Hockey Week's NHL Concepts

[hockey week]

It's been a while since I've done a concept series, and after seeing so many recently, I wanted to get back in the game and work through some ideas.

The purpose of this is not to do anything too off-the-wall, too crazy, but rather things that I could actually see the teams doing with the right incentives. Nothing is exactly a minor tweak or recolor, but it's not meant to completely change their look. So, there won't be any new logos, but a lot of new jerseys

First up, St. Louis. After making a trip out there, and exploring around, I wanted to capture a bit more of the music element. The sheet music jerseys were a step in the right direction but not in the right way. The shoulder-stripe is something that hasn't been done a lot recently, but should be pushing a comeback. Integrating the sheet music lines into that and the hemline stripe seems to be the perfect way to revive the '67 Penguins look (and not with the Pens' winter classic jersey, which I've never been a fan of), which should be used somewhere, without exactly copying it. The third jersey is meant to fall in that same look, but harken back to more of the team's past.

With a modeled version of the home to give a better idea of what it would look like on the ice

And Colorado. I think everybody has been pining for the mountain range stripes to return, but going straight back to the original set didn't make much sense to me. So, I brought it back on the hemline, and the sleeve stripes fixed something that nobody seems to notice, because when the player puts his arms at his sides, they don't look like a mountain range anymore. With this setup, it does. That subtlety goes a step further. Then, it makes no sense for the mountains to be sky blue and the rest to be maroon. Considering how much everybody wants this team to be a little more like the Nordiques, blue becomes the primary color, making more of a sky-over-the-mountains look. The third keeps with the diagonal wordmark tradition, but maroon-based and slightly more Nords-like jersey pattern. Simplifying the color scheme was an idea, but the black works as such a great buffer, and a full-maroon look all the time seems a bit much.

[habsfan1]

That Blues alternate can definitely use some royal blue in the stripes.

[hockey week]

Any suggestions on how to put more royal blue in the third? The sheet music stripes are already that.

Since there's been no other comments (seriously, are they that bad? I'd rather someone tell me they're terrible and what I should fix when I start over than just silence)

Anaheim Ducks

I've always thought that the D logo is very effective, and the Cup-winning jersey set was pretty good. Now, the focus has changed from gold to orange, and it works on a level that I hadn't previously noticed, the stripe is a curved version of the old Mighty Ducks' diagonal jerseys, which matches the curve of the logo. Included is a recolored throwback alternate

[Orgo]

The arm numbers are barely legible on the Blues jerseys. How about putting a box around them, or a blank space kinda like the 1993 Stars uniforms?

[hockey week]

The arm numbers are barely legible on the Blues jerseys. How about putting a box around them, or a blank space kinda like the 1993 Stars uniforms?

That's an excellent idea

[lancealot]

Love the blues, don't really like the aalanche something feels off I'm just not sure what, and the ducks are awesome but I'm not a fan of the recoulerd throwback

[Morgan33]

Replace the black stripes with silver on the road jersey and your avalanche set is just about perfect.

[habsfan1]

Any suggestions on how to put more royal blue in the third? The sheet music stripes are already that.

I have an idea for the Blues 3rd. How about Royal Blue and Yellow stripes with silver lines of sheet music. That way, it would be consistent with the multi colored logo and it should help the jersey look less bland compared to the crest that's used on it. That's a big problem with the design: too much color in the logo, too little on the rest of the uniforms. Anyway, just a few suggestions...

I also had suggestions for the H & R, but someone already pointed the arm thing out. Maybe trim the navy with white? I also wonder what the jerseys would look like with the yellow and navy reversed.

[hockey week]

I'll work on some variations on the stripe colors and mock up a new third when I get the chance

Minnesota Wild

One of my more drastic pieces, I wanted to rethink their brand without rethinking their logos. The team obviously wants to show off the history of the area, a very hockey-rich place where the game grew at the turn of the last century. So, I did some thinking historically, and with some influence from the Flames' Heritage Classic jersey and sweaters of the early era, I tried to construct a made-up history. I started with the third, made to look turn of the century but modern enough to be used today, with the script logo. Then I went to the home jersey and figured on something from the 50s with green being the primary color, leaving red for the alternate. Then I went to the road jersey, and because everybody hates their mismatching jerseys, I tried to keep them very similar, almost a 2000s fauxback feel, which explains the roundel. The biggest thing was the logos. When the Wild introduced their red alternate, whites were worn at home so it made sense to say the team name on the road where it wasn't known, the baseball logic. Now with it at home, it makes very little sense. I wanted to fix that. It has the state and team name on the road, just the logo at home, and then the script as a third; they play dress-up as an old team (kinda like the Tampa Bay Rays recent fauxback) only at home, and look conventional on the road. without further ado,

[Legend]

I like the Wild and Ducks ones alot, nice work.

[Funky Bunky]

What about putting some Bluenotes on those shoulder and hem lines? That could possibly look cool.

Ducks, Wild, and Avs are all nice!

[Morgan33]

The road would look infinitely better if you used the stand-alone bear head instead of the roundel. That being said, the Home and third look very sharp.

[Lycan38]

I agree with Morgo on the road. Use the the same as the home but other than that the Wild set looks really good.

[OnWis97]

I like your primaries for the Wild, particularly the bottom stripes. I think I'd like them with the sleeves "uncolored" and those strips added low on the sleeves. Same with the Alts (I'm just not a "barber pole" guy)

[hockey week]

Thanks guys, it's great to have some feedback, and it seems the Wild set is a hit.

Some changes based on C&C, first the Blues. Lots of options, which one is the best? The one above, or:

White trim

Yellow stripe, which is really growing on me

Third, yellow stripes, royal sheet music

Third, yellow stripes, silver sheet music

Third, royal stripes, yellow sheet music

Also, Minnesota. I actually started with the bear-head logo on the white, and I liked how the roundel matched the jersey, but I kept this version anyway. Is it really better?

And I made a stripes-only version. The white was originally going to look like this, but I thought it looked too 90s Capitals. But, here is what that version would look like

[Morgan33]

Huge improvement! I would love to see the Wild wear that set.

[habsfan1]

Do you save your concepts in .png? If you did, those certain areas of your concepts should appear less pixelated.

[hockey week]

In watching the Canadiens' Century Celebration, I immediately fell in love with the 1909 sweaters. They were so unique, and yet so normal looking. The stripe-yoke made perfect sense to me, and I still can't believe that nobody has tried to replicate that stripe in any way. People always try to add a third jersey to Montreal, but that look is so untouchable that it's intensely difficult to do. looking to their NHL past yields only similar looks, or the 1946 white jersey, which makes little sense in a dark-at-home NHL. So, go back to the very beginning. But, Habs fans would also never allow a blue jersey, so, let's make it fit the modern color scheme a bit better. It creates a fauxback that really isn't THAT far from the original. I tried different logos, but on such a simple jersey, only the original C looks proper.

Montreal Canadiens:

The home and road are unchanged. The most I'd ever do to those would be to add a laceup collar

I'm very open to suggestions here, because I'd love to see this really work.

[hockey week]

What's a guy gotta do to get some C&C around here?

Ottawa seems a pretty straightforward job. The barber pole is the way to go for this team, which everybody has been clamoring for. It's a simple and iconic look, now that it's been relaunched, and should be pushed to full-time status. Their logo set has always been a bit brutal though. The current primary is too unbalanced and shouldn't exist beyond the Edge look. The O, though known, doesn't have much to it. Maybe it could re-emerge as a secondary, but right now this team needs a Capitals-like discipline of working with two jerseys, few logos, and sticking to that. The unused profile secondary has always been the most elegant, best balanced, and, oh hey, it's circular like the O. It can be gold on a red/black/white jersey the same way that the Penguins use black and gold on a blue/blue jersey. It'll look even more vintage. Without further ado,

Ottawa Senators

[worcat]

Please don't do that to the Blues.