Monday: Buzz buzz....

Good afternoon fellow hockey enthusiasts!

Before we jump into things I have a few quick reminders for you...

Only one COTW vote this week, so be sure to help pick that winner. You also have til the end of Friday to get your Mallards entries in...  I better get busy on mine! Also, don't forget, we've got our anniversary coming up...Hope you didn't forget, did you make us a logo?

COTW Oct 20-26 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Quad City Mallards Jersey Competition (ends October 31st)

So those of you who who follow me on Twitter or Tumblr may have seen this last Tuesday when it broke, but NHL 15 had its latest content update... The update included little things here and there, some new alternate jerseys around the league, St. Louis' new jerseys, and some CHL jerseys. I thought nothing of it, until I received a tweet from Mr. Tyler Gross letting me know my Sarnia Sting jersey had made it into the game...

Now, my Sarnia jersey was designed in early 2012 and started being worn later that year. It should have been in NHL 13... It wasn't... It should have been in NHL 14... It wasn't... and then this year rolls around and the jersey isn't in the game at launch (along with a lot of other key features). I'd lost all hope that it would appear in the EA title. I didn't know whether to believe it. I'd been fooled before by this before... (I have mean friends)

Tyler sent me a screenshot of the team select screen that looked legit so I had to check it out for myself.... and... oh my...

NHL 15 Screenshot - TubbsFM - Reddit

So I popped my copy in and started playing.

NHL 15 Screenschot

The feeling was so surreal, something that I created (And also was originally featured on THIS site before the Sting competition) was in the NHL series. Now I've seen the team wear it in real life. I've seen the NHL post an instagram of a player in my jersey. I love when the jersey gets exposure, but this is special. I've been playing this series for as long as I can remember.....

As of right now, I haven't seen the jersey pop up in HUT, which I play the most. So the only way to see it in the game right now is play as the Sarnia Sting. Hopefully it finds its way into HUT so I can make my team wear it. Would love to see some current NHL stars rocking the jersey in the virtual worl

I also did this... 

NHL 15 Screenschot

NHL 15 Screenschot

Maybe someday.......

Enough about me, lets get to the concepts!

Chicago Blackhawks Third Jersey Concept - Josh L.

Josh wants to see the chest stripe back in Chicago, but he goes way out of the box with it. The Tomahawk C logo gets the main crest treatment, which, don't get me wrong, I'm a Hawks fan, and I love the logo, but I don't think it looks right as the main crest on a jersey. It's also the wrong C. The team puts the C used here on merchandise and marketing material, while THIS C is used on the jersey. The name on the back is way too big while the number seems small, but maybe that's because the name is so big. The TV numbers are placed in a silhouette of the Hawks' primary logo complete with feathers. That's way too busy to go on the arm of a jersey. That logo should be on the shoulders and not as a silhouette. I think this is close to being a suitable third jersey, but some of those super out of the box ideas aren't going to fly on a Hawks' sweater.

Rating: 5.5/10

Old Dominion University Hockey Concept (ACHA) - James J.

Nice to see ACHA teams get represented on the site. I played in the ACHA for three years. Through some research it looks like the OD team is a club team not really run by the school. Their jerseys are nothing to write home about. James adds a little more character to them. I think the stripe under the logo is so thin, that it's unnecessary. The arm striping is very paint-bucket-y but the blue arm length yoke kind of makes it look better. The font used for the name and numbers could be way better as well. The front number (grr) looks too small while the number on the back looks too big. The namebar isn't the right size for the name, it should be barely longer than the name and barely taller than the letters. Lastly, the NHL patch on the collar should be missing. 

I don't think this is that far off from being a really nice jersey. It'd be nice to see a light version too.

Rating: 6/10

Battle of the Brands Concept - Xbox One vs. PS4 - David P.

This rivalry tends to get heated between nerds. I'm one of the nerds but I keep my temper down because I don't care THAT much. The Xbox jerseys are green Buffalo jerseys and the PS4 jerseys most closely resemble the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the QMJHL, so nothing new in the jersey department. I am a sucker for a green jersey though. The shoulder patches on both jerseys are way too close to the collar and I'd avoid using wordmarks. The Microsoft logo should be fine on its own, it's very recognizable on its own. As for the Sony logo, which IS a wordmark, maybe try a sponsorship patch on the chest. Honestly, I don't think either set needs the shoulder patches.

Rating: 6.75/10

NHL All Star Game Jersey Concepts - Pt. 1 & 2 - Jason P.

A little bit of background here would be nice. Like, are these jerseys for the fans of each individual team or are they game or skills competition jerseys for the players. Why is there a home AND away for each team? Shouldn't one conference be dark and one be light? Besides all of that, it's different to see the logos colored this way on jerseys. Not necessarily a bad different either, it's done right. Clearly, a lot of work went into this, especially figuring out how to make the Blackhawks logo look right in a monotone color scheme. The jerseys themselves are pretty tame compared to the last few All Star games. I wouldn't mind seeing something more out of the box though, it's what I'm used to.

Rating: 7.75/10

Pittsburgh Penguins Concept - Brights Series - Colin M.

I'm a big fan of blue in the Penguins color scheme. I don't think they'll ever return to their blue roots full time, but something like this as an alternate would look great. I really like both jerseys here, but the white jersey looks like it would make a great white jersey for the Buffaslug. I'm a fan of this concept and maybe one day we'll actually get to see something like this.

Rating: 9/10

Regarding the Blackhawks secondary logo I mentioned earlier in the post...

As a design nerd and Hawks fan, it pisses me off that the tomahawk logo is different on the jerseys and everywhere else. I love Love LOVE the C on the jerseys. The serif makes it look way better. I would love nothing more than the Hawks getting their shhhhhhtuff together and using the actual jersey C everywhere all the time. What do you guys think?

end rant...

Well that ends today's post on HJC! Hope you enjoyed it, and if you really love us, you'll vote and get your Mallards entry in this week. Just saying...