Just To Freak You Out XXXVIII

The absurdity continues here in my little corner of the world. First thing's first. We all have to be able to laugh at ourselves every now and then and god knows I make a habit of it. But this whole "rebranding" thing — it's a little weird, right? I mean it takes a special kind of person to keep an entire blog dedicated to the redesigning of NHL logos by various artistically inclined hockey fans.

I got a graphic emailed in this week that really made me laugh and I have to lead off with it.

Let the petty sniping begin (we all know that's what the comments are for anyway). I think it's absolutely hilarious. And when it comes to well-designed artwork, I get inspired regardless of whether I think a team should actually wear it in real life. That's what art is for anyway, isn't it?

But this post is about freaking you out, so you won't find any detailed and well-thought-out designs here. Instead, imagine the Quebec Nordiques going out west to become the Denver Dekes.

I don't have the words for it. Nor this.

I need a prescription for a drug that will allow me to fly. What's that? You say they don't make one? Hmm...

Forgive the poor quality of the jerseys in the next image, but these are worth looking at.

Be sure not to miss the purple and orange Flyers jerseys.

And lastly, an article on Yahoo! was pointed out to me today. The writer talks about the horror that was the Mighty Ducks third jersey back in the mid-'90s. (You guys should know, you voted it worst third jersey logo EVER!)

Anyway, that got me thinking. A while back I got these logos from a reader. He took the duck bursting through the ice and painted a different team's logo and jersey onto it — and then did it again for every team in the NHL! It's an absolute riot and this is the perfect time to start posting them.

As you can see I started with the Pacific Division so that I could show you the crazy duck with the new Ducks logo and colors on it. Just wait until you see the rest of the league. I'll post a new division in each Freak Out Friday post until we get through all six.

Just To Freak You Out XXXVI

Time this evening for a Freak Out post. I know you've been waiting eagerly for two long weeks. We'll kick things off in New York. What do you say we mix all three NY clubs? And then do it all over again?

The things people come up with. Now if we head west you might find the odd Mighty Ducks jersey with interesting striping.

But staying out west things only get stranger.

I don't think I even need to say anything about that. It's just weird.

Got a couple of crazy logos to share as well. It's Phoenix — in its mythical sense, I suppose.

To finish off tonight's Freak Out Friday, we'll dive into the Stanley Cup series and look at the only two clubs still playing hockey this season.

Folks often try to "update" the Red Wings logo yet it never seems to take.

I can't imagine why. And I'm all about the powder blue Penguins jerseys allegedly making a return in the fall...

...but make up your mind at least. It's gold or it's blue. It obviously can't be both.

Join me again in two weeks for another edition and keep sending in your freaky artwork and I'll keep posting.

Just To Freak You Out XXXI

I began the last Freak Out post with a similar image, so this is not a repeat. Look closely.

Yes, the duck is wearing himself on his own jersey. This is like some sort of weird fractal, right?

Anyway, we've also got an odd Minnesota Wild concept that scares me.

There's a reason teams choose bright colors. I can't remember what that is at the moment.

Got some stuff for Toronto and Montreal.

Does that Leafs logo look familiar to anyone? I've always thought the Habs should try blue — but on the jersey, not the logo.

And then of course we've got a string of "If They Mated" concepts for some of the clubs that found new homes in the '90s.

The Hartford Hurricanes?

The Quebec Avalanche?

The Winnipeg Coyotes?

No, no and no. Lastly, I've got a little something to celebrate St. Patrick's Day albeit a bit after the fact.

He's got shamrocks on his shoulders! You guys absolutely slay me.

Just To Freak You Out XXX

LIVE FROM VANCOUVER!

Unfortunately I didn't have time last night to post the 30th Freak Out installment. So here it is a little belated. And I've got to start out with something just downright ridiculous. As you know the Quest For The Worst ended this week with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks' third jersey logo taking the cake. It faced the Boston Bruins' secondary logo from the '70s and '80s. Imagine those two logos getting together.

Pretty horrific, eh? (When in Canada...)

Anyway, we've got all American team artwork for this Freak Out post today, by the way. We continue on with the ultimate American team — the Rangers. Where do they play again? Could it be the... "big apple"?

It's the logo I'd envision for a team made up entirely of elementary school teachers. And skylines across jerseys never seem to work.

And they have a better Statue of Liberty logo than that. See previous.

Up next: the St. Louis Blues who happen to be in town tonight facing the Canucks. Couple of really freaky concepts here.

Yet another yellow jersey.

And a sweater which uses old colors and an even older logo.

I'll finish things off with a logo that I debated posting here. On the one hand it's an abstract, unique design. On the other hand, it's abstract... very abstract.

Very abstract.

And so ends another episode of the Freak Out series — live from Vancouver. I've got a couple more days left here in town. We went up to Capilano Suspension Bridge and Grouse Mountain today. Best day of the trip by far!

Result: Mighty Ducks vs Bruins

MIGHTY DUCKS NAMED WORST!

Usually a congratulatory message goes here, but Anaheim Mighty Ducks' third jersey logo has been named by you the voters here at NHLToL as the very WORST in the history of the league! The Ducks garnered a whopping 65% of the vote in the final poll to take the title. In fact, the Ducks logo won a higher percentage of every poll it was in than any other logo in any other tournament on this site. Quite a feat.

My thanks go out to everyone who voted! Nearly 60,000 ballots were cast since mid-January when the Quest For The Worst began. The quest is now over and we can definitively say which logo is truly the worst — ever!

Just as a quick note, I know this post is coming a few days late. But as it turns out, I thought I'd already posted it. I wrote it but I guess I forgot to click that all important "publish" button. It's sort of the do or die aspect of the whole blogging thing. In any case, it's here now.

You're probably wondering what's next. Well so am I. I'm open to suggestions. I'm constantly being asked when we're going to do a jersey tournament. That can be next if you guys want it. We'd start with a preliminary round where you'd vote on each team individually. That is, you choose whether you like their home or away jersey better. That would be followed by a full league bracket wherein we pit team against team. The reason I'd do the preliminary round is that for some teams the away jersey might hold up better than the home. For example, look at the Stars.

That's one option. Another one I've considered is a concept art contest. Readers can send in and suggest concept jerseys or logos to be considered as finalists and go head-to-head in a battle of the best fan-made designs. Just a thought.

There are other options as well. I'd recommend taking a look at the "In The Pipeline" post from back in October. I'm going to add a poll to the sidebar when I get a chance so you can let me know what should be next. If there's anything else you guys are interested, leave a comment. But do it as soon as possible so I can get that poll added to the sidebar right away.

Poll: Mighty Ducks vs Bruins

	vs
Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS		Boston BRUINS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

This is it, folks! Your vote has determined these two logos to be the absolute worst in the history of the NHL. Now it's time to cast one final vote and immortalize a logo as the very worst every to grace a uniform.

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 Wed Feb 27

Poll closing date Sat Mar 1

Poll: Mighty Ducks vs Stars

	vs
Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS		Dallas STARS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

This marks the beginning of the second to last round — the conference finals, in a way. 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 Thu Feb 21

Poll closing date Mon Feb 25

Poll: Scouts vs Mighty Ducks

	vs
Kansas City SCOUTS		Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS

REMEMBER: You're choosing the WORST logo!

Time for the third round now. Anyone else surprised that, despite the uproar over the Buffalo Sabres' new logo, it managed to get eliminated from the Quest for the Worst in only the second round? Anyway, just thought it was worth noting.

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 Sun Feb 10

Poll closing date Thu Feb 14

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: Mighty Ducks vs Islanders

	vs
Anaheim MIGHTY DUCKS		New York ISLANDERS

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 Feb 2

Poll closing date Wed Feb 6