Stadium Series Predictions

2016 Stadium Series:

A couple weeks ago I posted my prediction for next year's Winter Classic jerseys, today I'm doing the same for the Stadium Series.  I think the jerseys will once again be modern, and follow a template that is used for all four teams.  I also kept the the giant sleeve numbers and giant pant logos from this years uniforms.  I decided against white pants, instead using white gloves for the road teams.  Also gone are the chrome or carbon fiber logo, but that's mostly just wishful thinking.  The sleeve stripes are angled so that when the arms are down at an angle the stripes will look more vertical to match the stripes on the torso.

Also, I've added a square yolk variation of my new template to the templates page.

Enjoy the rest of your day!

Jets Guest Concept and a Wings Concept

Winnipeg Jets, by Jake88:

This is one of my favourite concepts ever.  I just love how the arm stripes are done, it's unique and it looks so good.  I also like the colours and how they are used.  Using a brighter shade of blue like what the original Jets used works great on this concept, and I like how all the colours on the logo are used on jersey and vice versa (unlike their current jerseys).  The main logo also looks great, and Jake88 properly gave credit to the original designer.  There are also some cool hidden features, like the sublimated maple leaf behind the numbers, and the hanger effect on the inside of the collar.
Grade:  A+

Detroit Red Wings Third:

For this concept I was just messing around with a few ideas for a Red Wings third jersey.  The striping pattern is inspired by racing stripes on old fashioned cars.  The captain patch in a circle is also inspired by old cars, specifically how old racing cars had numbers within a circle.  I then used their old fashioned D logo as the primary logo, and I kept the equipment from their current jerseys.

Thanks for visiting!

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!

Detroit Red Wings De-Edge

I still haven't made a concept for Columbus, so here are the Red Wings.

Detroit Red Wings:

The Red Wings are a team that shouldn't change their look, but that doesn't make a very interesting concept so you get this instead.  Since Detroit is well known for making automobiles I put racing-stripes down the arms, and then made the rest of the jersey compliment those stripes.  I included an above view of the sleeves to give a better look at the racing-stripes.

Thanks for reading.

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.

More NHL Redesign

Here are some more NHL Redesign concepts today with Colorado, Dallas, and Detroit.  Also I don't know if anyone noticed, but I changed the template of the blog slightly.  I wasn't really happy with how it was before.


Colorado Avalanche:  I added navy to their colour scheme, and removed black.  I also brought back the mountain-stripes on the hems.  The third jersey is only slightly different than their current third, mostly switching black for navy.

Dallas Stars:  Green is used as the primary colour (obviously), with a simple striping pattern.  The third is an updated version of their current home jersey.

Detroit Red Wings:  The home and road have very minor changes.  I included a throw-back jersey instead of a third jersey, because you can't really mess with the Red Wings look.

Up next are Edmonton, Florida, and LA.