Modernized Classics

This Friday, the NHL announced the next outdoor game: the NHL 100 Classic, taking place in Ottawa between the Senators and Canadiens. Only the logo has been released, which is similar to that of the Centennial Classic. With that in mind, I decided to create jersey concepts based off of the Centennial Classic's style.

For the Habs, I outlined their logo in silver, and modernized their chest stripe uniforms from their NHA days, by adding arm striping, putting it on the Adidas template, and removing the hem striping. I also outlined the outermost stripes with silver. For the Sens, I created a red version of their alternate jerseys, added some silver to the logo, and again outlined the outermost stripes with silver. Like the Wings and Leafs, I added modernized older alternate logos to the pants.

What do you think? Comment below!

Feeling Blue

The Blues nailed their most recent rebrand. It's modern, but classic, and is familiar to Blues fans. However, St. Louis has an abundance of great eras to throw back to, so I tried to combine a few of them.

First off, I corrected the colour balance of their away jerseys, and curved the yokes like the Avs' current alternate jersey. The stripes now match, and are thinned out to give attention away to my new element. I took 5 thin lines from a music staff, and applied them to the chest and arms, lining up with the Blues' logo. I kept the current numbers, but moved them to the staff striping. 

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Adidas' Oilers

With the temporary abolition of third jerseys under Adidas next year, the Oilers, who have a perfect trio, have to take away either their blue or orange jersey from their arsenal next year. Reports have them going with their orange alternate, but I wanted to combine the two's looks.

My set thickens the middle stripe on Edmonton's current primaries, and adds a matching yoke outline. I matched this simple striping reminiscent of their third jersey throughout both sets, to add a degree of consistency, that, in my opinion, isn't quite there yet.

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Est. 1997

The Hurricanes had one of the most unique and actually good-looking jerseys since they moved from Hartford... until 2013. They tossed all their uniqueness out the window, and came out with two mismatching Team Canada lookalikes. Once again, I wanted to reinstate that uniqueness by embracing their '90s origin...

...with the Fisherman template! It wasn't a good look for the Isles, with all their history, but I don't think it's a bad look for the 'Canes. I kept the wave, but changed up the pattern to match the logo. I used all black equipment, their current font, old shoulder patches, and lost the Fisherman yoke to simplify the look. The striping matches on both jerseys.

What do you think of this crazy look? Comment below!

Kachina Komeback

The Coyotes' inaugural jerseys weren't a particularly bad idea- they were just executed in a 90s eyesore way. They were unique; something their first redesign didn't. That desert red and white set wasn't a bad idea either, but they weren't unique either. Their most recent set, although maligned originally, had the right idea with the addition of black. I wanted to combine all those ideas into a classic and modern style that I employ so much.

I used black yokes, like currently found on the 'Yotes jerseys, on the desert red jersey, with a simplified Kachina pattern underneath. I flipped that arrangement upside-down on the hem. On the white jersey, I removed the black yokes and added desert red cuffs. I swapped the A-paw patch on the home shoulders for the updated AZ patch, like their current jerseys. These aren't as simple as my first go at this look, but I think it works.

What do you think? Comment below!

Florida's Flag

As you know, I like the Panthers' new logo and uniform set. One of the rejected ideas was a chest stripe in the cross shape from the Florida state flag. I already made a concept based on that idea, but I wanted to actually replicate the flag itself in a way.

I first converted the shield logo into a roundel, and put that on a single colour cross chest stripe. I did the same for the sun in their branding, though on a single arm stripe. I kept the shoulder numbers, and added the "Florida" shield itself to the pants.

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Flashy Bolts

The Lightning don't have a bad uniform set, but it's the simplest in the league. If there were any team to have flashy uniforms, it's them. I wanted to correct that, while incorporating some of their history into the set, too.

I changed the main colour to black. I kept the shoulder yokes and general colour arrangements from their Cup-winning set, but added lightning bolts on the the hems and arms. I also used a recoloured current logo.

What do you think? Comment below!

Snowcapped Avs

In the past few days, I redesigned teams with no need of a redesign. Today's concept performs a complete 180; fixing the Colorado Avalanche. Their current jerseys are an abomination, and let's face it: their great 90's jerseys are a little outdated and busy.

My solution turns the mountain hem stripes into a snowcapped mountain-top yoke design, while keeping the same colour arrangements as the classic set. For a less busy look, I removed all shoulder patches, and used simple arm and hem striping shapes. 

What do you think? Comment below!

Perfecting the Rangers

I'm back with more concepts for teams I judge to be in the upper echelon of logo and uniform design. That's why we call them concepts, right? This time, the New York Rangers are up, but instead of a full-on redesign, I'm just perfecting a few things.

Their home jersey remains more or less intact; I just out it on an adidas template. The away jersey is where the "big" changes happen. Matching their classic yoke, I used the same striping pattern as the home jersey, plus a blue stripe above and a scooped hem below to keep the pattern visible. These aren't really drastic changes, but I think it helps the consistency of the overall set and just has a generally more pleasing aesthetic.

What do you think? Comment below!

Back in Black

The Blackhawks currently have one of the nicest, if not the nicest, uniform sets in the league with their primarily red jerseys. However, their first uniforms were predominantly black. Would they still be up there in the rankings if they still used black as their primary colour?

On the home jersey, I used a white-red-white pattern on the hems, and doubled it on the arms. Consistency is the key for this set, so I matched that pattern on the pants, collar and socks. On the away jersey, the white and black are reversed, but black upper-arms are added. Throughout the set, I used single-colour numbers, something I really enjoyed on their 2015 Winter Classic uniform.

What do you think? Comment below!

Golden Pens

Pittsburgh has such nice logos, jerseys and colours, that they need a third jersey. Their Stadium Series jersey has some some nice qualities, but isn't all the way there. I wanted to improve that uniform while throwing back to some of their other uniform history.

The jersey obviously had to be yellow. I primarily took inspiration from their white jersey in the 90s, using its triangular yoke. I matched the pattern to the logo from their Stadium Series jersey, and used the triangular captaincy patch. To keep it realistic, I also used their current gear.

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Gnashville

The Predators have one of the nicest modern uniform sets in the league, in my opinion. Besides ruining it with sock swaps, pant stripes, and gold helmets, they set a prime example of how a modern expansion team should look. I wanted to take away their chest piping while keeping the tooth motif.

I moved the arm striping to the upper arm, while thickening the white stripes to resemble the teeth in the logo. Their guitar pick patch is placed on both shoulders, while the mistakes of the past few years have been fixed.

What do you think? Comment below!

Colours of Winnipeg

In my opinion, the Jets have some of the top uniforms in the NHL right now: great colour balance, mix between classic and modern, a nice logo, and an outstanding Heritage Classic uniform. This isn't a detriment to the set, but their logo has a whopping six colours in it, and if that wasn't enough, they used yet another colour in their jerseys. In their defense, the jerseys only have three colours, but I still wanted to make a set using all the colours in the logo.

I used the design illusion of identical striping on both jerseys, using coloured upper arms on the away and coloured cuffs on the home. The striping uses a two tone stripe of grey, along with a thinner stripe of red. I elected to go with no shoulder logo, as the striping was busy enough. To top it off, I outlined the hems and straightened out their number set.

What do you think? Comment below!

Devilish Alternate

With traditionalist manager Lou Lamoriello in charge for most of their existence, the New Jersey Devils have never had a third jersey. With them getting a new uniform set next year, one could speculate the introduction of a black third in 2018. Here's my take:

I didn't shy away from using complex striping. In fact, I basically recreated the logo in stripes. There are a lot, but I don't think, without anything on the shoulders, that this is a busy look.

What do you think? Comment below!