Redesigning 90s NHL Alternates

[MDGP]

Recently, the alternate uniforms of the 1990s have come back into popular focus. I've always loved the uniforms specifically for the fact that each of the original five designs from the 1994-95 seasons are objectively terrible. Like many others, I'd love to see the uniforms make a comeback, but instead of going with the exact design, coming up with a Winter Classic style fauxback that several teams have used. These uniforms would be inspired by the 90s uniforms, without the rampant abuse of new technology seen during that time. Originally I wanted to call this series "unsuckifying the 90s alts."

 

This series will have several rules:

1) The uniforms must be directly based upon the original 90s alternates.

2) I can make any changes otherwise that I see fit.

 

Currently, the series will focus only on the original five third jersey participants: The Los Angeles Kings, the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, the Vancouver Canucks, the Pittsburgh Penguins, and the Boston Bruins.

 

First up, the LA Kings:

 

 

The Kings' alternate is easily a top 3 worst NHL uniform of all time, and I would certainly accept an argument that it is the single worst. The design is a hodgepodge of bad decisions, from the strange gradient sash and off-centered crest to the use of five different colors that do a terrible job at combining eras. 

 

For my redesign, I wanted to create an overall cohesive look, removing the purple and gold in favor of a greyscale palette, which gives a nice black and white film quality that I like. The striping pattern and crest are shifted down, centering the crest (the 94 logo is retained on the sleeves). The stripes are now a double stripe pattern extending from the waist to the right sleeve. Each stripe features three sub stripes, mimicking the gradient of the original without being a gradient. Because the original uniforms did not feature the sash on the left shoulder, only the base stripe is included on the left arm here. Finally, I kept the number font current, mostly because I thought it worked pretty well with the 90s logo. 

 

 

 

 

[vtgco]

To start, the curved striping is a clever improvement of the original. Really good idea!

I think it might look a bit better if the striping went dark-medium-light-white-light-medium-dark rather (a fade-in and fade-out)

Using the current font worked really well here.

I just kinda feel like this jersey could really use a dash of color. It does look like a B&W movie like you said, but that doesn't match the flashy design and logo. I'd bring back the yellow crown (but not the purple beard) and make a number outline yellow.

 

Still, good work. I look forward to your take on the Robo-Penguin jersey!

[B-mer]

Love the idea of the series. Excited to see the rest!

[JJ Anderes]

Love the idea for this series! Curious to see what you do with the ducks' wild wing jersey.

[MDGP]

3 hours ago, vtgco said:

To start, the curved striping is a clever improvement of the original. Really good idea!

I think it might look a bit better if the striping went dark-medium-light-white-light-medium-dark rather (a fade-in and fade-out)

Using the current font worked really well here.

I just kinda feel like this jersey could really use a dash of color. It does look like a B&W movie like you said, but that doesn't match the flashy design and logo. I'd bring back the yellow crown (but not the purple beard) and make a number outline yellow.

 

Still, good work. I look forward to your take on the Robo-Penguin jersey!

 

Interestingly, I actually did both of your suggestions at first, but ultimately just felt like neither hit what I was going for. I'm definitely willing to post other versions including the suggestions, but I'm going to post the others first, then do revisions/other ideas.

[MDGP]

Next up, the Kings' opponent in the worst dressed game in NHL history, the Anaheim Ducks. Funny enough, I don't think I'd ever seen a picture of that game, and the only closeup I found was from actual footage of the game, which was captured in glorious 360p HD.

 

 

Obviously, the jerseys are known for its depiction of Wild Wing, the main character from Disney's Mighty Ducks cartoon, bursting through the hem stripe, depicting ice. It also features a horrible hand drawn style font that matches no other part of the uniform. Otherwise, the uniforms are rather normal.

 

 

 

Ultimately, I realized that this uniform isn't actually so over the top once you take away the gigantic crest/hemstripe monstrosity. The first thing I did was remove all the extraneous details from Wild Wing. In oder to make it a more viable crest, I added a hockey crest staple, good ol' upside-down triangle. On the hemstripe, I simply followed the sleeve and shoulder pattern. Finally, I toned down the triangle point on the yoke and shifted the sleeve striping so that it was flat, not angled. I went with the current Ducks font because, it works fine, and is a lot better than the original font. Ultimately, it's not that much different, but honestly, compared to the others, it didn't need that many changes. 

 

[B-mer]

A couple of things for me on the Ducks...

1. I think you should have the triangle match the one from the main Mighty Ducks logo and round the top up, and also make it silver instead of jade.  That will mimic the ice part of the design a little.  
2. I'd keep the arm stripes angled as they were.  It matched the triangular yokes well and fit as an inverse of the main uniforms.  
3. smaller, but i'd take the eggplant bottoms off the socks.  I know it matches but you get the dark color from the player skates. 

 

overall though, great update and makes it a much more viable jersey.  Toning down the logo just that little bit makes it a little less campy.  also liking the presentation with the player photo in the backgrounds of these.  

[MDGP]

Fun fact: I forgot I was doing this series. I've got them all done sans updates, so I guess I'll move on to the next team.

 

The Vancouver Canucks have had a fascination with gradients through their history, wearing two alternate uniforms heavily featuring them. The first uniform was a salmon colored uniform featuring a diagonal black and yellow stripe pattern fading into the jersey. This gradient was featured on the right sleeve with no stripes on the left sleeve.

 

For my version, I decided to revert to a more traditional striping pattern, featuring a relatively common V-styled hem stripe. In order to recreate the gradient, the stripes are cut off at an angle, which also creates a V in the negative space. The same striping pattern is featured on the right sleeve, while a sublimate version of the striping is featured on the left sleeve. This creates a striping balance while staying true to the original uniform. Otherwise the uniform is pretty simple.

 

[jaytavo305]

I love the design of the canucks uni, but damn that color combo is awful. I know it doesnt fit with the series, but what about that in the current colors?