Saturday: The Season - FINAL
The winner of the COTW vote for December 16-22 was Matt G!
This was a bit of a surprising result as Tyler's Blue Jackets concept was the only concept properly nominated and seconded. Matt's concept was entered by me (as per the COTW rules) because I felt it was the best of the bunch that only received a single nomination. Anyways, congrats to Matt and his winning Skellefteå AIK concept set.
The final COTW nominees for 2016 have been listed on the side of the page in the black poll. Those logged into a Google account will see the poll and will have their vote counted up until Friday at noon Eastern. To see the concepts, click the link in the poll or go to the CONCEPT OF THE WEEK tab.
The eight and final week of The Season is upon us. The Final will feature the visiting Amur Khaborvsk and the Colorado Avalanche.
Amur defeated the Ottawa Senators in the Semi-Final to get to this point.
You can vote below, on the side of the page, or on THE SEASON page. Trying to vote on all three pages won't work as Google will simply register your first vote.
This Saturday exclusive competition seemed fairly successful. I would expect to see another Season later this year. If you think The Season was a success or a failure let me know in the comment section at the bottom of this post.
Thanks to everyone who participated and voted. Next week I will reveal who represented each team and I'm sure you guys have some guesses which you can post in the comments. For those who were in The Season please do not confirm your team until next week. You may also now send in the concepts if you wish to have them posted on a regular post.
Going on right now is the "Bring Back the Americans" Competition. You will be able to begin submitting entries on Monday. This was done to lighten the writers' workload during the holiday week. Hopefully you can use the two week submission period to perfect your entries and maybe even take a crack at a logo or two?
With the eBay listing this week of a Pittsburgh Penguins Adidas practice jersey (which was confirmed by the always awesome Sportslogos.net) it has brought me to write down my opinions on what we will see next year.
We will see three stripes. Three stripes wherever Adidas can find room to put them. Yes, even on your team's sweater! Yes, even on the Montreal Canadiens' sweater. Yes, even on the my beloved Maple Leafs' sweater. The hockey sweater, which is held in such high regard by both players and fans will be branded with Adidas' trademark three stripes. No team will be spared.
TSN has reported that Adidas will pay the NHL about $70 million a year to make NHL products (including game jerseys). I don't believe for one single second that Adidas would pay $70 million a year and NOT put their branding on these sweaters wherever possible (seen by the entire hockey world every night) . And that means three stripes on all 31 teams' sweaters.
If you don't want those three stripes on your jersey there is an outside chance that you may be in luck! You can take $180 out of your wallet and throw it down on the counter. The clerk will then hand you a brand new replica sweater made by...Fanatics! It looks like the jerseys worn in NHL rinks. It will be absent of Adidas branding, which may include the three stripes on down the side. It will also have Fanatics branding all over it, which you will not see the pros wear on the ice...ever. And for an estimated $100 extra you can get a name and number placed on your copycat jersey. So now you've paid $280 to have a sweater that sort of looks like the one you see on the ice. All of this because the NHL and NHLPA agreed to "boost revenues" coming out of the most recent lockout.
I'm not even going to begin to speculate on what a authentic Adidas jersey will cost you. Yet, I think it's fair to assume that the demand for counterfeit jerseys will only increase with these changes coming from the NHL.
I personally will still wait and see what happens. I will still wait and hope that some teams are spared the three stripe treatment, but my brain knows I'm being extremely foolish. If I am right, and each team gets the three stripes, and we are charged nearly $200 for a blank "copy" of a jersey, then I have come to the end of the story in my jersey collection saga. Sure, it will be fun to go back and enjoy some vintage items, but there will be nothing new to look forward to. Nothing new to get excited about. And nothing new that is worth me spending a large sum of my hard earned money just so rich people can get a little richer.
Full Results
This was a bit of a surprising result as Tyler's Blue Jackets concept was the only concept properly nominated and seconded. Matt's concept was entered by me (as per the COTW rules) because I felt it was the best of the bunch that only received a single nomination. Anyways, congrats to Matt and his winning Skellefteå AIK concept set.
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The eight and final week of The Season is upon us. The Final will feature the visiting Amur Khaborvsk and the Colorado Avalanche.
Amur defeated the Ottawa Senators in the Semi-Final to get to this point.
You can vote below, on the side of the page, or on THE SEASON page. Trying to vote on all three pages won't work as Google will simply register your first vote.
This Saturday exclusive competition seemed fairly successful. I would expect to see another Season later this year. If you think The Season was a success or a failure let me know in the comment section at the bottom of this post.
Thanks to everyone who participated and voted. Next week I will reveal who represented each team and I'm sure you guys have some guesses which you can post in the comments. For those who were in The Season please do not confirm your team until next week. You may also now send in the concepts if you wish to have them posted on a regular post.
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Going on right now is the "Bring Back the Americans" Competition. You will be able to begin submitting entries on Monday. This was done to lighten the writers' workload during the holiday week. Hopefully you can use the two week submission period to perfect your entries and maybe even take a crack at a logo or two?
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 |
| eBay |
We will see three stripes. Three stripes wherever Adidas can find room to put them. Yes, even on your team's sweater! Yes, even on the Montreal Canadiens' sweater. Yes, even on the my beloved Maple Leafs' sweater. The hockey sweater, which is held in such high regard by both players and fans will be branded with Adidas' trademark three stripes. No team will be spared.
 |
| This is a hastily thrown together idea of what we may see next season |
If you don't want those three stripes on your jersey there is an outside chance that you may be in luck! You can take $180 out of your wallet and throw it down on the counter. The clerk will then hand you a brand new replica sweater made by...Fanatics! It looks like the jerseys worn in NHL rinks. It will be absent of Adidas branding, which may include the three stripes on down the side. It will also have Fanatics branding all over it, which you will not see the pros wear on the ice...ever. And for an estimated $100 extra you can get a name and number placed on your copycat jersey. So now you've paid $280 to have a sweater that sort of looks like the one you see on the ice. All of this because the NHL and NHLPA agreed to "boost revenues" coming out of the most recent lockout.
 |
| NHL.com |
I personally will still wait and see what happens. I will still wait and hope that some teams are spared the three stripe treatment, but my brain knows I'm being extremely foolish. If I am right, and each team gets the three stripes, and we are charged nearly $200 for a blank "copy" of a jersey, then I have come to the end of the story in my jersey collection saga. Sure, it will be fun to go back and enjoy some vintage items, but there will be nothing new to look forward to. Nothing new to get excited about. And nothing new that is worth me spending a large sum of my hard earned money just so rich people can get a little richer.
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COTW Dec 23-29 vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)
Bring Back the Americans entries (due Friday @ noon Eastern)
The Season Final vote (ends Friday @ noon Eastern)
Saturday: The Season - FINAL
Reviewed by Ryan
on
December 31, 2016
Rating:
Reviewed by Ryan
on
December 31, 2016
Rating:
6 comments:
Let's not lose our minds over a practice jersey. An O6 team is never going to let a manufacturer change its design. If they put three stripes anywhere, it'd be where the Reebok logo is on your mock jersey. And that wouldn't be any more noticeable than the Reebok logo or a Nike swoosh or whatever. Now maybe, a newer team (Colorado, Carolina, San Jose, etc.) decides it's time for a rebrand (or in Vegas's case, jerseys to match its brand) and goes with Adidas to make something trendy and contemporary, and has no problem with Adidas stripes. But that would be it.
I can say without a doubt that Avi is Colorado, Ryan C was Milwaukee and Phil B was NYI (of course). Not too sure about the others though.
I think you're looking too much into the whole practice jersey thing. I doubt they'll put Adidas stripes on the jerseys next year. Just because they have them on practice jerseys, doesn't mean they'll have them on the actual jerseys. Practice jerseys also have ads on them and we don't see those. It also doesn't make much sense (at least to me personally) to have made these new Adidas templated jerseys (Toronto & Florida) only to add stripes the next year. If anything it may simply be an option for teams to add the stripes for monetary value, as in Adidas will pay any team that puts them on their jerseys. I still highly doubt they will.
And at this point, there's 0 chance I'd buy a brand new jersey anyway. Chances are that the league's current Reebok EDGE jerseys will be cheaper once the Adidas system rolls through and then it would be the perfect time to snatch them, but why would I get an off-brand copycat jersey for 300 bucks when I can buy a 30 dollar jersey that I actually like off Kijiji and then pay 40 bucks for customization at a local shop? It sucks because people with more money than they can handle will just buy whatever their team is wearing. Sucks really.
I really wish that hockey jerseys would go back to a quality item. Currently they stink. Replicas start out decent with an embroidered main crest. However if your team of choice has shoulder patches you get the horrible screen printed junk.
Now the next lessening of quality of replicas is you don't get an Adidas brand you get Fanatics brand. I almost imagine the main crest will be downgraded to the screen printed variety as well.
replica jerseys used to be a very suitable alternative to an authentic. Although other sports are just as bad. Replica baseball jerseys go as far as leaving off the shoulder patches. MAybe that's what the fanatics brand will do too.
I do have to say after returning from the WInter Classic ALumni game. The BLackhawks WC Jerseys are a thing of beauty and what a replica jersey should be. However the Blues customized ones are atrocious
Adidas's takeover may present a learning curve and early mistakes similar to what we saw in 2007. However, if fans vote with their wallets, any miscues in the early days of this deal may self-correct. Look at how many teams who got the Reebok template treatment in '07 have reverted back to older designs, or rebranded entirely.
The inclusion of the Adidas stripes on the World Cup jerseys, along with this practice jersey are cause for concern. The concepts that were coming in after the WC jerseys were revealed were, without exception, hindered by Adidas branding whenever that was used.
Another concern is the general lack of detail or use of organic/angular patterns. There have been some exceptions, but Adidas so far has shown a trepidation towards using striping patterns that are not just horizontal lines.
Although the NAU23 WC jerseys have grown on me, I stand by what I said months ago: comparing these new Adidas jerseys to previous designs from CCM, and the last 6 years of Reebok are like comparing Legos to Duplo blocks.
The sky may not be falling, and it may all turn out fine in the end. Maybe the Adidas stripes won't be used on the jerseys we see on the ice after all. Until we know for sure, I'll be purchasing Canadian-made authentics while I still can.
They will not add the adidas stripes on! Look at the NBA.
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