Just To Freak You Out VIII

The Freak Out series continues this week with a brand new episode. Some of this stuff is just unbelievable.

We'll kick things off with some small but significant Atlanta Thrashers concept attempts.

I'm not sure I can find the words to describe this. The thrasher head, while being used as a major element of the crest, has also been employed as a rather horrid stripe. It points up the arm the shoulders along the sleeves and runs across the waist.

The secondary logo is used on the front of the jersey on the right side while the player number is on the left. Captains be damned. The full primary logo is also featured on the front, but not as the crest. No, you'll find that at the bottom on the left.

The crest being used features only the bird's head on an "A." But hey, at least there's three to choose from. Also notice that the panel under the arms is blue on all three.

This jersey set is an eye sore of the worst kind. But just look at the socks. I've never seen a logo on a sock. These socks have three — each! And that's just the side we can see. Imagine if they appeared on twice or even three times.

It hurts my brain to imagine what these would look like on the ice.

And then this. Anyone who thought the Maple Leafs introduced a rather plain jersey should see this.

And though I'm not sure who's conjuring the anger, I can only guess that it's fans who feel like they've been somehow cheated because the letters were spread vertically (not squeezed horizontally).

We're just now hearing of the NHL's plan to expand once again.

We don't yet know what city they'll play in, but the new club will be named the Referees. I don't know why this was made. But it made me laugh — and then it freaked me out some. Speaking of which, we've all seen the mish-mash logos created by Pfizer. Well this one was created by another artist, but it's almost equally as disturbing.

It seems some folks hate the slug so much, they feel a beheading is the only solution. Indeed.

Oh, this deserves an explanation. The fervor over the Calgary Flames claiming the Albertan flag on their shoulder has spurred the Toronto Maple Leafs to go all out and convert their entire uniform into a Canadian flag. With the vintage logo, of course. No other way to go.

And finally, if you thought the text on the front of the new Vancouver Canucks jersey was as bad as it gets, wow. Just wait until you look at this.

I never cease to be amazed — or freaked out — by the things people send me. If you have come up with anything wacky and would like to make it a part of the Freak Out series, send it along to nhllogos@gmail.com.

I hope you all enjoyed your Freak Out Friday and are looking forward to the ninth installment coming in one week's time.

Can anyone tell me where the Canucks play? I seem to have forgotten.

First Photos Of Coyotes' Sweaters

Greetings, all. With much thanks to Paul and Wayne for their lightning quick responses to my previous post, we finally have actual photographs of the new uniforms for the Phoenix Coyotes.

We'll start with the NHL.com Shop images. The photos haven't been released on the site yet but have been uploaded to the servers.

The biggest alteration to the sweaters are the brick red sholder yokes now present on the road sweaters. I like that because although it's an irrational thought, I always feel like solid white jerseys blend into the ice too much. Also, the horizontal stripes around the bottom of the jersey are gone.

One more minor note is that the "PHX" patch is now located on the left shoulder. It was moved from the right. Not sure why though.

These photos were just posted over at HFBoards.com so I thought I'd keep them circulating. Apologies for the color. I would've done some retouching, but I just wanted to get them posted quickly.

I feel like the Wizard of Oz standing behind a curtain when I tell you to pay no mind to those iron-on letters that appear to be detaching themselves from the back of this jersey. If I were to guess, I'd say it was worn by a prospect at a recent tournament. Anyone want to confirm?

And as a special treat, our friend Wayne has also dug up the following graphics deep from the bowels of the NHL web servers. Have a look at the Sabres', Rangers' and Devils' new road jerseys.

But wait, if you thought that was it, get ready for this. Here's our first photograph of the Edmonton Oilers' new road sweater.

I just want to know what happened to the sleeves. At least when Florida did the whole interrupted elbow stripes, it was because of a swatch of color riding down the arm. Here, I just don't know. I'll wait to pass judgment until we see more photos.

Waiting For Official Word

I first want to take this moment to apologize for posting almost nothing today. I'm going to rectify that here in the next hour or so. I've been waiting around pretty much all day hoping to see photos of the new Sabres and Coyotes jerseys on their official web sites. I mean I've been doing other stuff too, but I've been holding off on posting anything. So far, nothing.

However, a great reader sent in a couple of photos he took of the new Buffalo Sabres Rbk EDGE uniforms in the HSBC Arena store. So since I have nothing official, I'll at least show you those for now.

Basically they're last year's sweaters adapted to this year's new cut. And they still have the "slug" on them. What's changed is the NHL shield on the collar. Same as everybody else.

Unfortunately, we still haven't seen photos from CoyotesFest. So if you were there or you've seen pictures taken by someone who was there, please drop me a line. For that matter, if anybody notices the Sabres or Coyotes update their web site with photos, please email me and I'll get right on it.

Oh, and Sabres fans, if you need something to laugh at, click here. Though that might make you cry.

Sabres, Coyotes And Blues On Deck

Oh and as if it weren't enough that the Thrashers, Flyers, Stars and Blackhawks unveiled their jerseys and the Blues started selling theirs (prior to the unveiling I might add), there's still more news. Not huge, but worth posting anyway.

The Buffalo Sabres have acknowledged their new Rbk EDGE uniforms on their official web site. See the graphic.

So there that is. Incidentally, the AP released this photo of Ryan Miller being photographed in said uniform. Solid, mostly unchanged.

So we move on to Phoenix where their web guy isn't even trying. I'm sorry, but really? A giant Rbk Hockey logo?

Tease us with a little logo embroidery like everybody else or something. Oh, that reminds me.

The Blues will probably be second as the Coyotes will launch their new threads at 11 AM. The Blues come about 30 minutes later. Anyway, that's what I was talking about with the whole logo embroidery teaser thing. It's fun. But teased we need not be. The Blues started selling replica jerseys today so we won't be surprised tomorrow.

Quite frankly, it's one of my favorites of the new crop. Those shoulders are nice. I wish more teams had tried something like that. This particular image was provided to us by Brad at St. Louis Game Time.

Anyway, I've got one more item as a special bonus for those of you who made it this far through the post. We've got another picture of the New York Rangers' new Rbk EDGE sweaters.

Check it out. Chris Drury is modeling the new home sweater for a camera. I don't know where this photo came from though. It was simply emailed to me. But we've seen the jerseys before. It's the same.

Enjoy your Friday night now, and don't spend too much time on the computer!

Buffalo News Shows Off New Sabres Duds

An image appeared in the Buffalo News today showing Brian Campbell wearing the new Buffalo Sabres Rbk EDGE home sweater.

As expected, there are no real changes to speak of but for the addition of the NHL shield at the collar.

You can see what I mean in this photo to the left. Looking forward to better shots and as you know, I'll have them here when they're available.

Thanks to all of you who emailed in this information. You guys are an amazing help!

You can see and read the article for yourself here.

Result: Sabres Logo History

BEST ALL-TIME
1970
70% 9,902 votes

14,233 total votes

1996
20% 2,888 votes

2006
10% 1,443 votes

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Sep 4 @ 4:20 AM

Poll closing date Sep 11 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHBUF

EA Leaks Devils, Sabres Sweaters?

All right, you guys know how much I hate video game renderings because they aren't actual photos but I'm not just writing this blog for myself anymore. I recognize I need to show appreciation for the more than 20,000 individuals who visit the site everyday. And you guys want it.

It would appear the new Rbk EDGE uniforms of the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres have shown up in some NHL 08 screen shots. We'll start with the Devils and an image that was sent to me by Jordon over at Flames Daily.

You can see the NHL shield at the collar and all the stripes appear to be staying the same. Below you see a Sabres player from the video game.

The rounded bottom at the back is the reason this appears to be an EDGE jersey. You'll notice the Flyers player is wearing last year's road sweater. Here are a couple more from that same image set.

It should go without saying, but sometimes people don't think and so I'm going to say it. There seems to me to be no good reason why these couldn't have been made up by a very Photoshop-inclined fan. I'm not saying they're fake, but I'm not saying they aren't. Just take them for what they're worth and enjoy the anticipation leading up the big unveilings.

If they are really from EA (somebody's in trouble, for one thing), then it does give us a decent idea of what the design will look like. The reason I don't like these images is that I'm trying to keep to posting photographs of the new uniforms.

Anyway, as you know, I'll have them when they are available. Word on the street is we'll see these jerseys on Saturday for Buffalo and Monday for New Jersey. But keep checking back for updates, of course.

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: Sabres Logo History

1970	1996	2006

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 4 @ 4:20 AM

Poll closing date Sep 11 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHBUF

Just To Freak You Out, Part 5 of 5

I know you'll all be sad to see it go, but today I'm wrapping up my week-long series of whacked-out and crazy images. So let's get this final show on the road. Our first stop is Pittsb— er, Kansas City. Or, well, I don't really know. You figure it out.

I know we've seen a lot of crazy shit, but wow. A Kansas City Scouts Rbk EDGE jersey with Sidney Crosby's name and number. I'm sure this design was concocted in the days when the Pens' future was largely uncertain. With KC looking like a predator ready to pounce, you never know. Just, wow. I don't really have any other words. Maybe you guys can find some.

Over in Philly, there's a consortium that can't tell the logo forms a "P" unless it's cockeyed.

My neck hurts from looking at that. My eyes hurt after looking at this.

Ha ha. Now your eyes hurt too. I promise I won't do that anymore.

Oops, gotcha! You guys are easy. Anyone want to see a black coyote?

Probably not anymore, huh? Seriously, though. Charlie, from SabresNotSlugs.com really needs to see this. It could be the new logo for his site.

Somebody didn't like the slug. Showed it what a sabre is. Then gutted it. Sad story, really. But you guys haven't seen the half of it yet. Remember the amazing composite logo Pfizer created for the Canucks. He dropped the Sabres logos into the same blender. It produced this.

Maybe that should be your new logo, Charlie. Sometimes we just don't recognize how good we have it.

I hope I've been successful this week in freaking you all out a little bit. My goal is to show you that what you have, despite what some of you think, isn't that bad. We all like to moan and complain about changes but just remember, they could've done so much worse. And then where would we be?

I'm going to leave you one last little nugget, though. On Tuesday I posted a crazy concept for the Tampa Bay Lightning. I also asked if someone might be able to show me what it would look like on a player. As I close out this series, let me leave you with that image. Let me burn it into your soul.

Big time thanks to Russ for that one!