Monday: CHL Specialty Jersey Reviewfest

Welcome to another Monday post on HJC.

Check out the podcast on the side of the blog if you haven't already!

Today I'd figure we take a tour of the CHL and check out the Pink the Rink/Breast Cancer Awareness jerseys we have seen so far in the early CHL season. Along with a couple other specialty jerseys from the Niagara Ice Dogs.

On October 1st, the Ice Dogs wore throwback jerseys, honouring the 1960 Memorial Cup champion St. Catherine Tee Pees

Photo from Ontariohockeyleague.com

Wow the are gorgeous, the striping, the colour layout, the beautiful logo...it's all so crisp and clean and classic. I'd put this in the same category with the Buffalo Bison or Trail Smokeeaters, classic minor hockey. The actual Tee Pees wore very similar jerseys, and wore what I could call Quakers like jerseys with a different logo, but I prefer this one. Nice job! I'd like to see the Ice Dogs do this every year.

Rating: 10/10- give me one plz

The Ice Dogs also celebrated Pride Night with Brian Burke, sporting the rainbow jerseys for the first time in hockey history (the jerseys were sent to the HHoF so good luck getting one if you want one).

Photo from OHL Official Twitter Account

When I said rainbow jersey what I mean was a white jersey with rainbow stripes. They had one of two options for jersey colour, black or white, and I think a black version would involve adding a white stripe at the top and bottom of the stripes. I think it looks good, all the colours can be seen easily, and putting it onto the dog itself was a nice idea. I don't think the team actually wore rainbow sox like the dog (as cool as that would be), they did use rainbow numbers, which at least in this image makes them hard to read. It's not so bad on the back of the jersey but it nearly makes the TV numbers illegible being right next to another set of rainbows. Honestly reminds me of those knockoff jerseys that put the American flag or  any sort of camo or team logos into the numbers on jerseys (look), though not THAT bad, but still hard to see. The untouched shoulder patch would look less out of place if the numbers were the same as the regular.

Rating: 7.5/10

Starting our pink fest in the QMJHL, we'll go to Charlottetown where the Islanders have tied a big pink ribbon on the front of their awareness jerseys, something we don't see a lot of.

Photo from Charlottetown Islanders Official Facebook page

I really like the script the Islanders use, and instead of just making an existing jersey pink, they came up with something original, kudos on that. The logo looks pretty solid, but more so impressive is this really nice striping pattern, something I'd like to see the Islanders work with in the future. The arm stripe extending the arms adds some nice continuity, I really like how the numbers are inside said stripe. I would have made the CCM and LMJHQ logo black to help them stand out better.

Rating: 8/10

In Hamilton, the Bulldogs dropped their off blue and pink jerseys from last year (which I got to see while on reading week) for something a lot more traditional, and honestly pretty good looking

Photo from Hamilton Bulldogs Official Twitter Account 

While the Bulldogs won't wear this until October 23rd, this is the only photo I've seen of this jersey. It looks to be a regular Bulldogs white jersey with white replaced with pink except in the striping where yellow is replaced with white. Overall it looks good, but the logo with the arched script looks really nice, again another element I'd like to see adapted into a non-specialty jersey. Same problem with the Islanders jerseys with the CCM & OHL logos being white instead of black. It'll also be interesting to see if the shoulder patches are on this jersey too.

Rating: 8/10

In the twin cities of Blainville-Boisbriand, the Armada wore their pink jerseys this past week, and similarly to the Bulldogs we got a pink version of an existing jersey.

Photo from BB Armada Official Facebook Page

If you haven't seen this jersey before, I can't blame ya, unless you follow the Armada it's rarely seen unless you find it in one of the NHL games. This is their alternate jersey, recouped as pink, replacing the grey and muted yellow usually seen on this jersey. I can't say I'm a huge fan of the Blues template, but the lack of hoping and really nice looking logo, it does a good job. Again we see the pink & black colour scheme, with a little bit of the blue-grey seen on the shoulders. The numbers on the back are black which are hard to read from a distance. Glad to see they went with the black manufacturer logo, too bad it doesn't extend to the league logo, thought this pink is a fair bit darker than the others seen today, so it isn't as bad. 

Rating: 7.25/10

Jumping across the border and the continent, the Everett Silvertips ditched the black and pink scheme for something a little more...boreal 

Photo from Everett Silvertips Hockey Club Official Facebook Page

We get a very simple jersey, and sadly it's too simple. The striping is really well done, but it needs to go on the hem as well. The logo is beautiful in monochrome, and both shoulder patches work. However the lack of colour and small size of the primary logo keeps this jersey looking relatively plain. The same can be said for the smaller, thin numbers. A pink outline would help them a lot, especially on the back. On ice the green pants helped the jersey a little bit though.

Rating: 6/10

As the season continues we're sure to see more pink the rink jerseys, along with military appreciation nights and other specialty jerseys, and hopefully I can keep up and review them,

Don't forget to vote for COTW! Vote is on the side of the blog. Third quarter vote is also ongoing, one of these concept will be seen early next year on the way to the COTY Semi-Final votes.

Also don't forget about the Hurricanes Redesign contest as it enters its voting phase. Pick your top five concepts and vote away! 

Both Votes end Friday at noon 

3rd Quarter Vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern) 

COTW Oct 7-13 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

Hurricanes Top 5 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)

On with today's 4 concepts! 

-------------------------------------------------------

Philadelphia Flyers Concepts (By: Jimmy T.)

+ While I've said in the past I don't like the Flyers jerseys now as direct throwbacks, but I do like the colour layout, and the white jersey does a great job at keeping that
+ The arm striping is like a mix of the current arms and the 2002-2006 alternate, and again it looks good and would be solid modern replacement
+ Good execution

- I would have nominated this for COTW if you had put a hem stripe on the orange jersey, it doesn't look terrible but it's so close to being great
-Sock stripes are too thin and or too low depending on what you were trying to do
- Pants need a white stripe on them

Rating: 8.25/10

Buffalo Sabres 2006 Concepts (By: John E.)

+ For 2006, I would have loved to have seen large grey cuffs, even today they wouldn't be so bad
+ That plays into the larger these with John's concept, where he's done a much better job integrating grey into the classic Sabres look
+ The universally liked parts the Buffaslug jersey like the numbers and shoulder patch sticking around is a nice call
+ I like the custom logo, it fits with the period


- Now as you all know, I love the Buff-a-slug, the jersey are meh but the logo on its own I think is fantastic, while I do like John's custom logo, I'd imagine the Slug on these jerseys would look better
- Pants need more colour on them
- The stripes seem a little thick, which squished the numbers on the back and makes the yellow stripe on the white jersey overtake the bleu overs too much

Rating: 7.75/10

Dallas Stars Original 7 Concept (By: Lucas D.)

+ Logo fits the period perfectly, it's a good sort of mix of the Dallas Texans logo, but the star itself still looks like a Dallas Stars logo in its shape
+ Striping fits the era, similar to Boston or Chicago in the Original 6 era
+ Colour balance is great, which a lot of jerseys of that time couldn't do well
+ Good execution and choice of template

-I'd be interested to see how the logo would look with the colours inverted, that way the D would match the numbers and connect better, but I know some people try to avoid that
- Would like to see some gear in this series, as gear often made this era of jerseys look even better, whether it's canvas or not.

Rating: 9/10 COTW Nom from me

Air Force Flacons NCAA Concept (By: Patrick N.)

+ It's been said before, but Patrick has nailed how to transfer the colours of a plane to a jersey, and this is probably his best entry in the series
+ On a jersey level, this pattern and colour lay our really works, I like how the colours resemble the 2015 Stadium Series jerseys, but more complete
+ Shoulder stripes stand out really nicely and match the plain
+ Good execution

- Sock stripes are much too high and would likely be covered by the pants, at least the top white stripe
-The manufacturer logo on the back of the yoke is very hard to make out in the stripes
-I'd ditch the front numbers, they crowd the yoke and collar

Rating: 9/10

---------------------------------------------------