Just To Freak You Out XIII

It's lucky number 13 tonight on Freak Out Friday. Hope you guys get weirded out by what I have to share here.

I don't quite know where to begin.



Wow, I don't know what you did to deserve that, but it must've been pretty bad. Now if you're thinking that looks somewhat familiar, consult a post from last month.



And the hits just keep coming. Flames, take a clue from the Thrashers. This is how you do it up if you really want your provincial/state flag on your jersey. The scary part is that half of it is what seems to be the Confederate flag. Yeah, 'cause rednecks and hicks just dig hockey.

All right so let's head up north where they can really claim the sport. Scary thought alert. Imagine the Rangers and Flyers swapping colors.



On second thought, don't. It's too horrible. Speaking of horrible, check out this Rangers jersey concept.



That's what scary is. I know the new EDGE jerseys are supposed to have larger crests, but somewhere a line's been crossed.

Anyway, let's head west. Here's a color combination that doesn't work on a jersey.



The Nashville Predators are a hockey team, not a figure skating team.

Right?

Yikes! That logo. And while we're on the topic of bad logos, consider the following.



Oilers fans, you think you've got it bad now with your half-a-stripe elbows and practice-jersey looks. What if this happened? Don't even think about it too much. Your head will explode.

We'll wrap things up in California now, if you don't mind. And sometimes you have to reintroduce a winner — like the 1996 Mighty Ducks third jersey. Only the Ducks have new colors now.



That is something.

What we're finishing the night off with might be hard to look at. Remember the old Lightning third jerseys from the mid-90s? They had the rain pouring down, lightning bolts down the arms and — the selling point — the wild waves of the bay around the bottom. Well Sharks live in the water.



The waves have been stolen. And so has what little dignity might've been left in the new Florida Panthers uniforms when an attempt to create a San Jose concept went horribly awry. This is what happens when folks have too much time on their hands.

Well I hope you all got freaked out enough on this Freak Out Friday. If not, accept my apologies. Better luck next week. Until then, I'm waiting to see what you guys have in store for me next in terms of crazy artwork. Email it along.

Recolor This

Today's concept post will deal strictly with recoloring things. Yes, that's right. For instance, let's suppose the Florida Panthers had opted for the more traditional red home sweater over the blue one they actually went with.



Not bad, but despite the fact that I loath the Stinkin' Panthers, I prefer the blue. The old red sweaters were nice, but I don't care much for this one pictured here. But that's just me.

Speaking of me being a Lightning fan, someone remade the Sharks' and Habs' sweaters with Bolts colors.



I don't know. No. They'll always be a teal team. That's just who they are. Don't question it. As for the Habs, you can't have that jersey in anything but red. Even blue would be weird.

Here's something else that might make you question whether this is the Freak Out Friday post. Not quite yet. Just a misguided attempt at giving the Canucks new colors.



I'm all for the return of a green team to the NHL, but this is not how that is achieved. No, no, no. I know I'm sounding very negative right now, but just no.

Anyway, here's something I like. The Blue & Bronze Age of the Washington Capitals was my favorite. Even though it fits them perfectly, thematically speaking, the red/white/blue combo is so overused in this sport. Check out the current EDGE unis in the old colors.



It may not be the most brilliant thing you've ever seen, but come on. That's not too shabby. I like the white "capitals." Very sharp, right there, if you ask me. I'd just like to see the black jersey in blue instead. I was more a fan of the blue '90s jerseys for the Caps. I like the black one as a third jersey — not so much a primary home sweater.

And finally, we'll finish off with something a bit different. This is the Islanders uniforms recolored — but for a different team.



Wow, no. I'm sorry, but those sleeves don't look good on any team if you ask me. The more I see it, the less I like it. Granted it looks better in black and orange than blue and orange, but still, I'll pass on this one.

What do you guys think? Any winners here? Or should we go back to the paint bucket?

Fantasy Update: In The Dumps

I know I haven't updated you guys on the status of the NHLToL fantasy team in quite a while — not that you care — so here goes. We suck!

We're presently in 9th place in an 11-team league. Things were looking good early on but that was before the Lightning started sucking. And if you remember, I stupidly stocked the team with Lightning players. I'm going to have to rectify that because obviously having Lecavalier, Prospal, St. Louis and Kuba is just not working. A 4-0 loss to the Isles? Really? Shameful.

Anyway, I'll let you know how things go this weekend and maybe you guys can offer some advice. Who to drop, who to add, etc. Look for that by Sunday.

Mailbag: Sens Replace Sweaters

Things just keep getting more and more interesting with these Rbk EDGE jerseys. I posted some info last week about the possibility Reebok would be replacing the new "hi-tech" fabric with the old stuff. Here's an email I received earlier.

Hey Chris,

Just thought I’d pass this on. Today in the Ottawa Citizen, it had a brief clipping about the Senators-Thrashers game last night. The Sens wore ‘modified’ versions of the new jerseys and are the first to do so. They look the same, but they did look baggier, or looser when I watched the game last evening.

I still wished they had put horizontal stripes on the bottom of the sleeves and jersey. I loved the contrasting number they had on the white jersey of last year (white jersey had white numbers on the sleeves, red jersey had red numbers on sleeves against white material) That’s just me. But these new ones are starting to grow on me.

I agree with you, the Sens are a black team first, the red was adopted later. I think its time for BACK IN BLACK!

Nevill

First of all, partly I just wanted to show that someone actually agreed with me on the black thing. Seriously, the Sens were black from the beginning. "Be Red" is a new-fangled thing — like the Rbk EDGE jerseys.

Here's a pullquote from that article in the Citizen.

November 2, 2007

Sweat Surrender

Ken Warren
The Ottawa Citizen

The Senators last night wore modified Reebok game sweaters, becoming the first NHL team to wear the new models. Countless NHL players have complained that the overly hyped Reebok re-design, which included a moisture-repelling substance, was a disaster.

Turns out that players' sweat was dripping off the sweaters into the players' gloves, socks and skates, making them heavier than before — the polar opposite of what was intended. Egg is now dripping off the faces of the sweater designers, and all the NHL and Reebok officials who promoted the "uniform systems" in the first place.

Raise your hand if you saw all this coming.

This failure by Reebok has caused me to realize something depressing. More and more I'm losing faith in the things that I love. First, the hockey players get locked out and lose an entire season in 2005. Now, as a lover of scripted television — my shows are Lost, 24, The Office, and now Pushing Daisies — the writers in Hollywood are striking. Hopefully they get their issues resolved quicker than the hockey folks did.

Anyway, in the meantime I have my Wii and Super Mario Galaxy will arrive at my door in 10 days. All is well.

Not Much Going On

Apologies, but the title says it all today. Not much going on. Freak Out Friday is tomorrow and I'm still in need of more crazy artwork from you guys, so send it along if you've got it!

All I can recommend today is that you get your votes in if you haven't yet. We're down to the final round in the Vintage Logo Tournament. It's Whalers against Sabres and so far, it's pretty close. Make sure your voice is heard. Go vote!

Also, if you haven't gotten involved yet in the AHL Tournament of Logos, now is your chance. We're getting into the second round now and the competition is fierce (well, kind of). Go cast your vote and help determine the best logo in the AHL!

And later this month, ToHL will turn its attention to the ECHL after we have an AHL champion. After that, we're moving on to other leagues. I'll hold a poll for that too so you guys can make your recommendations.

Hope you're enjoying your Thursday. And I hope you'll forgive today's lack of posts. I'm beat. For those of us who work in TV, an important month just started today. Check back for more tomorrow!

By the way, thanks to all of you who have stuck around. Yesterday, we surpassed the 3 million hit mark! Thanks for visiting! Now let's hit 4 million!

Oil To Get New Unis in '09?

I hate to condone gossip, but a reader pointed out a very interesting article on SLAM! Sports. Not only does columnist Terry Jones "slam" the Edmonton Oilers' new duds, but he goes on to suggest a possible change in two years.

You can read the article in its entirety below, but I'll run down some of the bullet points:

• Fans in general don't like the sweaters


• Oil president hates them!


• Oil CEO loves them!


• Reebok is not to blame


• CEO says Oil can get new unis in 2009-10

October 28, 2007

Threads of doubt

The jury's still out on the Edmonton Oilers new uniforms

O.K. Enough already. It's time to take the gloves off and deal with the No. 1 sports controversy in Edmonton.

Danny Maciocia's Gotta Go?

Hell no. Nothing left to say there that hasn't been said.

No, I'm talking about the total travesty of the Edmonton Oilers "pyjamas".

The folly and the farce of forcing them to wear "practice jerseys" in games.

Those especially embarrassing white away uniforms with the shirt tails it looks like they forgot to tuck in, that crappy costume they were wearing on Hockey Night In Canada out of Los Angeles last night.

The Oilers have been wearing these daffy duds long enough most of the fans I've talked to have only one question:

"How do we get our stripe back?"

O.K. Two questions.

"How do we lose that practice uniform piping on the front, too?"

The fans clearly haven't fallen in love with the Oilers new uniforms, home or away.

WORST IN THE LEAGUE

But the away whites may just be the worst in the league. In fact, they have been declared exactly that on sports desk highlight shows around the league already this year.

Heck, their own president Cal Nichols admits he can't stand looking at the damn things.

"They look, uh, a little plain," he chose his words carefully.

"I have to be careful here. Reebok paid a lot of money," he said of the project bringing the new uniforms to teams around the league and the obvious NHL memo to everybody in the game that they all must love them.

I told Nichols I was writing about the awful new Oilers silks.

"I think that would be a good article to write," he said. "But just put me down for saying I liked our old uniforms. I don't want to sound like an old stick-in-the-mud who can't go contemporary."

There have been other reviews.

"Ice Capades awful!"

"What was Edmonton thinking?

"I like the traditional horizontal stripes at the bottom of the old jersey."

"Why mess with tradition?"

"Wow. I feel like a Minnesota fan."

"Those are awful. Edmonton fans deserve better."

"Butt ugly. It looks like someone who hates the Oilers designed this one."

"The jersey is a little disappointing considering that Todd McFarlane, creator of Spawn, is a part owner. You'd think he'd have a say in the final design."

"Vancouver's looks better than those."

Those are just a few of the comments you can find by going to Google and typing in "Oilers" and "uniforms".

With the new Reeboks, everybody in the league has a new design, but the Montreal Canadiens look like the Montreal Canadiens, the Chicago Blackhawks look like the Chicago Blackhawks, theDetroit Red Wings look like the Detroit Red Wings ...

The Edmonton Oilers, a team of tradition which has won five Stanley Cup, just don't look like the Edmonton Oilers.

"I can't disagree," said Nichols.

WHO TO BLAME

Don't blame Reebok. Blame the Oilers. Blame CEO Patrick LaForge.

"We wanted change. A lot of things motivated us to look at change. We have a new locker room. A new team. We saw it as rejuvenation. A breath of fresh air," said LaForge.

"It was meant to be a sort of a Baltimore Ravens look," he said.

The Oilers have have their own identifiable look familiar to the entire world because Wayne Gretzky used to wear that uniform, and now they want to look like the Baltimore Ravens instead?

"A full black body from the ankles to the top, above the ankles and below the shoulders. A solid blue color," said LaForge.

So how do you get your stripe back?

"We can do it," says LaForge. "But not until 2009-2010."

Good thing they probably won't win a Stanley Cup until then.

Flames, Here's How You Fix It

Haven't done one of these in almost a month. Got some good stuff, though. Here are some suggestions for the Calgary Flames on how to fix their new Rbk EDGE jerseys — not that they will.



On the left, we see two simple fixes. One, you drop a stroke around the Albertan flag since blue on red looks bad — but that's only true on TV and computer screens. When looking at the shoulder patch with my own eyes, I think it looks fine. Good, even.

And two, for the piping haters, let's grab the bucket tool and fill in everything below that black stripe. I guess that's preferable to dumping the stripe altogether. But what do I know? On the right is a different idea which involves switching to a black jersey with a red flaming C. It's also got a shoulder yoke that extends to the elbows. Of which, I am not a fan.



So then what about just simplifying? Ease off on all the striping a little. These here, they work. I'm still a little weirded out by the piping thing under the arms. Looks strange there. But I like the more classic feel of the arm stripes.

Anyway, those are just a few of many options for the Flames. But they're on the ice now. Nothing will change at least for a little while.

Sens, Flyers Art

I was contemplating a Freak Out post to celebrate Halloween tonight. But I don't really have enough content yet for that. However, if you want something Halloween-related, the Phantoms' second-round matchup against the Sound Tigers in the AHL Tournament of Logos just went live. Go vote!

Anyway, today I've got a set of concept designs all from a single designer. Ninh Ly submitted a few items for me to share with the group. Despite taking a position as a professed Leafs fan from the other side of the pond, Ninh sure has a lot of Senators art.



I'm of the opinion that the design you see on the left is really what the Sens should be wearing right now. They're a black team, not a red team. But maybe I'm wrong about that. And as for the one on the right, despite it's obvious... issues, I sort of like it. Not the crest. But I think the stripes are all right. Not as hideous as that design would sound on paper.



And finally, another stab at a Flyers third jersey. Very sharp. I could see Philly skating around in those. I do think orange is the way to go for them. Weird how I like black for one team and not another.

Anyway, if you got concept art of your own, you know what to do with it. I look forward to your emails.

Poll: Sabres vs Whalers

	vs
Buffalo SABRES		Hartford WHALERS

This is the deciding round for the Vintage Logo Tournament. Who's it going to be? Whalers or Sabres? Which is the best vintage logo in the NHL?

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 Tue Oct 30

Poll closing date Sat Nov 3

07VNTRN | #4 | BUF70vHFD79

Guess What! Concepts!

There's no new poll today and I couldn't very well go without a single new post, now could I? Naturally, I have reader-submitted concept art to share. Let's begin in Pennsylvania.



On the left is a great option for a third jersey — we've been told to expect one as early as next season for the Flyers. In fact, the team itself said so. On the right is an example of be careful what you wish for — because sometimes you get it.

I really like the added use of gold on that Penguins jersey, little flightless birds don't have horns so a redesign would be required here. Next up is the Edmonton Oilers.



Not a bad idea for third jerseys, but those elbow stripes have got to go!

We'll finish with a concept logo for a team that will never change its logo, of this I'm sure.



It would never pass a professional sports logo, but if the Wings had/have some sort of foundation or something, it might make a good logo for that. Of course it's entirely possible I don't have a clue what I'm talking about. Wouldn't be the first time.

So that's that for today. Likely more to come tomorrow so keep checking in. I'm really trying to get done more than a post or two per day, but as you know, I have a Wii. It's pretty addicting.