Mailbag: For The Habs' Shoulders

I got an interesting email the other day with a new concept logo for the Montreal Canadiens. It wouldn't replace the primary, but rather serve as a secondary.

I don't think it's a necessary addition to the Habs' look, but I still like it a lot on its own merits. The designer, Gary, had this to say about it in his email to me.

There's two motivations behind it. One is political, the fleur de lis within the maple leaf clearly shows Quebec as a part of Canada, and not a seperate entity. However, using it as the base of the maple leaf is symbolic of the fact that the true Canadian identity requires a strong Quebec. The other reason is to honour Quebecs former NHL team, the Nordique, who proudly displayed the fleur de lis on their jerseys. Despite the rivalry between the Nords and Habs, NHL in Quebec City was great for the province and country.

I've had the idea for a long time but never tried it out. Your blog/website gave me the motivation to give it a try today while I should have been working.

We appreciate his work and he even went the extra mile to show us how it might look on a couple of jerseys.

I have to say, I don't hate it and it goes rather well with the logo and uniform. My only problem is that when I look at it all I see is Nordiques. And I'm pretty sure they don't exist anymore.

So what do you guys think? Love it? Hate it? Have any suggestions for improving it? Comment away.

Capitals, Here's How You Fix It

The sixth entry in the Here's How You Fix It series will take a look at the Washington Capitals' new duds.

One of seven teams to introduce new or updated logos, the Caps we the route of the old days by creating a wordmark logo that harkens back to the 1970s and the arrival of the team on the NHL scene. Now it may just be a personal complaint I'm voicing, but I don't really understand the striping patterns on the new sweaters. They just do something strange along the arms and sides if you ask me.

So in the interest of considering a more traditional — heaven forbid — striping pattern, I thought I'd post this concept which was emailed to me by a reader.

The striping is simple and I love the stars on the shoulders. I also like the Capitals in blue as opposed to red or black — like the had been wearing. Another neat aspect of this concept is that the colors of the logo are swapped for the home and road jerseys. Little things like that are what make me like a uniform.

How do you feel about it? Leave your comments below.

Coming up: San Jose Sharks.

Just To Freak You Out VIII

The Freak Out series continues this week with a brand new episode. Some of this stuff is just unbelievable.

We'll kick things off with some small but significant Atlanta Thrashers concept attempts.

I'm not sure I can find the words to describe this. The thrasher head, while being used as a major element of the crest, has also been employed as a rather horrid stripe. It points up the arm the shoulders along the sleeves and runs across the waist.

The secondary logo is used on the front of the jersey on the right side while the player number is on the left. Captains be damned. The full primary logo is also featured on the front, but not as the crest. No, you'll find that at the bottom on the left.

The crest being used features only the bird's head on an "A." But hey, at least there's three to choose from. Also notice that the panel under the arms is blue on all three.

This jersey set is an eye sore of the worst kind. But just look at the socks. I've never seen a logo on a sock. These socks have three — each! And that's just the side we can see. Imagine if they appeared on twice or even three times.

It hurts my brain to imagine what these would look like on the ice.

And then this. Anyone who thought the Maple Leafs introduced a rather plain jersey should see this.

And though I'm not sure who's conjuring the anger, I can only guess that it's fans who feel like they've been somehow cheated because the letters were spread vertically (not squeezed horizontally).

We're just now hearing of the NHL's plan to expand once again.

We don't yet know what city they'll play in, but the new club will be named the Referees. I don't know why this was made. But it made me laugh — and then it freaked me out some. Speaking of which, we've all seen the mish-mash logos created by Pfizer. Well this one was created by another artist, but it's almost equally as disturbing.

It seems some folks hate the slug so much, they feel a beheading is the only solution. Indeed.

Oh, this deserves an explanation. The fervor over the Calgary Flames claiming the Albertan flag on their shoulder has spurred the Toronto Maple Leafs to go all out and convert their entire uniform into a Canadian flag. With the vintage logo, of course. No other way to go.

And finally, if you thought the text on the front of the new Vancouver Canucks jersey was as bad as it gets, wow. Just wait until you look at this.

I never cease to be amazed — or freaked out — by the things people send me. If you have come up with anything wacky and would like to make it a part of the Freak Out series, send it along to nhllogos@gmail.com.

I hope you all enjoyed your Freak Out Friday and are looking forward to the ninth installment coming in one week's time.

Can anyone tell me where the Canucks play? I seem to have forgotten.

Your Daily Dose Is Here

You know what this is. I've got today's concept art right here and there's a lot of it! And it's gonna be good. Mostly.

We'll start out with this Florida Panthers logo that caught my eye whilst I perused my inbox.

It's a sort of fusion between the primary and secondary logos that the designer said stemmed from an idea based off of the old Buffalo Sabres logo. But while that logo seemed to red "Buffalo Sabres" from top to bottom, this one seems to say "Panther Palm Trees."

No but seriously, it's very sharp. A little to detailed to ever see printed anywhere but here, but still nice.

What I'm concerned about is this logo. I'm certainly more a fan of the official VC logo introduced by the Vancouver Canucks last month. They introduced so many cool new logos, though. It's hard to like the orca on the crest anymore.

I got an email a while back, the source of which I cannot vouch for, that suggested the Canucks have planned to change their logo again in 2010 following the Olympics. This time they would feature Johnny Canuck as their primary symbol. I won't take a position on whether or not that has any validity, despite this logo just being introduced.

Anyway, perhaps a jersey may look something like this.

Although that V across the front of the jersey really scares me.

In other news, one of my things is that I feel like the New York Islander should make use of a lighthouse in their logo — if even just as a secondary. This concept borrows a recolored lighthouse logo from the mid-90s logo introduced as part of the "fish sticks" get up. That design wasn't all bad.

What I could live without is any changes to the New Jersey Devils' uniforms. I rated them a 5/5 in my review yesterday. Still, someone toyed with it a little.

That is something I feel would work for improving the Edmonton Oilers' sweaters, but not so much the Devils. Interesting as it is, I'd never want to see the Devils hit the ice in it.

Along those same lines is this item. The Hurricanes are just one of those teams that I cannot possibly envision in any colors but black, red and silver. I just can't do it.

So this whole Hartford Whalers thing has me thrown. It's just so unacceptable, you know? Or maybe it's just me. I often tend to go against the grain. You know this already if you're aware of my feelings regarding the Blackhawks' logo and uniforms.

And that about wraps things up. If you have any comments you'd like to share with the rest of the class, please do so by leaving a comment below. If you have any of your own artwork or have stumbled across someone else's that I haven't posted, feel free to email me.

Oilers, Here's How You Fix It

The Fix It series trudges on tonight as we consider improvements to the new Rbk EDGE NHL uniforms. I told you yesterday that you'd be in for a treat on this one.

As far as I'm concerned, the Edmonton Oilers have gotten stuck with one of the worst new sweaters in the league. That's a personal opinion, but I stand by it. Many have complained that the Rbk EDGE jerseys look a lot like practice jerseys. I disagree with that statement as a generalization. But here, I find it appropriate.

I have several designs to show you and I'll save the best for last. We'll start out by making some very slight alterations that would improve the jerseys on a major scale.

By simply extending the stripes on the sleeves to wrap completely around the elbows and adding a shoulder patch — one borrowed from last year's third jersey — you already end up with a sweater that doesn't look quite so blank. It's disappointing to see that the Oil couldn't manage something as easy as this on their own.

Then we have another design very similar to this but with a brand new shoulder patch.

I think that's a very interesting logo and with a little work, it could be great. I also truly believe that fixing the elbow stripes and adding something to the shoulders is all this jersey needs to really make it shine.

But speaking of shining, this is what you've been waiting for. Personally, I feel like it's one of the best Edmonton concept designs I've seen this summer.

The pattern was borrowed, obviously, from the Florida Panthers' new duds, but these colors are what Oilers hockey is all about. Imagine Gretzky and Messier wearing this. You almost can't help it. I am very impressed with this design, but as a Bolts fan I'm not sure I really have a say. I'll leave it to the rest of you now to decide. Especially Oilers fans.

Tell us how you feel about these fixes in the comments.

Up next: Washington Capitals.

Jersey Concept Art Galore

Busy day today. Shame I'm only getting to my first post at 5 PM, but some days, that's the way it goes.

Always gotta kick things off with some good concepts. So let's dive in with the Boston Bruins.

I like these logos much better on a yellow jersey than the old bear head. Although, I say that now but to be fair, when it came out I thought it was pretty damn cool.

I also like the striping patterns on both jerseys. When the third jersey program is reinstated next fall, I hope the Bruins consider something like this. It's very sharp.

Then, one thing a lot of people have been contemplating is what the Atlanta Thrashers would look like if the road jersey matched the home jersey.

Perhaps it would look like this. That's really nice, if you ask me. I really love the asymmetry of that light blue jersey. The city down the arm looks great and it's so unique to this team. I'm really impressed and I only wish the Lightning had thought of it first.

One reader also emailed me a handful of concept designs. I wish I had larger images, but this is what was sent.

My favorite in that set is the Kings but I think the red Blue Jackets sweater is ironic and very sharp. Not a fan of the black Wings jersey and the blue Isles jersey reminds me of the Lightning's old black sweaters with the white along the shoulders.

Now it's time for your input. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Ducks, Here's How You Fix It

We're working our way through the less accepted jerseys that have been introduced at the hands of Reebok this offseason. Today we're addressing the Anaheim Ducks, specifically.

One of my pet peeves is wordmarks passing themselves off as logos. So you can imagine my disdain for the Ducks' new logo when it was introduced last summer. Now it's the smallest crest on any of the new Rbk EDGE uniforms (Dallas' home sweater doesn't count because that's another animal altogether). So here's a simple fix.

How hard would that have been? Really? So disappointing.

But let's just say for the sake of argument that this suggestion is too drastic. What about this?

It's very subtle, but adding that black oval behind the wordmark does wonders for it. If you ask me, it doesn't do enough, but it's definitely better.

Am I way off base here? Ducks fans, do you approve? If you have any suggestions yourself, email me and you might just see it posted here one day soon.

Coming up next: Edmonton Oilers. And Oilers fans, you aren't going to want to miss it. Man, did your club miss the boat on this one. Knowing you guys the way I do, you're going to love it.

Mailbag: Silly Bolts Concepts

It occurs to me I haven't written a Lightning posted in a while — six days to be precise. It's all right though because some folks have been creating some crazy Tampa Bay concept art. These were emailed to me this past week and they're worthy of the Freak Out series, but I just could bear to wait any longer to post them.

This first one is a rather simple concept. The team is called the Lightning. So let's put some lightning on the jersey.

I wasn't amused. More like horrified. But it was a good effort. Though I've never seen black or blue lightning bolts in my life. Perhaps 23 years in Florida isn't enough.

Then, along the lines of sharks and panthers biting through hockey sticks comes this idea.

What worse is that this was stolen from my own design — the only one I've ever made for this site. It's frightening, really.

By the way, I hope you all understand I'm not trying to be mean. It's just a team that's close to my heart. Anyway, that's all I got. If you've come up with anything or seen anything that hasn't been posted already, please send it along. I'd love to see it.

Concepts For Logo Upgrades

All right, if you've been reading for a long time (or even a short time), you probably know about my distaste for the logo many consider to be among the best in sports. That of the Chicago Blackhawks. I just don't see the allure.

You might find it surprising that I don't stand alone. In fact, in the past I've even posted changes folks have made to the logo. Well, I have another one. I still don't love it, but with a little work, I'd call it a big step in the right direction.

Then I thought this one was kind of funny. Not crazy enough to freak anybody out, but definitely different. Imagine the Phoenix Coyotes using both logos together with their current color scheme.

Okay so maybe it is a bit scary. What's not scary is this New York Islanders concept. I don't know. It just feels like such a special thing when you run into a concept this well-designed. Dump the text out of that logo and you've got yourself pure gold.

I like these jerseys so much. Even using the current logo on the shoulder is a great touch. Hell, I could even live with this lighthouse logo as a secondary. But I really do think the Isles should reintroduce something of this nature. I just feel like a lighthouse would make such a great logo for the Isles.

And finally, we go completely off topic here. This is a fan made logo redesign for the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals.

Thought it was pretty decent. It feels a little familiar to me, like I've seen it somewhere before. But that could just be my brain playing tricks.

What do you guys think? Feel free to drop a line in the comments.

Thrashers, Here's How You Fix It

The new Fix It series has contemplated jersey repairs for the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche. It continues today with some suggestions for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Prior to switching to the light blue jersey full time, the Thrashers actually had a completely different logo for their dark jerseys. In fact, it was this one.

Not bad, but liked the dark blue jerseys better with that logo.

In going through comments about the new uniforms, I got the idea that a lot of folks (mostly those who are not Thrashers fans) don't like the light blue or ATLANTA written down the sleeve. So on a completely different tangent comes this design.

This isn't in the Rbk EDGE cut, but still worth a look, I felt. I like the thrasher head for the logo. In fact, I think that's essentially the logo worn on the pants of the current uniform. I also really like the maroon sweater. Overall, a nice effort. I bet this would make for a very sharp-looking sweater.

Have you guys got any other suggestions for the Thrashers or any other team? Email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Next up: Anaheim Ducks.