Monday: Concepts.jpg

Hello friendos and welcome to another great post here at HJC!

I'd like to begin this post with a story my best friend wrote.

A story by Alex Marchand

- Playing NHL 2003 - Canadiens vs Leafs obvi - Difficulty: Beginner.png - Win the faceoff - Streaking down the left wing, Kovalev with puck - /r/ sauces it cross ice to Koivu - Slams the puck - Belfour has no chance.html - Sticks raised, sirens blaring - Put my hands together, begin to pray for the impossible - No music playing - I scream at full volume knowing what's about to come - Golden screen, slow motion replay - Default Deny begins to blare - ISIS announces defeat - Koivu slams puck in again - Great wall of China collapses - Koivu slaps it in 3 more times in quick succession - National debt turned into surplus - Belfour reaches in vain - Cancer is cured - "THE HAND THAT FEEDS YOU NEEDS YOU!!!" - Players congregate behind net in celebration.img - Ozone layer reforms - Global warming declared over - I'm declared dead at the scene - Memorial held in my memory, explosives suspected to be involved - Jim: "And the habs are now within two

I know it isn't concept related but my goodness I was on the floor laughing. I had friends who really weren't hockey fans loving this story. Coming up on 15 years next year since NHL 03, it'll be 15 years since I first played an NHL game, makes me want to dust off my ol' silver GameCube.

The playoffs begin on Wednesday, and that means it's time for the annual HJC playoff pool. I did well in my first year and fumbled in the second year. This year I'm hoping to win with my strategy of picking against the obvious picks usually. Generally speaking, if I think better of one team or get tired of another team, I'll pick accordingly. You might have another strategy involving satanic worship or coin flipping, the point being, you should enter!

Also don't forget your voting. We have COTW and COTY March up for vote this week, and why not vote now so you can enjoy the playoffs on Wednesday.

COTW-March vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pmn Eastern)

COTW Apr 3-9 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

2016 HJC Playoff Pool Quarterfinal picks (ends Wednesday @ 7:00pm Eastern)

On to the concepts

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Eisbären Berlin DEL Concepts (By: Jay S.)

+ One thing that's difficult with designing for this team is working with such a simple logo and colour scheme and making it unique, and Jay has dent his

+ The slightly angled chest striping looks fantastic and it isn't quite Washington 1998 levels of angled, but it works

+ The yoke stripes look pretty good too

+ Good execution

- The blue numbers on the back don't stand out enough, but are better than white numbers...I think a thicker white outline would help make them more visible 

- Hems are a little plain, there would probably be an ad on their in reality but putting the Berlin script there would help fill it up

Rating: 8.5/10

Düsseldorfer EG DEL Concepts (By: Jay S.)

+ I really dig the colour scheme on the white and alternate jerseys, it really works with the logos and would be unique to the DEL

+ The striping is simple, but it works

+ The alternate reminds me of the Philly/Vancouver Blazers, which I'm assuming is a 70s throwback, something European hockey does well when it decides to throwback 

+ Again, good execution

- The Black jersey loses me, the yellow and white clash and the black seems there for black sakes, it's not 2005 and that trend is dead...hopefully. It's not that black couldn't work, but it would need to be used on all the jerseys, not just one

- Numbers on the back are slightly too small 

Rating: 8/10

Ottawa Senators Concept (By: Tyler M-S.)

+ I really like the colour balancing on this jersey, it's very similar to every era in Sens history 

+ The modern numbers and unused side profile logo are the only things from the current Senst hat really look good and I'm glad Tyler used them

+ The laurel string looks great on the striping and pants 

+ Decent execution

- NOB (name on back) is too large 

- Shoulder patch? The Sens have plenty to chose from, you decide

- The pants need some white on them to balance the colours perfectly

Rating: 7.75/10

Hartford Whalers Concepts (By: Zach R.)

+ Right away, being the Whalers with more Green & Blue than Green/blue and white looks really good, the more colours the better
+ The alternate is perfect, don't change a thing design wise
+ Thank you for using Pucky on the jerseys, it looks great
+ Good execution

- The template use is weird, but regardless of that the hem stripe on the home and road are too close to the hem itself, the arms are fine but the hem should have some space between the white and striping
- The tv numbers on the green jersey are too small
- The NOB and player numbers on all the jersey are too large

Rating: 6.75/10

Battle of Pennsylvania Concept (By: Lucas D.)

+ This would be what I'm expecting from Philly for their 50th anniversary jersey, and it looks nice
+ This would be one of the better Pens yellow jerseys, the colour stand out perfectly
+ Like the touch of the Keystone Captain's C
+The custom Stadium Series logo looks great
+ God execution

- Player numbers are too small
- One problem with the SS logo is that it's yellow...and if this is a Battle of Penn, wouldn't it make sense to have an orange logo too...a bit of Pittsburgh bias perhaps?

Rating: 8.5/10

Pittsburgh Penguins Concept (By: BPoe96)

+ This would be a good way for the Pens to go back to athletic gold & black, not directly throwing back, but having an original design that is inspired by the past
+ The zebra stripes are very applying when put against the yellow, and help balance the colours
+ Excellent execution
+ This is a good example of how to do a jersey where technically the stripes are the same, but perspective makes them different

- I might be asking for too much with this, but a shoulder patch, perhaps the Robo-Pen or a roundel (yes I said roundel) would liven up the shoulders


Rating: 9.25/10 COTW Nom from me

New York Islanders Concepts (By: BPoe96)

+ I'm one of few I'm sure who wouldn't mind seeing the NY as a primary on a set, but here it works
+ The 4 stripes thing is done well, not in your face and decently colourful
+ The orange numbers are a good call back to the 70s
+ Good execution

- The colour balancing on the white jersey would be fine if not for one thing: the NY....oh man BPoe, that kills me that you went with orange instead of blue
- the white jersey has an Oilers feel to it with the blue yoke. To fix that, make the numbers blue, keep the orange NOB and make the numbers blue and scrap the yoke
- Adding the current logo as a shoulder patch wouldn't hurt

Rating: 9/10

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That's the post!

Don't forget to vote for COTW, COTY and get your playoff picks in

Have a great week

Go Jets, Moose, Mooseheads and my playoff picks