Just To Freak You Out XXII

I can't believe how long this series has lasted. At 22 and still going strong, what follows is another edition of Freak Out Friday. Where do I begin?

I think I'll start with a play on the Winter Classic which took place this week. It's an "If They Mated" featuring the two teams involved in the big outdoor game.

Curiously though, while the designer went with the original Sabres logo, they opted against the original Penguins colors.

Now is where I really get into the scary stuff, so be warned.

Though well executed, that can't be a good idea. Speaking of which...

Let the eye-gouging begin. It makes great use of the Panthers' colors but what is with all the suns? We get it they're the Florida Panthers!

Here's what we need.

Because nothing says we're getting rolled over like a jersey with tire tracks. A sentiment less suited for the Red Wings (first place) and more so for the Lightning (last place) who can't seem to remember how to win games. But I'm not bitter.

Speaking of the lackluster Lightning, the one color I hope is never incorporated into the Bolts' identity is yellow.

Did I mention how I hate the yellow?

And finally, it appears that not a lot of effort was put into this, but I thought the logo was funny enough to revisit.

Keep the crazy artwork coming so I can continue to frighten and freak out the readers here at NHLToL. Enjoy your weekend!

All-Star Duds

With the Winter Classic and all its greatness now behind us, the next big NHL event is the All-Star Game set to take place in Atlanta in three-and-a-half weeks. Naturally, I have concept art, but before I get to that, I've got some real stuff to discuss.

I've gotten a few emails recently that called to my attention the fact that I have yet to really talk about the new all-star uniforms here on the blog. I first posted photos of the new sweaters back in November. Since then, there have been other developments.

For instance, the reason the "logo" is so high up on the jersey is that the player's number will go below it on the chest.

For a better look at the entire jersey, these images come from the NHL.com shop where you can customize and order an all-star jersey. Naturally, I used Vinny Lecavalier in my example.

You'll notice the captain's C takes its lead from the Detroit Red Wings in its right-shoulder placement. We can see that the all-star logo will go on top of the left shoulder while it would seem the player's team logo will go on the right.

As far as creative all-star jerseys go, my personal favorite was what they wore in the 2001 All-Star Game in Denver.

I may have strange taste in uniform design by most standards, but wait until you see some of the concept art that's been sent to me.

Modeled after the host team itself is a jersey set that is actually quite cool. What if the league made a habit out of this?

Here's a simple set that uses the conference logos as its primary features.

This set just has far too many stars on it.

And this final set is a callback to the 2001 uniforms I just mentioned above where the goalies where a different color from the rest of the team — in essence, matching their opposition.

These too are modeled after the Atlanta Thrashers own uniforms, but a little less on the nose — trading the ATLANTA sleeves for EASTERN and WESTERN. It's a set I'm a big fan of.

Overall, some nice designs and some strange designs. I'm curious to read your reaction to these. Comment away.

Winter Classic, Part II

The first period has just ended as I'm writing this with the Pens up 1-0. Pretty good game. I have some complaints about the NBC broadcast, but I'll get into that in the next post. Right now I've got a few Buffalo Sabres concepts to share to complement yesterday's Penguins art.

I'd be remiss if I didn't start with a blue/gold color scheme. This is a nice set because it actually features sabres on the front of the shirt. Weird. The yellow sweater below belongs to this set as an alternate.

This next set is from the red/black era but it features the same logo as above.

Same deal with the alternate. Though I don't think a grey jersey is a very good idea.

And finally, this one is just for fun. Rather reminiscent of a certain energy drink logo, is it not?

Enjoy the rest of the game everybody!

Winter Classic, Part I

In honor of the Winter Classic which takes place tomorrow, I've got concept art for the two clubs taking part. (Penguins today, Sabres tomorrow.)

First is a rather dramatic logo redesign. You can't help but like the throwback jerseys though.

On the right is a set that also makes use of a new logo while throwing back even further to the days of blue sweaters.

Here we have a recolored set of New York Islanders jerseys. Still not a fan of that design but the lack of piping is allowing me to warm to it only slightly.

The numbering here scares me but it shows what you can do to improve the visual look of the Pens' sweaters.

And this one's for the few of you that preferred the '90s penguin.

This last concept is a little far out but it's not bad thinking. Needs work but it feels like it's on the right track.

That's all I got. Should have some Sabres artwork tomorrow. Hope you enjoy the game if you were lucky enough to score tickets. Happy new year!

Concepts On The Isle

I got a couple of nice New York Islanders concepts delivered to me. I felt like sharing them tonight. The first is a really simple improvement over the new design introduced this year.

It's not much, but it makes the sleeves seem like they're actually a part of the jersey. And it does away with the pointless piping around the shoulders.

Now if you just can't live without the piping, here's how you do it the right way. Tip: Use a different color for the shoulders.

Plus, I've always liked the Islanders in an orange jersey. Just like I preferred the Stars in green — even the Wild in green as well. It's almost like there was actually a mandate requiring teams to wear black, blue or red (the Sharks with the teal the only exception). Anyway, here's to orange jerseys and Mike Comrie.

Though he appears to be disintegrating as if in one of those sci-fi films.

I'll have more stuff to post tomorrow. I hope to make a large-scale update to the Concepts Gallery as well.

Just To Freak You Out XXI

The Freak Out series hits 21 this week — old enough to get hammered. And boy, I think some of the designers this week had to have been hammered. I mean, just look at this.

It might take a moment or two to notice that this is an "If They Mated" example. It's the new Sharks secondary logo merged with the Mighty Ducks third jersey of the mid-90s. But I love it!

This Flames jersey is on fire! Someone on eBay is really selling it. For real.

Sidney Crosby recently dropped the gloves in a rare on-ice event. This picture isn't real but it cracks me up nonetheless. There's just so much about it that's so wrong. I'm curious to see if the guys over at Pensblog have anything to say about this.

And finally, we have a plethora of "matings" here to share.

To sum things up, what you see above is the Flyers and Bruins, Rangers and Islanders, Devils and Sabres, Blue Jackets and Blackhawks, Avalanche and Wild, Blues and Red Wings, Canucks and Hurricanes (weird!), Bruins and Flyers (opposite of the first one) and Stars and Coyotes.

But wait, there's more.

This one is interesting because it's all opposites of the previous image. They are the Coyotes and Stars, Blackhawks and Blue Jackets, Hurricanes and Canucks, Islanders and Rangers, Sabres and Devils, Red Wings and Blues (what the—?), and Wild and Avalanche.

Hope you enjoyed being freaked out. Have a fantastic weekend!

Merry Christmas, Edmonton!

Santa has delivered some Edmonton Oilers concept art for me to post this evening.

This first one keeps with the copper theme but makes a few adjustments. For one thing, there are two different secondary logos — one for each shoulder. It also continues the stripe all the way around the sleeve.

Not too bad overall, though. The letters on the nameplate might be a bit hard to read but the secondary logos are well done. I like the one on the left, personally.

These two jerseys are a couple of designs featuring the logo you guys voted as the NHL's best third jersey logo. One with silver, one with copper. I like the silver.

And these two were just fun. I think that jersey on the left looks bad with an Islanders logo on it. The Oilers logo doesn't improve it. On the right are a few concepts with some interesting striping. The orange jersey was ill-conceived, I think, but the other two have my attention.

Finally, as a bonus for those of you longing for the days of the Winnipeg Jets, enjoy this.

Those are pretty sharp. Too bad we'll never get to see jerseys like that anytime soon.

I hope you all enjoyed your Christmas (if you celebrate it) and the day off (if you were lucky enough to get it). The third round of the Secondary Logo tournament kicks off tomorrow.

Quick Update

The response so far on the Worst Logo Tournament has been great! A lot of you guys definitely seem more interested in naming a bad logo than a good one, but to each his own. Just wanted to drop in with a brief update since I haven't really been around this weekend. Here's a little something to tide you over until I have a chance to do a real concepts post.

Certainly a lot to peruse there. In the meantime, I hope you all enjoy the long weekend (I have to work tomorrow — luckily the show has been cancelled for Christmas Day). And Merry Christmas to those of you that celebrate it!

Just To Freak You Out XX

The quality of Freak Out art I've become accustomed to was sorely lacking this week and that'll be clear after you get through tonight's post. It's not that nobody sent anything, it's that they were either trying too hard or not trying hard enough. I've got to have some standards, right? Perhaps not, but I'll forbear any further deliberation if for no other reason than to quite simply get on with it. Good plan?

What's wrong with this picture?

Yes, it seems like some of the colors there are a bit off. These too.

And don't even get me started on the absurdity of tropical storm flags surrounding a jersey with a Hartford Whalers logo on it. My head would explode.

Next is a Philadelphia Flyers concept logo that I think fits fairly into the "freaky" category.

At first, I liked this New York Rangers jersey. But the more I stare at it, the more it disturbs me. I don't care how old that team is. They need a new logo.

And finally, this one I just can't figure out. My brain tells me this is a nice Photoshop job, but a small part of me fears someone, somewhere actually made this jersey.

Islanders fans, I apologize. That's just horrible.

Anyway, that's all I've got for this week. Hope you got a little freaked out. And I hope you guys will keep sending in good Freak Out Friday material so we can keep this series going. Enjoy your holiday weekend!

Painted On

I think you guys know by now one thing I'm a fan of is concept designers putting the extra effort in and painting their designs onto player photos. It's the closest thing we'll get to seeing what these jerseys might look like on the ice without them actually being stitched together.

Tonight's post is all about that. I'm starting with my favorite of the bunch. Why don't the Canucks wear green? Why isn't there any green in their logo?

Here's a new idea for the Islanders. I like it better than their real jerseys, but that's just my opinion.

Imagine the Flames in a black jersey. (Not sure what's going on on the shoulder there.)

Frankly, anything with a flaming C on it disgusts me right now after the 9-6 stomping the Lightning received at the hands of the team they once defeated for a Stanley Cup championship. Or did we forget that part?

Sticking to Alberta, many Oilers fans have been praying for the day that their club returns to their original colors.

While I'm on the subject, apparently word has been floating around that the Oilers have designed a third jersey that's awaiting NHL approval and will be worn next fall. I'm sure everybody's looking forward to that. I'll be sure to post something when I have more information.

And finally, we have black for the Devils.

If you have comments, you know what to do.