the finer details of the uniform. It does to a great job representing what the concept would look like on the ice.
 
 
Jeff C. - Toronto Tecumsehs Concept

Design: Jeff's concept from the NHA's Toronto Tecumsehs does a great job of reviving a team of the past. Rather than use the existing logo or come up with a completely new idea, (like the Charlotte Hornets) Jeff has cleaned up the old logo to make it a modern facelift. He names of the concepts are perfect for the application, but the alternate is my favorite. The striping on the "clash" and "color" uniforms are pretty standard, but the alternate's striping is unique. I think that the crest looks better on red as well.
   
Score: 8/10 - Overall, an awesome concept!
 
  
Scott B. - Washington Capitals Concept

Design: The Caps are set to host a certain team in the Winter Classic, and could use a new look for that occasion. Rumors have stated that Washington will wear a red version of their 2011 Winter Classic jerseys, maybe something that looks very similar to this concept. I like that the stars limited to the sleeves, as it cleans up the jersey quite a bit. It also allows for arm stripes, of sorts, to be used. The modern day number font is cool as well.
   
Score: 7/10 - The crest looks a little bit small to me, but I think this concept has a lot of promise.
  
  
Phil B. - Carolina Hurricanes Concept

Design: Phil's Carolina Hurricanes concept features a very new shoulder yoke. The warning flags are added to the shoulders, on what would be the league's only square yoke. The warning flag striping also carries over to the arms and socks. Without this yoke, this concept would easily be my favorite concept of the day, but I can't quite get behind the gray block.
   
Score: 7.5/10 - I love hockey socks, as I can wear different socks with any jersey in practice. I WANT THESE SOCKS!
  
  
Tristan M. - Florida Panthers Concept

Design: The Panthers haven't deviated much from the Reebok Edge redesign, but Tristan has seen enough. His concept features especially long hem and cuff stripes. I wouldn't normally like this type of design, but I think it looks really cool with the panther crest. It looks like the panther is leaping from the ground (blue) and into the Florida sunset (red). In addition, Tristan reintroduces a curved nameplate, a feature that the Panthers haven't used since 2006.
   
Score: 9/10 - It's great to see the broken stick logo return! I can't believe the Panthers let Reebok take that away from us! COTW Nomination.
 
 
What would we do without HJC? We'd have to watch baseball or something... Anyway I'll see you all next week!