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!

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!

Toronto Maple Leafs De-Edge

I'm sure most of you have already seen this, but Icethetics is reporting that Canada may have a black third jersey.  The cool thing is that Chris asked me to do the mock-ups for the article.  If you haven't seen it yet, click the link above.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

I didn't change much for the Leafs.  The logos, name and number fonts are all the same, and the only change I made to the equipment was adding a single stripe to the pants (like what they wear with their third jersey).  The striping also looks somewhat similar but that was unintentional, it is actually inspired by their logo.  To show you what I mean I created the image below.

As you can see in the image above, the three white spaces in the striping line up with the words in their logo.  The thin blue stripes line up with the spaces between the words, and the bottom thick blue stripe lines up with the space below the words.

Hopefully that description wasn't too confusing.  Have a good day!

My Thoughts: Month of May

Well, it's been almost a month since I last posted an opinion post, so I thought it would be a good time to do another one.

Also there is a new poll up on the side of the page.  I'm trying to judge if there would be any interest in a Google+ page for this blog.


Third Jerseys in Playoffs

Three teams used third jerseys in this year's Stanley Cup Playoffs (Minnesota, San Jose, and Toronto), and I'm not a fan of that.  I believe that only home and road jerseys should be worn on the playoffs.  If teams feel their third jersey is better than their home jersey, then they should make it their home jersey at the start of the season.  I don't know why this bugs me, but it does.


Prince Albert Raiders Rebrand

Back on May 16, the Prince Albert Raiders of the WHL unveiled a new logo and new jerseys.  Green was made the primary colour, which I'm a huge fan of.  The logo (seen above), is a mix of a sword, the initials "PA", and the team name Raiders, all on top of a shield.  It might not be the best logo ever, but it is certainly a good logo for a CHL team.  I'm also a big fan of the new jerseys, their unique, unlike a lot of CHL teams that copy NHL team's templates.


Saskatoon Blades Memorial Cup Jersey

Photo from whl.ca

Sticking with the WHL, the Saskatoon Blades wore special commemorative jerseys for their first game of the Memorial Cup.  This is continuing a recent tradition, I believe since around 2008, where the host team of the Memorial Cup wears a special memorial jersey for their first game.  I love that the CHL does this, it is a great way to honour the people who serve our country.  The jersey design is pretty good too, nice and simple.


Peoria Rivermen New Look for SPHL

Photo from Peoria Rivermen's Official Facebook Page

And last but not least, the Peoria Rivermen were reincarnated in the SPHL after the Vancouver Canucks announced the AHL's version of the team would no longer exist.  After the league switch, the Rivermen unveiled new logo and jerseys (seen above).  I love the new look, it's way better than what they were wearing in the AHL.  The logo gets rid of that cartoony person, and the jerseys trade a standard template mess for a unique yet classy striping pattern.  The updated colour scheme is also an improvement.  I'm very impressed with the SPHL version of the Rivermen so far.


Hopefully I'm not boring everyone with these opinion articles, because there will probably be another one after the Stars unveil their new look.  And if these aren't you cup of tea, I should have more concepts soon.  Thanks for visiting.

Fixing the Winter Classic

A couple of weeks ago the NHL unveiled the jerseys to be worn for the 2014 Winter Classic.  I'm a big fan of Toronto's jersey, but I think Detroit's jersey could use some changes.  Here is what I'd do for each team...

Detroit Red Wings:

• True white replaces vintage white.
• The striping pattern is changed to more closely resemble the sleeve stripes on Detroit's 1927-28/1929-30 jersey.  It also looks less like the Wild's third jersey.
• The stripes near the shoulder yoke are gone.
• I've made the winged wheel part of the logo smaller, taking inspiration from Detroit's 1928-29 jersey.
• The captain's patch is now where it normally is.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

• The collar is now round (and also blue), which is historically accurate.
• I added tan pants and brown gloves, again to be true to that era.

Bonus NHL Redesign Concepts

I have posted a home, road, and third jersey far all 30 teams.  Here are a few more concepts.

New Jersey Devils (St. Patricks Day):  For the last few years the Devils wore a rerto red jersey.  To change it up a bit, and also because I like the white version of that jersey better, I would have them wearing their retro white jersey.

Toronto Maple Leafs (St. Patricks Day):  As I said in my "We Need More Green!!!" post, I think Toronto should wear St. Pats throwback jerseys on St. Patricks day.  Here is a 1919-22 throwback jersey.

All Star Game:  I liked the red and blue jerseys that have been used the last few years, but I also think it is time for a new design.  I kept the current colour scheme, and used striping inspired by 1947-59 Jerseys.

Winter Classic:  I liked Winter Classic jerseys best when they were true throwbacks, so that's what I did.  Detroit's Jersey is from 1932-37, and Toronto's is from 1934-37.

Stanley Cup Finals:  Also, here is what this years final would look like with jerseys from my NHL Redesign.

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.

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.