Monday: Gosh Darn Good Post

Happy first Monday of 2016.....well maybe happy isn't the right word but happy first Monday post of 2016.

In 2016...well meh, no need for semantics or anything, the Jets are still mediocre and I don't expect that to change with their goaltending woes and playing in such a tough divisions. On the flip side, the Pacific division is pretty...well....meh at best. Arizona could very well be the 3rd seed in the division, and LA seems to be securing another division crown after a bad year. Anaheim is improving a lot, and will take the #2....after a #2 start to the seasons....ew....As for the other teams, Calgary is having a mediocre year, Vancouver is having a mediocre year, Edmonton is flip flopping...but any one of theme could make the playoff this year. The Wild Cards will be filled with Central teams, so they'll either have to knockoff Anaheim (not impossible) or Arizona/San Jose.

In the East, Boston is miles ahead of where I thought they'd be. Jagr has won my heart and I'm rooting for the Panthers to win the division. Ottawa is right in the thick of things but still needs to improve. Montreal needs Price back and needs him back fast, or get 2013 Ben Scrivens. The Leafs have been....you know what? Pretty decent honestly! By no means playoffs, but watchable, I might wear my Leafs jersey once in a while now, and Reimer, despite his injuries, is pretty solid, Sparks is a good prospect and Bernier....well, he'll make a nice back-up on another team or become 2018s Devan Dubnyk

Mid Season Playoff Predictions

Atlantic:

1. Florida Panthers
2. Detroit Red Wings
3. Montreal Canadiens
4. Boston Bruins
5. Ottawa Senators
6. Tampa Bay Lightning
7. Toronto Maple Leafs
8. Buffalo Sabres

Metro:

1. Washington Capitals
2. New York Islanders
3. New York Rangers
4. New Jersey Devils
5. Philadelphia Flyers
6. Pittsburgh Penguins
7. Carolina Hurricanes
8. Columbus Blue Jackets

Central:

1. Dallas Stars
2. St. Louis Blues
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. Nashville Predators
6. Colorado Avalanche
7. Winnipeg Jets

Pacific

1. LA Kings
2. Anaheim Ducks
3. San Jose Sharks
4. Calgary Flames
5. Vancouver Canucks
6. Edmonton Oilers
7. Arizona Coyotes

I couldn't pick one single Cup Final, because it's so here are some picks you might see

Top Contenders:

1. Dallas Stars
2. Washington Capitals
3. Minnesota Wild
4. Florida Panthers
5. New York Islanders
6. St. Louis Blues
7. Los Angeles Kings
8. Detroit Red Wings

Don't be surprised if you see any of these teams hoist the cup.

Continuing with the Best of/Worst of series....Next Stop...Minnesota Wild/North Stars

Best: 2013-present Away

Photo from Sportsnet.ca

The perfect away jersey. Seriously, coupled with the Stars redesign, this was the best jersey of the 2013 redesign season. The all green jersey wouldn't normally match, but the amount of red in the logos and numbers are balanced perfectly. It was the first time the Wild had a jersey that you'd want to see them build a set around, and one of the first sets to not use wheat/vintage whites. 

Honourable Mentions: 1981-91 white, 2000-2007 green, 2009-present alternate 

Worst: 1991-93 set 

Photo from northstarshockey.com

Like Boston, Minnesota has never really had a horrible jersey, mostly dated ones. In Minnesota's case though, there's always been one jersey that left a bitter taste in my mouth. When the Northstars moved to Dallas, they took these jerseys with them, which was fine for Dallas, they looked pretty good but for Minnesota, these were the black sheep jerseys....literally in some sense. It was like nothing the N'stars ever wore, but it never looked like a N'stars jersey.

Dishonourable Mentions: 2007-2013 Away, 2015/16 Stadium Series, 1967-1975 away (with green cuffs)

Hey, don't forget to vote for COTW, it's right over there!

Also don't forget to vote in the Gatineau Olympique Contest, it's in Top 3 format but same style as last contest.

Finally, if you want to be the next HJC writer for Tuesday or Wednesday, send in a mock post to Ryan, details in the bar above!

On to today's 6 concepts! 

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Florida Panthers Concepts (By: Josiah B.)

+ While I'm a fan of the Panthers in red, blue & gold are colours the team should use was well

+ I like how the colours are laid out on the white jersey, sort of like a rainbow

+ Good choice keeping the palm tree shoulder patch

+ The new logo isn't my favourite, but it's nice to try new logos...or in this case an old logo

- Tv numbers are too small

- NOB and player numbers are too close to each other

- While the jerseys are colourful, the gloves are boring

- Don't forget helmet logos 

Rating: 7.75/10 

Florida Panthers Concepts (By: Christian L.)

+ Christian takes it one step further by getting rid of red all together, and while this decision wouldn't be popular, but it looks pretty solid

+ Nice idea with the sun rays on the stripes

+ Excellent custom logo, I'd like to see something like this

+ Christian's execution is pretty good usually, this is no exception

- Blank pants aren't doing it for me...why not put that awesome FLA sun logo? 

- Blue numbers on the white every would perfect the colour balancing 

Rating: 9/10

Colorado Avalanche Concepts (By: Artem S.)

I had to hold this concept up against the Avs current jerseys to find the differences. There are only two major ones. The addition of piping on the arms, and burgundy gear. The Burgundy gear is better than black, but is there aren't enough changes here to make a concept, I mean yeah, Artem put it on his own template but we can imagine this 

Colorado Avalanche Concept (By: Artem S.)

I mean, this is the same thing, but an inverted version of their current home, with the changes Artem made to the current home kept. It looks okay, but it looks like something the Hamilton Bulldogs would wear or another AHL/OHL team. It isn't as bad as the burgundy jersey, but there's not much to review here.

Tampa Bay Lightning Concepts (By: Brooks F.)

+ I'm totally in favour of this sort of logo returning, and building a jersey around the the original Bolts alternate, without the Bolts of course
+ Angled Lightning stripes are a nice touch, they look much better on the arms (though that's obvious since lightning is vertical in nature.
+ Great colour balancing, the jerseys aren't too dark
+ Good execution

-The one part of the kit that is too dark is the pants, which would be fixed with a white bolt
- If you wanted to put a 3rd stripe in-between the the black and white stripes on the blue jersey, grey would be a great idea and doing the same on the white jersey

Rating: 9/10

USC Trojans Concept (By: Daniel L.)

+ This is really solid! For a team with not much of a hockey identity, this is would be one of the best NCAA jerseys
+ A great use of the little yoke flares
+ Striping is...well that striping looks great on most teams but Daniel built a good jersey around it
+ I used to not like this old logo..but man do I like it!
+ Great execution

- One minor thing, the numbers would match the striping better with a white outline

Rating: 9.5/10 COTW Nom from me

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Concept Idea (doing this now because it'll be fun): Make a San Jose State Spartans jersey with any of their vintage logos, preferably the 1983-1999 logo or any logo from 1928-1961

That's the post!
Don't forget to vote!
Have a great week!
Go Jets, Moose & Mooseheads....and Leafs....