New Sharks, Canadiens Jersey Design Concepts

I was pointed the way of another fan-made jersey design concept for the San Jose Sharks. The designer doesn't seem to be a big fan of the orange being added to the color scheme as its used very sparingly here.

It's neat and I think it could probably work. Though I'd expect to see something rather different when the Sharks actually unveil their new jerseys in September.

And while we're looking at fan-designed jersey concepts, I've got one for Montreal Canadiens fans. Like many others, it's based off of this year's all-star jerseys so the real deal probably won't look anything like this. The one thing I wouldn't be surprised to see is the giant logo on the front. That seems to be a theme among all the jerseys that have already been officially unveiled.

Anyway, I haven't heard anything official from the Canadiens regarding an announcement or unveiling date, so we'll keep our ears and eyes peeled until we do.

Yes, More Canucks Stuff

I saw this graphic on the Canucks Central message board. Aren't you guys impressed I remembered? I even snatched a link just to prove it. It's apparently artwork on some new kid-oriented promotional material from the Vancouver Canucks. It's called "Fin's Friends" as I understand it.

You see Canucks mascot Fin wearing a rather unique jersey. I can't speak to its veracity, but so far I haven't determined a real reason to doubt it. It has a lot of what we've heard including: dropping the maroon from the logo, the word "VANCOUVER" appearing over the crest on the road white sweaters, and the return to vintage colors blue and green.

Also, on the shoulder of Fin's jersey is this logo. It's kind of an edgier version of the vintage stick-in-rink logo. I think it works.

So... Canucks fans? What do you think of all this? You think this could be the real deal for your uniforms come the fall? Or is it just more annoying speculation?

Though the Canucks have made nothing publicly official, we've been hearing that a new logo/jersey unveiling is set for Wednesday. Whether or not it will actually happen remains to be seen.

New Blackhawks Jersey Design Concept

We haven't been hearing much about the Chicago Blackhawks lately, but I came across this design on the 'Hawks official message board. Have a look.

Now, have a real good look. I mean get out your fine-tooth comb and really go over that puppy because I have my doubts as to the veracity of this image. It sure does look like a Blackhawks Rbk EDGE jersey, but the first thing that caught my eye was that familiar horizontal striping pattern on the sleeves and bottom of the sweater. Remember this?

Now compare it to the Bruins jersey to the left. Dead on. So I'm sorry if I got anybody's hopes up. It is just a very good Photshop job based on the B's road Reebok sweaters. Wondering what tipped me off? The stripes on the Blackhawks' white jerseys go black-red-black whereas the ones in this image go red-black-red.

Anyway, I'm continually impressed by the work people put into these jersey designs. You gotta think I'm pretty interested in the subject on account of writing this blog but I'm not sure I'd really go to the extent of coming up with my own design concept. Kudos to the folks that do, though. They give me something to write about.

The Blackhawks have yet to give word of plans for any sort of formal or official announcement, so until we hear something, it's a cool idea to muse on. Any Chicago fans reading? What do you think?

New Stars Uniforms Coming September 14

According to an administrator on the Dallas Stars' official message board, we can expect to see their new Rbk EDGE jerseys on September 14. So I've added that date to the countdowns in the sidebar. Thanks to Josh for the tip!

While we're on the subject though, I ran across a fan design on that same message board that I thought was kind of funny.

It's a play on the Minnesota North Stars logo with a "D" for, you guessed it, Dallas. For those of you who don't know your hockey history, the Dallas Stars moved from Minnesota in 1993.

Anyway, thought it was a funny design and felt like sharing it along with the news of the unveiling date.

Tournament Analysis: Six Weeks

This has been a big day what with the unveiling of the new San Jose Sharks logo. As a reminder, that new logo will take effect in the tournament beginning with the Sharks' next match which is August 9. Now, with things winding down it's time for an update on where we are in the tourney.

The Late Leaders

With just one game to play in the final two weeks of the tournament, the Devils have a commanding lead over the league with 32 points. The Avalanche follow with 26, just ahead of the Hurricanes with 25. The Wild and Panthers each have 23 points followed by the Predators with 20. The top 8 rounds out with the Flames and Canadiens who currently sit with 18 poins. Most notably are the top 3 teams, each of who have swept 7 matches — that's exactly half of all their games in the tournament. These are impressive logos. Keep them in mind next time you're designing a logo for your fantasy hockey team. What's weird is how many of those teams use red as their primary color. Hmmm.

If The Playoffs Were Tomorrow...
We're winding down in the competition here so you can almost tell who will likely be in the Championship Tournament. If you need a refresher on how to determine who moves on to the next tournament, read this.

EAST

The Flyers and Devils are still at the top of the Atlantic Division while the Canadiens and Senators continue to ride the top of the Northeast. The Hurricanes and Panthers still sit atop the Southeast as well, so the East is still looking pretty much the same as it did two weeks ago. As for the wild card spot, the Thrashers have a 5-point hold on that with 17 points. So if the playoffs began tomorrow, the following teams would move on from the Eastern Conference: the Flyers, Devils, Canadiens, Senators, Hurricanes, Panthers, and Thrashers.

WEST

The Predators and Blue Jackets are leading the Central Division. High atop the Northwest are the Avalanche and Wild. And leading the Pacific Division are the Kings and Sharks, each with 17 points. The top 2 teams in each division of the West have changed since two weeks ago, in stark comparison with the East. Claiming the wild card spot with 18 points would be the Flames. The Blue Jackets and Kings have knocked the Blues and Stars out of contention since two weeks ago. If the playoffs started tomorrow, the following Western Conference teams would be eligible: the Predators, Blue Jackets, Avalanche, Wild, Kings, Sharks, and Flames.

But of course, it's not over until it's over. This is a marathon tournament and there is still a ways to go. But if you're team hasn't made a good showing by now, the chances of catching up are slim with only a handful of matches remaining.

The Good, The Bad...


Shockingly, at this stage of the tournament, there are still two teams who have yet to lose a match. The Hurricanes and Wild remain undefeated and could theoretically finish their schedule that way. That's how you know a good logo — when none of the others can beat it. Not surprisingly, none of the teams remain winless at this point. But there are a handful who have won only once. The Islanders, Maple Leafs, Oilers and Ducks each have just a single tally in the W column. Shame about that.

...And The Ugly

This tournament awards points to teams even when they lose a match. If you lose 2-1, you still get that one point. But if you lose 3-0, you obviously get no points. The Ducks still have the league's worst logo, despite having picked up three points in the last two weeks. The Penguins and Maple Leafs aren't doing much better sitting with just 6 points after 9 and 11 matches, respectively. The Oilers and Islanders are the only other teams who haven't broke double-digits in points. The Oilers have 8 and the Islanders have 9, each in 11 matches. Those logos are pretty basically bottom-of-the-barrel at this point with very bad odds of nabbing a playoff spot. Maybe a redesign will give them a better chance next time around.

Late Summary
The Southeast and Central Divisions appear to be the strongest, as they're the only two in which all five teams have hit double-digits in points. I'd almost be willing to bet on a Hurricanes vs. Wild final if the playoff tournament worked that way. I really am led to wonder whether whther it will come down to this two based on their performance so far.

What we'll have to wait on, though, is how these teams perform against the opposing conference. It's an exciting time right now. It almost reminds me of the feeling I get in March when the real season is winding down. I can't wait for the playoffs!

I'm thrilled to report that over the past several days, traffic here on this blog has skyrocketed in a way I never would've imagined. Just a few weeks ago I was averaging 60, maybe 70 hits a day. But late last week, some of you who've visited the site posted links on several hockey message boards around cyberspace. I hit a record of 758 hits in one day last week. Then just yesterday, an all-time high was reached at 2,716. Can you imagine?

Since Friday, the NHL Tournament of Logos has been averaging 2,000 hits a day thanks in large part to the news I've been keeping up with regarding new logos (Sharks) and uniforms as the league makes the switch to the Rbk EDGE jerseys this fall. Regardless of why you're visiting, I'd just like to thank everyone who's stopped by. And if there's anything you think I can do to improve the blog, please don't hesitate to let me know.

What's To Come?
I posted a poll in the sidebar asking if visitors to the blog would be interested in participating in the next cycle of the tournament. I recently surpassed my goal of getting 100 votes, more than 90 of which answered "yes." So when this tournament ends, stick around if you want to be involved in decided the best of the NHL's logos. Because after all, who really cares about my opinion anyway? It should be decided by you all!

Sharks Unveil New Logo!

It's here and it's real. The leak proved right. This is the new logo of the San Jose Sharks.

For my money, it's a huge improvement on a good logo that needed a little help. While I don't love the hockey stick in the logo, I understand the team didn't want to completely revamp their image, merely improve upon what they already had. At the press conference, the Sharks only unveiled the new logo set, no uniforms have been shown at this point.

The club also unveiled a bunch of secondary marks including the new shoulder patch and shield, seen above. All of these logos and more can be seen on the the Sharks new web site.

We've had a few weeks to ponder it thanks to the leak, but now that it's official, what are your thoughts? Did the Sharks make the right choice by updating what they had? Or would they have been better off revamping the look altogether? Comment below.

Flyers Jersey Concept Designs

Hope you're enjoying the tournament. In the last few days, the traffic here on this blog has skyrocketed, due in part, I believe, to links being posted on various message boards. I thank you all for dropping in and I hope the information regarding new jersey and logo designs for this fall that I've been providing is helpful.

Today we get a look at a fan-made concept for the new Philadelphia Flyers uniforms. These designs have the Rbk EDGE cut but use the same layout scheme as the all-star uniforms, which is why I know its fan art and nothing official from the team. I'm under the impression the Flyers will be going with black for their home jerseys this season. Take a gander.

If you were wondering what the home uniforms might look like in orange, check out the design below.

Once again, these were of course designed by a fan and despite the fact that the Flyers are taking pre-orders for the 2007-08 jerseys, we have yet to see what one will actually look like. As usual, keep it here for info on that as it becomes available.

Kings' New Uniforms Official

It's been brought to my attention that there is in fact another team that has unveiled their new Rbk EDGE jerseys. The Monday after draft day, I posted photos I came across of what appeared to be said uniforms. Turns out, the Kings actually did unveil them officially at the team's draft day party.

I know the image quality sucks, but you're looking at screengrabs from a video shot at the Kings draft party. They show Jack Johnson holding up the home jersey and Michael Cammalleri with the road sweater. For a better look at both jerseys, the photos I first posted were accurate.

Thanks to those of you who pointed this out to me. We now have five teams with OFFICIALLY unveiled jerseys for 2007-08. If you want to keep up with who's done what, there's now a tracker in the sidebar.

Sharks Unveiling New Logo July 24!

The San Jose Sharks will be next to unveil a new — or rather, "updated" — logo for the new season. The news was posted on their web site today. The official unveiling will take place two weeks from today on July 24. Of course I'll have full coverage as usual. Read the press release below.

July 10, 2007

New Look Of Sharks Territory Coming July 24

When the Sharks take the ice for the 2007-08 campaign, they will be doing so with a different look, and not just with regards to the players. There are few details publicly available, but the one certainty is the Sharks logo will have a more updated feel this fall. There will also be new secondary marks introduced.

“I think people are going to like it,” said defenseman Kyle McLaren, one of several Sharks who had input on the updated design. “I think they’ll embrace the change. It goes with the new NHL.”

The Sharks did not take altering their brand lightly, as the main logo has been one of the most popular in professional sports since the club’s inception in 1991.

“We put a lot of research into this and feel the fans will thoroughly appreciate the updated logo and new marks,” said Sharks President and Chief Executive Officer Greg Jamison. “The players were heavily involved in the process and they were extremely happy with the outcome.”

Fans will have their first opportunity to view the new look and secondary marks on July 24 at 10 a.m. PST on sjsharks.com and merchandise with the updated logo and new marks at the Sharks Store will be available starting on that date as well.

While the logo will be released this month, the new-look jerseys will not be previewed until closer to training camp. All NHL jerseys will be altered to some degree this year as Reebok introduces new fabrics to help enhance player skills.

The Sharks primary mark has not changed throughout the Sharks 16-year history, but the jersey has been altered on several occasions. San Jose ’s original jersey was introduced in 1991 and the most recent incarnation was put in place in 1998, although it served as an alternate jersey the prior campaign. The alternate black jersey debuted in 2001.

I'm looking forward to it. The current Sharks logo will live on as a classic but lacks enough color to be considered a great logo by today's standards. Or so happens to be the opinion of one blog writer. Yes, me.

Now as for the tournament, the Sharks play their 12th match on July 23, the day before the unveiling. Regardless of whether a leak happens, the logo won't take effect in the competition until the day after its official unveiling which is July 24. That said, the Sharks have only two matches after July 25 — both on the last two days of the tournament, August 9 and 10. The new logo will be used for those two matches and the Championship Tournament should the Sharks advance.

New Lightning Logo Coming!

Well, we'll just have to see if it's new. According to St. Petersburg Times Lightning beat writer Damian Cristodero mentioned the other day in the paper that the Bolts will be unveiling a "modernization" of the logo "some time this summer." No word yet on when, but I'm pretty excited.

I understand there won't be sweeping changes. Minor upgrades is what "modernization" sounds like to me. And that's fine. Just make them count. I'll have the updates here.