Canada's Olympic/National Hockey Sweaters

[sparkychewbarky]

Nike has, in the past, given us some of our nicest national uniforms.

So, what happened to the 2014 set, that would cause the Canadian public to go 'over the boards'?

First of all, the uniforms aren't all bad.

In fact, I like how they brought the maple leaf shape up into a wide band. (A nod to the famous 1972 Summit Series sweaters).

The only problem with that design, is the similarity to the Petro-Canada logo, which is a factor that should have been addressed.

It still looks nice, though.

But Nike... try out your gimmicks and untested concepts on something other than a country's olympic uniforms.

That's what semi-pro leagues are for.

What's up with those socks?

Aren't hockey socks supposed to somewhat match what's going on with the rest of the uniforms?

Save the shiny appliques for figure skating. (The shiny collars on your NFL jerseys have only made those jerseys appear as if they're being drooled on.)

Know your market. Canadians buying these sweaters will mostly be hard-working, blue-collar types like myself.

(Most guys that I know don't have anything shiny in their wardrobes.)

An asymmetrical design might be great for floral arrangement, but the only lop-sided sweaters that ever looked kind of decent, IMO, were the original Mighty Ducks' tops.

Again, most hockey fans aren't fashion designers.

...And, I can tell you right now, that most Canadians will find the lame fake-lace idea...lame.

If you do laces; do real laces.

I have a few suggestions.

So, to illustrate, I recreated Nike's version...

I suggest that you...

-lose the shiny stuff on the homes and aways. Try that kind of stuff out on the 3rd jersey.

-make sure that the collar looks like a hockey collar, rather than soccer-ish.

-make the arms symmetrical. The asymmetrical hockey sweater fad died in the '90s. It's nothing new.

-lose the dollar store little flag on the arm. Put a big juicy maple leaf there.

-and for goodness sake, kinda match the socks with the arms. (At least have them look like they're from the same uniform)

-I've also thrown a little black around the chest letters to make "Canada" pop a bit.

You could reduce the 'Petro-Can' look, by allowing that great maple-leaf shape to extend above the band.

The resulting narrower band is now a little more workable.

To be continued...

[sparkychewbarky]

Canada was developing a tradition with the "Double Stripe".

It looked nice and classic, and made sense, as the Canadian flag has 2 vertical bands; one on each side of the maple leaf.

I tried to incorporate the double-stripe into Nike's design...

The away uni looks a little washed-out, so the preferred combo might be this...

[MiK]

At least they won't be Canada's sweaters forever.

I do like the idea of a subtle maple leaf around the collar. Just a darker color or opaque design, but definitely not the shine. Looks pretty terrible.

Your mock ups are terrific and definitely the direction they should have gone. I especially like the double-stripe concepts, they are wonderfully executed. Well done.

[ES13]

The very bottom set... Perfect Hockey Canada sweaters.(should I feel bad for typically calling them jerseys now? )

Cool seeing the process you went through, I wish Hockey Canada had taken a cue from previous designs as you did. The double band for the red and solid red on white just look like a damn fine uniform set.

Makes me curious... Can you do anything about the third? Would be interested in seeing your take on the Russian and US jerseys as well.

Great work as usual, Chewbarky!

[LAWeaver]

I seem to be in the minority of those who kinda like their sweaters, but these blow them out of the water.

[ThePeam]

Sparky 10, Nike 0

[FGM13]

The latest away reminds me of Petro-Canada.

[ujju2]

The last ones are just plain AMAZING!

[sparkychewbarky]

The last ones are just plain AMAZING!

Sparky 10, Nike 0

I seem to be in the minority of those who kinda like their sweaters, but these blow them out of the water.

At least they won't be Canada's sweaters forever.

I do like the idea of a subtle maple leaf around the collar. Just a darker color or opaque design, but definitely not the shine. Looks pretty terrible.

Your mock ups are terrific and definitely the direction they should have gone. I especially like the double-stripe concepts, they are wonderfully executed. Well done.

Thanks for the feedback guys...always appreciated.

The very bottom set... Perfect Hockey Canada sweaters.(should I feel bad for typically calling them jerseys now? )

Cool seeing the process you went through, I wish Hockey Canada had taken a cue from previous designs as you did. The double band for the red and solid red on white just look like a damn fine uniform set.

Makes me curious... Can you do anything about the third? Would be interested in seeing your take on the Russian and US jerseys as well.

Great work as usual, Chewbarky!

Hi ES. I won't have time to tackle the Russia and U.S. unis, but I did take a crack at Canada's 3rd.

The latest away reminds me of Petro-Canada.

Yeah FGM, you're right.

Unfortunately Petro-Canada kinda owns the 'partial-maple-leaf-in-a-box' look, and so a Canuck can't see the new Nike sweaters without thinking..."Do I need gas?".

So, I've gone back to the double-striped whites but thickened the red stripes a bit.

The double-stripes are historic, and make the desired concept a little less "Petro-Canady".

Nike was referencing the 1920 Winnipeg Falcons with their 3rd design.

Canada just recently played in a re-creation of those sweaters.

It's an impressive sweater with an even more impressive old-style logo.

I used a variation of that logo, with the double stripe concept on my 3rd design (on a Nike template)...

I've shown it here with Boston Bruin style socks (maybe?), and I've even put some of Nike's shiny stuff on the shoulders. (Why not?...It's an alt.)

However, no fake laces and it's a symmetrical design.

[sparkychewbarky]

So, here's my Canadian Sochi Olympic line-up (with black socks on the alts)...

Thanks to all who viewed and commented.

sparky

[colinturner95]

the leafs look good against the black. Well done on the whole thing

[Midway]

I prefer the previous away to the double stripe version but so far you've effectively finished what Nike left undone.

[sparkychewbarky]

the leafs look good against the black. Well done on the whole thing

Thanks bk.

I prefer the previous away to the double stripe version but so far you've effectively finished what Nike left undone.

Geez Midway...I'm flopping like a fish out of water on this one.

I find myself agreeing with you now.

The extra red on the solid band just looks better on the aways, regardless as to whether it looks 'Petro-Cannish".

When you see them side-by-side, the double-stripe away version looks a little weak. (I still like the double-stripe homes better though).

I gotta now go with the solid band on the aways, even though I wanna go with the 2-striper. C'est la vie.

...And I spelled 'Alternate' correctly this time.

...And I just noticed that after the olympics are over, Hockey Canada can just slide in their nice black, red and white player logo into the negative maple leaf space.

...Clever Nike.

[sparkychewbarky]

So far, I've only adapted the Nike 'chest-bar' theme to address the concerns that many in the Canadian hockey public (according to polls) have with the design.

They are NOT liking the fake, glossy laces; the asymmetrical, one-sleeve design; and the similarity to the Petro-Canada logo.

The above changes, that I have suggested, have still tried to keep to the basic theme ( a negative-space maple leaf on a contrasting chest pattern).

However, starting from scratch, there are many different "looks" that the Canadian team sweaters could have (besides the usual stripe patterns)...

A- Very traditional 2-stripe pattern similar to sweaters in the past. Shown with a 'Hockey-Canada-like' black, red and white logo.

B- A 'Canada flag' sweater with contrasting bars down the sides of the body and sleeves (the maple leaves on the arms could be bigger). Very simple design.

C- This design produced kind of an 'argyle' look.

D- The maple leaf is a great icon with its upward and outward diagonal lines. Lots of possibility in playing around with the leaf shape.

E- Another 2-stripe design incorporated into a little different Canada logo.

F- ...And a variation of the famous 1972 sweater

[sparkychewbarky]

I expanded on 2 of the above options...

The home "Argyle-Leaf" sweater...

...And the away "Flag" sweater...

[MDGP]

Hmm, I really like option C, particularly the updated version. Very modern, but still very classy.

[ES13]

Option B, the flag sweater is very interesting in both whites and reds... Actually my favorites of these would be B, F, and A.

Then I guess I'd rank them:

1) design B to me has the best elements of simplicity and design, while also incorporating the actual Canadian flag in a very clever manner.

2) F is a good bold design, a nice update on the original... Very visually striking and memorable. Big bold maple leaf design definitely says this is Canada's jersey/sweater. While I typically prefer designs that conform more to the established hockey sweater aesthetics of the NHL, I feel like the Olympics and international events are a perfect time to try bold new designs.

3) which is why A is only my third favorite despite it being the design closest to a traditional hockey uniform. Definately think that their uniforms closest to this have been among the best designs they have ever worn though.

4) C is interesting... I feel the design would be a little more solid with the negative space underneath replicating the distinct maple leaf shape rather than generic diagonals it has now. A leaf inside a leaf kind of look, similar to previous designs, and paid homage to by the shoulder leaves design on the actual current sweaters.

5) E is... Not as good as A, and not as immediately identifiable as the other Canada jerseys. Actually, it drives me crazy when I watch. an international event and I can't tell who is who due to lack of easily identifiable design. For example, does anyone else get confused when Canadian athletes wear blue instead of red? Or the Olympic hockey sets using blue as a secondary color... Just confusing, clashing and a little ugly. Hockey Canada got it right with black as an accent color though, as it doesn't compete with the red and white as would another bright color. /rant

6) so... D is my least favorite as it is the weaker of two similar designs. My suggestion on C applies to this as well... really just needs a point in the middle negative space to make a second Maple Leaf, I am guessing you're trying to make the design from simple shapes with the diamonds and such... But I still feel it would look stronger with the second leaf shape in the negative space.

...did not mean to write a wall of text.

Great stuff as usual Sparky! Had one further idea on the revamped nike set... How would it look with maple leaf shoulder logos? Like the 2002 Canada set? Maybe a simpler, one color, smaller version of the shimmering collar leaves could work for the shoulders?

Just my two cents and, a bit of extra change.

[ThePeam]

I really like A. D and E are cool too.

[greyraven8]

On the alternate, home, away set:

Think the minimalist style of the home and away might look better either without the 'CANADA' word mark, or if keeping it do it in one colour bigger blockier letters; not sure if removing 'CANADA' would be an improvement or not for the alternate. One idea for the alternate may be to try more striping for the socks (like the 1920s Hamilton Tigers).

http://nhluniforms.com/DefunctTeams/Tigers2.html

or even

http://nhluniforms.com/DefunctTeams/Tigers3.html

Of the A-F

Like C the most. Argyle-leaf sweater idea very good looking and original. Only tweeking I can think of is maybe moving the main chest "argyle-leaf" down a little bit or moving the small leaf with "CANADA" up more. If moving the small leaf up maybe could also make the small leaf into an white oval patch and have the leaf and CANADA in red. Just spitballing here.

Always have preferred the Canada Cup jerseys to the 1972 Summit Series one, but your updated 1972 one is an improvement on the original.

Of everyone on this forum look forward to Sparky's posts the most.

[ujju2]

You are AWESOME!!!