0363: The IceHL's Winter Classic

Today is Friday, but it is not a Freak Out Friday. At least not in my mind.

Today the subject is our very own fantasy hockey league, the IceHL. Frequent concept contributor Bryan Dyck offers his take on what a couple of IceHL Winter Classic style jerseys might look like. He pits the Milwaukee Lagers against the Portland Pioneers for the big game and has design an excellent pair of jerseys.

I'm so impressed by this concept that it will have a place in the IceHL's 2013 Yearbook this summer. I'm impressed because Bryan has managed to design jerseys that truly feel like they could be part of these fictional teams' long histories. As if they're right out of the 1940s and 50s. And they make the existing official jersey designs feel like the natural evolution of a team's branding. Superbly executed, if you ask me. Well done, Bryan!

I would've included this in a Winter Classic Weekend post, but I couldn't wait to share it and the Waddell brothers have the floor for the next two Saturdays.

0311: A Christmas Surprise!

Looks like Santa decided that more of you were nice than naughty this year because he's delivered not one but 10 new concepts today! First up is a Seattle Metropolitans design by Wicky Turton. Hm, it's very... red and green. Maybe Santa had a certain theme in mind for today.

Nick Burton would like to see the Red Wings in a red jersey similar to their 2009 Winter Classic threads. It's a pretty sharp look!

The "Big Guy" definitely likes his green and red. Colin May imagines a brighter palette for the Dallas Stars. It's not bad even if he is sticking to the wordmark crest.

Joseph Loretz offers up an elegant fix for the Carolina Hurricanes' flag problem. The club's secondary logo portrays a single red flag with a black square in the middle, which typically refers to a tropical storm. A hurricane is generally represented by two of those flags. However, the swirling winds behind the H in Joseph's logo would appear to be rotating clockwise — which only happens in the southern hemisphere. Oops.

Back to green again. This time it's Chance Waddell (of our ongoing Winter Classic fauxback series) with a sharp sweater for the Canucks. They should just adopt this as their third jersey immediately. In fact, why haven't they already?

Another Original Six team gets a look here on Christmas Day from Wade Herrmann. Again, I'm a big fan! For whatever reason, I really like the black and white logo on the mostly red sweater. Sometimes I think it's too bad NHL teams don't do more one-off sweaters like they do in the minors. (Though most of the time, I'm grateful for that.)

Guess Santa couldn't find anymore green teams, so we're back to the Stars — but this time in a much darker palette as designed by Kevin Dion. In fact, it's actually too dark. On TV, this uniform would look solid black from head to toe. The idea isn't bad, it just needs brighter colors and more contrast.

I believe Icethetics is breaking new ground today. This may be the first bit of concept art ever posted from a female designer. Gotta be honest. I don't think many of them are that interested in designing fake hockey sweaters. But kudos to Christine Adams on her new look for Team Canada.

Oh wait, there was one more team with green. And they also have red. Bryan Dyck probably didn't intend for his set to have that Christmas-y look, but it kind of does anyway. Or maybe it's just me. Or Santa.

We'll wrap things up here with our 10th concept of the day. Ryan Yuck gives us this very red Devils jersey. Filling in the white area in the Devils' logo gives it a whole new look somehow. It's really interesting — as were all of today's jerseys. Which was your favorite?

0184: Hartford Revisited

This week on the concepts page we're revisiting cities that once had NHL clubs, but no longer do. We're starting Hartford and Bryan Dyck's new look for the Whalers. Really liking that green jersey!

0141: Go Team USA!

We get a double dose of national team concepts today — both for Team USA. Justin Cox incorporates some subtle gold into his design. A subtle hint to the wearer, perhaps?

Bryan Dyck's work may lack the polish of other designs we've seen, but there's no mistaking this set is all American.

0092: Kansas City Scouts

Here's an interesting one for our Retro Weekend. Bryan Dyck is bringing back the old Kansas City Scouts with a whole new look. Tomorrow we kick off another Minor League Week.