0079: Concept Redemption

It's California Week on the Icethetics Concepts page! Over the next few days I'll be sharing concepts for our favorite Golden State hockey teams. We start with the Los Angeles Kings and Matt McElroy's story, which I'll let him tell.

So like 2 years ago I submitted my first concept to Icethetics. It was featured on Jan. 8, 2010 and I was super pleased with myself because it was the first time I got my work on the site.

But after reading the comments about how like gross it was and how it should be buried deep in a hole, I was so embarrassed that I committed a lot of free time to getting to a point where I could stand my ground on the site. I have had a bunch of my other [work posted] since then, but [recently] I was looking through my computer and found the old Kings concept and decided I'd revisit it.

This is what I came up with — a new crown that I feel mixes the old Forum blue and gold with the newer silver and purple fairly well. Living in L.A. I know how popular the purple jerseys are but as a fan of the Kings' current uniforms, I didn't really want to change it all that much so I recolored the jersey to be an update of the old Kings jerseys fitting in the new striping.

Yep, two years ago, I wrote that Matt's Kings concept should be buried deep. I still stand by that comment, but he's won me over with this design. I'm a big fan, especially of the shield logo. What about you guys?

0029: HockeyTown to CougarTown

In today's Winter Classic concept, Matt McElroy is looking back at an early incarnation of Detroit's NHL club — the Detroit Cougars. This Red Wings uniform is designed to call back to elements of the Cougars' 1928 sweater. Personally, I think this is one of the best we've seen for Detroit, and it probably has the most potential. It's red with hints of vintage white and it definitely looks like it's about a hundred years old — the way these sweaters are supposed to look. Well done, Matt!