Thursday: Playoff Jerseys

Hello again everyone, welcome back! Thursday has sure snuck up on me here, and by this time next week the Stanley Cup Playoffs will have begun. Phil touched on this subject yesterday, but let's take a bit of a deeper look as to which teams may wear which jerseys for the playoffs.

A few teams do not have an alternate jersey, and therefore that will not be an option for them, only their regular uniforms. So far the teams that fall under this category are the Panthers, Stars, Blackhawks, Kings, and Predators. They will all be wearing their usual uniforms. If the Red Wings make the playoffs, they will also be a part of this group.

Also, San Jose has already announced that they will be wearing their teal jerseys this year. That marks off another team, no need to guess for them.

The remainder of the teams fall into three categories for my guess on their uniform choice:
1) They will wear the alternate uniform.
2) It could go either way.
3) They will stick with their regular uniforms.

Let's break this down shall we?

Group 1: Alternates

Capitals
The Caps have been wearing their white alternate jerseys for the playoffs for the past few years, I have no reason to believe they won't do the same this year with the red ones.

Penguins
Being my favorite team, I of course follow the Pens more closely than any other teams. This means that I've noticed that they've used the Pittsburgh gold in some playoff promotional material, most notably this tweet right here.

wIN! Let's make this one to remember. pic.twitter.com/MyQinpKDI3

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2016

That being said, the reason they went with the regular uniforms last year was because the equipment was better broken in, so if that happens again it wouldn't surprise me.

Wild
I had actually forgotten that the Wild have been wearing their alternate in the playoffs for the past few years until I read Phil's post yesterday, but considering that, there wouldn't be any surprise if they do it again.


Group 2: Either Way

Anaheim
The Ducks have been wearing their alternates for the playoffs for at least a year or two before they were promoted, if I remember correctly (and correct me if I'm wrong here). Since that alternate is now the primary, that seems like it would be a predictable move. However, with the Ducks' #PaintItOrange marketing strategy/movement/thing, a usage of the orange alts wouldn't surprise me either.

St. Louis
I would love to see the Blues in their regular homes, but this part is a bit of an "inconclusive evidence" placement by myself, because I have nothing to say which jersey they'll likely use. If they've been using the alternates in the playoffs recently, then that seems to have slipped from my mind, and in that case I'd imagine seeing them again. Otherwise we'll end up seeing the regular homes now, wouldn't we?


Group 3: The Regulars

New York Rangers
Their regular home jersey is a classic, there's no doubt about that, so that seems like the obvious move here.

Philadelphia Flyers (if they make it)
Again, same case as the Rangers here, except a bit less classic. In this case I wouldn't be as surprised to see the alternate, though.

New York Islanders
I understand their homage to Brooklyn with the alternate, but I don't believe that'll win over their regular uniform for playoff usage. And I'd much rather this be the case anyways.

Tampa Bay Lightning
Similar case here, I just can't see their alternate winning over the regular home uniform, especially since it didn't last year.

Boston Bruins (if they make it)
As far as I remember, the Bruins are another case in which they've been using the regular uniforms for the playoffs. I see no reason why that would change.


And I think I've covered them all now. What do you guys think, agree, disagree? Leave a comment. Also, if a team announced which jersey they're using and I missed it, update me on that one too.

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This week, as always, we have our COTW vote. A bit bigger this week though, with a whopping 8 concepts. There's also the voting for the pears pairs competition, with a lot of solid entries. The groups worked hard on their projects, the least you can do is go leave a vote for one of them.

COTW Mar 27-Apr 2 vote (ends Friday @ 11:59pm Eastern)

Pairs Competition vote (ends Friday @ 10:59pm Eastern)

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Well we have an interesting situation here in which I was given my own concepts to review, but fortunately it's been a little while since they were designed, so I'll give my reflection on them now that I look at them again. I'd love to hear your thoughts, so leave a comment and tell me what you think.

Brendan P. - Gatineau Olympiques

So for this one, I was going for something more on the modern side, especially with a logo and potential color scheme like this. I think the yoke design on the white jersey could have been better, because while it fits the modern look it may look odd with the arm "stripes" coming up the way they do. I think it might have looked better to blend the collar into the jersey as opposed to having it stand out, so they'd both have been black. Other than that I have no complaints looking back.

Overall: 8/10

Brendan P. - Prince George Cougars

The main things I like about this concept are the logo, which vastly needed improvement, so I fixed it so that way it at least doesn't look like the nose is caved in. I also like how the colors look, and I think the Vegas gold works pretty decently here. But honestly, I think this concept is too simple looking back. It doesn't really have anything too unique to it. Just a simple two stripes and a hem fill. You guys seemed to like it a good bit though, as it won the competition it was made for and the COTW vote it entered from that. I think the numbers could have used an outline too, they're pretty simple as they are.

Overall: 7/10

Chris W. - Chicago Huskies

You know, I've never been a fan of Vegas gold, at least not on hockey jerseys. I think it's way too bland.

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But man you NAILED IT. While the color is still naturally a bit bland, it's prominent enough to make it stand out enough and give it a good look. The yoke design looks great, I love the classy looking alt, the drop shadow numbers look great, as do the Chicago flag stars in the striping. My only complaints really are the use of cream, it doesn't look bad but I think the white would look much better, and the names on the two jerseys with gold surrounding them should be in black to provide better contrast. Also, the logo on the white jersey looks to be closer to actual white rather than the same cream color, they should be the same shade here.

Overall: 9/10

Jay S. - Utah Jazz

Quite a simple concept here, and an interesting translation of the basketball counterparts. I'd switch the blue and green on the stripes on the white jersey to balance the colors better. I'd also use the logo they currently use on their jerseys, I think that would fit the jersey better. One big problem though, is that the yellow stripe is way too thin. It would barely be noticeable, especially on the blue, where it blends with the white.

Overall: 7.5/10

Lucas D. - Tampa Bay Lightning

Lucas takes on the classic challenge of using a lightning bolt design on the Lightning jersey. I like the base pattern with the extended yoke plus hem and cuff fills, and the silver trim looks perfect on this one. However, I'm not a big fan of the way the bolt was executed. I see what you were going for, but to me it just looks like 2 peaks in the middle of the jersey, or almost like an M. It took me some time to really decipher the lightning bolt shape. It's hard to get that design to work. Unfortunately I don't think this one works either but you're on the right track, and that's really the only problem.

Overall: 8/10

Ryan C. - Idaho Steelheads

Pretty simple look here, but a pretty good look too. It actually looks like something that would fit the Lightning well. The font looks really good here, it's hard to find a fit for that one. The black and blue have some issues with bleeding together, and the gray stripes could use to be a tad thicker. The CCM logo looks horizontally squished too. Otherwise there really aren't any problems.

Overall: 8/10

Ryan C. - Orlando Solar Bears

Ryan employs a template similar to the Sabres' for this last concept of the day. Especially with this nice, vibrant color scheme it looks pretty good. Love having purple as the main color on the dark jersey, not something you see often unfortunately. It's not very creative, but possibly realistic, since AHL and ECHL teams will use NHL templates on occasion. The piping should go though, it really doesn't add anything to the jersey. This is most definitely not the correct stitching pattern for their jerseys though, the piping wouldn't overlay the stitching like it does now.

Overall: 7.5/10

And that's all! My COTW nomination for today goes to my Prince George Cougars concept!

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Just kidding. My actual nomination goes to Chris W's Chicago Huskies concept.

That does raise the question though, would it actually be possible for the same concept to win two different COTW votes? That would be interesting.

I hope you enjoyed the post, thanks for reading, and I'll see you all again next week.