NHL Extravaganza

[IceCap]

So after I come back I stumble onto the Paint Templates sticky thread and say to myself "IC, you need to get back on the horse."

So after brushing off my skills with a fantasy hockey concept I decided to redo my entire "IC79's NHL Project."

The concepts will be posted as I complete them, with no particular order in which team will come next. I'm just doing them as ideas pop into my head.

Thanks to CC, RC, and randyc for the templates, logos, and other resources.

C&C welcome as always.

First up, my favourite team, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This is actually a do-over of my very first NHL Edge concept way back when. As much as I love the classic "two hem stripes, two arm stripes per arm" look for the Leafs, I wanted to use this as an oppertunity to go with something different. The uniforms are based on what the Leafs wore from 1932-34. The leaf design itself is based on the original leaf from the prototype that ultimately became the Canadian flag .

San Jose Sharks.

Like my Leafs concept, my home and road designs are re-does of an earlier design of mine. The over-the-shoulder stripes are a callback to what the California Golden Seals wore from 1974-76. Why the Golden Seals reference? It can be legitimately argued that the San Jose Sharks are a continuation of the Oakland/California/Cleveland Seals/Golden Seals/Barons franchise. The nice nod to the team's distant past was a perfect excuse to try out a design pattern I had been thinking of for a while.

The black alternate sweater is actually inspired by the Sharks' shield logo. IIRC the designer of the Sharks' logos said he based the shield logo on that of soccer teams. So I took that concept one step further and gave my Sharks alt a very soccer-like feel.

More to come tomorrow!

[jake22]

the sharks alternate looks like a soccer jersey, i like it. its just different enouf to work

[youcan'tseeme]

I love the striping pattern on the two Leafs ones. Stick the logo off the current third and boom! But I'm not feeling the rest.

[IceCap]

the sharks alternate looks like a soccer jersey, i like it. its just different enouf to work

Thanks. Glad to see I got what I was going for.

I love the striping pattern on the two Leafs ones. Stick the logo off the current third and boom! But I'm not feeling the rest.

I thought about it, but in the end I decided that the old school leaf was too busy. That logo plus the striping I used, just to many lines.

[IceCap]

Montréal Canadiens.

There wasn't much I could do here, the look is classic. There are some things you don't mess with, and the Habs' sweaters certainly qualify. That said, I changed things up where I could. The classic road uniform is gone, replaced by a slightly tweaked version of their throwback alternate that served as the road sweater from 1944-47. I also adopted the 1910-11 throwbacks as full time alts.

To tie everything together I added the Green Leaf/C mark as the alternate logo on the home and road sweaters, while using the classic CH as the alternate logo on the alt sweater.

[habsfan1]

Toronto Maple Leafs: Both jerseys are really nice. I could see that they are based on what they had in 1934-35. I don't have much else to say except that they're pretty nice.

San Jose Sharks: The orange is too bright, especially on the road jersey. Either make the stripes thinner or remove it altogether. Your soccer-inspired idea does work. But not from the back. The stripes clash with the name and number and they need to go. Even adding nothing at all would be better.

Vancouver Canucks: Even though I like their stick n rink logo, the Johnny Canuck is a very suitable replacement. I'd love to see an alt designed with the full-body Johnny Canuck.

Montreal Canadiens: I like their current road jersey more than that one. I guess people just want to make both jerseys match. The Maple Leaf shoulder patch is a nice touch, but I would change it to blue so that it could blend in with the rest of the jersey. Even if that means to follow the Boston Red Sox by making yourself look like your rivals.

[IceCap]

San Jose Sharks: The orange is too bright, especially on the road jersey. Either make the stripes thinner or remove it altogether. Your soccer-inspired idea does work. But not from the back. The stripes clash with the name and number and they need to go. Even adding nothing at all would be better.

I thought about the orange, and the conclusion I came up with is that it's become a more prominent colour due to my use of the shield logo as a primary. The alt fin logo also uses orange prominently, so while it is very noticeable I think it all works.

Montreal Canadiens: I like their current road jersey more than that one. I guess people just want to make both jerseys match. The Maple Leaf shoulder patch is a nice touch, but I would change it to blue so that it could blend in with the rest of the jersey. Even if that means to follow the Boston Red Sox by making yourself look like your rivals.

I admit the matching jerseys is a big thing for me. Although part of it is due to the fact that, honestly, the current Habs road whites are very generic. They have this instantly recognizable striping pattern on their home red sweaters, so why not use that on the roads as well?

I thought about making the leaves blue, but as you said, they would look to similar to Toronto's mark. So I left well-enough alone.

[IceCap]

see below

[IceCap]

Chicago Blackhawks.

This is going to be one of my least-liked concepts because I did away with the classic red Blackhawks jersey. I have my reasons though. The striping pattern of the red sweater is inconsistent with the stripes on both the road whites and alt blacks. Also, I'm a believer that if your team name includes a colour, that colour should be your primary. For those reasons I've ditched the red sweater, elevating the black alt to primary home status.

I've kept the Winter Classic jerseys as alts, but I've replaced the old-style indian head with the current one, helping tie the two looks together.

Tampa Bay Lightning.

I ditched the new primary templates right away. They seem too generic, almost like Penguins KOs. I made the alt sweater the full-time home, but I ditched the bush-league "BOLTS" script in favour of the Lightning Bolt/Florida logo, which is now the primary. The new alt mark is a TB monogram done in the same font as the team's wordmark.

A white version was done up for the road sweater.

[leafsaregods]

i have to say you really messed up on the blackhawks you cant ditch the red. for the most part i like what you've done.

[IceCap]

A little bit of a late update, but no worries.

My next two sets aren't major changes, but I think I tweaked everything for the better.

Minnesota Wild.

Essentially I applied the pre-Edge jersey designs to the Edge templates. The green jersey returns as the home sweater, with the red vintage styled jersey relegated to alt status. Don't get me wrong, I love the Wild's red alt. I just feel it's perfect for what it was originally designed to be, an alternate. I have always been a fan of the original Wild set, so I used this as an opportunity to bring it back in the form of the green home sweater.

Philadelphia Flyers.

I made orange the primary home sweater, only I did it right. I didn't use their horrid "3D" alts from 03-06, nor did I use the incredibly dated throwbacks the Flyers are wearing now. I simply took their current home/road template, which I love, and made an orange version for the home sweater. The black has been relegated to alt status, which I think it works best as.

[elliott]

Some of these look rather nice, namely the Wild and Flyers, however, I am a sucker for creativity, and I don't really see very much here. The Lightning is a recolored alternate template. The Flyers is a recolor. The Wild is a recolor of the road templates. You barely did anything for the Blackhawks. Same goes for the Canucks striping. Don't get me wrong, most of them look good, but I wouldn't mind seeing something out of the ordinary.

[IceCap]

I hear what you're saying, but I tend to be very traditionally minded when it comes hockey uniforms.

My Lightning set is a recoloured alternate because that's pretty much what I wanted it to be. I have an idea for a full jersey lightning bolt (think the logos on MLB's TATC jerseys) but I didn't go with that because that's not the look I really wanted.

If we're splitting everyone into camps of old school vs nu skool I'm definitely old school.

I see no reason to change much on the Blackhawks, for example, 'cause in my mind there isn't that much that needs to be changed.

Different strokes for different folks though

[Spanky8992]

these jerseys look relly cool

[scarsofthumper]

I'd rather see the WC jersey be our 3rd than the black.

[les3couleurs]

Great work mostly, I think the white outline on the Leafs numbers should be a bit thicker.

[IceCap]

After a long hiatus, the project continues with the Nashville Predators.

See page 2

[elliott]

Sorry to be a critic again in this thread, but Nashville leaves a lot to be desired. You didn't really do anything on the home and roads, yes you updated the logo, but you didn't fix the t-shirt striping or the random triangle. The alt is ok but it's just the blackhawks alt template. I think you can do better.

[YELDARBfield]

After a long hiatus, the project continues with the Nashville Predators...

Bravo, Mr. Cap.

My only real gripe is that I feel there is still too much white on the home shirt and too much blue on the away, but you did reduce that problem slightly. Also, the Bettman stripes are still an eyesore, but such is Reebok.

About your third, 'tis essentially what I want to see, especially the "NASHVILLE."

Great job!

[aci]

After a long hiatus, the project continues with the Nashville Predators...

Bravo, Mr. Cap.

My only real gripe is that I feel there is still too much white on the home shirt and too much blue on the away, but you did reduce that problem slightly. Also, the Bettman stripes are still an eyesore, but such is Reebok.

About your third, 'tis essentially what I want to see, especially the "NASHVILLE."

Great job!

Bettman stripes?