Fixing the Bolts

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Last week I reviewed the Lightning's new third jersey, now I've created a concept to show what I'd do differently.  First of all I changed the collar-to-cuff striping into lightning bolts, which was inspired by these concepts by Brian Brideau.  I also changed the wordmark on the front from "BOLTS" to "TBL".  Then I brought back the Lightning's famous victory-stripes, and reduced the amount of blue on the pants and socks.

On an unrelated note, I've added a new feature to the sidebar on the right.  There are now tags for each guest concept artist, you can click on a name and see all the posts with concepts by that person.  I'm still testing this feature out, and might remove it if it doesn't work the way I want, but I'm hopeful it will work out.

Thanks for visiting!

My Thoughts: September Jerseys

Hello again, I'm back with another "My Thoughts" post.  This time I'm reviewing all the NHL jerseys that were unveiled in late September.

Pittsburgh Penguins Third Jersey

Images from penguins.nhl.com

For their new third jersey, the Penguins brought back a fan favourite design which they won two Stanley Cups in (1991 and 1992).  It's also their first jersey to feature athletic-gold since they switched to vegas-gold 2002.  I love this jersey, it's a classic look that immediately makes me think of Mario Lemieux, Jaromír Jágr, and those two Stanley Cups.  That being said, I wouldn't want this jersey to become the Penguins' new home jersey, I'd much rather it stay a third jersey and something like this concept by Scott be used for the primary jerseys.
Grade: A

Philadelphia Flyers Third Jersey

Images from twitter.com/NHLFlyers and instagram.com/philadelphiaflyers

The Philadelphia Flyers also brought back a previous jersey, albeit one with less history behind it.  They decided to bring back their 2012 Winter Classic jersey as they new third jersey.  I think this jersey is "just okay", I'm not a big fan of it but I don't hate it either.  The striping doesn't say Flyers to me, since it's their first jersey which uses traditional arm and hem stripes and a yolk.  Although there is a bit of history behind the striping, the arm stripes are from their 1984-2001 orange socks, and the black shoulder yoke is reminiscent of the yoke on the old Philadelphia Quakers jersey.  One thing I really don't like is the use of vintage white, I just think normal white would look much better.
Grade: C+

Washington Capitals Winter Classic Jersey

Images from monumentalnetwork.com

Unlike the Penguins and Flyers who just brought back previous jerseys, the Capitals actually introduced something new, going with a fauxback design for their Winter Classic jersey.  I'm not always a fan of fauxback jerseys, but I think the Capitals got it right.  The jersey is inspired by past hockey teams in the Washington area, and the end result really captures the feel of jerseys from the 1920's and 30's.  There is also some cool symbolism in the uniform, the middle of the W in the logo is a silhouette of the Washington Monument (same with the top of the A's), the three white stars in the logo are a nod to the DC flag, and the white and red stripes on the shoulder yoke appear to be inspired by the American flag.  There are a couple elements that I'm not yet sure if I like or not.  I kind of think the W in the logo needs a white outline, but that might make it seem less retro.  I have the same concern about the darker shade of red, part of me thinks the Capitals normal red would look better, but the other part of me thinks the darker shade of red adds to the vintage feel of the jersey.  The one change I'd definitely make would be to move the hem stripes closer together, as the gap currently looks to big when compared to the spacing on the yoke and sock stripes.  Those concerns are very minor though, overall I think this is a great jersey for a Winter Classic.  And there's no vintage white!
Grade: A

Tampa Bay Lightning Third Jersey

Images from lightning.nhl.com

The Lightning were the latest NHL team to unveil a new jersey, introducing a black third jersey with their "BOLTS" wordmark on the front.  I've never been a fan of that wordmark simply for the fact that it uses a nickname, it would be like if the Canadiens wore a jersey that said "HABS" on the front.  Besides the logo I actually think the rest of the jersey is decent, not great but decent.  I think the striping looks good, it may not be a very interesting design but I don't need to be excited by a jerseys striping pattern (for example I like the Blue Jackets home jersey and the Ducks 2006-14 home jersey, two jerseys other people call boring).  One negative many people have pointed out about the striping pattern is that it's similar to the Kings home jersey, and while I do see the similarities, there are enough differences that I'm not immediately reminded of the Kings when I look at the Lightning's new jersey.  Moving on to the equipment, I think there is to much blue on the pants and socks.  Simply switching the blue and white on those two elements would look much better in my opinion.  Looking at the uniform as a whole, I think it's a slight improvement over their previous third jersey (which I wasn't a fan of, I ranked it as the league's fifth worst jersey in 2012).
Grade:  C+

So those are my thoughts on the new NHL jerseys that were introduced in September.  If you have any thoughts on these jerseys, don't hesitate to leave a comment below.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Lightning Fix

Tampa Bay Lightning:

I think the Lightning's jerseys could use a few tweaks, so I made this concept.  Here is a list of what I did...

• Added contrasting shoulder yokes to make their striping pattern look less like the Red Wings (another reason is because I liked the yokes on the Lightning's original jerseys).  The shape of the yoke is different than the standard Edge yoke, so it would be unique to the Lightning.
• Used a lighter shade of blue, to make them look less like the Leafs.  I also removed the black, because it just looks like an afterthought on their current uniforms.
• Brought back the victory stripes.
• Removed the "TAMPA BAY" wordmark from the logo on the road jersey.
• Lace up collar switched for a normal collar.

That's all I did, the rest is the same as their current jerseys.

Have a good day!

Atlantic Division De-Edge Vintage Jerseys

Here are the vintage jerseys for the final eight team's in my De-Edge series.

Boston Bruins Vintage Set:

The Bruins won two Stanley Cups (including Bobby Orr's famous flying in the air goal), while wearing these jerseys.

Buffalo Sabres Vintage Set:

These are the Sabres original jerseys.

Detroit Red Wings Vintage Set:

The Red Wings wore this set from 1948-61, and during that time they won four Cups (1950, 1952, 1954, 1955).

Florida Panthers Vintage Set:

These are the original uniforms for the Panthers.  They also went to the Stanley Cup final wearing these in 1996.

Montreal Canadiens Vintage Set:

This set is from 1966-70.  During that time the Canadiens won three Cups (1966, 1968, 1969).

Ottawa Senators Vintage Set:

Ottawa wore this set from 1997-99.

Tampa Bay Lightning Vintage Set:

The Lightning won the Stanley Cup in 2004 wearing these jerseys.

Toronto Maple Leafs Vintage Set:

This set dates back to 1962-63, a year when the Leafs won the Cup.

My De-Edge series is now finished.  All the jerseys can be found on the NHL De-Edge series page, which you can get to by clicking the image on the right side of the page, or by clicking this link right here.

So what's next for this blog?  There will still be concepts by me, they just won't be part of a series.  I will also still be posting any concepts that are sent in to me, and I will probably being doing more jersey review posts (like the Stadium Series jerseys, Olympic jerseys, etc).  Also starting tomorrow I will have a Christmas design applied to the blog, and then in the new year I might update the blog's design a bit.

Have a good day!

Tampa Bay Lightning De-Edge

Tampa Bay Lightning:

I was a big fan of Tampa Bay's original uniforms, so I used them as inspiration for this concept.  I also used lots of angles, because I think they complement the Lightning's logo (as you can see I brought back their old logo).

Top View:

I included a side view of the sleeve in the concept above, but I also thought I would post this top view to give you a better idea of the design of the shoulder yoke.

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.

Tampa Bay Revisited

Here's another (probably the last) concept in my Revisited Series.  This time it's for a Tampa Bay Lightning concept I made in the summer of 2011.

Original Concept:  When the lightning came out with their new jerseys last year, I wasn't a fan at all.  I disliked the stolen colour scheme and the new logo.  For my original concept I gave them a navy and old gold colour scheme, and used their current shoulder patch as the primary logo.  I also used a simple striping pattern and contrasting shoulder yokes.

Revisited Concept:  To update the concept I used Blue and silver as the colour scheme, because I think those colours work better for the Lightning.  I also used their current primary logo, which has grown on me since it was first introduced.  I changed a few other things including adding stripes to the shoulder, simplifying the numbers, and adding a secondary logo.

Any thoughts?

NHL Redesign Updates

Here are some updates suggested by the folks at CCSLC.

Dallas Stars:  I changed the inside of the star to white on the green jersey.  Here is the original concept.

Nashville Predators:  I changed the collar on the home and roads to what they have now.  Original concept.



New York Islanders:  I brightened the orange and changed up the striping on the road jersey.  Original concept.



New York Rangers:  I thickened the white space between the stripes on the road jersey.  Original concept.

Phoenix Coyotes:  I switched the shoulder patches.  The logo that was on the third is now on the primary jerseys, and vice-versa.  Original concept.

Tampa Bay Lightning:  I added a blue outline to the numbers on the home and road.  Original concept.

Vancouver Canucks:  I switched the third jersey to the jersey that was on my "We Need More GREEN!!! " post.  Original concept.

So now all the teams are final.  I will post some bonus jerseys in the next day or two.

Blues, Bolts, and Leafs

As promised, here is the next NHL Redesign post.

St. Louis Blues:  The home and road are a inspired by their early jerseys, but with their current colours.  The third jersey is the lighter blue, and it features sublimated music-staff striping.

Tampa Bay Lightning:  The primary jerseys are updated versions of their original jerseys.  I used their original "Hawaiian blue", and their current logos.  The third is completely black and white (which would be the first black and white jersey in the NHL since 1934).

Toronto Maple Leafs:  The home and road have no changes.  The third jersey is a faux-back jersey, which features the old "T" logo inside of their vintage leaf.

I don't know if anyone here is also following this series on CCSLC, but there have been some updates based on their comments.  I will post all the updates here after this series is complete.  The final three teams are next.