Double Up!

We're doubling up on the concept art tonight. Check it out! We begin in Buffalo with the Sabres.

On the left appears to be a recolored Canucks jersey. Not sure why the artists decided to put upside down buffaloes on the shoulders. But I'm sure the traditionalists will enjoy seeing the '70s logo element on this jersey. Unfortunately, the "slug" is still there.

On the right is an element we've seen before. I posted the crest you see here in a Freak Out post from a few weeks ago. I wondered what it would look like on a jersey. Wonder no more. Unfortunately, this concept is based on the new Oilers jersey. And a yellow collar? That's pretty nutty. This might've been worthy of the Freak Out series itself!

Speaking of freaky Sabres artwork, check out this Maple Leafs concept.

That's just weird, isn't it? Although the splash of color for the Leafs isn't completely unwelcome if my opinion counts for anything (and it doesn't). A simpler solution to the Toronto simplicity problem could be below.

I kind of like that outlined leaf. Not sure about the collar here or the shoulder piping.

But going back to New York now, I've got a pair of Islanders designs.

Pretty cool logo. Anyone think this jersey could work as an alternate at some point in the future? It does have a very distinct Oilers feel to it, but that could be fixed by swapping the orange and blue.

And finally, a little something out of the ordinary.

For as much as folks hated the "fish sticks," this is a much better-looking jersey than the current one — at least so says I. However I did like the old lighthouse logo more for the shoulder patch. I just really like that color combination more than anything. In fact, while we're at it, why not go with the lighthouse logo across the chest?

Anyway, what do you guys think of all these? Let me know below with your comments.

Rbk EDGE Review: Islanders

Part 23 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

New York Islanders

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Thursday, August 16. The Islanders unveiled their jerseys via their official web site.

Home vs. Road
Home: Blue. Road: White. The two sweaters are essentially mirror images of each other and both feature a specialty patch on the right shoulder.

The blue home jerseys feature orange sleeves with a thick blue stripe around the elbows and a thinner white stripe beneath it. White piping wraps around the shoulders and a white-orange stripe wraps around the waist. The collar and laces are orange and the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature orange sleeves with a thick blue stripe around the elbows and a thinner white stripe beneath it. Blue piping wraps around the shoulders and a blue-orange stripe wraps around the waist. The collar and laces are blue and the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
The patch on the right shoulder features four stripes signify each of the Stanley Cup championship the Islanders have won. The numbering and lettering style have been slightly altered.

New & Old
The biggest difference between the new and old jerseys is the sleeve design as well as the numbers on the front.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? Yes.
Laces at the collar? Yes.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
It's interesting to me the number of teams whose new jerseys have been improvements as much as not. For me, the Islanders are running on the negative side. The shoulder piping, by and large, is not a big plus on this uniform, as was the case with the Hurricanes. It seems like if teams are going to do that, they need to recolor the shoulder yoke at the same time. Furthermore, the redesigned sleeves are are also not working and the addition of the number on the front only adds to the busy look of the jersey. It's not horrible, as it has managed to retain some of the elements of the great old jerseys, but it could certainly use some more work. 2/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Islanders jersey!

Just To Freak You Out X

It's like watching a trainwreck. It's horrible, but there's just something about it that prevents you from looking away. There's all manner of scary stuff out there and now I'm bringing some of it straight to you on another Freak Out Friday. Here goes.

I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I didn't start with this one.

It shouldn't take you more than a second to realize the designer was trying to offer us something different for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Leafs fans, I really want to hear from you on this one.

We've got a brand new logo with a very prominent "M" worthy of perhaps a place like Minnesota — or Montreal! And that leaf! Don't look it in the eye or it will cut you. Deep.

Even the second shade of blue worries me some. I'm not sure how I'm supposed to feel about this, but let's just say it's not great.

Anyway, I'd like to move along now because I can't take looking at this anymore. There's a point when doing this to a team like the Leafs starts to hurt.

Once again, Leafs fans, please comment.

Speaking of prominent letters in place of actual logos, I've got a pair of concepts from each coast.

Cleverly, though, we can't know exactly what these letters stand for as alliteration was employed to mask it. Is the "S" for San Jose or Sharks? And is the "B" for Boston or Bruins? Perhaps, the ultimate question is why dump perfectly good logos for these two teams in favor of members of the alphabet?

Even more disturbing is that "S" keeps reminding me of the Minnesota North Stars. Make it stop.

Each of those were delivered to me with a road sweater design to match. I wouldn't do that to you, though.

Here's what concerns me, though. I've been send a number of logos which have been converted to red and black for no apparent reason. Do any of these work?

It may be that the blood-in-the-water shark is the scariest one. I do see what's going on, though with the Hurricanes colors on the Whalers logo and the old Sabres colors on the new logo — but that doesn't make it any better.

I'm still worried about the killing to follow.

I'll wrap things up today with the thing that might frighten you the most. Did you ever get to feeling like that Rbk EDGE New York Islanders jersey reminded you of something? Perhaps you couldn't quite put your finger on it. But maybe it evoked feelings of being lost. In the ocean.

One reader thought so and sent in this.

If you wanted to know what they were thinking when designing the new Isles uniforms, now you do. Don't you wish you didn't?

So there it is. Another in the Freak Out series is behind us. I'm looking forward to next week. In the meantime, I await your crazy concept art. You can send it to me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

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.

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.

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.

Result: Islanders Logo History

BEST ALL-TIME
1997
39% 4,160 votes

10,538 total votes

1972
34% 3,542 votes

1995
27% 2,836 votes

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Sep 7 @ 4:16 AM

Poll closing date Sep 14 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHNYI

Isles Players Show Off Jerseys

Single-game tickets for the New York Islanders went on sale yesterday and a couple of Islanders players were on hand to sign autographs. A couple of people who were there and took pictures have emailed them to me to share.

Wade Dubielewicz, Bruno Gervais and Richard Park kept fans occupied while they waited in line for tickets.

All three wore white road jerseys to the event. All of the photos I was sent have been added to the Islanders album in my official Rbk EDGE gallery if you want to see more.

Thanks to Kevin and Dale for the photos!

I'm still not crazy about these jerseys but here's another perspective. Dale said, "I think they do the jersey more
justice on the player than on a hanger."

Fair point.

By the way, if you have or know of any other photos for the Isles or any other team, feel free to email them to me at nhllogos@gmail.com. I'm always looking to expand the photo gallery.

Just To Freak You Out... Some More!

Yes, you read that title right. Back by popular demand, I'm going to get your weekend off to a kicking start. I have the weird and crazy; a whole slew of new and wacky concept designs just meant to freak you out. So buckle in, it's going to be a long one.

I'm going to have a theme of red and black tonight. You'll see what I mean, but first I need to show you this.

From the brilliant creator of the Sabres and Canucks mish-mash logos comes this gem. True art in its rawest form. I dare anyone to attempt to improve upon that.

But since you can't, we'll move along. Do you like the color combination of red and black? Sure, if you're a Devils, Hurricanes, Senators or Coyotes fan. But what about Sabres, Predators and Canadiens fans? What about Leafs fans? Look on if you're brave enough.

It's a little blinding, isn't it? You might be surprised to discover that these designs all came from different people. Bad enough to have one disturbed mind out there Devil-ifying all these jerseys. There are at least four.

This Canadiens concept just scares me so I want to stop looking at it. The Sabres one just looks like a bloody slug (I knew that comment was coming so I wanted to head it off). And the Predators... well that doesn't look half bad if you ask me.

But imagine what kind of disturbed mind I must be to posting this stuff.

Wait. You need to catch your breath before you see this. Maple Leafs fans, ready your eyeballs for this one.

Wow, you're still here. I'm impressed.

All right, now I'm going to ease off a little bit. These designs are not so much horrifying as funny.

Dude, you spilled some oil on your— oh, wait... I see... yikes. Yeah. Oilers fans, I'm genuinely interested to know how you feel about this particular concept. I know it's been floating around a little, but it's just so... out there.

So what if the Rangers did this?

We probably ought not think about it.

Someone spent at least 30 seconds making this.

A missed opportunity, I say.

As a tribute (or not so much) to what I'm going to start calling the "VANCOUVER Incident," someone had some fun with other jerseys.

Similar work on the Sens, Isles and Jackets can be found in the Concepts Gallery. Now I'm going to wrap up where I began — Long Island. Imagine if Reebok decided the NHL should go the way of basketball.

Check out that outline of the island in place of a horizontal stripe. All is well.

Just remember, you guys asked for this. Let this be an object lesson in the notion of being careful what you wish for. Actually, if this keeps up, we'll make it into a weekly feature. So if you've made or found crazy crap like this, feel free to send it my way at nhllogos@gmail.com and who knows, you just might freak somebody out.

Poll: Islanders Logo History

1972	1995	1997

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 Sep 7 @ 4:16 AM

Poll closing date Sep 14 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHNYI