Just To Freak You Out XXXII

Can you believe this is already the 32nd installment of the Freak Out series? Who knew it would go this long? What's interesting about this week's post is what comes at the end and the fact that it's real and not concocted in the freakish mind of one of the many readers of NHLToL. No, it's quite real and that's what freaks me out the most.

But first, let's talk third jerseys. We know they're making their big comeback next season after having taken a year off. We'll begin in Vancouver.



But wait, there's more!



And I'm sure this was just a case of colors lost in translation.



Doesn't make me feel any better. I'm all right with the purple on the Kings' uniforms because it's partnered with black and silver.

Here's a Lightning jersey even I wouldn't consider buying.



And a Sens sweater absolutely no one would.



But hold on, why one team at a time? Let's go for all 30 all at once.



A good try to be sure, but I'm afraid a few too many of these missed the mark in terms of what one might consider, you know, aesthetically pleasing. (What the hell kind of sentence was that?)

It's worse when you make it look real by painting it onto a player.



And now for the little thing I was teasing at the beginning of this post. I know it's not NHL, but I'm making an exception. The AHL's Lake Erie Monsters, this season, actually wore jerseys that... I'm sorry, there's no other way of putting this. They were tie-dyed. Behold the horror.



Because one photo wasn't enough...



Peace. Love. And hockey.

And now I'm just going to go put forks in my eyes. Until tomorrow, friends.

Poll: Miller vs Halak

	vs
Ryan MILLER		Jaroslav HALAK

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

UPDATE (4:23 PM): I understand Halak recently debuted a new mask. Unfortunately there are no good photos available yet for me to make a graphic. Plus, I can't change a graphic once it's been posted in a poll. For the purposes of this tournament, you'll have to vote based on this mask.

Poll opening date Fri Mar 28

Poll closing date Tue Apr 1

Third Jersey Ideas

I haven't written a concept art post since the weekend so I think we're due. But it's going to be a short one. One reader came up with 13 different jersey designs he'd like to see implemented for various teams at some point in the future.



I told you it'd be short, but we've got 13 different teams covered. Hope you enjoy it.

We've got a Freak Out Friday post coming tomorrow and hopefully some more concepts for the weekend. I've been keeping pretty busy with the Goalie Mask Tournament. Voter turnout is great so far. Keep 'em coming!

Poll: Howard vs Rask

	vs
Jimmy HOWARD		Tuukka RASK

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment about 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 Mar 27

Poll closing date Mon Mar 31

New Rebrand On The Way

Thought I'd let you guys know our friend Matt is hard at work on his next rebrand. His series has impressed a lot of people and shown us in a dramatic way what many teams are missing in terms of good logo and uniform design.

Back to the point, though. His next team is... (drum roll)... the Tampa Bay Lightning. Yes, my team! Expect to see the design posted here some time in the next few weeks. In the meantime, feel free to check out his previous work.

Poll: Denis vs Clemmensen

	vs
Marc DENIS		Scott CLEMMENSEN

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment about 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 Wed Mar 26

Poll closing date Sat Mar 30

Poll: Ramo (a) vs Ramo (b)

	vs
Karri RAMO (a)		Karri RAMO (b)

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment about 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 Tue Mar 25

Poll closing date Sat Mar 29

Poll: Turco (b) vs Turco (w)

	vs
Marty TURCO (black)		Marty TURCO (white)

Place your vote and then feel free to leave a comment about 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 Mon Mar 24

Poll closing date Fri Mar 28

Mask Madness Match-ups

Yes, I'll refer to it as Mask Madness every once and a while just for you guys. But here we go with the preliminary- and first-round match-ups for the 2008 NHL Tournament of Goalie Masks. I'm having a little bit of difficulty building the actual bracket. So until I figure something out, you'll have to deal with it in text format.

First, there will be the Preliminary Round, made up of 4 polls. They will start Monday and be as follows:
1 | TURCO (black) vs TURCO (white)
Here you'll choose between Marty Turco's home and road masks.
2 | RAMO (a) vs RAMO (b)
Here you'll decide on which of Karri Ramo's two masks goes into the full tournament.
3 | DENIS vs CLEMMENSEN
4 | HOWARD vs RASK

Then comes Round One. There are 32 polls comprising that group, divided into two sides. The first list is the group on the left side of the bracket.

1 | MILLER vs HALAK
2 | ROLOSON vs ERSBERG
3 | BRYZGALOV vs TELLQVIST
4 | KOLZIG vs GRAHAME
5 | BRODEUR vs THIBAULT
6 | HUET vs NORRENA
7 | CONKLIN vs HEDBERG
8 | EMERY vs RAMO
9 | TOSKALA vs ELLIS
10 | KIPRUSOFF vs HASEK
11 | LUONGO vs CLOUTIER
12 | JOSEPH vs VALIQUETTE
13 | FLEURY vs ANDERSON
14 | NIITTYMAKI vs HOLMQVIST
15 | LECLAIRE vs MASON
16 | THEODORE vs DENIS/CLEMMENSEN

And on the right side of the bracket is this group:

1 | BACKSTROM vs RAYCROFT
2 | WARD vs HARDING
3 | TURCO vs OSGOOD
4 | KHABIBULIN vs DUBIELEWICZ
5 | VOKOUN vs SANFORD
6 | GARON vs GERBER
7 | LALIME vs TOIVONEN
8 | GIGUERE vs AULD
9 | LEGACE vs WEEKES
10 | DiPIETRO vs HILLER
11 | LUNDQVIST vs BUDAJ
12 | BIRON vs SMITH
13 | THOMAS vs LaBARBERA
14 | PRICE vs SABOURIN
15 | NABOKOV vs BOUCHER
16 | LEHTONEN vs HOWARD/RASK

Remember, totally random!

When I get the bracket completed, I'll post it. In the meantime, get ready to start casting your votes! And do me a favor, start spreading the word around. Let's get as many people involved in this tournament as possible!

Another Goalie Masks Update

All right, I've been listening to you guys and I have some quick changes to make before announcing the match-ups for the NHL Tournament of Goalie Masks.

I'm updating the graphics for Grahame and Budaj who both have new masks which I didn't know about until today. So much for doing my research. Same goes for Cloutier who's returned to the Osgood-esque helmet. All of those updates will be made at some point this morning.

I'm keeping Holmqvist's mask the way it is because, first, he has yet to play a full game for the Stars and so has no mask painted for that team. Second, he carried the Lightning goaltending most of the season and that shouldn't go unnoticed. He played all year, so to drop him out now just because he got traded at the 11th hour isn't right, if you ask me.

I'm adding Ersberg today as well. He'll be replacing Fernandez, who hasn't played a game since October. I like Manny Fernadez and I hate to drop him, but somebody had to go. I'm not getting rid of Osgood and Cloutier just because their helmets are plain. That'll be for the voters to decide.

Otherwise I think that's everybody. So if you've noticed anything else that needs adjustment, speak now or hold your peace.