The Kraken

Last week the NHL's 32nd franchise revealed their identity, and I'm a big fan of it.  I love the name Kraken (and I have since it was first rumoured), the logos are great, and the jerseys are nice as well.

So without further ado, here's a third jersey concept using their "Ice Blue" as the primary colour.

Seattle Kraken:

There's nothing too crazy here, I just wanted to see how this colour would work for a third jersey (because I'm sure Seattle will have a jersey this colour at some point in the future).

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments, and thanks for visiting!

Double Golden Knights

Welcome back to another post for my NHL Double Series!  The Vegas Golden Knights are the only NHL team I've never made any concept for, but that ends today (at least with the second set, the first set hardly counts as a concept).

My Ideal Vegas Golden Knights:

As you can see, I barely made any changes for my "Ideal" Golden Knights concept.  I think their current jerseys are pretty much perfect, so all I really did was experiment with steel gray pants for the road jersey.

New Look Vegas Golden Knights:

Here I placed the hidden V from their logo on to the sleeve, and continued that line up to create an extended shoulder yoke.  Also I used gold numbers, and went with a steel gray pair of gloves for the white jersey.

See you later!

Past Concepts from Across Canada

Happy Canada Day!  I thought I'd celebrate this day by sharing some of my old concepts for various teams from across Canada, starting out west with Vancouver!

Vancouver Canucks:

This Canucks concept was inspired by soccer jerseys.  The angled stripes are meant to be subtle V's.

Vancouver Giants:

Next up we have a Vancouver Giants concept, which was my take on the Giants original jerseys.

Surrey Eagles:

For this Surrey Eagles concept, I based the striping off of the jersey the eagle in the logo is wearing.

Abbotsford Heat:

Looking back now, I could have been more creative with this Abbotsford Heat concept.

Chilliwack Chiefs:

I went with a double sleeve-stripe design for this Chilliwack Chiefs concept, and used an angular font to match the angles in the logo.

Calgary Flames:

The gradients on this Flames concept are meant to look like flames.

Edmonton Oilers:

Here's a grey Oilers concept which uses their old "steel-drop" logo in front of a diagonal chest stripe.

Winnipeg Jets:

Moving on to Winnipeg, we have an aviator blue jersey with chevrons on the sleeves.

Manitoba Moose:

I simplified the old colour scheme of the Manitoba Moose for this concept.

London Knights:

This London Knights concept uses stripes on the ends of the shoulder yoke.

Hamilton Tigers:

Tiger stripes were the theme of this Hamilton Tigers concept.

Toronto Maple Leafs:

Here's a fauxback Maple Leafs concept which combines some of their old Toronto Arenas and St. Pats jerseys.

Toronto Marlies:

I used the Maple Leafs' 1930-34 jersey as inspiration for this Toronto Marlies concept.

Ottawa Senators:

This Senators concept is based off of the logo and jerseys of the WHA's Ottawa Nationals.

Montreal Canadiens:

Next up is a Canadiens concept using a chest stripe on a white jersey.

Montreal Maroons:

Also in Montreal, this was my idea of an update for the old Montreal Maroons.

Quebec Nordiques:

Last but not least, we have a double blue Quebec Nordiques concept which was part of my what if the Nordiques never moved set of concepts.

Thanks for visiting, and I hope you enjoy the rest of your Canada Day!

Quick Colour Swap Concepts

I was in the mood to make some quick colour swapped concepts, so that's exactly what I did!

Boston Bruins:

This is just the Bruins third jersey in yellow instead of black.

Dark Mode Detroit Red Wings:

Here's a "dark mode" version of the Red Wings home jersey.

Montreal Canadiens:

I'm sure you've seen this many times before, it's the Canadiens home jersey with red and blue swapped.

New York Islanders:

Next up we have an orange Islanders jersey, which is their road jersey with the main white area coloured in.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Yellow):

This is the Penguins road jersey re-coloured to match their 1980-84 yellow jersey.

Pittsburgh Penguins (Blue):

I also re-created the Penguins 1977-80 double blue set of jerseys.

Vancouver Canucks:

Last but not least we have the Canucks current home jerseys in green instead of blue.

Have a nice day!

Random Review: Edmonton Oilers 1997-2007 Light Jersey

I'm trying out a new segment on this blog where I review a randomly selected NHL jersey.  Today's jersey is the Edmonton Oilers light jersey worn from 1997-2007.

Timeline

(Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

In 1996 the Oilers ditched their royal blue and orange colours, for a darker colour scheme of midnight blue and copper with red accents.  However, the specific jersey I'm reviewing didn't come around until a year later (the 1996-97 white jersey had a blue shoulder yoke).

From 1997 to 2003 this jersey was the Oilers home jersey, but in 2003 the NHL switched to dark jerseys at home so this became the Oilers road jersey.  It lasted until 2007, when the NHL introduced the Reebok Edge system and the Oilers jerseys were redesigned.

Design

(Getty Images)

The design of this jersey is really just an evolution of the Oilers classic "Gretzky era" white jersey.  Ignoring the colour differences, they kept the same primary logo and barely changed the pattern of the sleeve and hem stripes.  There were two big changes though, the aforementioned colour scheme and the removal of the blue shoulder yoke, as well as some smaller differences (the introduction of a secondary logo, outlines on the player's names, etc).

My Thoughts

(Photo by Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images)

In my opinion, the Oilers 1997-2007 white jersey was a perfectly fine jersey for its era, an era which saw many NHL teams switch to a darker colour scheme.  I don't really have any complaints, I think the removal of the contrasting shoulder yoke was a smart decision here, and I also like the introduction of the secondary logo.  However, I prefer the Oilers brighter royal blue and orange colour scheme.

Successful or Not

(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The Oilers were moderately successful during their nine seasons wearing this jersey.  They made the playoffs six times, and advanced all the way to game seven of the Stanley Cup Final in 2006.  That's obviously not as successful as they were back when they were winning Stanley Cups, but it's much more success than they've had since 2007 (unless you count winning draft lotteries as success).

Most Memorable Players

(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

Some of the more memorable players to wear this jersey include Bill Guerin, Ales Hemsky, Shawn Horcoff, Curtis Joseph, Georges Laraque, Chris Pronger, Dwayne Roloson, Jason Smith, Ryan Smyth, and Doug Weight.

Should it Return?

(Photo by mark6mauno)

I don't think this jersey should return.  As a full time jersey, this colour scheme is too dark and dull by today's standards.  I also think it's too soon to bring this back as a throwback jersey.  Not to mention, it would make more sense to bring back the midnight blue version of this jersey.

That wraps up my review of the Edmonton Oilers 1997-2007 light jersey.  Feel free to leave your own thoughts in the comments, and let me know if you think this format makes sense for future posts.