Post-Olympic Extras

Had a few leftovers from the Olympic Spirit series that ran during the Vancouver Games.

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Dallas Hicks	By far the most popular part of the series was Dallas' flag-based jersey concepts for Finland, Sweden and Norway. Now he's tackling Canada with the same principle in mind. White in the middle with a red maple leaf (in the form of the classic Team Canada crest) and red sleeves to mimic the red stripes on either side. He's also put the Canadian flag itself on the sleeves.
Connor Hanley	Here's another Canadian concept, this time from Connor. The first thing I noticed was the merging of two classic sweaters — those belonging to the oldest Canadian NHL franchises, the Canadiens and Maple Leafs. Obviously, the maple leaf on the crest belongs to Toronto and the striping across the chest comes direct from Montreal. Aside from that, it's not a bad look. Just needs to be a little more original.
Jason Pires	I don't know when was the last time Portugal sent a hockey team to the Olympics (if ever), but I'm sure it wasn't recently. Still, Jason has sent in this Portuguese sweater for our enjoyment.
Ethan Proulx	Another nation not seeing ice hockey action in Vancouver was South Korea. But why should that stop Ethan? Here is his attempt. It's a little busy, but definitely one of a kind.
Matt McElroy	Now we finish where we started — Team USA. Matt submitted this concept. I actually like it better than the current blue United States jersey. That one's a little dark. At least this has a lot of white and red in it.

That wraps things up for the Olympic series. More in 2014!

Winter Winding Down

As the winter winds down, there's been a lot of talk about next year's Winter Classic. Rumor has it the Washington Capitals will get to host. And by far, the most popular opponent among Icethetics readers seems to be the Ottawa Senators. That's our theme for today's post.

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Tyler Allen	There's no question in my mind that the Senators need to wear something like this when they eventually get selected for the outdoor game. Tyler's done a great job with this concept. But his Capitals jersey is more of a Frankenstein creation than anything else. It seems he's literally taken element from every past Caps uniform and injected the Weagle. It's not terrible, but I think the stars are a bit distracting. Might be different on the ice.
Drew Krause	If it's simplicity the Sens would like in a Winter Classic sweater, Tyler's may be the right look. But if it's true vintage they want, look no further than Drew's concept. I didn't like the crazy stripes when Montreal did it, but that might've been because the blue threw it off. Maybe the Sens could do it better in black. Drew also threw in a couple of logos, including a simplified version of the old primary mark along with a new heritage mark to go with that jersey.
Mike Bell	The Caps' owner may have recently nixed plans for an actual third jersey, but that doesn't mean concept versions can't live on here at Icethetics. Rather than incorporating the Weagle, which many have done (because of its awesomeness), Mike opted for a simple color reversal. Blue jersey, red logo. Not sure about the number being on the front though. We have enough to read there as it is.
Brad McPelican	Brad went the more traditional route with his third, but the key in this concept are the home and road jerseys. Check out the stars on the shoulders! That jersey belongs on a bit marquee sign, rather than a hockey player. And if that logo looks familiar to you, it comes from the Capitals' old primary logo from the late '90s.
Ryan Haslett	And lest we leave Canada out of the Winter Classic one more time, Ryan Haslett has put together this 2011 concept for a match-up between the Flames and Canucks in Calgary. You don't get any more classic with a Flames jersey. However, I'm not sure it's the best idea to go with a Canucks jersey from the era in which they wore the same colors as Calgary. For the Canucks, there'd be no choice but to go back to the 1970s and the classic stick-in-rink log.

By the way, I do have a few more Olympic concepts to share. I'll try to get those posted before the weekend.

Olympic Spirit, Finale

I promised one final Olympic concept post. I meant to have it ready Sunday, but as you can see time sort of got away from me. So here's some of the last of the international artwork series.

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John B.	The last three Olympic Spirit posts have opened with a Team USA concept. That's not really fair is it? So here's John's attempt at jerseys for Canada. And yes, that is the Toronto maple leaf in red on the front of the home and road jerseys. The alternate design, which kind of makes me think of the Devils, features the Canadian coat of arms. A nice effort, but I think one of the keys to the maple leaf on the Canada jersey is that it keeps you from having to spell out Canada at the same time.
Jack Gambro	Now we can get to the United States. Jack put together these simple but bold sweaters. That is a lot striping going on there on the sleeves. Not bad at all.
John B.	Here's a new look for Norway. John's replaced the traditional blue on the flag with a powder blue more reminiscent of the Penguins' throwback third. He's also got some interesting striping on the shoulders of that blue jersey.
Howie Crawford	Howie's back with a new look for the Swiss. He's added black and put the white cross front and center. Too much?
John B.	John has one more concept to share — for a nation that's never had an ice hockey team. Go Jamaica!

It's not over yet. In the next update to this post, I'll add all of the remaining Olympic artwork for your enjoyment. Stay tuned for that.

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Classic makes a comeback. 3.8.10