Monday: In Them Ol' Cottonfields

Welcome to the Monday post!

Not much to talk about in the intro, as little news has come out that hasn't been talked about yet, but I can assure you there will be at least one more new AHL team and some new NHL jerseys later this week at the draft as well as post draft so stay tuned. But as is Thunderbirds look good, Roadrunners look predictable, next!

The HJC OPEN BEGINS IN 4 DAYS! Don't forget to get your entries ready and work hard on them. I know that this is the tournament where you need to impress the voters most, and put your best foot and new concept forward. Try something new, experiment, but also play to your skills. You're trying to impress the voters and you know what voters look for. In short, do what you know and do that best!

I look forward to seeing your concepts!

Speaking of concepts, don't forget to vote for COTW! It takes 5 seconds and it'll make the blog run smoother! DO IT!

COTW June 10-16 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

HJC Open Round Robin (begins Friday night)

On to today's 9 concepts!

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Montréal Canadiens Concepts (By: Avi S.)

+ With Montréal putting out the best Winter Classic jersey yet, I can safely agree in using it full time as an away jersey, it's a pain in the ass to keep clean, but it looks great

+ The changes to the white jersey are subtle, like removing the stitching across the numbers, but keeping the white C and oversized NOB was a good call

+ The home jersey is the new jersey and it looks great, not quite as good and crisp as the white jersey, but it still looks early 1920s and I do like the look of the numbers on the red jersey

+ Perfect execution

- For full time use, I would have gone with Montréal's current collar over the sweater collar

Rating: 9.5/10 COTW nom from me!

Flint Firebirds Concept (By: Zach R.)

+ I really like the custom font for the numbers, looks great and matches the Firebirds F to an extent

+ Colours are really well laid out, and the orange, despite not being use much pops against the blue and looks larger than it is

+ Good logo choice

+ Good execution, but needs some improvement 

- NOB is slightly too small and tv numbers are slightly too large

- Don't forget a helmet logo, and when using that template, make the outline of the shape of the helmet and grooves a darker/lighter shade of the colour used on the helmet itself

- The RBK vector logo sticks out like a sore thumb

- Using the Firebirds current primary logo would make a great shoulder patch

Rating: 7.75/10

Columbus ************ Concepts (By: Ryan C.)

+ The jerseys looks like a mix of Dallas and Winnipeg, and they look really solid, matching the logo very nicely

+ Numbers match too, the angles resemble fangs

+ Near perfect colour balancing across the jerseys 

+ I like the use of a blue helmet instead of black 

+ Good execution

- Shoulder patches are larger than the tv numbers 

- Pants need a white stripe on them 

- It's not Ryan's fault, but I would prefer the SPHL logo if it were the same colour as the jersey (like what the OHL/LMJHQ does)

Rating: 8.5/10

WCoH Team US of A Concepts (By: Tyler M.)

+ A huge improvement over what we saw from the US!

+ The striping and logo really go together well

+ Love the stars under the collar

+ Good execution

- The fond used for the numbers doesn't match the USA on the logo, something like the San Jose pre-edge numbers or Vancouver's numbers with an outline would work great

- Not a huge fan of the WCoH logo on the shoulder, it makes them look uneven, sublimated stars or eagles would look better and put the logo on the chest 

Rating: 7.75/10

Ottawa Senators Concepts (By: Avi S.)

+ Right away, perfect logo and colour choices, everything looks bright and perfectly balanced 

+ The numbers are a good mix of the 2000s numbers and something less dated

+ The striping looks great and the use of gold on all 3 side of the stripes looks beautiful 

+Perfect execution 

- While it's not overpowering, the NOB would look better and less in your face if it were 10% smaller

-The upper jersey above the logo looks really bare and noticeable, especially on the white jersey. I'm not saying the logo is place improperly bit it might be a proportions thing with the logo be circular. Oversizing the logo slightly would fix that 

Rating: 9.25/10

Hartford Whalers Concept (By: Caz W.)

+ While I prefer the brighter 80s Whalers colours, seeing the darker emerald and white really brightens up the jersey over grey & navy

+ Striping is the perfect mix of 90s and modern  that melds nicely together 

+ I like the collar touch, this would be a jersey that does it better than Chicago's '16 SS jersey and it fits the destiny 

+ Numbers look great

+ Great execution

- WHERE'S PUCKY?! 

- The NOB would look better with a navy outline 

Rating: 9.25/10

WCoH Team Canada Concepts (By: Tyler M.)

+ Similar to what Canada wears outside of the Olympics, which has always worked for me

+ Adding the black collar insert and outlines around the numbers helps tie the traditional jersey to the logo

+ A simple but improved concept, a jersey better than what the team currently wears tenfold 

+ Good execution

- I wish Tyler had tried to add some black to the striping and spice it up a little bit while staying simple and traditional, the concept isn't particularly exciting and it wouldn't sell jerseys 

- Can't stand having just one shoulder patch. Not sure what you could add but something and then moving the WCoH logo to the chest

- Pants would look better black imo

Rating: 7.5/10