Updates Made To Galleries

I've been making updates to the photo galleries that I thought I'd tell you guys about.

First, I've uploaded tons of concept art to the Concepts Gallery so be sure to check that out. As you all know, I'm notoriously bad at remembering to add credits to your images, so if I haven't yet, please drop me a line and remind me. That's probably the only way it will get done.



I've also been adding preseason game photos to the official Rbk EDGE gallery. You can now see action stills of almost all 60 jerseys. At the moment I'm waiting to find photos of the Blue Jackets' white, Sabres' dark, and Capitals' dark. I should have them soon.

The Jackets' next two games (tonight and tomorrow) are on the road while the Sabres play at home tomorrow night. The Caps will play their next two at home so by tomorrow at the latest we should have complete galleries. That is, photos of all 60 sweaters in action.

Another cool feature I've just added tonight to the EDGE gallery is a Reader Photos album. Because I have the greatest blog readers ever, you guys have been sending in photos of your new Rbk EDGE sweaters. I figured this would be the best place for them.



If you've got photos you'd like me to add, please send them along.

Anyway, as you can see I'm always trying to improve the site. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, you can email me or post a comment below. Have a wonderful night!

Just To Freak You Out VIII

The Freak Out series continues this week with a brand new episode. Some of this stuff is just unbelievable.

We'll kick things off with some small but significant Atlanta Thrashers concept attempts.

I'm not sure I can find the words to describe this. The thrasher head, while being used as a major element of the crest, has also been employed as a rather horrid stripe. It points up the arm the shoulders along the sleeves and runs across the waist.

The secondary logo is used on the front of the jersey on the right side while the player number is on the left. Captains be damned. The full primary logo is also featured on the front, but not as the crest. No, you'll find that at the bottom on the left.

The crest being used features only the bird's head on an "A." But hey, at least there's three to choose from. Also notice that the panel under the arms is blue on all three.

This jersey set is an eye sore of the worst kind. But just look at the socks. I've never seen a logo on a sock. These socks have three — each! And that's just the side we can see. Imagine if they appeared on twice or even three times.

It hurts my brain to imagine what these would look like on the ice.

And then this. Anyone who thought the Maple Leafs introduced a rather plain jersey should see this.



And though I'm not sure who's conjuring the anger, I can only guess that it's fans who feel like they've been somehow cheated because the letters were spread vertically (not squeezed horizontally).

We're just now hearing of the NHL's plan to expand once again.



We don't yet know what city they'll play in, but the new club will be named the Referees. I don't know why this was made. But it made me laugh — and then it freaked me out some. Speaking of which, we've all seen the mish-mash logos created by Pfizer. Well this one was created by another artist, but it's almost equally as disturbing.



It seems some folks hate the slug so much, they feel a beheading is the only solution. Indeed.



Oh, this deserves an explanation. The fervor over the Calgary Flames claiming the Albertan flag on their shoulder has spurred the Toronto Maple Leafs to go all out and convert their entire uniform into a Canadian flag. With the vintage logo, of course. No other way to go.

And finally, if you thought the text on the front of the new Vancouver Canucks jersey was as bad as it gets, wow. Just wait until you look at this.



I never cease to be amazed — or freaked out — by the things people send me. If you have come up with anything wacky and would like to make it a part of the Freak Out series, send it along to nhllogos@gmail.com.

I hope you all enjoyed your Freak Out Friday and are looking forward to the ninth installment coming in one week's time.

Can anyone tell me where the Canucks play? I seem to have forgotten.

Rbk EDGE Review: Lightning

Part 5 of 30. All 30 NHL clubs have unveiled new jerseys under the new Rbk EDGE Uniform System for the 2007-08 season. Here at the NHLToL, we're going to review every one of them. Read up and then rate the new sweaters. We'll do a full ranking after completing all of the reviews.

Rbk EDGE Uniform System

Tampa Bay Lightning

New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Saturday, August 25. The Lightning unveiled their new uniforms to fans at ICEfest held at the St. Pete Times Forum in Tampa. Among those players in attendance were Chris Gratton, Filip Kuba, Johan Holmqvist and Marty St. Louis donning their new jerseys.

Home vs. Road
Home: Black. Road: White. The two sweaters are essentially mirror images of each other in terms of overall design and both feature secondary logo patches on each shoulder.

The black home jerseys feature white cuffs with thin blue piping at the wrist. A blue stripe around the arm rounds up on the inside to the armpit. The collar is blue and the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature black cuffs with thin blue piping at the wrist. A blue stripe around the arm rounds up on the inside to the armpit. The collar is blue and the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
The same shoulder patches featuring the secondary logo are found on both shoulders of each sweater. The block style numbering and lettering have been retained. The white sweaters feature the jersey number on the front right shoulder. The black ones do not. The unique thin stripes found under the armpit have been carried over from the old style jersey. Another noticeable change was to the pants where the lightning bolt now sits on a blue stripe.

New & Old
The Lightning were one of seven teams to introduce new logos. Aside from that, the overall jersey designs saw drastic changes. The shoulder yokes found on both sweaters are now gone, making the jersey a solid color throughout. In addition, the horizontal stripes at the waist are gone and the sleeve stripes have been greatly altered.

Standard FAQ
Numbers on the front? Yes.
Laces at the collar? No.

UPDATE (10/5 2:01 AM): Originally, the Lightning were only going to be wearing the number on the front of the white jerseys. Apparently that's changed as they wore the numbers on the front of the black jersey in the regular season opener. So the information here has been changed to reflect that both jerseys now have numbers on the front.

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
I should first say that with the Lightning being my favorite team, I may come off as biased. But this is the opinion area after all. As a Lightning fan, I've always thought our uniforms were dull and second rate. I can now proudly say we've taken a huge leap forward. I don't know if I can honestly say I believe the new sweater stands up to the likes of some of the others, but I'm very impressed. My favorite aspects include the increase in the use of blue in the uniform and the removal of the shoulder yokes. A fact worth noting that I own a black Rbk EDGE premier jersey and I love it. 4/5

View the photo gallery

Buy your new Lightning jersey!

Your Daily Dose Is Here

You know what this is. I've got today's concept art right here and there's a lot of it! And it's gonna be good. Mostly.

We'll start out with this Florida Panthers logo that caught my eye whilst I perused my inbox.



It's a sort of fusion between the primary and secondary logos that the designer said stemmed from an idea based off of the old Buffalo Sabres logo. But while that logo seemed to red "Buffalo Sabres" from top to bottom, this one seems to say "Panther Palm Trees."

No but seriously, it's very sharp. A little to detailed to ever see printed anywhere but here, but still nice.

What I'm concerned about is this logo. I'm certainly more a fan of the official VC logo introduced by the Vancouver Canucks last month. They introduced so many cool new logos, though. It's hard to like the orca on the crest anymore.

I got an email a while back, the source of which I cannot vouch for, that suggested the Canucks have planned to change their logo again in 2010 following the Olympics. This time they would feature Johnny Canuck as their primary symbol. I won't take a position on whether or not that has any validity, despite this logo just being introduced.

Anyway, perhaps a jersey may look something like this.



Although that V across the front of the jersey really scares me.

In other news, one of my things is that I feel like the New York Islander should make use of a lighthouse in their logo — if even just as a secondary. This concept borrows a recolored lighthouse logo from the mid-90s logo introduced as part of the "fish sticks" get up. That design wasn't all bad.



What I could live without is any changes to the New Jersey Devils' uniforms. I rated them a 5/5 in my review yesterday. Still, someone toyed with it a little.



That is something I feel would work for improving the Edmonton Oilers' sweaters, but not so much the Devils. Interesting as it is, I'd never want to see the Devils hit the ice in it.

Along those same lines is this item. The Hurricanes are just one of those teams that I cannot possibly envision in any colors but black, red and silver. I just can't do it.

So this whole Hartford Whalers thing has me thrown. It's just so unacceptable, you know? Or maybe it's just me. I often tend to go against the grain. You know this already if you're aware of my feelings regarding the Blackhawks' logo and uniforms.

And that about wraps things up. If you have any comments you'd like to share with the rest of the class, please do so by leaving a comment below. If you have any of your own artwork or have stumbled across someone else's that I haven't posted, feel free to email me.

Archive: Changing Logos

You guys may have noticed that the sidebar has been getting rather clogged in the past several weeks. In an effort to start cleaning it up without losing all of the information completely, I'm going to begin archiving certain things.

The first to be removed from action is the Changing Logos element. It's no long needed. We all know by now which teams have changed their logos. So for posterity, here it is.

Poll: Coyotes Logo History

1996	2003

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment as to how you came to your decision. Tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Poll opening date Sep 28 @ 4:25 AM

Poll closing date Oct 5 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHPHX

Result: Sharks Logo History

BEST ALL-TIME
2007
69% 2,960 votes


4,270 total votes

1991
31% 1,310 votes

Click here to see the original poll

Poll opening date Sep 20 @ 4:30 AM

Poll closing date Sep 27 @ 11:59 PM

07BONLH | LHSJS