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.

Albertan Art

No new poll today (first time in weeks, I know). Instead I've got concept art all for our favorite two clubs from Alberta. We'll start in Calgary and work our way north.

It's a flaming horse. I was a fan of the original black third jersey, but I'm not so sure on this one. Especially on a black sweater. But speaking of black sweaters, one might make for a nice, if not predictable third jersey.

This one's even got the provincial and national flags on the shoulders. But if your tastes are more suited to the traditional striping patterns, well we've got that as well — in red and white.

Next we head to Edmonton for a nice pair of jerseys.

The secondary on the shoulders of the white one is cool. But both of them work really well and have stripes that are actually stripes.

In this next set, we reintroduce the rigger in an updated version of the original logo as well as revisiting the old third jersey.

Believe when I tell you it could be worse. And if you don't, here's proof.

That thing should definitely always be silver. Never orange. Ever.

The next poll in the Goalie Mask tourney is coming up tomorrow. It's Luongo against the winner of the Fleury-Theodore match-up. At the moment, Fleury is ahead. Enjoy what's left of your long weekend — for those of you not in Canada.

Just To Freak You Out XXXIII

Hell has frozen over!

Indeed, the Freak Out Friday has returned. After two weeks off, it's been resurrected. All the talk last month about the league returning to the third jersey program next season has died down, but folks are still trying to come up with the best solution to this alternate sweater issue. The ones that fail tend to end up here.

See what I mean? What happened with the D there? And don't get me wrong, I like that blue for my Bolts, but I can't imagine having that written on the front of the jersey. There's more.

Same goes for the other team that joined the league the same year as Tampa Bay.

I know these are designs based on previously discussed rumors, but I always thought they were too horrible to actually see.

I've got some other stuff too — like a new alternate logo for the Blue Jackets.

And a sweater to boot.

But my favorite pair of sweaters for this week's Freak Out are based on the Minnesota Wild and the previous NHL club that occupied the state.

And finally, I know you guys hated the guitar thing, but someone else made this one and I thought it was kind of interesting.

So keep the crazy artwork coming in each week if you want me to be able to continue this series. I'm counting on you! Yes, you! And that's that for this week. Hopefully I'll return next Friday with a brand new batch of insanity.

Guitar Logos, Part 2 of 10

Last week I posted the first in a series of designs for guitars based on the shapes and designs of the various NHL team logos. We're going alphabetically and so began with Anaheim, Atlanta and Boston.

Today, we start with the Buffalo Sabres.

I think the primary would've worked better on the other end. You'll see what I mean in a minute.

The Calgary Flames is cool. But you've got a big hole under the strings and the logo on the other end is no longer used.

The Carolina Hurricanes is by far one of my favorites to this point.

And this is what I meant about the Sabres.

This design was submitted by a different reader but it's very effective. I like the hockey stick used in it. More guitars are on the way so keep an eye out for that.

This last thing is a quick note about the upcoming goalie mask tournament. I've got 66 mask graphics made so I'm thinking we'll do a two-poll preliminary round to decide which two goalies make the final cut for the 64-goalie competition. It's going to be the biggest thing we've done here yet. Can't wait to get it started!

Voting ends Friday. At that point we'll know which 32 goalies will be placed in the bracket first. I'll announce their opponents over the weekend and I'm anticipating posting the first poll on Monday.

Canada III: Calgary & Edmonton

Just 46 more hours now until I first set foot on Canadian soil. But before I go, it's my duty to continue to share the concept art that many of you have been so gracious to send in. Continuing with the Canada theme we're visiting the province of Alberta tonight on our way to BC.

So then. The horse with the flaming nostrils. I always liked him. Here he is on red.

It suits his apparent rage. And for a refreshing change of pace, the white Flaming C on a black sweater.

Doesn't really say fire to me somehow.

Nor does it work in white. I'm sorry but I think the Flames by nature have to be a red team.

So with that in mind, here's a new idea based on an old concept.

There are also white and black versions of that design.

And this next one just looks like a hoodie to me.

To finish this out we've got a couple of Oilers concepts. The black around the arms makes this one interesting.

Needs something for contrast around the logo which is outlined in blue. And this final set I thought was really sharp. No reason a professional hockey club shouldn't look that good.

That's a nice uniform. But now I've got to put the final touches on packing, go to work tomorrow and then prepare myself for seven hours of flying across the North American continent. Fun stuff.

Just To Freak You Out XXIX

Since I leave in four days for my trip up to Canada, I'm going with a Canadian theme here in order to freak you out tonight. So let's start with the most obvious one. The usual "If They Mated" concepts typically mix two and in rare cases three teams. One artist went above and beyond, mixing all six Canadian teams onto one jersey. The result will shock you.

I warned you. And I love how it's on the Lightning's white sweater. Creativity at its finest there, friends.

But back to more familiar territory now. Imagine the Canucks and Flames swapping colors and sweaters. Wait, you don't have to. I've got it right here for you.

The Atlantawa Thrashators, if you will.

What happened to that dude's face? Not to be outdone, ladies and gentlemen, the Edmonton Oilers.

Gotta love the oil shooting out onto the shoulders. But back to the nation's capital, for a small handful of teams the state/provincial outline works well in the logo — Lightning, Islanders and Stars to name the only ones. Here's a good example of why not everyone should try it.

Yeah, I didn't even mention the stripes. Can you believe that?

And as you know, it's difficult to pull of a yellow jersey that actually looks good. Unlike most of you, I was a fan of Nashville's gold alternate jersey but not Boston's yellow third. Weird, I know. But the Flames should absolutely not try yellow.

That's why. And if they ever decide to look for a new logo, here's what else they shouldn't try.

Balls of fire! And that is all I have to say on the matter.

And with that I'm going to go pack a bag and prepare myself for weather in which a native Floridian can only freeze. But I'll be loving every frozen second.

Just To Freak You Out XXVII

It's Friday and despite the fact that I'm waist-deep in boxes and half-dead from packing them, I have Freak Out art. And lots of it. So much so that I'm saving some of it for next week. But let's get to the good stuff.

Please don't ask me what that's supposed to be. I think I get the buffalo and the swords. But I'm not sure I understand the raccoon reference found around the eyes there. Perhaps it's just me, though.

But while we're on the topic of indignities...

No, the guy wearing the crown isn't Mark Messier. But good guess. And to the right there, the ultimate Vancouver Canucks jersey. How do you improve upon perfection like that?

Couple more oddities.

I like those colors on the Islanders jersey. And I know how you guys love the asymmetry on that thing — the original coming from the actual Thrashers jersey, not to be confused with the one on the right which is a recoloring of the Hurricanes sweater. The striping is weird. Yeah.

Sticking to the irony tack, here's an idea no one ever considered for the Anaheim Ducks.

And now you know why no one ever considered it.

We're developing of list of things the Flames need.

Also on that list: trading Jarome Iginla.

And finally, with the recent introduction of the new Stanley Cup playoffs logo, one reader got to work on new East and West logos — only what if they reverted back to the old conference names?

Despite the creativity, and I have to give a lot of credit for that, they're just messing with my brain so bad. Nice work, but über freaky!

Hope you enjoyed your Freak Out Friday. If I'm unable to update the site tomorrow, just know that's it's because I'm moving to a new apartment this weekend, not that I'm lazy. Not that I'm not lazy. It's just that's not the reason. Did you follow all that?

Just To Freak You Out XXVI

After a week off, Freak Out Friday is back in action tonight! And there's some pretty crazy stuff here. We're beginning in Alberta with a rivalry between the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames.

Now, we've seen "If They Mated" concepts created simply by recoloring one team's logo with the other's colors. This goes a step beyond that. Actual time and effort was put into this. And that in itself is frightening.

Yeah, I'll understand if you need a minute after seeing that. But hold on, now. Wait until you seem these logos on jerseys.

I really don't know what to say about that. But while we're on the topic of odd jerseys, I have these.

The Boston Bruins should never use this logo ever again. I understand it as something coming out of the 1970s. But we're all a little older now and just look at it. It's ridiculous. Meanwhile, the Kansas City Scouts on a Wild jersey? Just weird.

Now I've got some offbeat logos. The first is a Kings/Ducks mixture.

The Los Angeles Mighty King Ducks of Anaheim is pretty spectacular. But how about the Pennsylvania Flying Penguins? (No, I didn't make that up.)

Also we've got a morphed Minnesota Wild logo, making obvious use of the letters MW much to my disapproval.

It's not like I don't appreciate the work put into this, but the Wild have a pretty awesome logo as it is. To do this to it has got to be considered heresy in some manner. Which reminds me...

Yeah, it takes "Flaming C" to a whole new level. (No pun — or offense — intended.)

All right, yes the pun was very much intended.

Poll: Flames vs Coyotes

	vs
Calgary FLAMES		Phoenix COYOTES

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 Sat Jan 19

Poll closing date Wed Jan 23

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!