Collection 17: No Pinching

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It's a day reserved for drinking and wearing green. There's nothing I can do to help you with the drinking part, but maybe you'll like some of these green concept jerseys.

Of course don't forget that the New Jersey Devils will crack out their 1980s throwback sweater — a swell mix of red and green — for one night only this season. That'll be tomorrow when they host the Capitals (they're in Ottawa tonight). They Devils wore them for the first time since 1992 last season on St. Patrick's Day.

Concept Collection 12

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New set of concept art for you this evening.

Keep them coming! Send in your work by email to have it included in a future post.

Strauss NHL Rebrand IX

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The NHL Rebrand series by Elliott Strauss is starting to wind down. This week he tackles the Devils, Wild and Predators. His own comments are in bold text.

Elliott Strauss

I thought that the old mustard alternate crest had potential to make an interesting primary logo, so I just cleaned it up. A simplified version of the current primary remains as a secondary. I came up with a custom font for the wordmark and numbers, and I'm happy with the way the numbers look on the jerseys.

The color scheme keeps navy and silver but adds an icy blue-gray in the place of yellow. The home jersey color of "steel blue" would make a unique addition to the NHL. The alternate slightly modifies the home/away template.

A strong entry here, to be sure. Personally, I never realized what a great logo the Predators' had on that old alternate until Elliott did some work to it. Certainly looks more like a hockey logo now. And overall, this is a really sharp uniform set. I'd by that home jersey in a heartbeat.
Elliott Strauss

I dropped the two-tone gold thing they have going, the darker yellow is gone, and wheat takes its place. Other than that, the logos stay the same, this is one of my favorite primaries of all time, so I got rid of the circle thing on the primary crest to focus on the awesomeness of this logo.

Pretty simple uniforms. No white in the homes, but I think the small amount of wheat really makes the red stand out. Then green has a prominent role in the roads as well. The alternate simplifies things even further. I do like how these uniforms turned out.

Great to see that primary logo back on the front of a green jersey. That's where it belongs. Only thing I don't like about this set is the alternate uniform. I understand what Elliott was going for but the style of that wordmark clashes with the simplicity of the sweater. At least the team got that right for real with the new thirds this year.
Elliott Strauss

I love what they wear now, but I wanted to try a modernization. I actually made the home jersey black, which is new, and then tried some devil-horn striping. I had to keep a lot of red, so the alternate brings back the red base, with a different take on a modern devil-horn stripe.

The striping on these jerseys is just flat-out cool. The shift back to classic style uniforms means we probably won't get to see anything like this in the NHL for another 15 to 20 years. I also like the secondary logo, borrowed from the AHL's Lowell Devils, but disappointed it didn't make an appearance on the uniforms, not even the shoulders of the alternate.

And if I'm being completely honest in my review, I'm also disappointed that we didn't get a modernization of the logo along with the updated jerseys. The Devils' logo is very clearly a product of the early '80s. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it seems out of place on the "futuristic" jersey designs. However I do like the re-coloring on the home sweater.

One more edition of Elliott's NHL rebrands to come. And by process of elimination, I'm sure you've figured out that the Rangers, Canucks and Blue Jackets are on deck. Spoiler alert: Rangers get the best rebrand!

The State of Hockey

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The Minnesota Wild are the subject of the newest Icethetics concept post. Our artists have come up with a slew of unique designs for Wild jerseys — all of which are worth a look.

Brian Brideau

First up, how could the Wild look better on the road? After all, they are 9-19-2 right now. Brian may not be able to offer any legitimate tips on improving play, but maybe a new away jersey instead.

He's put the Wild's wheat color to good use by creating a reversal of the red home jersey. Is it better than what they have now? I don't know.
Adam L'Italien

Adam has a different idea. He's keeping the white and the primary logo but making it look more like that red jersey. It's a good jersey and it's been copied a lot but do we really want to oversaturate it? I liked it better when it was an alternate sweater.
Glen Cuthbert

So speaking of third jerseys, can we improve upon their current one? Glen liked the M but not much else. He stripped down the text-based crest and added the primary logo to the shoulders. For better or worse?
Jake Slavik

Jake's got a little off the beaten path, both in jersey design and customization. Probably the only time you'll see a Guillaume Latendresse jersey on these pages.

But it's the funky striping that really gives me pause. It's just so... strange. Notice I didn't say "horrible."
Brian Brideau

Now we switch gears and pretend to go back into the past. The Wild played their first game in 2000. But imagine if they existed in the 1980s. Brian thinks they'd be a lot more brightly colored — and that somehow they'd still have a goalie named Backstrom.

Even better, what if the Wild were around in hockey's early days along with the Montreal Canadiens. Would a 1910s Wild sweater look like this? Would Derek Boogaard's great grandfather be a member of the club? For sure, the color saturation would be much less than in the 80s.

Very creative. This is the sort of stuff I love to see.
Matt Marczel

And as a bonus, let's go back into legitimate Minnesota hockey history — but in present day. Confused? Just look at these concepts for the team formerly known as the North Stars.

Matt's taken the AHL's Iowa Stars logo and given it a shot on the Dallas uniform. While I love the heavy-handed green and total lack of black, I'm not sure it's an improvement. Thoughts?
Ryan Haslett

Lastly, Ryan has come up with a simple black jersey that calls back to the Stars' earliest days in Dallas. Unfortunately that's the Dallas Cowboys' logo painted green and gold. The stripes are great, though.

Hoping to not wait so long to get the next batch of concepts up. Been hard at work on new jersey galleries. Almost time to start getting the home and road sweaters on there.

By the way, Elliott Strauss' NHL Rebrand series will be picking up soon with the last half of the league. Stay tuned for that.

Midwest Modifications

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It's Super Bowl Sunday so that means a super-sized concept post. (Also I haven't put up anything new since Wednesday, so I owe you.) Normally I'd make the big game the theme, but as there are no NHL franchises in Indiana or Louisiana, we'll have to settle for the Central Division.

Matt Marczel

Lately, I've been seeing a lot of great Blackhawks concept art. This one has to be one of my favorites. Matt has ditched white for "vintage white" and it's made all the difference. I love the color combination and the use of color in this uniform set.

He's got home/road/third jersey, in that order, and I have to say the third may be the best. If that was ever a real NHL sweater, I'd buy it in a heartbeat. No question. Very nice work here, Matt!
Brad McPelican

One thing you don't seen an awful lot of in hockey is striped shoulder yokes, the assumption being that it would look terrible. I think this design proves the opposite.

I think Brad's design is a winner right up until the third jersey. I just don't think that trumpet logo ever worked for the Blues. Just wasn't meant to be. I think the Blue Note represents the club much better than a literal logo.

So what about the third jersey then?
Mike Bell

Mike has this to offer and I think he hit the nail on the head. Throwbacks work for some teams and not others. For example, it was bad news for the Flyers at the Winter Classic but good news for the Blackhawks at the Winter Classic.

The Blues would look great in those vintage colors and stylings. All we need is that nameplate.
Ryan Haslett

But if your idea of a third jersey is something completely different, Ryan has the answer. I didn't think I'd like a gold Blues jersey. This has changed my mind. Great colors and striping. That is a hockey sweater.
Jeff Kennedy

One team that has struggled with their identity for the last decade — no, not the Canucks — is the Blue Jackets. I think they've finally settled on a good solid look. So that's a plus.

What they don't have yet is a third jersey, so Jeff has taken it upon himself to put forth a couple ideas. They're certainly unique, but I'm not sure I'm sold on these.
Josh Gagnon

So how about this one? Many of you will say you don't like the sweater number on the front, but it is presented in a unique way. However, I'm not sure the vintage white works with such bright shades of blue and red. Maybe something a bit muted.

To be sure, the last thing the Jackets need is to introduce yet another new jersey logo. So we'll just wait and see if 2010-11 is the year the alternate uniform returns to Ohio's capital.
Ryan Haslett

We can't leave out the winningest team in the Central Division. Ryan's made some minor changes to the Red Wings' unis. Not sure about the shoulder piping or the repetition of the winged wheel, but the rest of the striping works.
Matt McElroy

We'll finish off the division with the Predators. Actually, Matt has given us simplified jerseys and primary logos for both the Preds and the Wild. It sort of works for the Wild, but the saber-toothed tiger just looks washed out. And the jerseys may be a little too simple.

But let this final graphic today serve as a bit of foreshadowing to the next concept post.

I'll have new artwork up in a day or two featuring the self-proclaimed State of Hockey.

Freak Out Friday XLIV

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Happy Friday, all! Right now, I'm on an airplane bound for Las Vegas. This is the first of five auto-posts that should keep you guys occupied with new concept art while I'm off getting married. I've scheduled one for every day that I'm away and each one has its own theme.

Today's theme is an Icethetics fan favorite: Freak Out Friday! For new readers, this was a very popular regular feature of the site when I used to get loads of concept art sent in. Sometimes it would miss the mark — meaning we would never want to actually see it on the ice. Here's what I mean...

John B

The last time the Coyotes put a cactus on their jersey, it came to us in the form of one incredibly unpopular green third jersey in the late '90s. Unfortunately, this makes no improvements on that.

The designer is obviously trying to take a bad page out of the Lightning and Senators' books by running the nickname across the front. Yotes works about as well as Bolts and Sens. And while the sand and brick colors are still used today in the Phoenix color scheme, the purple and green are not.
John B

While we're on the subject of colloquialism failures on jerseys, let's add Minny to the list. I think Wild fans would agree there's just no call for it.

I don't want to dismiss this design out of hand, though. The striping is pretty nice, if not based somewhat off of Minnesota's current home and former third jersey. The red and beige color combo is one of the best looks in hockey right now.
Jules

Some of you may not necessarily be freaked out by this idea of a Kings third jersey, but I sure am. It may not be a popular notion, but I think one of the best uniform overhauls in NHL history was when the Kings switched to silver and black. Then they improved upon it by adding the purple back. But at no point do I want to see them wearing yellow on a regular basis again.

The only way I could excuse it is for a special night with historical significance as a one-off jersey. But now that I've said my peace, I'm curious what the rest of you think of a return to the '60s color scheme. At least at that time the NHL wasn't overrun with only two colors. Variety is good.
Matt McElroy

But hopefully we can all agree that such a variety of color on a single jersey is not a plus. A deep purple sweater with neon yellow sleeves and silver accents is in the dictionary next to "ugly."

That was harsh, but look, even the purple in the logo doesn't match the purple of the jersey itself. Same with the gold. And that numbering style is not a saving grace either.

This jersey design needs to be buried. Deep.

So while I'm enjoying myself in Vegas, I hope this post freaked you out sufficiently. As I mentioned earlier, there will be new concept art posted right here automatically every day until Tuesday.

The Next Winter Classic(s)

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It's hard to believe 2010 is a mere four days away. That means the third annual Winter Classic is coming up at the end of the week.

And on the eve of the big event, a bunch of eager artists have started thinking about the next one. Or should I make that plural? A couple weeks ago, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said he'd like to see a second outdoor game on New Year's Day 2011 — this one in Canada.

No decisions have been made at this point and any discussion on the topic is pure speculation. But that's what the Icethetics Concepts page is for. So as we prepare for the Philadelphia Flyers to face the Boston Bruins at Fenway Park, let's think about what we might like to see in 2011.

Rumors suggest Yankee Stadium will play host to at least one of the 2011 outdoor games. That puts the Rangers at home to face who? Islanders? Maple Leafs? Capitals? And regarding the Canada game, Bettman mentioned Calgary by name. Would the Flames face their province rivals, the Oilers? Perhaps the Canucks or even Avalanche?

Let's see what some talented people have come up with as suggestions for 2011.

Brendan Droppo

Yankee Stadium

Rangers vs Islanders

This may be the most well-designed Winter Classic 2011 concept I've received. Brendan Droppo is sticking with the New York City rumors and pairing the Rangers and Islanders at Yankee Stadium. Probably a safe bet.

He's got a great logo that evokes the locale (as the past logos have done) and a pair of classic sweaters. Though I'm not sure you can call anything but their current jersey a classic. But then I thought that about the Red Wings too. And theirs worked out just fine last year.

This is an awesome concept and I'm completely on board with it only if western Canada also gets their own Winter Classic. If they don't, I say out with the Isles. Canada deserves to get back into the outdoor games. Pit the Rangers against the Maple Leafs.

If there is a Canadian game, I'd vote to leave it the way it is. Not sure the Rangers have another rival as big as the Isles. Plus we need to share the wealth. Everyone should get a shot at a Winter Classic game.
Cole Jones

Target Field

Wild vs Stars

Cole Jones of The Other 6 Seconds hockey blog emailed in to tell me about his idea. You can read the full proposal on his blog, but here are the bullet points.

While I'm over here trying to get a Canadian team back into their own game, Cole, a Stars fan, is attempting to get a southern U.S. team into the mix — his own. He'd like to pit the Dallas Stars against the Minnesota Wild at Target Field, which is currently under construction in Minneapolis. It will serve as the home of the Minnesota Twins beginning in April 2010 — more than enough time to prepare it for a hockey match.

It would be a huge day for Minnesota hockey fans, that's for sure. To see their current team after 10 years on the ice, facing a blast from the past in the form of North Stars jerseys would probably send some people into a tailspin.

The only problem I see is this: Aside from Minnesotans, who cares? Part of the idea behind the Winter Classic is to appeal to new fans. To put the game in front of people who normally wouldn't watch. The past few seasons the NHL has been going for teams in big markets or with long histories. Yes, Dallas and Minneapolis are two huge markets, but the point is to go beyond them. A Rangers-Isles game would certainly do the trick. Everybody knows the Rangers, even if their not hockey fans.

But this idea of getting the Stars back to Minnesota for a big event is a pretty popular one in hockey circles...
Ryan Haslett

Target Field

Wild vs Stars

Another regular Icethetics artist, Ryan Haslett, independently came up with the same idea. Wild and Stars at Target Field. But Ryan's idea for an event logo and game jerseys is a little different.

They definitely feel like classic hockey, but both designs borrow from current sweaters. The "M" on the Wild jersey comes from the new green third while the Stars sweater is based off their current third, but infused with a little more gold.

Either Cole's or Ryan's designs could work well if, indeed, one of the 2011 Winter Classics were to take place in Minnesota.
Ryan Haslett

Rogers Centre

Maple Leafs vs Canadiens

Speaking of Canada, Ryan did have a second Canadian option — going with one of the oldest rivalries in professional sports. He's got the Habs and Leafs at Rogers Centre in Toronto. Formerly called the SkyDome, the stadium plays home to the Toronto Blue Jays and Toronto Argonauts.

As expected, he's got the teams in vintage sweaters, and surprisingly enough, one that the Canadiens have NOT worn in the past two seasons. The logo is a little weak but it plays off the simplicity of the Rogers Centre logo.

Now to be fair, the Canadiens just took part in an outdoor game in 2003. Maybe they should sit on the bench a little while longer, you know? If you're going to put the game in Toronto, maybe have the Leafs face their province rival Ottawa Senators. As I said, spread the wealth.

One thing I've noticed with these concepts is they're all set at baseball stadiums. Let's not forget the first two NHL outdoor games took place in football stadiums and were quite successful.

In wrapping things up, the one concept I don't have to share that I would really like to see is Calgary. I'm not familiar enough with the city to know where it should be played, but the Flames should host it and their opponent should NOT be the Oilers. (The Oilers faced the Habs in 2003 in Edmonton.) I think it comes down to the Maple Leafs, who play in a huge market and have a long history, or the Canucks, who are geographically closer and a more common foe during the regular season. But it's not up to me.

So what are your thoughts on the 2011 Winter Classic(s)? If you have have concept art to share, I'd be happy to add it to this post. If you just have another thought about a good match-up, drop a line in the comments.

By the way, happy new year!

It's Back!

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Since my return to Icethetics, it seems like I've brought back every feature but one. Arguably, your favorite one! I get emails all the time asking where the concept art went. Well it went to Twitter, but many of you have said that you want it back on the blog.

It's time to revitalize this stagnant Concepts section here at Icethetics. My goal is to get at least one new post a week on this page and ramp it up as more artwork comes in. Let's start with one of our most prolific contributors, Mike Ivall.

Calgary Flames concept by Ivall

It's a kind of merging of the Flames' old third jersey logo and the classic Flaming C. The jersey designs are very interesting as well, almost evoking a sense of fire and flames — though I don't want to make too much of a case in favor of the Edge design.

Wild fans, this one's for you. Untvar has come up with several different ideas for the forthcoming alternate sweater. Take a look and tell us what you think. Each one is labeled.

Minnesota Wild alternate concepts by Untvar

Personally I prefer the shade of green in A but I'm also partial to the striping on E. Not caring much for the North Stars-inspired designs but to each his own.

That's what I've got for now. I'm going to comb through my inbox and try to find some artwork I haven't yet posted — including all those Ducks concepts I asked for a few weeks ago! In addition, the Ice Bulls will be announcing their final decision on their new logo tomorrow so I'll be posting all of the submissions I received that didn't make the cut.

It'll all be right here in the newly reinvigorated Concepts section!