Freak Out Friday XXXIX

Today marks the debut of the Freak Out Friday on Icethetics. The series carries over from my old blog — NHL Tournament of Logos. If you're new to this, you might want to have a look at some of the ridiculous items that have been submitted to me over the past year.

Along with this comes a new name. The series was formerly called "Just To Freak You Out" — but it is more commonly known now as Freak Out Friday. And as you can see, this is the 39th edition since August of last year. Yeah, we've had a lot of weird and crazy artwork to post in that time. Remember, too, that is a biweekly feature so you'll only see it every other Friday.

With that out of the way, let's dive in because there's quite a lot to get to. I'm beginning with Buffalo. The unveiling of Matt's rebrand of the Sabres this week was met with a rather mixed reaction — that spawned a lot of attempts to fix it. Now, there were some good ones (which I'm saving to post over the weekend) and there were some bad ones (which you will see now).

You may have to stare at that for quite a while to figure out what it is. Kudos to anyone who can figure it out without me explaining it. Naturally, there's a jersey concept to go with it.

Thing about the Sabres, though, is while there are a number of very vocal fans opposed to the "slug" logo, it just so happens that plenty of folks like it. So the trick because how to make it less about the buffalo and more about the sabres.

All from the same artist. Comments?

Let's move on now to the Atlantic Division where we have a number of Combo Concepts, as I think I'll start calling them. First is a current Penguins logo mixed with an old one.

There are some things we should just never have to look at.

I'm sure you can figure out the relevance here. One more...

And now we move way out west for a simple concept based on the old Mighty Ducks secondary mark.

It has wings!

Speaking of Anaheim, if you remember back to the last Freak Out post, you might remember the series of logos based on the Mighty Ducks' old third jersey with the giant duck bursting through the ice. I'm presenting them one division at a time. This time it's the Atlantic.

You'll get another division next time but that's all for this week. Express your disbelief and hysteria in the comments area below if you're so inclined and get ready for No. 40 in two weeks!

Sweaters In NHL 09

Got a few emails today about a new promotional video EA Sports has released for NHL 09.

Evidently, there's some question as to whether a green jersey seen in the video is a leak. You can see the screenshot below but to me it looks like a regular Minnesota North Stars sweater.

Now I personally have never played any of these video games so correct me if I'm wrong, but do they not often include vintage uniforms for use in the game?

My assumption is that this is merely a "vintage alternate" available for the Dallas Stars in the game. Let me know if I don't have this right because I don't want to be misleading people. Just hoped I could clear up some confusion.

In any event, for what it's worth we actually got our first look at the new Rbk EDGE jerseys as a whole last year via an NHL 08 leak. I'm guessing it's possible the same thing could happen with third jerseys this year. We'll just wait and see. And if you guys find anything, feel free to email me and I'll spread the word.

Maple Leaf Sweater Concepts

Maple Leafs fans, yesterday I promised you some concept art and I'm making good on it. I've gotten half a dozen different jersey designs over the past few weeks and today I'm happy to share them with you.

The first one here is a take on Minnesota's home sweater crest. It's cool even if it's somewhat unoriginal.

But if originality is what you're looking for, see the graphic on the right. It's probably a little too awkward to make for a solid design what with the unbalanced logo, no striping on the white and too much striping on the blue. But maybe I'm just being critical.

These two are cool if Toronto were to add black to the color scheme. But obviously as a Lightning fan I would be somewhat opposed to that.

And finally, on the current jersey design is an interesting logo I've been waiting to see someone make — the CN Tower in the veins of the leaf.

It's not perfect but how cool is that?

You know what tomorrow is. Yes indeed, another Freak Out Friday is nearly upon us. Stay tuned for that.

Iowa Chops? No, I'm Not Kidding

So the American Hockey League will have a new team this fall based out of Iowa which will serve as the Anaheim Ducks' minor league affiliate. And they're called the Chops.

Yes, the Iowa Chops. I'm not even making a joke here. And if I was, it would be a bad one. What is a Chop? See below for the logo.

All right, now that you've peeled yourself off the floor, wiped away the tears of laughter and stumbled helplessly back to the computer, take another look at it.

Still bad, isn't it? I'm surprised because nowadays I think we've come to expect more from new expansion clubs. Better names, better logos. I mean, consider the Ontario Reign of the ECHL. Great name, great logo — though I'm embarrassed to admit I didn't initially realize Ontario was a city in California. Despite living in an ECHL town, I pay almost no attention to that league.

Anyway, I'm eager to hear what you guys think of the Iowa Chops and their new logo. I'll be putting together new logo tournaments for the AHL and ECHL some time this year, by the way.

My NY Times Shoutout!

Got a very cool mention today on Slap Shot the New York Times' hockey blog. I'm very proud. Who knew people were actually reading this drivel? But I certainly appreciate the attention.

Blog writer Stu Hackel writes:

Here’s something to help you enjoy: One of our thousands, er, hundreds, er, dozens, er, two or three regular readers, Ms. Conduct, has her own site and one of her other fave blogs is Icethetics where the proprietor, Chris, has been engaged in inventing imaginative re-designs of NHL uniforms.

Hockey fans have always been proud of the game’s jerseys (or sweaters, or shirts or whatever you wanna call them). They are the best in sports. Some are better than others, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have fun with them all. So if you’ve got the time and inclination, these are worth checking out and checking back periodically to see the new ones.

In case you wanted to check out Ms. Conduct's blog, click here. It's a good read.

Anyway, pardon the vanity but sometimes its nice just to talk about something cool that's happened to me. Though it's not really just me. You guys are the reason I bother to do this in the first place — you keep coming back for more. With daily hit counts higher than I could've possibly imagined before I began doing this, I'm definitely proud.

Again, thanks for continuing to visit and submit the best fan-made hockey concept art on the web!

Sens, Wild Sweater Art

Remember that video I posted over the weekend teasing the new Senators jersey designs from capn89? — a guy named Paul, actually. Anyway, the final designs are done and ready for posting.

You can't deny the awesomeness of those. I personally love the third jersey. There's even a set of three with lots of crazy stripes.

I have some more stuff you need to think back for. About a month ago I posted a bit about what the new Wild third jersey might look like. A reader submitted a few designs based off of what was seen at the event.

And just for good measure, there's even this one.

Short post today, I know, but you've got wallpapers too. Maple Leafs fans, I've got some great stuff for you tomorrow. And don't forget, this Friday brings another edition of the Freak Out series — not to mention the new iPhone 3G. I think it's about time for me to upgrade my $15 cell phone. Don't be surprised if you don't hear from me over the weekend. It'll be because I'll have a new toy.

Wallpaper Wednesday V

Today's edition brings us seven new wallpapers to choose from. But before I get to those, I wanted to address something about artwork submission. I don't want to call anyone out, but you guys can't be sending me stuff to post that doesn't belong to you. It's not fair to the artist. I know sometimes you might find great artwork on another web site that you want to share with everyone here. That's fine and I'm willing to make an exception so long as you attribute the source so I can link back.

Now onto today's wallpapers. We'll begin with one for Bruin Marc Savard.

I like this one a lot — which is why I'm posting it first. Not to be outdone, a couple of Flyers fans put together some cool designs.

Above is Daniel Briere. Below, Joffrey Lupul.

And we can't leave out the league's rising stars including Minnesota's Marian Gaborik...

...as well as Washington's Alex Ovechkin.

I think we'll finish out the post with a couple of logo-based backgrounds.

If you're not a fan of the Islanders, what about the Hurricanes?

One last thing. A couple weeks ago I posted some beautiful Ducks-themed wallpapers that originated at a site called AllDucksGraphics.com. If you're a Ducks fan — and even if you're not — you will definitely want to check it out. Well worth the time.

New Logos For Windy City & Big D

You know I had another Sabres concept logo to post today but considering the reaction in the comments to yesterday's post, I think I'll hold off.

Instead, I've got concept logos for other teams out west. Well, I don't know, Chicago's west of something, right? We're starting with the Blackhawks and you know I'm always up for a good 'Hawks logo. Take in this one.

Here's how it looks on a jersey.

It's really quite something. It might be a little too intricate to make a good hockey logo, but then you could say that about the current Blackhawks logo. Anyway I enjoyed it and I figured you guys might too.

But moving on now to Dallas. I have a few Stars concept designs.

And on a jersey, it may look something like this.

These designs are of a lesser quality, but you get the idea.

And finally, one more logo from the same artist as above — I think an alternate incarnation of the tertiary from that logo set.

I know I didn't have much to say today but it was another one of those long days. Started work at 3:30 AM. Finished at 5 PM. Not exactly my idea of fun, but I'll live. Enjoy your night. Wallpapers tomorrow!

UPDATE (7/15 2:15 AM): As has been mentioned in the comments, the Stars logo above is actually the logo of the Texas Stars, a new AHL franchise set to begin play in 2009 as a Dallas affiliate — and not original concept art.

Rebranding The Sabres

As promised, today brings the unveiling of the 11th design in Matt's Rebranding The NHL series — the Buffalo Sabres.

And naturally, he's designed uniforms to go with these logos.

To me it seems like the best Sabres logo always revolves around the same basic theme — the original logo from the team's inception. Sometimes you just can't improve upon what came first. Or at least it's just difficult to come up with something entirely new.

Anyway, as soon as Matt tells me what team he's rebranding next, I'll tell you. In the meantime, let us know what you think of the new Sabres artwork. Leave a comment!

New Rebrand Coming Tomorrow!

You got your first peek at it on the day Icethetics launched. But just wait until tomorrow! Matt's Rebranding The NHL series continues with the unveiling of his new Buffalo Sabres logo and jersey designs.

Don't you hate being teased? What's that? You say you love it! All right then, you know the uniform series you guys have been enjoying from capn89? He's currently working on the Sens' new duds and put together a video to tease you.

Not to worry though, tomorrow afternoon you'll get to see the Sabres rebrand that's been almost two months in the making. Get excited!