Max Pacioretty is Immortal

Hello everyone!

The wife has the flu, and I'm fervently trying to not have it as well, as this is a terrible time of year to be a sick teacher. This post will be consequently short. I had planned on doing a post about all the jerseys that were introduced this year, but that will have to wait until next week. I apologize for any disappointment. 

Without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, let's do the thing:

Los Angeles Kings Concept - Lucas D.

Positives: I think it's only a matter of time before the Kings use a full-time gray alternate. This is a good example of how it could work. The striping pattern is simple, but doesn't look bad. Execution and presentation are very clean. I like bringing the use of a triple-stripe collar. I've never been a fan of the modern crown logo, but the simple design of the jersey helps the crown logo not seem as overwhelming.

Negatives: It flirts with being too simple. Some shoulder patches would help.

Overall: It's a clean, well executed third jersey. (8.5/10)

London Knights Concept - Lucas D.

Positives: The striping pattern looks good, especially the diagonals on the side panels. The name and number font are easily readable. Colors are balanced well. 

Negatives: There is an execution flaw on the back of the dark jersey. The gold stripe on the yoke is not complete. I would like the see the arm stripes further up the arm, as I fear that the a good portion of the striping would be covered up by the player's gloves. The straight stripes on the yoke are at odds with the diagonal stripes on the rest of the jersey. The diagonal angles should match as well.

Overall: At a fundamental level, it's a good design, but some design changes and execution fixes would improve it. (7/10)

London Knights Concept - Brooks F.

Positives: The striping pattern on all three jerseys look great. I especially like that Brooks leaves some negative space in the striping pattern on the home and away jerseys. The shoulder yoke looks good on both those as well. The alternate jersey is really interesting. It does exactly what an alternate jersey should do: it showcases a different aspect of of team branding and pushes the boundaries. Execution on all three are great.

Negatives: The color of the alternate will draw the ire of some, and the admiration of others. It just depends on your perspective. 

Overall: This would be a really great set for the London Knights. (9/10) COTW nomination from me!

Oregon Ducks Concept - Zeke G.

Positives: The chest striping works well with the O monogram logo. The helmet feathers are an interesting choice. 

Negatives: Striping is a problem. Stripe thickness isn't uniform, and sometimes it either overlaps the stitching, doesn't reach the stitching or border, or leaves the confines of the template. Some of the sublimated feathers overlaps stitching in awkward ways. You can't put Nike branding on a Reebok template. Also, the Nike branding should only have a swoosh logo. Nike doesn't include their wordmark with the swoosh on hockey jerseys. There is still a green outline around the logo of the black jersey. The feathers on the pants are awkward. The numbers are placed a little too far down the jersey. There is a general grainy pixelation to the concept that makes it difficult to discern details of the design. Making a black/gray jersey for Oregon i

s one thing, but taking out the green and yellow of their set entirely is poor decision.

Overall: BFBS, suspect execution, awkward feather placement, and more bring down what could have been a good set. (6/10)

Montreal Canadiens NHL in the Year 3237 Concept - Jared L.

Positives: What the league will look like in 1,221 years from now is an interesting thought. Will hockey even be played at that point? Will sports in general still exist? Would English still be spoken? By that point, I almost hope humanity will have advanced and evolved past spectator sports, with a highly efficient, advanced, ethical global/universal culture of unity. That aside, the font Jared uses is interesting.

Negatives: Max Pacioretty will be 1,248 years old at this point. Maybe his great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson plays hockey. That's an extensive hockey lineage. So long they added an extra "c" to the name. For this being 1,221 years into the future, I don't think it's even minutely close to being radical enough. Most of this is just sections of the jersey filled in with a fill bucket tool. You need to include your ID on your concepts, too.

Overall: I can see where Jared is trying to be forward-thinking, but honestly, it's just not forward thinking enough. For something this far into the future you would need to start with a completely blank canvas. Rethink everything. Creativity is crucial, and there's not enough here. (4/10)

Tampa Bay Lightning Concept - Jared L.

Positives: Hearkening back to the original Lightning set isn't a bad idea.

Negatives: If you zoom in close enough, you can tell that Jared has recolored either a previous concept of his own, or someone else's work. It's not a clean recolor job, either. It's messy, pixelated, and poorly executed. The collar on the home jersey isn't even the same color on the front and back. The original Lightning set had better color balance. These need more blue on both jerseys. I'll tell you the same thing I tell my students: proof your work before you send it in. You'll be surprised how many errors you can catch and correct if you just take 5 minutes and go over it in detail. You need to include your ID on your concepts, too.

Overall: A botched recolor job. (2/10)

Lehigh Valley Phantoms Concept - Ryan C.

Positives: The chest stripe is done really well. One thing that Ryan is always really good at is making sure the number and name font is always clean and legible. That's a thing for me, so I always appreciate it. I really love the white jersey. Those black numbers on the orange chest stripe is just really getting me. Execution and presentation are spot-on.

Negatives: I feel that the orange jersey could use a touch more black to bring things closer to balance. It's not Anaheim-away-jersey levels of imbalance, but I think it could be improved a little. A touch of the indigo color on the logo could create some more interest and drama.

Overall: It's a really solid set; very crisp and clean. I think a little extra black, or using the indigo from the logo in some aspect could make it more unique. (8.5/10)


Feel free to leave your own reviews of today's artwork. Additional opinions are always welcome, and helps the artists. Don't forget to vote for COTW, and be sure to watch for the beginning of the 2nd round of the playoffs so that you can get your predictions in! Currently I'm sitting at a whopping ZERO POINTS. Decided to go against the grain this year with my predictions, and I am reaping the rewards of that. I also picked the a team that is currently down 3-2 to win the Cup in another pool, so hopefully you all have better sense than me.

See you all next week! Here it is, your moment of zen voting reminders:

COTW April 17-23 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

RHI Top 3 vote (ends Friday @ 10:30pm Eastern)

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