Solving the Realignment issue

[Cody21]

I also give you kudos for sticking with a realistic scenario and not including places like Saskatoon and Halifax as viable NHL cities. They never will be.

Both have a legit chance like any other city. and the population of hockey fans there can support a team.

[WNDUP FX]

The problem I found in researching names for the divisions is, that most teams probably wouldn't want a banner hanging from the rafters named after someone who has no historical relevance to their team history. Could you imagine a Mario Lemieux Divisional Championship banner hanging in the Verizon Center or a Joe Sakic banner hanging in Joe Louis Arena?

This is a good point. But upon more research, the Norris, Adams, and Smythe Divisions are all named after former team owners (Norris apparently had ownership stakes in the Wings, Hawks, and Rangers). Patrick was a player and coach, but also helped build leagues and rewrite the rulebooks. So instead of naming them after former players, why not owners or executives that have some association with their respective franchises/areas? (In fact, it seems like the Central should be the "Norris", based on his association with Detroit and Chicago.) I'd recommend "Jennings" for the Pacific; William M. Jennings was instrumental to the 1967 NHL expansion that shifted the league more westwardly and added franchises in the LA and Bay areas. And perhaps (gulp!) the "Bettman" division for the Southeast; he came into power just after the Tampa Bay expansion and did oversee the creation of Nashville, Carolina (sorta), and Columbus. Just a thought.

The Anaheim concept looks good. While I'm personally against going back to the Disney-tastic "Mighty Ducks" name, the colors and uniforms you presented are solid. I do hope to see some original logos during the series, though.

That's an interesting idea and a very convincing proposal. I like the thought of Jennings for the Pacific Division, but this concept is partly about getting away from a lot of changes Bettman made, so he will not be named for one of them.

From this point on, the Central Division will be referred to as Norris (thanks GMW79), the Pacific Jennings (thanks dgnmrwrw) and until I can come up with a more relevant name, the SouthEast will be named Selke, which was won back to back by now retired former Carolina Hurricanes blueliner Rod Brind'Amour. The map has now been updated accordingly.

Beyond some of the more classic team logos, the majority of this project will be to redesign or revamp existing identities. So yes, I do envision completely new logos as well as colour schemes.

Solid, although in my perfect world the purple would be dark green and the teal would be orange. Solid color combo that they should have gone with when they rebranded.

I can't fathom a team like the Ducks using orange as a primary colour. In this concept I'm trying to get as far away from the gold and orange Reebok Edge colour era as possible. Regardless of them being from Orange County, it just rubs me the wrong way. I grew up with the Mighty Ducks, and although I loathe the Disney imagery, it's that Kariya and Selanne lead identity I remember most fondly.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

I also give you kudos for sticking with a realistic scenario and not including places like Saskatoon and Halifax as viable NHL cities. They never will be.

Both have a legit chance like any other city. and the population of hockey fans there can support a team.

There's no way. Halifax's metro population is approx 390,000. Half that of the next smallest city in the league, Winnipeg.

Saskatoon is 260,000. A third. Not viable long term whatsoever.

[WNDUP FX]

In 2014 the Boston Bruins celebrated their 90th anniversary, an impressive feat commemorated by a special patch worn on the right side of both their home and away jerseys for the remainder of the 2014-15 season. In the event that the 2014-15 team makes the Stanley Cup finals, the 90th anniversary patch will move to the right shoulder and the Stanley Cup patch will take it's place on the right chest.

Boston Bruins

The home and away jerseys are very similar to the previous few seasons with the exception of three scratch marks on the front and back at the bottom. I had tried to continue these marks on the sleeves, but it was a bit distracting and too ridiculous for such a classic team.

Featured above is a larger version of the 2014-15 home white jersey featuring the patch over a snapshot of the rafters of Boston Gardens (apologies to Bruins fans for the results on the scoreboard, but it was the best picture I could find). This patch features the current spoked B with a 90 inside of it, flanked by two black banners outlined in white. On each banner are the first and the current season in white text with the inclusion of the word SEASONS superimposed in black with a white and yellow outline.

I had also tried doing the 90 horizontally similar to the banners in the picture, but thought it might look better vertically as to replicate the inside of the spoked B.

[hockey week]

I think Boston is too classic of a team to do something like that. Really, their home and road are perfect right now. But, I think one of those would work as an excellent third. Put the secondary on the front, have the scratch hemline stripes, and maybe even use the scratch as a shoulder stripe running down the arms, but that might also be too much.

Really like the 90th season logo though, that's freaking clever.

[WNDUP FX]

In 2015, the Buffalo Sabres celebrated their 45th season and to commemorate this event, patches featuring sleeker looking crossed swords and a much fiercer buffalo were added to the shoulders of both the home and away jerseys. Also prominent on the shoulder patches are the number 45, the word SEASONS and 1970 to signify the first season, written in the same font present on the back of each jersey nameplate. In even greater news, this season also saw a return to navy and gold, much to the delight of Sabres Nation.

Buffalo Sabres

[fouhy12]

I think Boston is too classic of a team to do something like that. Really, their home and road are perfect right now. But, I think one of those would work as an excellent third. Put the secondary on the front, have the scratch hemline stripes, and maybe even use the scratch as a shoulder stripe running down the arms, but that might also be too much.

Really like the 90th season logo though, that's freaking clever.

+1. but the white jersey should have a yellow shoulder yoke instead of a black one.

Buffalo looks great, but make the striping Y/B/Y on the white.

[WNDUP FX]

Thanks for the suggestion, but I don't want my designs to be like every other Sabres concept. It's Navy, Yellow, Navy to the match the colour pattern on the yolk and the neckline. In this Sabres concept, navy is the primary, gold is an accent.

[WNDUP FX]

Any other C & C before I move on to Calgary?

[WNDUP FX]

In 2014-15 the Calgary Flames celebrate 35 years in Alberta. To mark this event, a special patch has been added to the right side of both the home and away jerseys. This year also see the flaming C become sleeker and features a slanted form that displays the forward thinking of this historical franchise.

The home and away jerseys feature a return to the glory days of the late 90s, while keeping up with the future with an added gradient to the inside of the C in a darker red accent on the home and a light grey accent on the away.

The 35th anniversary patch features the same sleek flaming logo with an added number 35 and the word YEARS between the notches in the C.

[tigerslionspistonshabs]

Nice update of Calgary's logo, but try adding a bit more flame to the bottom portion.

[altosax29b]

That Flames logo is sick.

[wildwing64]

That is a very cool update for the Flames.

Love the Ducks set, but I do have one small nitpick: you're sticking with the Anaheim Ducks name for the franchise, but the shoulder patch doesn't reflect this as it still has the full Mighty Ducks of Anaheim name on it. Maybe instead rework the current third jersey shoulder patch?

I'm also thinking that it feels redundant for the Flames and Sabres to be celebrating the 35th and 45th anniversary seasons, but at the same time I can realistically see both teams doing that.

[WNDUP FX]

That's a good idea for the shoulder patch. It's been updated now.

As for the Flames and Sabres not using 35th and 45th anniversary patches, I think those are pretty solid years to honour. The NJ Nets, Bills, Spurs, LA Dodgers and even recently the Washington Capitals issued patches to commemorate 35 years, so I'm not sure those teams would be any different.

[Stampman]

In 2015 the league decides to adapt a hybrid of the CCM/EDGE systems, also reverting back to the white home/dark away, much to the delight of players and fans alike.

Really?

personally I don't care much either way if they have white or dark at home.

And i know a lot of people who like the way it is now, and would not like to see it changed--so perhaps to the delight of some fans--as I know from this forum there are people who prefer white at home.

As for the players--I haven't heard anything either way from them about preferences...

So just wondering. Whether they change it or don't change it doesn't matter to me, I do like it the current way, and was fine with it before, but it just seemed to be an overstatement.

And as a Flames fan I would give a no to your new Flames logo--not that I would be against a tweak--although I do really like the current logo.

While I do like going with a red C and a white C--over & above a black C, and like the older style jerseys, the new logo you've designed looks truncated at the bottom, so I'd agree with tigerslionspistonshabs about adding some more flame at the bottom of the logo--do that and you might have a winner. Slanting the C forward is fine, but the logo looks chopped off.

[WNDUP FX]

In 2015 the league decides to adapt a hybrid of the CCM/EDGE systems, also reverting back to the white home/dark away, much to the delight of players and fans alike.

Really?

It also made White Outs in Winnipeg and Phoenix redundant and caused issues with laundry service, since the original reason home jerseys were white was because the home teams had laundry service in their lockers, so blood on a jersey could be washed out immediately. It's just one more needless change that Bettman made to raise jersey sales.

[Magnus]

I've always liked the idea of coloured uniforms for both teams at the same time, provided appropriate contrast is there. As far as the blood washing issue is concerned, I'm sure that with the revenue streams a sports league like the NHL generates, they can afford whatever laundry product is necessary to remove blood, and just supply it to the teams.

[Stampman]

In 2015 the league decides to adapt a hybrid of the CCM/EDGE systems, also reverting back to the white home/dark away, much to the delight of players and fans alike.

Really?

It also made White Outs in Winnipeg and Phoenix redundant and caused issues with laundry service, since the original reason home jerseys were white was because the home teams had laundry service in their lockers, so blood on a jersey could be washed out immediately. It's just one more needless change that Bettman made to raise jersey sales.

Except that fans in other cities wore the team colours other than white--even when white was used at home.

The Flames long had the "Sea of Red"--it predates the Winnipeg White Out.

Other teams have the same sort of history--so that's not really a factor at all.