Thursday, October 11, 2007

Fantasy Update: New Additions

I've got a quick update on the NHLToL fantasy hockey team if you're interested.

I added Scott Walker and Joffrey Lupul to the offense. Unfortunately though, idiot that I am, benched Lupul in favor of Martin Gelinas last night. Lupul was the only guy on my roster to get any points and every member of the team played last night. Disappointing.

But then I also benched Prospal for Staal last week and that came back to bite me as well when Prospal scored twice and Staal was a minus-2. I never claimed to be any good at this.

Anyway, I also added Pavel Kubina to the blue line and dropped Paul Mara. I also got rid of Steve Sullivan since it's anyone's guess as to when he'll actually be back. Plus I realized I had too many Predators on the team.

I've been reading your comments and I really appreciate the advice. Keep it coming.

I still feel like I need an upgrade on defense. I'm thinking about dumping Bieksa and/or Jovanovski. The top players available are Paul Mara, Roman Hamrlik, Tom Poti, Ruslan Salei, Jaroslav Spacek, and Brendan Witt. What do you think?

The team's currently 4th place in the 11-team league, 12 points behind the leader.

By the way, check out Poolhardy: A Guide to NHL Fantasy Pools if you've got the time. It's got some great tips and the writer, Carlo, is the commissioner of my league.

Rbk EDGE Review: Red Wings

Part 18 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

Detroit Red Wings


New Uniforms

Old Uniforms

The Unveiling
Wednesday, August 8. The Red Wings unveiled their new jerseys to no fanfare via their official web site.

Home vs. Road
Home: Red. Road: White. The two sweaters are essentially mirror images of each other with slight differences on the sleeves.

The red home jerseys feature a thick white stripe around the elbows as well as at the bottom around the waist. The collar is red and the primary logo serves as the crest.

The white road jerseys feature red sleeves with an indentation at the shoulder where a white shoulder yoke would end. A thick white stripe wraps around the elbows and a thick red stripe wraps around the waist. The collar is red and the primary logo serves as the crest.

In The Details
The captains' letters on the front of the sweater have been moved from the left shoulder to the right since the tip of the wing rises so high on that side. The Red Wings are the only team to wear the letters on that side. The same numbering and lettering style has been retained.

New & Old
Aside from the league-wide collar change and the adaptation to the new Rbk EDGE cut, the Red Wings have made no major alterations to their jerseys.

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

NHLToL Editorial by Chris
In my book, tradition and history don't win you anything by default. It still has to be earned. The Red Wings are the only team that can pull off the monochrome uniform and still look good. Despite my curiosity of what a new logo and uniform might look like, I wouldn't ever want to see it really changed. It's great the way it is. It's not perfect though. Because it hasn't really evolved over time, it's stale. The Bruins proved that minor yet marked alterations in striping style can result in turning a good jersey into a great one. Overall, I like it. 4/5



View the photo gallery

Buy your new Red Wings jersey!

Loading Up On Oil Art

With all the turmoil over the new Rbk EDGE jerseys of the Edmonton Oilers, the concept art has been arriving by the ton. Lots of people have suggestions for improvements and I'm all ears (and eyes). I figured I'd take a moment a share some of it with you.



By far, one of my favorite Oilers concepts. My only problem is with the lack of color. The Detroit Red Wings can pull off uniforms with just one color but nobody else can even come close. Blue by itself is boring. I see the silver there but it needs a color to make it stand out. I'd recommend copper.

But other than that, in terms of logo design, I'm a big fan. I even like the alternate logo used on the jersey on the right. The Oil would be in a bit better shape if they had something like this to wear every night.




Here are a couple of other options. But the copper and red usage here has me a bit thrown. I think they are good colors when used in moderation on this sweater. They're fine as stripes, but let's not go making huge panels with those colors. I do, however, like the shoulder logo used. Sharp colors and sharp design.



And finally we have this, featuring a logo, I believe, stolen from the Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League. The striping I could deal with. The logo, not so much. This is the NHL.

And that's that. What do you think of these? Any winners for Edmonton or do they need to go back to the drawing board? Remember, if you have any concept art you'd like to submit, please email it to nhllogos@gmail.com

Experts Coming Soon...

Just wanted to give you guys a heads up. Very soon I will be announcing the NHLToL Expert Panel. The panel will consist of five members who will share their expert design opinions with you in the coming months here at NHLToL. Should be exciting times!

Poll: Capitals vs Bruins


vs
Washington
CAPITALS
Boston
BRUINS


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
Thu Oct 11 @ 4:25 AM
Poll closing date
Mon Oct 15 @ 11:59 PM


07VNTRN | #1F | WSH74vBOS26

Result: North Stars vs Sabres

Buffalo
SABRES

59% 1,461 votes


Minnesota
NORTH STARS

41% 1,028 votes


2,489 total votes


Buffalo Sabres
Advancing to face Blackhawks or Nordiques


Minnesota North Stars
Eliminated




Poll opening date
Sat Oct 6 @ 9:00 AM
Poll closing date
Wed Oct 10 @ 11:59 PM


07VNTRN | #1A | MNSvBUF70