Tuesday: Tank You For Reading

Not so long ago I believe I started as a Tuesday writer. I have returned. 

In the words of Dylan Alexander: 

"Dylan Nowak is the best writer to ever grace HJC."

For the first time ever I am writing as an HJC writer as Dylan Nowak. When I was writing before I still went by Dylan Wonka. The reason for the change is pretty simple, I want to use my real name. It was time for me to take my artist/internet kid name out of it's misery. Though it seems like I'll still be called Wonka by some of you. 

I'll stick to hockey though for this post. Specifically speaking how my Sabres are tanking through the year. Day after deadline and I have to say that we may have completed the tank. However, Arizona Coyotes will give us some competition after some of the big names they've moved. Should be interesting to see how things pan out. It has honestly been more nerve wracking than any playoff push year for the Sabres. With 19 games left I just have to hope for the most losses. 

The Evander Kane trade brought so much excitement to a team and organization that needed some life in it. Trading for a hopefully talented player that we desperately needed, but also injured so that he doesn't effect this tank. Yesterday the Sabres also dealt four other players that are always hard working and help the team win. Neuvirth was a goaltender who was killing it for us. He would get 40+ saves on a nightly basis. More than half of those still ending in losses too! I'm just excited to get this season over with. Finally a Buffalo team sucked the perfect year. 

If we win the lottery - - - - - Tank you to our GM, Tim Murray. 

Enough with me bragging about how bad my team is and on to what this site is for; concepts.

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COTW Feb 22-28 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Stadium Series Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

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Calgary Flames Concept - Jack D.

With the first concept of this Tuesday post..Jack takes a crack at the Calgary Flames. Calgary concepts are always interesting. Usually it's either the person takes away the black color or tries to embrace it. Jack does a nice job on the home jersey with the black. To be honest I'm usually never a fan of the black but it's used nicely here. The striping is different but it is effective, I would just like the same treatment done to the logo... a gold outline to be specific.

The away jersey though makes this concept set suffer. It seems as though black is the second color in this set based off of the home but it's taken back as just a small accent color in the away. I say if you're going to bring in the black as much as you've used it on the red jersey, then use it more on the away jersey. Again, adding it to the logo outline would help. All in all it's decent. It doesn't look bad but there are some parts that could use some tweaks to make this a set that's ready to be seen in the NHL.

Rating: 7.3/10

San Diego Gulls Concept - Chase C.

A concept for a team we will be seeing a lot of in the coming weeks. When the Gulls unveiled their new logo I wasn't as disappointed as some. I figured they would tweak their old one. I don't think it looks bad. I think it fits as a minor league team named "Gulls". The concept though suffers from the same thing I think the Ducks uniforms suffer from. Sharp striping right under a rounded yoke. The arm striping on the uniforms should be the idea that translates to the rest of the uniform. I feel like two different jersey styles have clashed with this. A traditional one and a modern one. I'd say you need to pick which direction to go in. I don't know if you edit the yoke to take on the arm striping look a little bit or just remove it in general. I'm also not really a fan of nameplate colors, but that's me.

As for the alternate the script is something I would never want to see on a jersey. I think it looks way too retro to fit that design. Again, it seems like this set has an identity issue. It needs to figure out if it's a traditional style or an awesome modern approach.

Rating: 6.8/10

Nike LA Kings Concept - Ben M.

This concept really goes over the top for the Kings. I'll start with the alternate because it's my favorite part. Simple but it looks nice. Not too different from what they wear but I'll say what I think. As for the home and road. Would I like to see them used? No, but for exploration I'll give you my exact thoughts. 

The color combo doesn't fit to my liking. Gold and purple is a yes but throwing black in their makes the whole thing clash to me. As for striping it looks okay. I would thicken the purple middle stripe to have a more solid striping pattern. It doesn't seem like there's any bold design statement on the home and road. With the yoke I would say to make it the same style as the striping but that might be a little too much purple. Then again, I'd say you should eliminate the black. So maybe the yoke should be purple. Another concept that doesn't really fall in place that well. However, don't quit the exploration. That's what concepts are for, right?

Rating: 6.7/10 - (However the alternate does look great)

USA Concept - David P.

David explores what Team USA should look like. A sash design would be very cool and would like to see a team execute that some day. I think it works a lot better on the dark jersey though. I think if you have a sash design there shouldn't be a yoke color ending it. I feel it should just end with the uniform color like you did with the blue jersey. The rounded Nike yoke on the white jersey breaks the flow in my eyes. The USA script is also in a very western font that I don't think fits with the team but I can imagine something else and it could look very nice. 

The concept as a whole again isn't a bad idea but with the changes I've suggested it would lead to more changes. I feel if you take the yoke off the white jersey then it become very plain. In my opinion, a sash design might only work as a dark alternate design for a team. Could be cool to see. 

Rating: 7.2/10

Colorado Avalanche Concept - Roy Z.

Roy uses simply the best template ever for his submission. That is a joke for some of you that don't know that this is my template. I do not think it is the best template ever. However, it does make jerseys easier to imagine on the ice. For this set of three jerseys I like the simplicity. I believe the two stripe vibe has been a very popular one lately and all I can imagine when looking at the white jersey is the Dallas Stars. That being said, it's not bad, I just see it a lot lately. 

The design fits the logo very well on all three. The only trouble is on the maroon jersey that the blue and maroon are too close together in hue and there is not enough contrast. I'm not sure how I would resolve this. Maybe putting a white circle behind the C and making the C maroon. I think that would make the logo too bulky though. The striping too does get lost in the color. Maybe re-working the way you use the colors is in order. Making it more similar to the third could be an idea. Surrounding the blue with white so it's easier to see. 

Rating: 7.8/10

Stadium Series Minnesota v. Chicago - Ryan C.

Ryan takes a different approach to the Stadium Series game for this concept. The SS have gone with fairly outside the norm designs for all of their jerseys so far, so giving teams a very traditional look would be different. Minnesota and Chicago though are two teams that would seem plausible for the NHL to stick with a vintage feel for a Stadium Series game. 

Minnesota's jersey does a great job of incorporating the vintage feel they've wanted to make over the last 10 years. It's almost a nice opposite of the red jersey they currently wear. A jersey that is executed nicely and just plain looks awesome. One thing I don't agree with is the shoulder patch. I'm assuming the patch is the same as the logo? I can't really tell what it is but the pure white breaks the unity with the uniform.

Chicago's jersey is a very very sharp design. The striping is unique and looks really cool. Not much to complain about with these two uniforms. Would be a sexy match up. My only other complaint would be maybe one team has collar laces. I mean they look vintage and I feel having one have laces would complete that feel.

Rating: 8.9/10

Ontario Reign Concept - Ben S.

Ben gives us a very innovative design for the new addition to the AHL next season. I'm going to be honest, I didn't see what they revealed as their actual jerseys but I can only assume without looking it up that it is the Kings jerseys with the new logo on it. That being said this is a very cool alternate design. The gradient-esque striping is pretty awesome especially how it's executed. I think a straight gradient might look a little too gimmicky but the different stripes of subtle change in the gray scale makes a very cool design. I actually don't have any real complaints about this. It would 'cause a stir in the design world that's for sure. It seems as though it could draw a stir today.

Rating: 9.1/10

That would complete my first day back on HJC! To end the post I will now nominate a concept. Based on the ratings I gave I will nominate..:

Ben's Ontario Concept for COTW

I think Ryan's Stadium Series designs should also get nominated but that's down to the people in the comments today. Ben's design is something we don't see everyday and I wanted to reward that. And it plain looks good...in my opinion! 

Have a terrific Tuesday everyone and I will be sure to write another spectacular post next week! Adios! Tank you for stopping by!