Tuesday: One More Sleep

As the NHL is saying on their facebook and twitter pages. One more sleep until playoffs. Exciting time of year for any hockey fan. So much excitement with playoff games that really I could watch any game and I would be interested. Is there a better feeling than watching an OT playoff game when your team isn't involved? The OT celebrations to me are some of the most exciting parts of the playoffs. Especially when it's the home team that wins. So, wanna know what my bracket looks like right now? I'll upload an image.

I'm not going to waste time giving my reasons simply because my reasons are pretty basic. "I think they are going to win." Any year in the playoffs I see every matchup as a 'take your pick'. I truly believe in the playoffs, especially this year any possible series could go either way. I don't have a clear cut favorite to win. I think the New York - Pittsburgh series is my only one that is swayed a bit. I just don't see this Pittsburgh team coming through at all this year.

Saturday is my playoff day though. This is my bracket that I'm looking at all week. Once Saturday is over then I can concentrate on playoff hockey!

My team only has a 20% chance at McDaivd. (Yes, only, even though that's the highest) but what a consolation prize Eichel is.)

Until then, how are things shaking up in your household? Getting ready for the playoffs with your team? Making playoff pools? Betting? Always so exciting. I think this is the first year of many where I don't care who wins the cup. If Boston or LA made it I would have to change that opinion.

Onto the concepts!

1st Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

COTW April 5-11 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Pairs Competition (ends Wednesday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Stadium Series Concept (Minnesota Vs. Chicago) - Chase C.

 Starting off today with a template I've never seen used. Kudos for switching things up, Chase! Especially with Nike taking over the reigns for the Stadium Series. I think both jersey designs fit the teams well. I believe both organizations wouldn't want to change too much about their brand. To me, the red by itself with the green jersey makes the red get lost a little bit. Hard to see. The Blackhawks jersey looks really nice. I really do like everything about that. My change would be to raise the logos up more and to fix the bent arm striping. You have it flipped. That's one reason why I didn't like using those templates it was too confusing for a concept.

Rating: 8.5/10 Good looking for two Good looking teams.

LA Kings Stadium Series - David K.

 David tweaks the LA Kings Stadium Series jersey this year with easy changes. This is the type of jersey that should have been made. The striping going around the jersey evenly. Regular TV numbers. The one change up here is the primary logo. I think this is actually really cool and funny. It adds character. Usually you see a very sophisticated Lion on those types of crest designs but this gives us a change up. With the LA sun you need those sunglasses. Argument against that would be the game is played at night but we can let that slide.
I would add the 'LA' shoulder patches to these to fill up more space and I do like the crowns for championships but I would have the years underneath the crown. I say that just incase they kept this design for years and won another one, then it's an easy addition.

Rating: 8.7/10 Great changes, would love to see this used.

Team Russia Alternate - Kerouac D.

 First time I've seen this name on the site. If it is your first concept; Welcome! If you've posted to this site before, then; Welcome again! Russia in black, don't see this too often. I actually don't think I've seen it at all. The striping is a basic Russia flag design that we see a lot. Outlined with thin gold which I think always looks nice. With black though, which isn't part of their flag or really used in any part of old designs it's hard to make it look useful. To me it just looks like it's black for blacks sake. To me it just doesn't fit. Looks like a jersey was supposed to be a different color but then someone burnt it. Of course, just my opinion though. There are some fixes of course too. I would eliminate the all gold collar and hem cuff. I would add the flag stripes to the hem with the small gold outlines. I would make the name and number outline red too. Maybe red and blue. And the logo on the front I feel should be outlined in white or have the white Russian name. These fixes for me while still leaving the jersey black could save it in my eyes.

Rating: 7/10

LA Kings - Kevin G.

 Kevin Griegel brings back the burger king logo for this set. Bringing it back full time primary. I won't bash it. To be honest it looks okay with a subtle traditional design. Honestly the jerseys look nice, but it's not something too crazy to think about. It's basically LA's old uniforms onto a NIKE template. One thing I would add is a white or gray outline to the king on the black jersey. As for the alternate it looks pretty good. I don't really like the angle on the striping with the round yoke next to it. Also don't know how I feel of a black shoulder patch on a black yoke. Maybe making it a darker gray like the Canes Alternate but at that point I wouldn't want a copy. Perfect place to add TV numbers though. Also, why not make the numbers and logos match the striping? On the alternate and white jersey I think you should match the numbers and the outlines with the striping so it fits together more. I think the logo and numbers especially would look better on the alternate.

Rating: 7.6/10

Manchester United - Phil B.

New scenery in the post with a soccer..football...hockey concept. I think the white jersey looks really great. The thing I don't like is the black outline on the number. I would make that gold or take off the outline. The black and red seems out of place there. The red jersey just doesn't give me the same feel. I know a lot of soccer sets don't have similar road and home jerseys but it looks like a different team. Having more gold and less black would make this better. Especially on the gloves and pants. Doesn't look like it belongs to the same team. 

Rating: 7.2/10