Saturday, March 4, 2017

NHL Uniforms

As with all my other league sets, no alternate uniforms, just home and away. A few things to note ahead of time;
Doing some minor realignment and relocation. Firstly going back to old alignment names, Wales and Campbell conferences rather than Eastern and Western. Likewise going with updated version of Adams, Patrick, Norris, and Smythe divisions. Moving to 36 teams to bring back the cities that lost franchises, and also relocating franchises back to their original cities. I've divided these up into 3 groups, the first is essentially no changes to the uniforms, be it existing or making an alternate or throwback design the primary. The second is some slight modifications to existing or past uniform designs, be it color swaps, combining a logo and uniform from different periods, etc. The third group is for the most part original designs, or significant enough mashups of elements from various designs to count as new. All teams going with the same lace up jersey template.


Chicago Blackhawks: It always bothered me that the BLACKhawks were a red team, so I'm just taking their black alternate worn from the mid '90s thru the early 2000's and making that the primary home jersey. 


Detroit Red Wings: Classic with no need for changes. 


Hartford Whalers: The is mostly the uniform they wore in 1991, the blue is a bit darker, and on the green jersey the logo has both white and blue elements, instead of just white with the blue outline.


Montreal Canadiens: Another classic with no need for changes.


New Jersey Devils: Red and green are a far more unique combo than red and black, so just bringing back the original design they had from the 1980’s.


New York Islanders: The current look, which is mostly a throwback to the original design is great, just putting the secondary NY logo on the breezers.


New York Rangers: Another classic not needing any changes.


Philadelphia Flyers: Essentially the design they wore starting in 2010, with the brighter orange, simply making the stripes running down the shoulders to the sleeves wide enough for the numbers to fully fit in there. Also keeping the nameplate contrasting black on both orange and white jerseys.


Pittsburgh Penguins: The current look as of 2016 nails it.


Quebec Nordiques: Returning to the look they had before they relocated to Colorado. Only difference being using a lighter shade of blue and darker shade of red.


St Louis Blues: Pulling the navy accents from their color set, and using their original uniform, which is their current alternate. For the white jersey, pretty similar to the 1968 set, minus the  contrasting shoulder yoke. 


Toronto Maple Leafs: Another original six team with an outstanding design. 



Atlanta Flames: Essentially taking the existing Flames design and replacing the flaming C for the A from Atlanta.


Boston Bruins: I’ve always preferred them in brown for some reason. This is mostly the uniform the team started to wear in 2007, but in brown, and with modifications to the stripe designs. Also finishing the outline around the shoulder yoke to go all the way around. 


Buffalo Sabers: I’ve always preferred them in navy rather than royal blue. Royal blue and yellow looks too similar to St Louis. I went with the 2017 design, but got rid of the front numbers, the gray on the navy jersey, and returned to a block number font. 


Carolina Hurricanes: The stick and flag logo is certainly superior, making that the primary logo and crest on both home and away uniforms. The design in 2017 starts as the basis for the jersey, with some modifications going with contrasting black sleeves.


Edmonton Oilers: My preference is having orange as their primary, with navy, instead of royal blue. The 2017 design is nearly perfect, just adjusting the white jersey to have orange number and shoulder yoke.


Las Vegas Knights: Naming wise I prefer more classic convention, so Las Vegas Knights over Vegas Golden Knights. I think the use of gray as the primary color is unique, and works well with the gold and red trim, but the black is sort of pointless mixed with the gray, so removing that. As far as the uniforms. I think their original gray look works well after you remove the black, then recolor accordingly. I also thought a pointed sleeve color block would match the points of the star and swords in the logo. A metallic gold helmet would be great also.


Los Angeles Kings: I can't say I love purple uniforms, but for the sake of some diversity among all the blue, navy, red, and black teams that dominate sports, I'm good for one or two purple teams in each league. And when using purple, yellow compliments it so well. So going back to the Kings' original look, but with a color updated version of their late 1990's crest design rather than just the crown logo. The white uniforms replacing the yellow from that period.





Minnesota North Stars: A classic identity returning. The uniform is based around their 1978 design. Changing up the green to be half way between the Wild's dark green and the Stars' original bright green.


Nashville Predators: The Predators' fauxback logo from their Winter Classic is way better than their actual logo. So the uniforms are basically just their existing set, with the new logo. A couple of other tweaks being putting the secondary logo patch on both shoulders rather than just one, and also a navy contrasting nameplate on both yellow and white jerseys.


Vancouver Canucks: I’ve never been a fan of the whale logo, but the Johnny Canuck lumberjack logo is one of the best in sports. The uniform design is based around their original 1970 look, with some changes to the stripe pattern and number font.


Washington Capitals:  Their alternate winged eagle logo is another example of a great logo relegated to alternate status. Using that logo on a design pretty similar to their original uniform set featuring the stars on the sleeves. 



Anaheim Ducks: The original logo is way better than the webbed D. So color swapping it to the black with orange and gold look they have now. I can't say any of their looks have ever been classic, but the old angle torso stripe design was noteworthy, if not great. Tried to make it a little less outlandish for this design.


Calgary Wranglers: Going with the old WHL name for Calgary, and taking inspiration from the WHA Calgary Cowboys logo to bring back the hat from the city flag, on top of a C with a hockey stick. Keeping the iconic red that various franchises in the city have always worn, but throwing in some brown that fits the western, frontier theme.


Colorado Rockies: In this timeline the hockey team would have been around before the baseball team, and regardless I don't mind the idea of teams sharing nicknames like what used to happen. The original mountain/flag logo still works, just recoloring from blue, red, and yellow to navy and gold with red trim. Using the white stripe across the logo as the basis for the uniform’s stripes. Keeping the bigfoot logo from the Avs around as a secondary mark.


Columbus Blue Jackets: I'm not a fan of their primary logo or current uniforms. However their cannon logo is great. I like having them with navy and columbia as their primary colors, with red as just an accent. Attempted to mimic the actual blue jackets worn in the civil war with the stripes on the sleeves. For the secondary logo a mashup of existing Columbus designs with the old Cleveland Barons logo.


Dallas Texans: I love what Dallas did with their Winter Classic uniforms as a nod to the old minor league USHL franchise, so going with that here. A combo of red and blue makes the most sense for a team called the Texans, but that combo is too common, for some reason black and silver feels right. I thought a pretty reserved stripe design worked for this team.


Kansas City Scouts: Modifying the old Scouts logo to show a different perspective of the scout statue. As with other teams, the blue with red and yellow trim is a bit too common, so changing up the colors. Since the Avs aren't around now, the maroon and bright blue (form the KC flag) is an available combo that looks great. Also adding in some black trim that works for a sort of old school stripe design.


Miami Panthers: Not a fan of naming teams for the state when there are other franchises already in the state. I know that the Florida Panther is the actual state animal, but I'm going with Miami Panthers. Switching from Florida to Miami also switches up the colors from overused red and blue to the green of the Miami flag, with black to compliment instead of navy. The gold accent color changing shades slightly, to make it closer to the orange of the city flag. The uniform design is based around their original look from 1993.






Ottawa Senators: I much prefer the 2007 version of the side profile Senators logo, so switching that to the primary mark, with the stripe O as a secondary. When it comes to their uniforms I don't really think they have had a definitive classic look at any point. And when I think of the Sens I always think of them as a black team from their first several seasons. So tried to come up with good black design that features both red and gold as secondary colors.


Phoenix Coyotes: I much prefer Phoenix rather than Arizona for the name. I think a mashup of the original kachina styled logo with the dark red, sand, and black color scheme is great. As far as the uniform itself goes, the red uniform would be based on what the logo coyote is wearing. With the white uniform there is more emphasis on the sand color than black, as well as an alternate version of the logo in the white uniform. And even though I'd call them Phoenix I still like the AZ version of the state shape secondary logo.


San Jose Seals: Since they eventually made hockey work in the bay area, let's assume the Seals hung around the region and ultimately found a home in San Jose. They had used teal and yellow anyway towards the end of their run in the mid 1970’s, which ended up being part of the Sharks look, and at one point featured black in the logo. The teal is a mix between the Seals and Sharks shades. Newly designed seal logo featuring the star from the state flag, a nod to their days as the “California” Seals.


Seattle Emeralds: The Kraken name is pretty brutal in my opinion, I'd rather see something more classic like Emeralds or Evergreens, something with staying power compared to a reference to a movie people won't even know in a few years. With Emeralds you are going with varying shades of green into an aqua color, which would be a unique combo in major sports. The logo featuring the iconic space needle within a gemstone.


Tampa Bay Lightning: While their current blue design isn't bad, it is kind of generic and also derivative of the Maple Leafs. Their secondary logo with the team name is much better than the plain lightning bolt. So bringing black back into play into the logo and uniform. Using their original design as the basis for the new version. Also adding a color updated version of their Florida and lighting logo.


Winnipeg Jets: I tried to do a mashup of the original Jets franchise look and the current look. Making a modified version of their original logo to the primary, and current logo their secondary. As far as the uniform, I've sort of mix elements from various uniforms in the team's history.




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