New Template and a Ducks Concept

Happy New Year!

To start off 2015 I have a new template to unveil, and a Ducks concept using that template, but before we get to those I also want to state a new rule for guest concepts.  From now on I'm only going to accept concepts that are for actual hockey teams.  That means concepts for movies, TV shows, video games, other sports, Swedish superstores, etc, will no longer be accepted.  This new rule is simply because I enjoy reviewing concepts that are for actual hockey teams more than other concepts.

Now here is that template I was talking about...

This template is a hybrid of the template used on The (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database and the template from the Paint Users Paradise 2.0 thread on the Sportslogos.net forum (which is why I call it the "NHLuniforms.com/Sportslogos.net Hybrid Template").  It is mostly traced from an image on The (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database, but with the arms perpendicular like the Sportslogos.net template.  The collars are also from the Sportslogos.net template (with some alterations done by me).

This template can be found on the Templates page, along with some extra collars and stuff to go along with it.

Anaheim Ducks:

To try out the new template I created this Ducks third jersey concept.  It's another attempt at using no white in the stripes (previous attempt here).  Those stripes are somewhat inspired by the collars on their current home and road jerseys.

Lastly, I made a minor change in the look of the blog by adding a white stripe behind the links to the pages.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Orange Ducks for Halloween

Happy Halloween!  To celebrate the holiday I've applied a Halloween design to the blog for the day.  I also made an orange third jersey concept for the Ducks.

Anaheim Ducks:

This concept is a combination of different Ducks jerseys.  The striping is mostly from their 1993-2006 jerseys, but it has a slight curve to it which is inspired by their 2006-07 jerseys.  The logos and number fonts are from their current jerseys.

Have a good day!

My Thoughts: Outdoor Jerseys

Speaking as a Canucks fan, this last week was a bit of a crazy week.  First of all I attended the Heritage Classic, then a few days later Luongo was traded, and the next day on trade deadline day the Canucks were rumoured to being making some big trades but ended up not doing much.  But for today's post I'm going to focus on the Heritage Classic, as well as all the other NHL outdoor games this year, as I'm reviewing the jerseys worn for those outdoor games.

Before I get to the jerseys I'll briefly talk about the experience of the Heritage Classic.  I went to the game with my dad, and while it was snowing at our house, it was raining in Vancouver which as you know meant the roof was closed at BC Place.  That was a bit disappointing, but I wasn't really expecting the roof to be open.  The result of the game was also disappointing, but the rest of the day was great.  Watching a hockey game with over 50,000 people is a really cool experience, we were doing the wave and chanting "WE WANT LUO!", it was a lot of fun.  We had decent seats about halfway up the lower bowl, and while the sight lines obviously aren't the best for hockey, BC Place has a giant big screen you could look at if the puck disappeared behind the boards.  Overall it was really fun, I'd recommend going to one of these games if you ever get the chance.

Heritage Classic:

(Photo by Rich Lam/Getty Images)

Enough about the game though, what really matters are the jerseys.  If you've been reading this blog for a while (and you have a good memory) you might remember that this wasn't the first time I attended a Canucks game when they were wearing their Millionaire jerseys.  After that first game I said that the jerseys looked great, and my opinion hasn't changed since then.  The colours look so good, and I love how historically accurate the jerseys are.  It would have been easy to go with a lace-up collar and maroon pants, but the Canucks did the right thing by keeping it accurate.  Ottawa went in a different direction by not using a direct throwback, but I also think that was the right thing for them to do.  I don't think they would be allowed to use a full barber-pole jersey against the dark Millionaires jersey anyways.  What they ended up using still honoured history nicely, while creating something that people nowadays would like.  I heard a few complaints that it was hard to distinguish the two teams with them both using a lot of vintage white, personally I didn't have that problem when I was at the game but I noticed it later when I was watching highlights on TV.

Winter Classic:

(Photo by Dave Sandford/NHLI via Getty Images)

Moving on to the other Classic game, which was much more classic weather wise than the Heritage Classic.  I've already briefly touched on my thoughts of these two jerseys back when I did a "fix it" concept for the Winter Classic, so I'll just quickly reiterate my thoughts here.  I'm a big fan of Toronto's jersey, there are just a few minor things I would have done differently to be more historically accurate (three sets of stripes on the socks, tan/brown pants and gloves, and no laces).  I wasn't really a fan of the Detroit's jersey, it was too much of a faux-back jersey, and it really didn't look like Red Wings to me.  I also wasn't a fan of the vintage white.  I did love that the game was colour vs colour (although I don't want colour vs colour to become a regular thing).

Stadium Series:

 (Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via Getty Images)

Lastly we get to the Stadium Series games, and the NHL went in another direction by going with modern jerseys for these games.  I think that's a good move, it keeps the two Classics more special.  I was a fan of the jerseys in general, including the chrome crests and funky numbers, but only as one-off jerseys.  I kind of thought of these jerseys like All-Star game jerseys, they're for a special event and you only see them once so you might as well try some new things.  Now we all know there was one team, the Devils, who didn't want to do anything new.  Part of me wishes they would have gone with modern jersey to fit in with the rest of the teams, but the other part of me likes how traditional they are with their jerseys.  In the end I like the Devils decision, they haven't had a new jersey since 1992, and I would hate to have seen that streak ended by the Stadium Series.

Now you know my thoughts on the NHL's outdoor game jerseys, feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments.  Thanks for visiting!

Green Ducks

Anaheim Ducks:

I was watching a Ducks game recently (it was when they beat the Canucks, my favourite team, 9-1), when I thought to myself that their dark jersey really doesn't need any white in the striping.  So I decided to make a concept like that.  Halfway through making the concept I thought it would look good with the black replaced by a dark green, so I did that.  This is the end result.

Thanks for visiting!

Pacific Division De-Edge Vintage Jerseys

It's vintage week on SG-94!  Each day this week I'll be bringing back a header (design at top of blog) that I've previously used, and today's is the first header used on this blog.  There were seven different headers I used before I switched to this blog template, so come back each day to see all seven old designs.  The headers are un-altered, besides being extended sideways to fit the current blog template.

Also I'm bringing back the NHL's vintage jersey program for my De-Edge series, but this time it will include all 30 teams, and I've made a few rules for myself.  Fist of all I can't alter anything, the jerseys have to be true throwbacks (not fauxbacks like the recent Winter Classics).  Also both the home and road jerseys must be from the same year.  Speaking of home and road jerseys, I made the home jerseys the light colour and road jerseys dark.  And this isn't really a rule, but I tried to throwback to jerseys teams had success in.

Anaheim Ducks Vintage Set:

These are the jerseys the Ducks wore during their trip to the Stanley Cup final in 2003.

Calgary Flames Vintage Set:

The Flames wore these jerseys when they won the Stanley Cup in 1989.

Edmonton Oilers Vintage Set:

This is the classic Gretzky-era Oilers set.

Los Angeles Kings Vintage Set:

This is the Kings original jersey design, but specifically this set was from 1979-80 (no gold pants but with player names).  The Kings now have five jerseys in my De-Edge series, and none of them are white.

Phoenix Coyotes Vintage Set:

These are the Coyotes original jerseys.

San Jose Sharks Vintage Set:

I also went with the Sharks original jerseys.

Vancouver Canucks Vintage Set:

For the Canucks I went back to the jerseys they wore when they went to the Stanley Cup final in 1994.

Feel free to let me know want you think of my choices for each team.  Have a good day!

Battalion and Ducks De-Edge Third

North Bay Battalion, by Alan:

We start off today with a North Bay Battalion concept by Alan.  He has created a great new set of logos based off of the team's current script (you can read his description on the concept itself).  Those logos are paired with classy yet some what modern looking jerseys.  For the most part I really like the jerseys, but I kind of think the green jersey could use some black on the sleeves.  I don't know if the black would work on the top part of the sleeves, but it might work on the bottom part of the sleeves (or it might be best the way it is).  Overall, I think these are much better than North Bay's current uniforms.  If you want to see more of Alan's work check out his blog AJH Hockey Jersey Art.

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Anaheim Ducks Third:

The striping pattern I used for the third jersey here is similar to the home and road, except the striping is angled not curved, there are hem stripes instead of side panels, and orange is continued to the bottom.  If you look at all the socks in the image below you might get a better idea of what I mean.  I used the recoloured Mighty Ducks logo as the main logo, and the D-foot logo as the shoulder patch.  The fonts, pants, and gloves are the same as the primary jerseys, but there is a new helmet.

Full Set:

Here is a look at the full set.

Have a good day!

Anaheim Ducks De-Edge

I haven't been posting a lot of concepts lately, but hopefully that will change as I've decided to start a new series, which I'm calling "NHL De-Edge".  As the title suggests, I'm ditching the Reebok Edge system, going back to the style the NHL used before 2007.  I'm starting with just home and road jerseys for each team, but might go back and add third jerseys afterwards.  The Ducks are the first team, and I'm kind of going alphabetically but it might skip around a bit.

Anaheim Ducks:

I'm a fan of the Ducks current jerseys, but this concept would be boring just using the same striping pattern, so I used side panels instead.  I also put the duck foot logo on the front of the sweater, and used the oval shoulder patch from their current third jersey.  The rest of the stuff is pretty much the same as what they currently use.

I should have the Bruins posted in a few days.

More Fashion Jerseys

It's been a bit longer than I wanted, but here are a few more fashion jerseys to go with four from the previous post.  WinnipegJets96 suggested three teams (Oilers, Canucks, and Stars), and I did the Canucks, but I didn't get around to the other two teams.  Sorry about that WinnipegJets96.  I did do a couple of jerseys for the Ducks though.

Vancouver Canucks:

As you can see, I did a navy blue and silver version for the Canucks.

Anaheim Ducks:

And for the Ducks I did two versions, using the "Jade" and "Eggplant" colours from their Mighty Duck days.

Thanks for visiting.

My Least Favourite jerseys

For my phase 2 post on HJC I talked about my top five favourite jerseys in the NHL right now.  I thought I'd post here on SG-94 about my least favourite jerseys in the NHL right now.  This time though I'm posting a Top Ten list (I have lots to complain about).  I also have one rule, that I can only have one least favourite jersey per-team.  Remember that these are just my opinions, so feel free to disagree with me.  Also, all the images in this post are from Icethetics, and the titles of each jersey are links to their page on The (unofficial) NHL Uniform Database.

10: Boston Bruins Third

(Image from Icethetics)

I dislike the Bruins third jersey for a few reasons.  First of all, they used black socks for the first in franchise history.  Not only does it ruin tradition, I also think it just looks bad.  The sleeve striping appears lazy to me (just copied from their home jersey), and the lack of hem-stripes look bad on this jersey.  My final complaint is the logo, which I think looks much better as shoulder-patch.  The bruins colour-scheme still looks great though, which helps this jersey a bit.

9: Anaheim Ducks Third

(Image from Icethetics)

Most people are a fan the Ducks third jersey, but I think it's an eyesore.  The large orange area at the top of the socks are my least favourite part, it stands out way too much.  I also think all the orange piping is unnecessary and just clutters up the jersey up.  I am a fan of the logos though, which saves this jersey from being lower down on this list.

8: Ottawa Senators Road

(Image from Icethetics)

I'm not a fan of over-used templates, and this jersey template is one of the worst.  It's used by the Senators and Penguins (and formerly the Lightning).  I think the Penguins use this template slightly better, which is why I chose the Senators for this list.  Another thing I don't like about this jersey is the ugly font used for the numbers.  The side-profile logo would also be nice to see on a Senators jersey, instead of the front-facing logo on this jersey.

7: Calgary Flames Road

(Image from Icethetics)

During the Reebok Edge takeover in 2007, the flames went from having one of my favourite jersey sets to one of my least favourite.  I don't mind the side-panels, but I don't like the piping, the flag shoulder-patches, or the trim at the hem.  The jersey is just too busy, if it were simplified it might not be on this list.  Also the side panels on the home jersey match the pants better, which is why the road jersey makes this list instead of the home.

6: Florida Panthers Home

(Image from Icethetics)

I was very excited when I heard that the Panthers were returning to red for the colour of their home jersey.  But when it was revealed I was very disappointed.  The jersey has major contrast problems, due to the lack of white.  Also the striping is kind of boring, since it was just copied from their previous jersey.  The logos are still nice though, and the use of more red is good.

5: Tampa Bay Lightning Third

(Image from Icethetics)

The Lightning have three of my least favourite jerseys right now.  I had to pick just one, and the "Bolts" word-mark is what causes this jersey to make the list.  In my opinion, using a nickname as a logo is very amateurish and should never happen in the NHL.  The piping also makes this jersey look bad.  The actual striping is good though, which is why this jersey isn't even lower down on this list.

4: Pittsburgh Penguins Third

(Image from Icethetics)

One trend I really hate is the use of vintage white, including on the Penguins third jersey here at number four on the list.  I also don't like the trend of faux-back jerseys for the Winter Classic, which I think this jersey helped become a trend.  One other thing, the stripes on this jersey seem a bit too large, in my opinion.  This jersey also replaced a nice throwback jersey, which is another reason I might dislike it.

3: Columbus Blue Jackets Third

(Image from Icethetics)

This jersey would be so much better with normal white.  As it is, the modern elements used on this jersey (unique number font, use of silver), and the vintage white just don't mix.  Speaking of the number font, I don't think the super-boxy numbers work.  They're just too square.  The use of their regular logo on the helmet is also an odd choice.

2: Colorado Avalanche Home

(Image from Icethetics)

Another team that went from having great jerseys to terrible jerseys during the Reebok Edge takeover.  Now they are wearing a basic "colour by numbers" template.  The shoulder-yoke, similar to the Panthers jersey, has major contrast problems.  I also dislike the use of black equipment, since black is used so little anywhere else.

1: New York Islanders Third

(Image from Icethetics)

In my opinion, this is not only the worst jersey right now, but also hands-down the worst jersey of all-time.  First of all, the Black-For-Black-Sack (or BFBS) is stupid and looks ugly.  Then replacing white with grey makes the jersey look dark and muddy.  On top of that, the Islanders just stole the striping from the Ducks third jersey.  And then what did they use for a logo?  That's right, a boring script on top of the player's number.  They also thought it would be a good idea to use lace-up collars with such a modern jersey template.  Another thing, they just used the blue helmets from their home jersey, which looks out of place and weird.  Finally, the diamond pattern formed with the pants (which I'll admit is creative), looks kind of odd.  All those things are why this jersey is at number one on this list, and also why I would consider it the worst jersey off all time.

What do you think?  Feel free to leave your thoughts in the comments.

Anaheim Revisited

Here is post two of my Revisited Series.  This time it's for the Anaheim Ducks.

Original Concept:  I wanted to try a Ducks concept using green and orange.  I used their Mighty Ducks logo and a very simple striping pattern.

Revisited Concept:  To update this concept, I used an Anaheim Ducks striping pattern, brightened up the colours (looking at them now I probably made the green too bright), and added shoulder logos.

Justin suggested that the colours were too bright.  I agree with him, so here's an updated version with darker green.

My Concept History

A special post today about the history of my concepts.  The execution is pretty bad on some of these, but please don't laugh.

I first starting making concepts near the end of 2009, when my local minor hockey association got new jerseys.  These "concepts" were basically me recolouring jersey from The Hockey Uniform Database, like this Team USA concept from January 2010.

A few months later I found the website Icethetics, and I took someone's concept to make a better template.  Here is a St. Louis Blues concept I made in May 2010, using that template.

Later that year I found a cleaner template, and decided to attempt an NHL series.  That series was very incomplete, I only made concepts for about half the teams, and many of the concepts were incomplete.  This Canucks concept from July 2010, and this Ducks concept from November 2010, are from that NHL series.

By the beginning of 2011 I had started using a brand new template.  This new template was a lot harder to use, but I thought it looked better.  I also didn't put numbers on my jerseys, because the numbers for the other template were to small.  This Predators jersey from February 2011, was my prediction of what their new jerseys for 2011-12 would look like.

I was still using the older template as well, and in March, when it looked like the Coyotes might move to Winnipeg, I sent Icethetics this concept.  This was my first concept posted on the Internet.

Image from Icethetics

Then two months later, when we knew the Thrashers were moving to Winnipeg, I sent in this concept to Hockey Jersey Concepts.  This was my first concept on HJC.

By summer 2011 I almost quit making concepts.  It just took too much time to create a concept on the template I was using.  Finally, by the end of August, I decided to switch back to my old template, and use my name and number on the back to save time.  I also made an attempt at an NHL series.  This Sabres concept from September 2011 was from that series (which I didn't complete).

For Christmas 2011 I got a new Laptop, and downloaded Paint.net (previously I was using MS Paint).  I also added a double outline to my concepts, and started posting concepts to CCSLC.  This Stars concept was from January 2012.

Most recently I started another NHL series, which I will complete, and I started this blog.  I hope you enjoyed reading about the history of my concepts.  The next NHL Redesign will be posted in a few days.

We Need More GREEN!!!

As you can probably tell from the colours on this blog, I like the colour green.  So you can see how I would be disappointed that there's only one green jersey in the NHL. It's not even a primary jersey, it's a third jersey.  That's only 15 games out of 1,230 NHL games in a season, that's only 0.012%.  That's terrible!!!

So today's post I am trying to fix that.  This post is the first of my occasional opinion posts (labelled My Thoughts), where I express my point of view on hockey jerseys and logos.

*Note:  The concepts in today's posts are only there as a visual aid, they aren't necessarily what I'd do.


The first team I think needs more green is the Dallas Stars.  Not only would it make them look much better, it would make sense historically.  They wore green for ten years in Dallas (1997-2007), and an additional 24 years in Minnesota (1967-1991).  Good news is that Dallas could be making a big change in 2013-2014, hopefully it's more green.

Dallas' current home jersey coloured green (with logos switched too).

Another team that could use a green home jersey is the Minnesota Wild.  In my opinion, their best home jersey was their 2000-2007 green jersey.  I like their red jersey too, I just think it's better as a third jersey.

Minnesota's 2000-2007 green jersey edgified.

The Vancouver Canucks are a third team that could use more green.  I know they haven't ever had a green jersey, but imagine how good a green third jersey could look.  I think it would look much better than their current third jersey, which I don't like.

An old concept, inspired by the Vancouver Millionaires.

We all know that the New Jersey Devils wear a throwback jersey on St. Patricks day, my question is why don't the Maple Leafs?  They were literally called the St. Pats before they were renamed the Maple Leafs.  It would also be another team wearing green, even if it's only for one game.

A 1919-20, 1921-22 St. Pats throwback jersey.

This last idea is a bit out there, but I have seen it suggested before.  It's the Anaheim Ducks wearing green and orange.  These colours are supposed to be more duck-like.  Hey I'll listen to any idea if it means more green.

Re-coloured version of their current third jersey.

What does everyone else think.  Am I correct or completely nuts?  Did I miss any teams?  Let me know.

First Post - Start of the NHL Redesign

Welcome to the first post of SG-94, a blog all about sports jerseys and logos.  This blog will be mostly used for posting my hockey concepts, as well as my thoughts on hockey logos and jerseys.  Visit the About SG-94 page to find out more.

Now on to the concepts.  For the past few months I've been doing a NHL Redesign on CCSLC.  I'll be catching up to that series, and then continuing it both here and there.  I'll be posting other concepts here as well.  First up is Anaheim, Boston, and Buffalo.

Anaheim Ducks:  The home and road keep the current template, but have the logos from their current third jersey. The new third jersey features the old Mighty-Ducks logo, and has lots of orange.

Boston Bruins:  The home and road are inspired by the Orr-era jerseys.  The logo is very similar to the Orr-era logo but has serifs. Yellow is the base colour for the third jersey, which features the serif-B without the spokes as the primary logo.

Buffalo Sabres:  Their vintage colours are used for all the jersey. The third jersey is white, with sleeves inspired by the home jersey, and  the Buffalo script as the crest (but now with numbers under the word-mark).

 Thanks for reading and please leave comments.