Lightning Jersey Concept Designs

In the weeks prior to the "possible leak" of what may be the new Tampa Bay Lightning logo, I came across the fan-made uniform design below.

The designer was attempting to redesign the Lightning's logo and uniforms without black. Personally, I think black is an integral part of any Lightning design, but that's just me — a lifelong fan of the team.

Just thought you'd all like to see it. Form your own opinions. As for me, I don't like the color combination but I am a fan of the Lightning bolts around the shoulders.

Canucks Jersey Concept Designs

Last week, I posted some fan-made designs for the Vancouver Canucks' new logo and uniforms. We've heard that they're going to be unveiling a new logo this summer so everyone's wondering how it will look. So here are some more.

These way-too-cool designs come from John Slabyk, he of Blue & Gold Project fame. He's a graphic designer who was implored by fans to take his artwork to Larry Quinn with the Buffalo Sabres. They liked his work a lot but a meeting with the team's GM yielded nothing. Not to be discouraged, he has come up with a potential new design for the Vancouver Canucks.

And this is it. It's really cool but it's probably a little too high-quality for the NHL. The design is really clean and even incorporates the classic stick-in-rink logo of the 1970s while sticking with those traditional colors. So far, responses I've read to the design are mixed, though. I think the gist is that a lot of people like it but aren't naïve enough to think the design would actually ever been worn by the team.

Personally, I'm not giving up hope on the Canucks or the NHL. Anything is possible and one day soon I hope to see them donning a logo that doesn't feature a whale more prominently than, well, a Canuck.

Jersey Design Concept For Lightning

So I thought I was finished with that whole "Hockey Fans & Photoshop" series but it turns out there's more. After the possible leak of what may be the new logo for the Tampa Bay Lightning, a fan had some fun designing a uniform based on it. I honestly can't remember where I found it, but I'd have to guess ModSquadHockey since that's where I originally came across the logo itself.

This is what he came up with. It's pretty cool. I'm a big fan of switching to blue for the home jerseys. The black has gotten old. And despite there being a number of other teams that wear blue (the Thrashers, Rangers, Maple Leafs, Blues, Predators, Oilers, Blue Jackets and Canucks...) I still think the Lightning could pull it off. And should.

Obviously, it's not the offiicial design. If you consult the sidebar, you'll see we still have 38 days to wait for the big announcement and unveiling by the Bolts. Personally, I can't wait. I'm on pins and needles.

By the way, as a complete side note, I would like to thank those of you who drop by here on a regular basis. A while back I mentioned hitting a record of over 300 hits in a single day. That was surpassed yesterday with 514. I'm kind of surprised, actually. Incidentally, we're already over 400 today at it's not even 5 PM. It'll be interesting to see if we can beat yesterday's record.

Once again, thanks for dropping by.

Panthers To Unveil New Uniforms July 28

On their web site, the Florida Panthers have announced they will be unveiling their new uniforms on July 28 at the "Year of the Rat" alumni game.

July 13, 2007
Dave Joseph / floridapanthers.com

Jersey Unveiling At Reunion Game

The Panthers will look toward the future while acknowledging its past July 28 at BankAtlantic Center when they unveil their new jersey while celebrating its 1996 Stanley Cup team.

Fans attending the ‘Year of the Rat’ alumni game beginning at 2 p.m., will be the first to not only witness the unveiling of the Panthers new jersey but season seat holders will be the first to order the new item.

Presale order forms for season seat holders will be available July 29 at FloridaPanthers.com. Presale forms will be available to the general public beginning Sept. 1. The jersey will be available at Pantherland Sept. 14 at BankAtlantic Center.

The new jersey features a new cut and lightweight advanced materials to provide increased range of motion, ventilation, durability and comfort. The jersey is also treated with new moisture, repellent technology.

Along with the unveiling of the new jersey, fans will watch favorites like John Vanbiesbrouck, Scott Mellanby, Brian Skrudland, Bill Lindsay, Tom Fitzgerald and Paul Laus from the ‘Year of the Rat’ team play an exhibition game against Panther alumni.

The ’96 Panthers, playing in only in third NHL season, were a longshot to make the playoffs. But before a home game in October of ’95 at the Miami Arena, Scott Mellanby one-timed a rat off the wall after the creature had found its way into the locker room. After Mellanby scored two goals to help the Panthers to a 4-3 victory over Calgary, goalie John Vanbiesbrouck credited Mellanby with scoring the “Rat Trick.”

And the Year of the Rat was born.

After each Panther goal the remainder of the season, fans would shower the ice with toy rats. A few turned into a dozen, and a dozen turned into thousands. By the time the Panthers found their way into the playoffs, the ice was flooded with rats and a local tradition turned into a national sensation.

The Panthers beatBoston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh to earn the Eastern Conference championship before losing to Colorado in the Stanley Cup finals.

Panther alumni members participating in the game include Val Bure, Peter Worrell, Jesse Belanger and Trevor Kidd.

Canucks Fans Ponder New Logo, Uniforms

That's pretty interesting, right? There are rumors — likely started by fans — that the new Canucks uniforms will be a version of the orca logo that currently dons their sweaters. This version will revert to the team's original colors of blue and green. Just so you know, these are not actual photos and should be taken with a grain of salt. But I thought they'd be worth posting for anyone who's interested.

But wait, there's more.

This funny design comes from someone who wondered what the '80s red, yellow and black logo would look like in the original Canucks colors. Well as you can see, there's nothing that can make that logo look good.

Still, I'm not a fan of the orca logo as it relates to the team. As a logo on its own, it's excellent. I love it. But for a team called the Canucks, its like how the Sabres logo has nothing more than a buffalo in it. I just don't understand these things.

And then there's this gem. It's basically a what-if similar to the jersey above except that it uses the actual colors for that logo. I'm not really a fan but I am amused by the classic stick-in-rink logo on the shoulder in those colors. Still, no way. It's terrible.

And of course as always, feel free to comment below with your thoughts on this or anything else. I'll have more to come shortly.

Flyers Rbk EDGE Jerseys Up For Pre-Order

Grabbed this from the Philadelphia Flyers' official web site. They're taking orders for the team's new Rbk EDGE jerseys. The jerseys will be unveiled on September 16. So if you're a Philly fan, go ahead and get your $200 order in for a product you've never seen — and won't get to until the day it arrives at your door. I'm assuming there won't be any glaring changes to the uniforms since they're taking orders prior to the unveiling.

Either that or it's a really ugly design and they'll be taking in a lot of suckers.

Possible New Kings Jerseys

As you know, I'm always more than happy to share new uniform designs I come across while scouring the web. Today we get a look at a photo of what is likely the Los Angeles Kings jerseys. Word is they were on hand at the team draft party. The team hasn't made any official unveiling or announcement as far as I know, but I wouldn't expect much fanfare anyway. There doesn't appear to be much difference between the Rbk EDGE design and the current one.

So I have nothing bad to say about them but as usual, take it all with a grain of salt. I obviously don't know for certain if this is the real deal, but I can't see any reason why it wouldn't be.

By the way, I hope you're enjoying the tournament, the few of you that seem to be following it. Feel free to leave comments as we go along about your feelings on how these logos stack up against each other. Should readership of this blog expand, I'd like to do a tournament that's voted on by the fans. Would probably be more realistic, anyway.

Thanks for stopping by.

The Caps Unveiling Party

This evening the Washington Capitals had their big draft day party in D.C. where they unveiled the uniforms to fans. Check out all the cool smoke and stuff.

Ex-Bolt Ben Clymer is seen here modeling the brand spankin' new Caps duds. They're sharp uniforms. I still hate the logo though. I don't mind the shoulder logo with the eagle in the form of a "W." Anything but a logo made out of the team name.

I do get nostalgia and throwbacks and stuff, but come on. Put that on the shoulder or something. Anyway, it's not up to me and I'm not even a fan of the team. I'm just hoping the Lightning come up with something cool this summer.

We're all waiting on the "EDGE" of our seats. Come on! You don't like puns?

No New EDGE Jerseys At The Draft

The Chicago Blackhawks just took Patrick Kane as the first overall pick of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. The jersey they gave him was the standard jersey and not the new Rbk EDGE jersey. So perhaps we can expect more of the same from the rest of the league tonight. I'll be sure to keep you in the loop if you aren't watching on Versus right now.

UPDATE (7:41 PM): We've had three picks so far and everybody's handing out the "old" jerseys. It's like the all-star game all over again when we all were hoping to see the new uniforms then. Looks like we'll have to wait indefinitely this summer for each team to announce as they feel like it. By the way, the old Caps logo is still on the draft board. We'll see if they give their pick (#5) the newly unveiled jersey.

UPDATE (7:50 PM): The Capitals had their new jersey on hand to give to Karl Alzner as the fifth pick.

UPDATE (8:46 PM): We're nearly halfway through the first round of the draft and only the three teams that have previously unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms have doled them out to their newest players tonight. Doesn't seem like anyone will be unveiling here tonight. For the record, those three teams are the Capitals, Bruins and Blue Jackets.

Blue Jackets Jerseys Unveiled!

And here it is. No real shock. It's what we expected. Just wanted to post it in photographic form. The draft is going on now. We'll get to see some more new uniforms I'm betting.

UPDATE (7/21 6:43 AM): I just realized I had some better images of the new Blue Jackets uniforms which were unveiled in Columbus on draft day. Thought I'd post them in case you hadn't seen them yet.

They look sharp and this new logo is far better than what they have been wearing. Incidentally, as a funny side note, I recently read on a message board somewhere someone calling the shoulder logo a "rebel hat." Clearly this person is out of touch with American history since those of us who aren't know that the "blue jackets" were the Union soldiers. I got a chuckle out of it.

You can't really see it well in the photos, so for a better look at the logo I'm referring to, check it.