0100: A Hundred Concepts and Counting...

When I relaunched the Concepts page earlier this year, who really thought I'd be able to keep it going for 100 straight days? I know I've been flaky about this aspect of Icethetics in the past, but clearly you guys are enjoying it and I've finally found a way to keep it fresh.

That said, hitting triple digits seems like a special occasion we should mark. In honor of that and the 2012 Stanley Cup Final about to begin, how about this...

Following the overtime victory that sent the New Jersey Devils on to the final round of the playoffs to face the Los Angeles Kings, Matthew Henderson had an idea. He emailed me this pair of mutant logos in the vein of Ross Taylor's recent Freak Out Friday series.

Sure, this concept might be better suited to Friday, but sadly there are no Fridays between now and the start of the last playoff series of the season. Plus, I didn't want to make you guys wait to see this. I think they're pretty clever and pretty funny.

But since this is a special occasion — and so as to ground this post in reality a little bit — here are some more normal concepts for the NHL's conference champions.

I've been hanging on to this concept from Matthew Beck for a while. It has a very cool soccer-y feel. I'd love to see an NHL team try an idea like this some time, but it is a little out there.

And from Chance Waddell we get a new iteration of a black alternate for the Devils that will probably never happen. I know, we're a bit put off by the lack of color in the Stanley Cup series this year and adding more black wouldn't exactly help the cause. Still, it is something I'd like to see New Jersey try in the future. You know, when black is cool again.

0079: Concept Redemption

It's California Week on the Icethetics Concepts page! Over the next few days I'll be sharing concepts for our favorite Golden State hockey teams. We start with the Los Angeles Kings and Matt McElroy's story, which I'll let him tell.

So like 2 years ago I submitted my first concept to Icethetics. It was featured on Jan. 8, 2010 and I was super pleased with myself because it was the first time I got my work on the site.

But after reading the comments about how like gross it was and how it should be buried deep in a hole, I was so embarrassed that I committed a lot of free time to getting to a point where I could stand my ground on the site. I have had a bunch of my other [work posted] since then, but [recently] I was looking through my computer and found the old Kings concept and decided I'd revisit it.

This is what I came up with — a new crown that I feel mixes the old Forum blue and gold with the newer silver and purple fairly well. Living in L.A. I know how popular the purple jerseys are but as a fan of the Kings' current uniforms, I didn't really want to change it all that much so I recolored the jersey to be an update of the old Kings jerseys fitting in the new striping.

Yep, two years ago, I wrote that Matt's Kings concept should be buried deep. I still stand by that comment, but he's won me over with this design. I'm a big fan, especially of the shield logo. What about you guys?

Update on Monday · May 14 · 2012 | 11:50 AM PDT by Chris

After reading some of your comments, Matt made a few revisions to his Kings concept.

0072: Vintage L.A. Kings

Last week I posted a Los Angeles Kings concept which, while I liked it, was widely panned by readers. As Vintage Week carries on, I've got another perhaps to make up for it. Micah Loyed's retro style jersey and logo designs are absolutely stunning in my opinion. If all of the design world starting working toward this type of look and feel, I think we'd all be better off. But then I may be alone in that line of thinking. What about you?

0061: The Final Word on LA

Listen up, LA. The Kings jerseys need fixing and this is really all you need to do win the game. Right here. Kudos to James Taylor for finding the sweet spot.

Update on Thursday · Apr 19 · 2012 | 11:47 AM PDT by Chris

Haha! Apparently, I was totally wrong. Not an uncommon place to be. I like it, but obviously I'm in the minority.

0051: King of All Kings Concepts

I"m not sure why, but I've been receiving a lot of Los Angeles Kings concepts lately. This one by Steven Grant stands out because I could actually see it being worn on NHL ice. It's a throwback inasmuch as the Flyers' 2012 Winter Classic jersey was a throwback. It borrows elements from the club's history while creating a whole new look with purple and silver. I really do love this. I'm no Kings fan, but this is one jersey I could see adding to my small collection.