Just To Freak You Out XXXVIII

The absurdity continues here in my little corner of the world. First thing's first. We all have to be able to laugh at ourselves every now and then and god knows I make a habit of it. But this whole "rebranding" thing — it's a little weird, right? I mean it takes a special kind of person to keep an entire blog dedicated to the redesigning of NHL logos by various artistically inclined hockey fans.

I got a graphic emailed in this week that really made me laugh and I have to lead off with it.

Let the petty sniping begin (we all know that's what the comments are for anyway). I think it's absolutely hilarious. And when it comes to well-designed artwork, I get inspired regardless of whether I think a team should actually wear it in real life. That's what art is for anyway, isn't it?

But this post is about freaking you out, so you won't find any detailed and well-thought-out designs here. Instead, imagine the Quebec Nordiques going out west to become the Denver Dekes.

I don't have the words for it. Nor this.

I need a prescription for a drug that will allow me to fly. What's that? You say they don't make one? Hmm...

Forgive the poor quality of the jerseys in the next image, but these are worth looking at.

Be sure not to miss the purple and orange Flyers jerseys.

And lastly, an article on Yahoo! was pointed out to me today. The writer talks about the horror that was the Mighty Ducks third jersey back in the mid-'90s. (You guys should know, you voted it worst third jersey logo EVER!)

Anyway, that got me thinking. A while back I got these logos from a reader. He took the duck bursting through the ice and painted a different team's logo and jersey onto it — and then did it again for every team in the NHL! It's an absolute riot and this is the perfect time to start posting them.

As you can see I started with the Pacific Division so that I could show you the crazy duck with the new Ducks logo and colors on it. Just wait until you see the rest of the league. I'll post a new division in each Freak Out Friday post until we get through all six.

Reworking NHL Uniforms

There's another new artist I've received several submissions from but he's not looking to redesign team logos league-wide — just the uniforms. His sets include a home, road and alternate jersey for every club. On Sunday I posted his Ducks set (it's the first one in the post). But he's been working his way through the NHL alphabetically and I have a few more to share with you today.

We'll begin with the Thrashers.

I have yet to see a design from him that I don't like. And that streak continues with the Bruins.

If you scroll down to the bottom of the post you'll see a bonus alternate sweater design. But first, the Sabres.

A very unique set here mixing old with new in terms of logo design — a rare example of the designer going with a completely new logo. The Flames are next.

In this design he reintroduces the horse head secondary logo (which I always liked) while keeping the jerseys mostly unchanged except for the striping patterns.

And finally, here's a look at that bonus Bruins alternate design.

It's basically a black version of the yellow one above.

I'm enjoying very much being able to post some outstanding work lately from some very talented artists. I look forward to being able to share more with you as ICETHETICS launches in just one week.

Fan Art To Finish Your Weekend

I think I promised you guys a concept post before the weekend was out, so here it is. I've assembled some of my favorite designs from my stash. There's a lot of quality work, so let's dive in.

First, an interesting new look for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

I'd like to see the jerseys that go with it. If nothing else, the production value is through the roof on this one.

But if you want to talk excellent concept logos, look no further than this one for the Washington Capitals.

I admit I had to stare at it a while, but there it is, a "W" and a "C." And I don't know why it took us so long to realize that if you put those two letters together the right way, it forms a star! However, I'm not sold on the wordmark. I get the whole Declaration of Independence thing (been watching John Adams today), but for a sports team it's not a good idea.

I like that Thrashers jersey as well. With much thanks to Jacob at We're Revolting! for that one.

You guys always give me trouble for my aversion to yellow jerseys, but I've come across a bunch that I actually like — despite their resemblance to what I can only assume is Hillary Clinton's favorite suit.

Well, it's the Boston Bruins of course. Can any other team really do a yellow sweater?

This second set wouldn't work because yellow is still a light color. It wouldn't work as a dark home jersey. However, I am intrigued by the use of the secondary logo with a black background and yellow text.

Up next are the Chicago Blackhawks.

All those stripes do weird things to my brain. And there's not enough contrast in the other one. But I don't know, either could work as a temporary third jersey.

Finally, it's the Buffalo Sabres.

It's a nice logo on a traditional uniform design. I think you'd be hard-pressed to find nay-sayers.

That's good for now. Stay tuned for new polls going up tomorrow both here and at ToHL. Here, we'll have Cam Ward and Josh Harding going head to head and for the WHL Tournament of Logos, it'll be the Calgary Hitmen and the winner of the Americans/Thunderbirds poll which closes tonight.

Guitar Logos, Part 1 of 10

A reader of the blog here named Scott has started an interesting series of his own that I've decided to feature. It probably stems from a pretty good case of boredom, but nonetheless he's turning all 30 NHL logos into ... guitars. Yes, guitars. Here's what I mean.

Presenting them alphabetically, I'll be posting three at a time as he sends them.

Scott's finished nine of the 30 teams and as long as he sends them all to me, I'll share them all with you.

Should we call that one a banjo?

Up next: Sabres, Flames and Hurricanes — as guitars!

(By the way, happy Pi Day! I'm celebrating with a key lime pie. You?)

Just To Freak You Out XXX

LIVE FROM VANCOUVER!

Unfortunately I didn't have time last night to post the 30th Freak Out installment. So here it is a little belated. And I've got to start out with something just downright ridiculous. As you know the Quest For The Worst ended this week with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' third jersey logo taking the cake. It faced the Boston Bruins' secondary logo from the '70s and '80s. Imagine those two logos getting together.

Pretty horrific, eh? (When in Canada...)

Anyway, we've got all American team artwork for this Freak Out post today, by the way. We continue on with the ultimate American team — the Rangers. Where do they play again? Could it be the... "big apple"?

It's the logo I'd envision for a team made up entirely of elementary school teachers. And skylines across jerseys never seem to work.

And they have a better Statue of Liberty logo than that. See previous.

Up next: the St. Louis Blues who happen to be in town tonight facing the Canucks. Couple of really freaky concepts here.

Yet another yellow jersey.

And a sweater which uses old colors and an even older logo.

I'll finish things off with a logo that I debated posting here. On the one hand it's an abstract, unique design. On the other hand, it's abstract... very abstract.

Very abstract.

And so ends another episode of the Freak Out series — live from Vancouver. I've got a couple more days left here in town. We went up to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain today. Best day of the trip by far!

Result: Mighty Ducks vs Bruins

MIGHTY DUCKS NAMED WORST!

Usually a congratulatory message goes here, but Anaheim Mighty Ducks' third jersey logo has been named by you the voters here at NHLToL as the very WORST in the history of the league! The Ducks garnered a whopping 65% of the vote in the final poll to take the title. In fact, the Ducks logo won a higher percentage of every poll it was in than any other logo in any other tournament on this site. Quite a feat.

My thanks go out to everyone who voted! Nearly 60,000 ballots were cast since mid-January when the Quest For The Worst began. The quest is now over and we can definitively say which logo is truly the worst — ever!

Just as a quick note, I know this post is coming a few days late. But as it turns out, I thought I'd already posted it. I wrote it but I guess I forgot to click that all important "publish" button. It's sort of the do or die aspect of the whole blogging thing. In any case, it's here now.

You're probably wondering what's next. Well so am I. I'm open to suggestions. I'm constantly being asked when we're going to do a jersey tournament. That can be next if you guys want it. We'd start with a preliminary round where you'd vote on each team individually. That is, you choose whether you like their home or away jersey better. That would be followed by a full league bracket wherein we pit team against team. The reason I'd do the preliminary round is that for some teams the away jersey might hold up better than the home. For example, look at the Stars.

That's one option. Another one I've considered is a concept art contest. Readers can send in and suggest concept jerseys or logos to be considered as finalists and go head-to-head in a battle of the best fan-made designs. Just a thought.

There are other options as well. I'd recommend taking a look at the "In The Pipeline" post from back in October. I'm going to add a poll to the sidebar when I get a chance so you can let me know what should be next. If there's anything else you guys are interested, leave a comment. But do it as soon as possible so I can get that poll added to the sidebar right away.

Rumors On Alternates

I've gotten several emails about a message board post propagating rumors about the new crop of third jerseys to be introduced for the 2008-09 season. With few reports being confirmed by the actual teams, I thought these might at least be interesting enough to discuss here. They may even produce some new ideas for concept art.

Atlanta Thrashers
Word is the new sweaters will incorporate more maroon like the original dark jerseys. I don't know if this means the sweater itself will be maroon or rather navy more along the lines of that original jersey.

Boston Bruins
We've actually seen the black jerseys already which will feature the BRUINS version of the secondary logo found on the shoulders of the current jerseys. The jersey features the primary logo on the shoulders. Of the two "finalists" we saw, one includes a gold stripe around the bottom while the other does not.

Buffalo Sabres
This isn't really news, but the Sabres will supposedly return to the blue vintage sweaters like the ones they wore last year. We've heard that there's the possibility of some slight alterations, but I wouldn't expect much.

Carolina Hurricanes
Rumor has it the new 'Canes third will be black with the secondary logo on the front. You know the one with the tropical storm flag blowing in the wind. Sounds pretty good. I'd like to see a mock up. One would also expect to see the primary logo on the shoulders.

Chicago Blackhawks
Supposedly, the 'Hawks will resurrect the black sweater they've been wearing as a third jersey for years. No surprises here but I can't say I wouldn't be disappointed if they didn't attempt to make a few tweaks to it.

Dallas Stars
Interestingly, rumor suggests that the new Stars alternate will be a white version of the current black one. You know, with DALLAS written across the front. I'm a fan of one jersey like that. But let's not start in with turning the NHL into the NBA.

Edmonton Oilers
We're being told it's a vintage design with laces at the collar. That sounds absolutely amazing, especially when compared with the travesty visited upon the Oil this season. But this could just be wishful thinking.

Los Angeles Kings
We're speculating that the Kings will return to the purple sweater from last season with the coat of arms logo. Of course the author of the rumors being discussed here suggested the jersey may be black. We'll have to see, but my money's on purple.

Minnesota Wild
You'd think they can't go wrong with a green sweater, but then word is it will have MINNESOTA plastered across the front a la the New York Rangers or Colorado Avalanche. That may not sound impressive, but the Wild have a history of creating vintage-looking thirds that are really killer. I'll hold my judgment until I see it.

New York Islanders
Evidently we should expect a vintage design. Something I'm surprised they didn't go with when unveiling their new Rbk EDGE sweaters over the summer. I'm not really disappointed the orange won't be making a comeback.

Ottawa Senators
I hope this rumor isn't true. Apparently they're going with a gold sweater — you read that right — with SENS written across the front. I don't know if this is more in the vein of the Stars or Rangers. Time will tell. But just let it not be gold. I wouldn't even wish that on the Stars.

Philadelphia Flyers
The team has already told us to expect an orange sweater. What they didn't mention is whether it will be an altered version of the current design or a vintage throwback. Rumor suggests the latter.

Phoenix Coyotes
Opting for a new alternate logo, it sounds like they may be going with a full-body coyote on the front of a black sweater. I think a black jersey will go well with the brick/sand color combination. This one I'm looking forward to seeing.

Pittsburgh Penguins
The team has all but confirmed already that they'll go with the same design they wore for the Winter Classic two months ago. You can't really go wrong with that one. Vintage quality at its finest.

San Jose Sharks
We're likely looking at a black version of the current uniforms. I know a lot of folks dislike the orange. I personally don't mind it. However, how cool would it be if they went with a black/grey/white jersey with some teal piping/lining? And I'll go ahead and put my vote in for the full-body shark like you see on the shoulders of the current sweaters.

St. Louis Blues
We know all about St. Louis already from the team higher-ups. They're talking about a navy sweater with a brand new logo featuring the Gateway Arch. In fact, I have some great concepts to share later with this logo alteration in mind.

Tampa Bay Lightning
The rumors I'm reading scare me because, as a Lightning fan, I'd hate to see this happen. Supposedly the new third will be navy (so far so good) with BOLTS written across the front (there's where you lose me). Sounds an awful like what's going on with the Senators. Read above.

Toronto Maple Leafs
Likely a white vintage design will make its way onto the backs of Leaf players. Probably with the old leaf logo as well. This wouldn't surprise me and sure wouldn't disappoint. Looking forward to it, as a matter of fact.

Vancouver Canucks
It's rumored that a vintage design — I'm guessing blue — is in the works. I like the stick-in-the-rink jerseys as much as anybody, but I would not be surprised to see a completely new design with the newly introduced Johnny Canuck logo. It's a chance that's too good to pass up for a team in the midst of a serious identity crisis.

By the way, that leaves 11 teams without third jersey rumors here. In case you're wondering, those teams not accounted for are the Devils, Rangers, Canadiens, Panthers, Capitals, Blue Jackets, Red Wings, Predators, Flames, Avalanche, and Ducks (who frankly, could really use one).

That's all I've got for you tonight. I've got concept art based on the rumors for the Wild, Blues, Flyers and others, but I'll save that for later on. I'll try to get it posted this week while I'm on my trip.

In the meantime, allow your imaginations to run wild and, you know, feel free to play around in Photoshop and send me whatever you come up with. I can post it here and who knows, maybe you'll even guess correct.

Bruins Show Third Jersey "Finalist"

I got a few emails from readers tonight regarding the NESN broadcast of the Bruins-Penguins game. Apparently, they showed what's being called a "finalist" for a third jersey to be worn, I'm assuming, next year.

Here's an email I received about it:

NESN just showed one of the "finalists" for the Bruins third jersey next year. It was a black jersey with a thin gold stripe on the very bottom of the jersey, white, black and gold stripes on the elbow. The secondary logo is the primary and the spoked "B" is the shoulder logo.

Evidently, the Penguins broadcasters mentioned it to, according to this email:

While watching the Pens-Bruins game on Thursday, the Pens announcers made reference to the Bruins practicing in new jerseys that they intend to use next season. I have no photos but I thought that you could know about this.

The best part is one person even sent in a mock-up of what he saw. He says he's unsure about the collar and which logo was used (Boston or Bruins), but the uniform apparently looks a little something like this.

At least it's not yellow, right?

If anyone happened to record the game on NESN, perhaps you can send a screengrab my way so I can post it here. In the meantime, this appears to be a decent possibility for a Bruins alternate jersey for the fall. I'll post more as I find out.

UPDATE (2/29 4:33 AM): Got one more concept for the Bruins' new third from a reader, based on the NESN broadcast. Check it out.

I'll post more as I get it.

UPDATE (2/29 2:20 PM): Turns out someone did record last night's Bruins game and now there's video posted on YouTube. See the third jersey finalists for yourself right here.

UPDATE (5/4 8:13 PM): Because I'm slow I just realized that video above has been removed from YouTube. If anyone knows where another copy might be available, please let me know so I can embed a new link. In any event, someone was smart enough to grab freeze frames from the clip before it disappeared.

It's better seeing the video, but what can you do? At least you're getting a glimpse of what might be.

Poll: Mighty Ducks vs Bruins

	vs
Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS		Boston BRUINS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

This is it, folks! Your vote has determined these two logos to be the absolute worst in the history of the NHL. Now it's time to cast one final vote and immortalize a logo as the very worst every to grace a uniform.

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Wed Feb 27

Poll closing date Sat Mar 1

Poll: Bruins vs Canucks

	vs
Boston BRUINS		Vancouver CANUCKS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Fri Feb 22

Poll closing date Tue Feb 26