Monday: More Mallards and Alternate Jerseys!

Hey There Hey There!!! Happy Monday everyone and I hope you all had a Happy Halloween. My Halloween weekend wasn't as great as I had to watch my offensively challenged Blackhawks get a game stolen from them by James Reimer and then lay an egg against the Jets and their backup. So that's lame....But my actual Halloween was much better, especially since I finished and sent in my Mallards entry earlier in the day...

Speaking of the Mallards........ As Ryan mentioned, we got an astounding 92 entries! Which means that's a lot of different options the team will get to consider. Ryan pointed out a few of those entries that he liked the best so I thought I'd share my favorites with you.

Chris Weidler

The logo, in my opinion, isn't quite there yet, but the wing featured on the arms is very neat. In my early drafts and ideas for my own concept I actually considered a very similar idea for a chest stripe, so this one sticks out a lot to me. And love them victory stripes.


Jake Miller

The two toned jerseys have been a thing lately around here and I blame Matt McElroy. It's a nifty look if pulled off correctly and I think it is here. The orange stripes really POP and I'm digging the beige half of the jersey. As a sidenote, Jakes new personal logo is really really awesome.


Justin Cox

Wow, Justin realizes that the vintage look is winning a lot of these contests lately so he owns it and also nails it. the double stripe look combined with the colored hem and cuff look is stupendous. The flying duck logo on its own looks fantastic. It may not fit in with the rest of the look Justin's going for but screw it... it's gorgeous. And that custom secondary logo is top notch.


Matt McElroy

Phh, this guy. His philosophy lately has been that the tried and true hockey designs are getting boring and someone needs to design outside the box and both of us really tried our hand at that philosophy with this past summer's IceHL redesign and both of us succeeded. Hopefully his luck continues with this jersey. The modern vertical stripe thing on the arms is very Capitals-esque and combined with the arm yoke and stripes... mmm... This is one of his designs that I hope gets a lot of attention.

If you haven't yet, I highly recommend you go and check out all 92 entries before the team chooses their winner and the designs are removed until some of the artists send them in to be featured on the site. I'll be posting a write up explaining my entry on my D Bro Designs Tumblr so keep an eye out for that.

While you're looking at Mallards entries and keeping your eye out for things, why not do some voting? ALl we've got is the COTW vote this week so, come on, it's ONE vote, you can do it. I'll do it too, so no need to be scared.

Also, join the new HJC mailing list. Hopefully it makes voting way easier for those of you who don't do it. 

COTW Oct 27-Nov 2 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW Mailing List (email to join!

Let's get to the concepts!!!

Grand Rapids Griffins Alternate Jersey Concept - Steven K.

Judging by the date on the concept, Steven missed the Griffins contest. The thin chest stripe is neat but I wish it was a bit thicker. Being as thin as it is right now it makes the rest of the jersey look bare. The ghost yoke isn't great, I'd lose it. The main crest is interesting, The slightly askew text in the roundel is neat but the 1996 should be askew as well. The griffin is a tad too realistic for me. I'd prefer to either see a radical modern griffin logo or a simple throwback look.

Rating: 6/10


New York Islanders Concept - Timmy Q.

Can't tell if Timmy meant this to be an alternate jersey or not, so I will assume it is. Also, same "SportsUniformConcepts" as our friend Mario? Anyway, the main logo is too low. Definitely move that up a bit. The orange socks bug me, same issue I have with the Bruins socks, I dislike the non matching socks. As for the jersey, I feel like the striping is up too high in order to have the orange cuffs and hem. Makes the jersey way too bright for the thin stripes in my opinion.

Rating: 5/10


CHL Stadium Series Concept - Kingston vs. Ottawa - Zach W.

Love the color vs. color here. The Kingston jersey is very basic and fits the classic look most teams wear in outdoor games. As for the Ottawa jerseys, I think theres about 2 or 3 too many stripes on the arms and hem. Other than that, the jersey would look nice and fits with the teams already stripe heavy identity. The only thing I don't care for is the socks for Ottawa. I think it's a decent idea in theory, but to see it done shows it's too busy.

Another concern of mine is the "classic" style jerseys for a "Stadium Series". The NHL's Stadium Series featured jerseys that were very modern with their designs as opposed to the Winter and Heritage Classics that featured throwbacks/fauxbacks. I'd rather see this Kingston/Ottawa game feature modern or even futuristic jerseys.

Rating: 7/10

Detroit Red Wings Concept - Brights Series - Colin M.

Colin gives the Red Wings a new look that still has a throwback feel. One of these would be a neat alternate but I think it's a mistake to lose the Red Wings jerseys the way they are now. If Colin really had to make changes in order to include them in the series then maybe just add shoulder patches to their current jerseys or something. I may hate the Red Wings, but I will nod my head to their overall look.

Rating: 7.5/10

San Jose Sharks Alternate Jersey Concept - Dylan N.

Dylan keeps the black around for the alternate. Good move. Orange is gone. Booooo. I like the simple approach to the jersey design. It fits in with their new simple jerseys. But some orange trim would look mighty sexy. But a lot of people don't think so...so...like, whatever. I actually think something like this might work for a Sabres alternate since the white and silver stripes going up the arms resemble blades, similar to what the Sabres have tried with their current alternate thing.

Rating: 8/10


Pittsburgh Penguins Alternate Jersey Concept - Jake M.

The yellow is currently back in Pittsburgh so why not bring in something like this down the road when the new alternate becomes a primary? I'm not completely sure that a total fauxback look like this would be the best way to go. Although a nod to the old Pittsburgh hockey Pirates would be neat. This would be a cool thing to see in a throwback game or a Winter Classic game. I feel like the numbers need some white trim or something to set it apart from the back stripe. (Get Well Soon Olli!)

Rating: 8.5/10


There you go! What are some of your favorite Mallards entries? Discuss in the comments!