Sunday: Cup Final (TB vs CHI)

Hey everyone! William had a bit of a family emergency he has to deal with so I (Ryan) am covering for him today.

The Lightning will play the Blackhawks in the 2015 Stanley Cup Final. It really should be a good series. I don't foresee a sweep or 5 game domination by either team. I'm excited to see if Stamkos can match Kane and Toews. Does Duncan Keith have the ability to keep playing 30+ minutes a night? Will Tampa counter that by playing Hedman the same amount? Who will make the least mistakes, Bishop or Crawford?

Later tonight, myself and a few of the writers will be recording a HJC Podcast to preview the Stanley Cup Final. We'll try to answer some of these questions and get into who knows what! These things are always lots of fun and we never place any barriers on what to talk about. It should be posted for your enjoyment on Monday night.

By now I hope you've seen the 2016 All-Star Game (Weekend) logo for the event in Nashville. I love it! I think Nashville will truly make this a weekend event, rather than focusing solely on the game. The logo itself uses many of the same elements that the Preds use for their secondary logo, but in no way does this look like a rip-off. The font choice is lovely as are the markings in and around the logo. I've never been to Nashville, but I get a sense of what the city is about from this logo. The logo also gives me an idea of how big they are going to try and make this event. Well done all around!

As always we have the COTW vote going on, so email your vote in. Your Stanley Cup pick is due for the Playoff Pool by Wednesday at 8pm Eastern. Finally, get your logos in for the HJC Open Logo Competition. You have a bit of extra time on this comp.

COTW May 24-30 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Playoff Pool pick (due Wednesday @ 8pm Eastern)

HJC Open Logo Comp (ends Tuesday, June 9 @ noon Eastern)

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Northridge Matadors (NCAA) by Daniel L.

 

This school has a hockey program and they use some simple jerseys. That's not a bad thing, but Daniel does give them some extra life with his concept. I like Daniel's font choice as it goes well with the primary logo. The execution is really great as well. A nice clean concept! A negative in my opinion is that the jerseys are old red Penguins jerseys. Again not bad jerseys, but lets see something new. Or perhaps modifying something other than just the colours would be cool?
Rating: 7.5/10

Columbus Blue Jackets by Andrew W.

Simple jerseys that are nicely done and there's nothing wrong with that. I wouldn't say that these are better than their current sweaters though. I can tell that the white jersey was created first and then coloured blue to make the home sweater. The stitching on the hem of the blue concept gives that away and as such doesn't make any sense. The stitching should encompass just the stripes and not a general area on the jersey. Cleaning things like that up is the difference between good and great concepts.
Rating: 7/10

Halifax Mooseheads by Brandon C.

I'm loving the classic stripes so far in today's post! Brandon demonstrates with this concept how to correct the issues I noted in the previous two concepts. The attention paid to the little details is great! Proper patch placement is wonderful. There's not one patch omitted or out of place. I love that he placed the Reebok jock tag inside the collar and it's the proper one! Those jock tags don't appear in NHL game-issued jerseys, but they do in the AHL and CHL.
Rating: 8/10

Grand Canyon University (NCAA) by Daniel L.

So does this team actually play in the trench? I'm kidding, I'm not that ignorant! Grand Canyon University doesn't have a hockey program. Probably because they're in Arizona and right now Arizona doesn't want hockey! This school has such a great logo, it's a shame that Daniel chose to only use it on the shoulders and back hem. The jersey design is definitely not my favourite. It's very similar to the Avalanche and I've been calling for them to do a complete re-design for a long time. Execution is nice here (except move the NOB down half an inch) but the design of the jersey isn't great.
Rating: 7/10

Carolina Hurricanes by Christian L.

This is a great concept! I'll start with what I don't like. The hem stitching should stop at stripes on all three jerseys. The grey outline of the logo is sharp and dangerous, but the red inside makes it appear to be liquid. Maybe some sort of red soft serve ice cream? I love all of the bold stripes on the home and road jerseys and the colour assignments are excellent. The alternate alone would garner a nomination from me, but the set is fantastic as well!
Rating: 9.5/10

I have to give my COTW nomination to Christian. I think this concept is even better than his Nordiques concept that won Concept of the Year last year!

Now here's your chance to tell me how wrong I am! Do you think I need to get off my fixation with classic striping patterns? Am I too hard on people for execution errors? The comments section is your canvas. Go nuts and lets us know what you think.