Your Sunday Concept Fix

I've been getting some great concept art submissions in the past couple weeks, but I wanted to keep Haiti at the top of the page for a little while. I just added a few new items to that post, by the way. But now I think it's time to start sharing some of the other great artwork that's been coming in.

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Mark Komondor	We'll begin with the Penguins and a concept created by an artist brand new to Icethetics. These are his first submissions and he sure seems to know what Pens fans want. Imagine Crosby in the same uniforms that Lemieux and Jagr once wore when they lifted the Stanley Cup together. Of the first one, he writes: I was going for a throwback look by incorporating elements from the late 80s/early 90s sweaters the Pens wore when they won two stanley cups. I took that uniform and simplified it, using the Wild's red home sweater as a guide. I feel like this is a good mixture of the 90s elements, and the circle logo which has found popularity on the blue sweaters. He says the other is simply a combination of the jerseys worn just prior to and since the Age of Reebok.
Adam L'Italien	Adam's Canucks concept makes some revisions to the new Johnny Canuck/V logo introduced on the third jersey last year. He says, why not use the full-body JC on the V? But the most important thing about this jersey: it's green!
Brian Brideau	Rumors that the Predators plan to launch new home and road jerseys for 2010-11 could result in something like what Brian has come up with here. In fact, these should look familiar. I posted the first two jerseys two weeks ago. What's new is the blue alternate sweater Brian has now added. For the most part, I like this one. The striping is unique but the Flyers-copycat nameplate is what I think needs to be revised. I truly hope differently-colored nameplates do not become a league-wide fad.

More concepts coming during the week.

We Are All Canucks

I'll be making the long cross-country journey back to the Sunshine State today. Sad.

This is the final of five auto-posts featuring new concept art and it is being written nearly a full week before it will even see the light of day. Trippy. Or not.

You knew it was coming eventually. Not a single Canucks-centric post all weekend. How can this be possible? I saved it all up for today, that's how. Readers seem to send in more Canucks concepts than any other team. I don't know if it's the team's undying identity crisis or the possibility that Canada somehow funnels its most artistic people into one corner of the country.

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Matt Marczel	We'll kick things off with my personal favorite. Matt Marczel's concept depicts the ideal Canucks identity. It's not plagued by spaghetti, corporate interests or over-simplification. That logo represents Vancouver and Johnny Canuck. And it incorporates the green and blue to boot. What more could you ask for? The design also manages to hang on to its history by keeping the modernized stick-in-rink logo on the shoulders. If ever there was a 40th anniversary jersey that could spell perfection, folks, this might as well be it. What's even better is this set paves the way for a brilliant green third jersey.
Jared LeBlanc	Jared LeBlanc has provided us with just such an example of a green third. It certainly shouts Reebok Edge but it shows a willingness to accept the things we cannot change and work inside certain parameters. That being said, the curved tail of the sweater may be rather exaggerated. We get it. As long as the greens matched up, there's really no reason that Matt and Jared's designs couldn't form a complete package here. Jared's even offered a nice pants design.
Ryan Haslett	Continuing with Matt and Jared's ideas, if it's a special event, vintage type design you're looking for, Ryan Haslett has the answer. He's gone with the "vintage white" and the new VC logo. Do I smell a Winter Classic coming? Though to be fair, all the previous Winter Classic jerseys have either taken elements or entire jerseys from actual historical record. This would just be vintage for its own sake. Not that that's bad. Could I be any more equivocal? The point is these are all great designs but what really needs to happen for the Canucks is they need to choose one and commit to it — for more than a few years.
Kevin Krilow	This next concept by Kevin Krilow focuses on the full-body Johnny Canuck logo. It's just as good as some of the previous artwork so what can you really say? Now it just comes down to personal preference. Do you prefer the full body or just the head? You know where I stand but that doesn't mean I'm right. This set comes with a home, road and alternate jersey. Surprisingly, it's the home and road sweater the make use of the text logo. Not necessarily bad, but uncommon.
Ryan Broda	The last one had to be an '80s recreation. You just knew it. If the Canucks never introduced the orca logo in 1997, it's entirely possible their current Reebok Edge uniforms could look something like what Ryan Broda has come up with here. It features an orange (some call it red) alternate and gold vintage jersey. Though I'm surprised the Flying V hasn't found a place on the gold sweater. The red/black/gold stick-in-rink logo is even there on the shoulders of all four sweaters. Glad to see it there. It was the cornerstone of the team's original identity and even if it can't be center stage anymore, it needs to be part of their look in some way forever. The only drawback this set seems to have is the numbering and lettering styles. I think for these, you need to just stick with your standard block text. Don't try to be fancy.

The end. I hope you guys appreciate all the effort I put in to make sure there was new content on the site every day while I was gone.

I'll be back in town Tuesday night but have some errands to run on Wednesday so the next update to the blog/concept page may not come until Thursday. In the meantime, enjoy the archives!

Next Winter Classic: Revisited

The Winter Classic at Fenway Park was nothing short of classic. It's such an awesome tradition and there's no shortage of opinions on who should play in future outdoor games. Since the last concept post, a few other artists have submitted some interesting ideas. I have a pair here I thought worth sharing before we move on to a new concept topic.

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Brad McPelican

Brad writes in with an idea for a New Year's Day game not in 2011 but in 2014. He calls it the Canadian Classic. It would feature the Ottawa Senators and Vancouver Canucks (playing as the Millionaires) at Frank Clair Stadium in Ontario. It may seem a bit unusual, so I'll let him explain. He wrote a very long proposal which I have actually edited way down for your convenience. All the key details are intact. There was a time when the Stanley Cup was a challenge cup exclusively for Canadian clubs and in the Canadian Classic, I would like to relive that era. The contest I find would be the best is one between Ottawa and Vancouver. Both cities currently are home to NHL franchises who have never won the Stanley Cup but, in hockey's early days, had taken home the prize as two of the nation's finest teams. What makes this game even more special is that — 100 years earlier, in 1914-15 — the Vancouver Millionaires played in a best-of-five series in Vancouver and won the Cup. It was the last time the Stanley Cup would be exclusive to the best Canadian team — with the Portland Rosebuds joining the PCHA. This series was the last truly Canadian challenge for the Stanley Cup, which I think is pretty special. As for the jerseys and event logo, I tried to make them as classic and as true to their time as possible. The logo was designed to look like the old team championship pictures and features vintage colors. The jerseys, on the other hand, are almost exactly what they wore — refitted for Reebok Edge jerseys of course — with Ottawa wearing brown pants and Vancouver wearing white ones. You might notice as well that their are no names on the back of the jerseys. This is to be true to the times, not a mistake. If that game doesn't satisfy traditionalists, nothing could. By the way, just wanted to point out (because I know someone will) that the nameplates on NHL jerseys are currently part of NHL regulations and would probably require an Act of Bettman to sidestep. And he hates Canada.

John B

Obviously this one is just meant to be for fun. You could call it Winter Classic Freak Out. While my little corner of Florida has been atypically cold the last couple of days, there's clearly no way it could sustain a sheet of ice outdoors. But as a Lightning fan, this was a fun concept to look at and muse on. As long as the Winter Classic is around, I don't ever imagine the Bolts or Panthers getting a shot at it. It will forever be reserved for teams who play where outdoor ice is a viable option. John does have some interesting artwork here but I'm just not sure these "classic" jersey designs really work. Tampa hockey club? An F with cat ears and a tail? I'll pass. The icing on the cake probably has to be the Winter Classic-themed surfboard design. Thanks to John for giving us a laugh.

Thanks to all the artists who sent in their ideas for future Winter Classics.