Concepts From The Coast

My concept art posts are making their glorious return this week with all the Rbk EDGE jerseys finally released. Today we're taking a trip out West.

This one was interesting. It's a hybrid of the old logo with the new. I think it would be millions of times better if they just dropped the "ucks." How many times have I said that?

I mean consider how the wordmark logo actually looks on the jerseys. It's even got fewer letters than "capitals" yet it still seems smaller across the chest. I was really hoping for a change this year. Let them get the whole Ducks rebranding thing out of the way last season and then try something real this season.

I guess we can only ask for so much.

Here's something I don't love but thought it was an interesting idea. It's the current jersey with the old Mighty Ducks colors. Probably not a winner.

And then going all the way back we've got a simple recoloring of the old jersey and logo. Once again, it's not awful, but it just doesn't seem to fit.

Here's the winner.

I think if it were orange, that third jersey would just kill. The Ducks could be among the best-looking teams in the league if they wanted to. But the NHL doesn't hire designers like this. That would be too much to hope for.

So let's move along to Los Angeles. A while back I'd written a post suggesting using the old King head third jersey logo with some modern-day recoloring. The purple beard blended in too much on the dark jersey so I wondered what it would look like in silver. And I got my answer.

I'm sorry, but why isn't that the primary Kings logo anyway? That says "kings" to me! (Not that a crown necessarily doesn't.) Oh and as a personal aside to the designer, what's the deal with stealing the Lightning's armpit stripes?

Anyway, let's head up the coast to San Jose and check out some other Lightning-related designs. One Sharks fans created these concepts based off Tampa Bay's Reebok jersey design, replacing the blue with teal.

Actually, I'm a big fan of the one on the left. The full shark makes for a much fiercer logo if you ask me — not that you were. As for the shield logo, I don't feel it makes a very good crest. It's a little much. I think it looks great on the pants and might even look nice on the shoulder — maybe for a third jersey one day.

The other thing I like is the diamond fin logo found on the shoulders of these designs. I'm a little surprised and disappointed it was left out of the actual uniform design.

What do you guys think of these? And remember, if you've made an concepts or seen any around that I haven't already posted, feel free to send them along. You can email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Ducks' Stripes Stop

You know I'm bored when I write a post about something like this. In perusing photos from last night's preseason game between the Los Angeles Kings and Anaheim Ducks, I noticed something odd about the new Anaheim sweaters.

It's the tiniest of details, but the curved stripe doesn't extend all the way around the bottom of the jersey. The panel down the side is solid. Like I said, it couldn't matter less, but it was just something unusual I noticed.

That reminds me, I just uploaded a ton of photos from that game to the Ducks and Kings albums in the Rbk EDGE gallery. They're different from that first preseason game because while that one was in Anaheim, this one was in L.A., so you can see the Kings in black and Ducks in white.

Ducks Unveil New Uniforms!

Even though they were already on the web site, I'm calling this the official unveiling as the Anaheim Ducks wore their new Rbk EDGE uniforms on the ice for the first time in a preseason game against the Los Angeles Kings. That game was also our first look at two teams in action wearing the new threads.

Here you see Maxim Kondratiev sporting the new look on the ice. He scored a power play goal for the Ducks in the league's first exhibition game of the season.

Looks very much the same as last year's jerseys. I still can't get over the wordmark for the logo. I like the jerseys. I think they're great. But really, get rid of the "ucks" and just use the "D" as your logo, all right?

But that's not all. I've still got more pictures from last night's opener.

I hope no one is complaining anymore. These new Reebok uniforms really do look awesome on the ice. I know it was hard to tell since they were all draped over mannequins. We're used to seeing them in action. Now we are and it's quite a sight.

My one beef is the oversized "C" and "A" on the captains' sweaters. I don't really think they need to be that big. In the Ducks' case, it sort of overtakes the logo on the front of the sweater.

These action photos will also be a good chance for us to keep a tally of which teams are wearing the numbers on the front as well. As of yet, we still don't know how many teams are doing that.

By the way, later on today, I'll be adding these photos to the Rbk EDGE gallery. I'll try to do that for as many teams as I can find photos for as we go through the preseason and beginning of the regular season.

On A Western Swing

California is the running theme of today's concept art. We'll kick things off in the City of Angels. This first concept jersey for the Los Angeles Kings makes use of the original 1960s logo with silver replacing yellow.

Not terrible, but my personal favorite was the king face logo used on the mid-'90s third jersey. While the jersey sucked, I thought the logo was the strongest in the team's history. Once again, the gold is changed to silver producing a jersey that might look something like this.

I'm not a Kings fan, but I'd buy that jersey or one like it in a heartbeat. As a great alternate to a set like this, there's this design.

I like the silver in the beard of the king face logo on the shoulders. I think that would work better on the purple jersey above. Maybe it could be one of those logos where the colors change depending whether the jersey is light or dark — like the Flames and Canucks.

Moving along now to Anaheim, we have a Ducks jersey that isn't black.

Unfortunately, if it's gold, the logo (read wordmark) almost completely disappears. And I'm not sure it could be orange without looking like the Flyers. So black it is.

This concept might well turn out to be what the Ducks' new jerseys actually look like. I'd expect to see the team change the logo to the duck foot only, but that may just be wishful thinking.

My only other issue with this design is its lack of gold. That's an important part of this color combination and they should make good use of it.

And now we'll finish off this post with a trip up to San Jose. Got some interesting Sharks concepts to share.

These next images are renderings from a video game — not NHL 08 — featuring a concept someone created for the Sharks. Very simple and classic. Shouldn't garner many complaints.

This cool jersey concept utilizes the shield logo unveiled by San Jose back in July. I really like that idea and it's not completely unheard of to use two different logos on NHL uniforms. Look at the new Wild sweaters.

The white one feels a little plain but not terrible.

Now Californians, let us all know how you feel about these concepts.

We've already seen the Kings' new uniforms, but we're still waiting on the Sharks and Ducks. Word out of San Jose is we should expect to see the new jerseys on September 17 while Anaheim has a preseason game on September 13. So at the latest, we'll see the new Ducks duds on Thursday if they don't unveil them sooner.

Result: Kings vs Red Wings

Detroit
RED WINGS
67% 9,019 votes

Los Angeles
KINGS
33% 4,391 votes

13,410 total votes

Detroit Red Wings
Advancing to Quarterfinals to face Sharks or Canucks

Los Angeles Kings
Eliminated

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Aug 23 @ 4:27 AM

Poll closing date Aug 30 @ 11:59 PM

07CHTRN | #W1F | LAKvDET

A Royal Concept

I have a couple of interesting Los Angeles Kings concept jerseys to share today. Remember these pre-Gretzky colors?

That is quite something. Want some more?

I'm sorry, but am I the only person who thinks that's more of a queen's crown than a king's? I think the current one is pretty sharp. But frankly, and I might get fileted for the very suggestion, but I always thought the king head from the mid-'90s third jersey served as a great and fierce representation of the Kings as a team. Because let's face it, without the purple, they've got nothing.

Just, instead of sticking it in the corner and having that weird swoosh thing come down around the shoulder, just make it the primary crest. Thoughts? Am I a crazy nut completely off his rocker?

Poll: Kings vs Red Wings

	vs
Los Angeles KINGS		Detroit RED WINGS

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 Aug 23 @ 4:27 AM

Poll closing date Aug 30 @ 11:59 PM

07CHTRN | #W1F | LAKvDET

Concept Art For Sens, Kings

Thanks to everyone who's placed their vote here on the first day of the Championship Tournament. Exciting stuff.

Anyway, I've still got fan artwork to share. We'll start out with the Ottawa Senators amidst all the news of their logo leaking. This concept ignores that logo (or was perhaps created prior to its leak).

It makes the current secondary logo the crest and sends the current primary to the shoulders, but beneath the shoulder elements. I'd be curious to see how something like that actually looks on a player. I think those are pretty sharp, even with the vertical stripes under the arms. Only, if it were me, I'd avoid doing vertical and horizontal stripes together. What do you guys think?

I was also emailed this concept for the Los Angeles Kings. I know they've already unveiled their new jerseys, but these aren't actual possibilites anyway, are they? It's just something fun to stare at while we wait for the hockey season to start again.

I think what the designer's done with the shoulders and sleeves is very interesting. It also seems he isn't a fan of the "LOS ANGELES" text across the bottom of the sweater. Seems a lot of Kings fans don't care much for that. I think it's unique. Is it a cool element or should they dump it?

Kings vs Sharks

	vs
KINGS		SHARKS
7-6		5-7

The Aesthetics
These two logos both have rather unique color schemes. You don't really see them anywhere else in the league. The Sharks recently introduced a new logo and this is its first time in the tournament. It's certainly an improvement over the previous logo, and even though sharks are grey, not teal, I like the extra color in the logo. What's unfortunate is that they kept the broken stick in the logo. The Kings logo is a good example of how you work in a hockey stick if you absolutely cannot help yourself. Make it subtle!
Kings

The Nickname
As powerful as King may be, if he took a dip in Shark-infested waters, he'd become lunch and nobody would be able to do anything about it.
Sharks

The Analysis
Despite getting an update, the Sharks logo still leaves a lot to be desired. I think the Kings logo is stronger and hey, what says California more than the suns on either side of the crown? Now, if you can, try and resist the urge to tear apart my reasoning. It's flimsy and would never stand up to it. Come back on Sunday and vote for yourself!
Kings

WINNER

2-1

 

Kings vs Blue Jackets

	vs
KINGS		BLUE JACKETS
7-5		10-2

The Aesthetics
Both of these logos have lots of pointy edges. I don't know why that matters. Anyway, I like the color schemes in each logo and despite the fact that neither one has existed for very long, I see the Blue Jackets logo becoming a classic... you know, one day when the team actually makes the playoffs and that sort of thing. The Kings have struggled to find an identity when it comes to logos and I feel like this is just another in a long line.
Blue Jackets

The Nickname
An army is usually at the King's command. But in fact, it was the ancestors of the Blue Jackets who overthrew the King almost a hundred years before. So it's in their blood.
Blue Jackets

The Analysis
I know it isn't vital for a logo to incorporate the home city, but it's always a nice touch. You've got suns on either side of the crown in the Kings logo and the Ohio flag wrapping around a silver star for the Blue Jackets. I'm also a fan of subtlety in logos and the Kings are guilty. Check out those hockey sticks on top of the crown. If they were blatant, I'd be hesitant, but since they aren't, they'll help the Kings logo avoid the sweep. One more match left for each logo in this tournament.
Kings

WINNER

2-1