Just To Freak You Out XII

Welcome to the 12th installment of the Freak Out Fridays. Hope you enjoy this one. We'll kick things off with one of the craziest things I have ever seen.

Like the designer said, who needs a logo when you've got municipal and provincial art to plaster across your sweater? And I counted well over 50 stripes on each sweater. I love those right sleeves. So much so that I've gouged out my eyes. The rest of this will be written by touch-typing.

Now keeping it in the Western Conference, check this out.

I guess what troubles me the most is that someone has removed the shark's fin. That's just cruel.

Speaking of cruel...

I dare any league to dress any team in that uniform. Make that a double dare! (Actually, I'm half-expecting to see that duck morph into a dolphin.)

But wait, there's more. Say you're a team looking to blend in with your surroundings. Let's say your hunting ducks, for instance. Might this be a good way to camouflage yourself?

I think it might.

And finally, anybody here watch Conan? One of my favorite segments is "If They Mated." Someone sent in a concept that fits into that category well. What if we mated the Boston Bruins and Chicago Bears (of the NFL for those of us who think football is a waste of time and energy)?

Behold the answer.

I just don't know how I feel now. A little dirty. A little freaked. A little worried about the nightmares I'll have tonight.

Anyway, I hope you guys have enjoyed this Freak Out Friday. Looking forward to finding some great content in my inbox this week for the next episode! You can email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Rbk EDGE Review: Thrashers

Part 29 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

Atlanta Thrashers

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Friday, September 14. The Thrashers unveiled their jerseys at a press conference in Atlanta.

Home vs. Road
Home: Blue. Road: White. The two sweaters are very different from each other in overall design.

The sky blue home jerseys feature a thick dark blue stripe, trimmed in white and red, down the left sleeve. Vertical text down the sleeve spells out "ATLANTA" in yellow letters with a white stroke and red and sky blue drop shadow. The side panels are dark blue with red and white trim. White and red piping wraps around the wrists. A secondary logo patch is featured on the right shoulder. The collar is dark blue and the the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature blue sleeves, with triangular white panels just above the elbows. Red piping borders the blue at the shoulders. Blue piping runs from the collar to the base of the sweater. Yellow piping wraps around the wrists and secondary logo patches don each shoulder. The collar is blue with a specialty design and red trim while the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
There is no jersey number on the left sleeve of the home jersey where the city name runs down the arm. The same numbering and lettering style has been retained.

New & Old
While the overall design of the jerseys are relatively similar to the old ones, there are plenty of differences. The most noticeable is the lack of horizontal striping around the waist. A rather small but noteworthy change is the addition of the secondary logo to the shoulder of the home jersey. Overall, while similar, these jerseys are certainly different.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? No.
Laces at the collar? Yes.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
The Thrashers hit it pretty damn close with this. My favorite jersey last year was Atlanta's home sweater — adopted from a third jersey. The sky blue color is stunning. The city name down the sleeve is a unique and very cool-looking element. The numbering and lettering style is very sharp. The secondary logo is amazing! Now what I don't like. The primary logo isn't great but it's not bad. The side panels of the home jersey are weird. The blue piping on the front of the road sweater seems a little out of place, as well. But I definitely feel like the pros outweigh the cons here. It's not perfect, but it's approaching that mark. 4/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Thrashers jersey!

Odd Art, Part I

Do you know how much I love my multi-part series? As much as I write them, how could you not?

Anyway, I'm looking at stuff that borders on being worthy of a Freak Out Friday. Unfortunately, it's not quite there but nor is it to the point where I'd want it to be taken seriously as far as that goes. Don't try and figure out what I just said. It's not worth it.

Let's move along. We'll start with the Atlanta Thrashers.

If anyone can work out what's going on here, I congratulate you. And fill the rest of us in, if you wouldn't mind.

Interesting choice going with the old unused Atlanta All-Star Game logo. I kind of like the head logo on its own. That way it doesn't look like the bird is stirring itself in a bowl. Yummy thrasher!

I wanted to let you look at this one before I explained it. It took me a minute, but if you stare at it for a very long time, you'll slowly begin to see the shape of the state of New Jersey appear in there somewhere. Oh yeah, it has horns and a tail. That's probably what's tripping you up. This was spawned along the lines of using state/province outlines in team logos.

Not sure how I feel about the placement of that number on the front, but I would someday like to see a black third jersey for the Devils. That would look pretty killer.

And finally, the Nashville Predators.

This is a very interesting color scheme. However, I think the only way you can really get away with limiting the colors is by first simplifying the logo itself. It's a very detailed mark and all of its colors do work in its favor. But then I've always like the Preds' logo the way it was. Crazy? Perhaps.

I'll have more where that came from tomorrow, if you're good. Eat your peas and don't stay up past your bedtime.

Just To Freak You Out IX

It's time for another Freak Out Friday! Let's not waste time.

I've had this Buffalo Sabres concept for some time now. I think the idea is that this text would run down the front of the jersey, just like the Rangers.

Cracks me up though. But, hey, nothing says "Buffalo" and "Sabres" more than the city on a skewer. Anybody else getting hungry?

No? Just me?

Moving right along then to one of the scariest bits of artwork ever to grace my inbox.

Aptly titled Thrash Bling, this image frightens me to my very core. What you can't say, though, is that it isn't creative. The things people come up with.

I think the Anaheim Ducks missed an opportunity.

That is one pissed off duck. I think someone splashed him.

You might have to enlarge this next one to grasp its full scope.

I get the octopus thing, but where does it stop exactly? I'm voting for the purple one. Speaking of scary Detroit Red Wings art, look at this.

I mean it's not half bad as far as that goes, but yikes! I think the wings are swallowing the wheel. Poor wheel.

Apologies for the short post this week, guys, but it was a slow week in terms of "freak out" art. Hopefully you guys will send in more for next Friday's installment. Until then...

Freak.

Out.

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.

Jersey Concept Art Galore

Busy day today. Shame I'm only getting to my first post at 5 PM, but some days, that's the way it goes.

Always gotta kick things off with some good concepts. So let's dive in with the Boston Bruins.

I like these logos much better on a yellow jersey than the old bear head. Although, I say that now but to be fair, when it came out I thought it was pretty damn cool.

I also like the striping patterns on both jerseys. When the third jersey program is reinstated next fall, I hope the Bruins consider something like this. It's very sharp.

Then, one thing a lot of people have been contemplating is what the Atlanta Thrashers would look like if the road jersey matched the home jersey.

Perhaps it would look like this. That's really nice, if you ask me. I really love the asymmetry of that light blue jersey. The city down the arm looks great and it's so unique to this team. I'm really impressed and I only wish the Lightning had thought of it first.

One reader also emailed me a handful of concept designs. I wish I had larger images, but this is what was sent.

My favorite in that set is the Kings but I think the red Blue Jackets sweater is ironic and very sharp. Not a fan of the black Wings jersey and the blue Isles jersey reminds me of the Lightning's old black sweaters with the white along the shoulders.

Now it's time for your input. Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Thrashers, Here's How You Fix It

The new Fix It series has contemplated jersey repairs for the Vancouver Canucks and Colorado Avalanche. It continues today with some suggestions for the Atlanta Thrashers.

Prior to switching to the light blue jersey full time, the Thrashers actually had a completely different logo for their dark jerseys. In fact, it was this one.

Not bad, but liked the dark blue jerseys better with that logo.

In going through comments about the new uniforms, I got the idea that a lot of folks (mostly those who are not Thrashers fans) don't like the light blue or ATLANTA written down the sleeve. So on a completely different tangent comes this design.

This isn't in the Rbk EDGE cut, but still worth a look, I felt. I like the thrasher head for the logo. In fact, I think that's essentially the logo worn on the pants of the current uniform. I also really like the maroon sweater. Overall, a nice effort. I bet this would make for a very sharp-looking sweater.

Have you guys got any other suggestions for the Thrashers or any other team? Email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Next up: Anaheim Ducks.

Thrashers Unveil New Uniforms!

The Atlanta Thrashers unveiled their new Rbk EDGE uniforms at a press conference today.

There were no real surprises or alterations from last year's uniform set.

Alexei Zhitnik and Pascal Dupuis modeled the new sweaters for cameras this morning. One interesting note is that they managed to make the left sleeve element work with the new Reebok jerseys. I always liked "ATLANTA" down the arm. It's something unique that no one else has done.

By the way, you can't see it here, but on the photo above, the secondary overhead thrasher logo has been added to the blue jerseys. It wasn't there last year, but it's a great logo. Glad to see they put it back.

And here's a close-up of the collars. They're pretty much sticking with what they know here.

And that's what the back looks like. Same lettering and numbering — just with much larger numbers. What do you guys think? Do the Thrashers have a winner here?

EA Unlocks Unreleased Jerseys?

Got several emails today about EA Sports' NHL 08 which was released this week. We kept hearing an unlock code would be provided for the new Rbk EDGE uniforms.

Apparently, that code was released today, supposedly unlocking all of the uniforms in the game. Here to the left you can see the unlock code available at official Rbk EDGE web site.

I've seen screen grabs for only a handful of team jerseys so I don't know that they're necessarily all available at this point. (Someone correct me if needed.)

The teams I've seen via stills from email and around the web are the Thrashers, Sharks, Coyotes, Stars, Oilers, Blackhawks, and Blues. And while they are from video games (which you know I'm opposed to), I'll post a few here just for fun. I'm still going to wait for teams to show off the uniforms themselves to count it as an "official" unveiling.

Many Thrashers fans may be happy to see the "ATLANTA" retained on the left sleeve of the home jersey. Of course, I'm just guessing it's there since we can't actually see it.

The Blues and Sharks sweaters look nice — if not like they've been swapped. I like the sholders of the Blues sweater and the striping on the Sharks.

And the conservatives among you will probably like the fact that nothing much has changed for the Chicago Blackhawks.

Just remember that while there's no reason to doubt the designs here are accurate, I won't call them "official" until we see it from the team or the league. That's just how I roll.

Thanks for all the emails on the subject, everybody! I'll try and get some more images up later on.

UPDATE (12:36 PM): Here's a great photo gallery featuring all the new AHL and NHL sweaters. Enjoy!

Result: Thrashers vs Flyers

Philadelphia
FLYERS
66% 8,775 votes

Atlanta
THRASHERS
34% 4,603 votes

13,378 total votes

Philadelphia Flyers
Advancing to Quarterfinals to face Ottawa Senators

Atlanta Thrashers
Eliminated

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Sep 1 @ 7:31 AM

Poll closing date Sep 8 @ 11:59 PM

07CHTRN | #E2D | ATLvPHI