Tampa Bay Lightning

[IceCap]

The Tampa Bay Lightning have never gotten it right. While their current look is probably the best they've had I feel it's still severely flawed. The look borrows heavily from two Original Six franchises, taking the Maple Leafs' blue and white colour scheme and mixing it with the Red Wings' striping pattern. The black they added at the fanbase's request looks tacked on, and isn't nearly as integrated into the uniforms as it should be. Finally, the logo just doesn't accomplish what it was designed to do. The logo was designed to be iconic. A logo in the style of the Yankees' NY or the Colts' horseshoe. Yet its skewed perspective hampers it, I think. It looks like it was run over by a steamroller.

So I started with the logo. Instead of the flawed skewed primary I went with the current alternate mark. Unlike the skewed oval this logo uses a standard lightning bolt in circle design, which I felt made it an instant upgrade. The "TEAM NAME/HOCKEY CLUB" roundel portion was going to be nixed, but I kept it as the Lightning do have a history of including the team name with the primary mark.

In fact I tried to make this whole set a celebration of the better parts of the Lightning's uniform and aesthetic history. The Lightning are, under their current ownership, a team trying to establish their own traditions. Like the New Jersey Devils before them they're trying to follow in the footsteps of the classic, established franchises. I tried to take that sentiment and merge it with a look that also respects the Lightning's history prior to the current ownership.

The logo's been altered to include black. Black takes up half of the inner circle, and is used to outline all three lightning bolts on the crest. Likewise black's been added to the uniform. I've also changed the shade of blue. They currently use the same shade the Leafs use. I've replaced that with the more electric shade of blue used by the team from 1992-2001. Not only does this help distance the team's look from the Leafs but it also seems more fitting. A team in Florida should embrace colour. While blue and black is a perfect scheme for a team called the Lightning using the Leafs' blue with black was just a bit to dark.

The striping pattern is the one used by the Lightning on their home and road sweaters from 1992-2007, sans the contrasting shoulder yokes. It's a simple but unique pattern that both homages the team's past and also helps them establish a traditional look of their own. I used a simple TB monogram as the alternate mark.

The alternate serves as a sort of heritage fauxback. The sweater and socks' colours and striping come directly from the team's black set used from 1992-2007. A variation of the logo is used that replaces the black half of the inner circle with silver, a reference to the team's 1992-2007 primary logo which used a silver circle as a central design element. The number font and colouration reflects the style worn by the team when they won the Stanley Cup in 2004.

All in all I tried to create a look for the Lighting that reflected the team's desire to follow in the footsteps of established teams, that honoured the team's own history, and that better reflected the team's Sunshine State locale. That's a bit much to try and cram into a single concept, but I think I did an ok job of it. What do you guys think?

C&C, as always, is welcome.

[Morgan33]

First off the striping is absolutely spot on. This is exactly how the Tampa Bay Lightning would look if I was in charge. I prefer the 2007 primary as the main crest but could definitely live with your variation of the current secondary. My only real complaint is how sparingly silver is used. You put it on the "Heritage Fauxback" so why not the rest of the set? I feel that colour is essential to their identity, regardless of the traditional striping. After all, the jersey the cup was won in had both of those elements.

Solid work.

[Kramerica Industries]

That would be a look that I could get behind. I personally would swap the black and blue's places in that get-up, but either way it goes, that's a much better and original set than what the Lightning are wearing now.

[IceCap]

First off the striping is absolutely spot on. This is exactly how the Tampa Bay Lightning would look if I was in charge. I prefer the 2007 primary as the main crest but could definitely live with your variation of the current secondary. My only real complaint is how sparingly silver is used. You put it on the "Heritage Fauxback" so why not the rest of the set? I feel that colour is essential to their identity, regardless of the traditional striping. After all, the jersey the cup was won in had both of those elements.

Solid work.

Thanks! My problems with the Lightning's 1992-2007 look centred on the horribly rendered logo. I always thought the sweaters were rather understated and simple. I'd be ok with a look that just used the 2007-2011 logos on the 1992-2007 sweaters.

As for silver, once I got the idea for the heritage fauxback I decided to bring silver back for it, sort of an extra element just for it that tied it back to the original look. It honestly never occurred to me to try and integrate it into the home and road set. I'll give it a shot to see how it looks.

That would be a look that I could get behind. I personally would swap the black and blue's places in that get-up, but either way it goes, that's a much better and original set than what the Lightning are wearing now.

It's good to know it's been well received by a fan of the team. The decision to make the home blue was due to the fauxback. One of my pet peeves are alternate sets that aren't all that different from the standard dark set. The home darks became blue as a side effect of the decision to include the fauxback.

[kw11333]

I like these a lot. Simple, pays respect to their history, and they don't look like another team. They look like the Tampa Bay Lighting.

These are so nice, that I don't think you need the shoulder logos.

[Kramerica Industries]

I was always fond of the 1992-2007 template the Lightning used, especially once they ditched the abstract numeric and word fonts they used in the '90s (and, though I'm a legit sucker for many '90s era items, including teal jackets and the blue alt sweater the Lightning wore between 1996 and 1999, those fonts were not one of them). I always liked that black and white served as the dominant colours, and I liked that the black and white sweaters were honest-to-goodness swaps, for the sake of consistency. If only the Lightning didn't switch to the darker blue once they went with more conventional fonts, eh?

As for silver in the blue and white's there, I can deal without it, because the silver needs to be somewhat metallic, to contrast from the white. As it would be, the silver would kinda just be a dull, dirty white-ish add-on, which I don't feel is necessary. I've always felt black, blue, and white is a color scheme that can work if the proper shade of blue is used, and that's the case there. Silver is a part of their history, but it's always been the fourth wheel, so if the other three need more emphasis, then I have no problem with silver being pushed to the side.

I only prefer black as a primary because I'm familiar with it, the Lightning always wore black as a primary from 1992-2011, and there plenty of blue teams to go around. I always liked the idea of a blue alt (if executed right , of course), but it's never been necessary, to me. A quality black has always sufficed.