Freak Out Friday XLV

Friday is here again and you know what that means. Time to freak out!

I'm really trying to get back into the habit of having a Freak Out Friday for you guys every now and then. Of course it relies primarily on your submissions. So keep them coming!

This week's theme is Original Six. Just how horrible can we make these most legendary of teams look? The answers to that question ensue.

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John B	I don't mean to always be picking on the Blackhawks, but I think we can all agree that gravity-defying feathers are not the way to go. Not by a long shot. Even the colors have me a little concerned. Maybe we should just move on.
Charles Cadieux	Nope, shouldn't have moved on. Adding black to the Rangers color scheme. Now that's something I never thought I'd see. And obviously I hope I never have to. Hockey fans everywhere would revolt! But since it is only fake, we can all rest easy. The tricky part will be removing it from your memory.
Randy Dudek	The Maple Leafs were the focus of the previous concept post and we had a lot of really nice artwork. Now it all goes out the window because this just beats everything. I mean, it's a Maple Leafs jersey covered in actual maple leaves! Wonder why we've never seen a third jersey that looks like that.

In closing, all I'll say is I hope you are not bleeding from the eyes. More concept art (the good stuff) this weekend.

Freak Out Friday XLIV

Happy Friday, all! Right now, I'm on an airplane bound for Las Vegas. This is the first of five auto-posts that should keep you guys occupied with new concept art while I'm off getting married. I've scheduled one for every day that I'm away and each one has its own theme.

Today's theme is an Icethetics fan favorite: Freak Out Friday! For new readers, this was a very popular regular feature of the site when I used to get loads of concept art sent in. Sometimes it would miss the mark — meaning we would never want to actually see it on the ice. Here's what I mean...

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John B	The last time the Coyotes put a cactus on their jersey, it came to us in the form of one incredibly unpopular green third jersey in the late '90s. Unfortunately, this makes no improvements on that. The designer is obviously trying to take a bad page out of the Lightning and Senators' books by running the nickname across the front. Yotes works about as well as Bolts and Sens. And while the sand and brick colors are still used today in the Phoenix color scheme, the purple and green are not.
John B	While we're on the subject of colloquialism failures on jerseys, let's add Minny to the list. I think Wild fans would agree there's just no call for it. I don't want to dismiss this design out of hand, though. The striping is pretty nice, if not based somewhat off of Minnesota's current home and former third jersey. The red and beige color combo is one of the best looks in hockey right now.
Jules	Some of you may not necessarily be freaked out by this idea of a Kings third jersey, but I sure am. It may not be a popular notion, but I think one of the best uniform overhauls in NHL history was when the Kings switched to silver and black. Then they improved upon it by adding the purple back. But at no point do I want to see them wearing yellow on a regular basis again. The only way I could excuse it is for a special night with historical significance as a one-off jersey. But now that I've said my peace, I'm curious what the rest of you think of a return to the '60s color scheme. At least at that time the NHL wasn't overrun with only two colors. Variety is good.
Matt McElroy	But hopefully we can all agree that such a variety of color on a single jersey is not a plus. A deep purple sweater with neon yellow sleeves and silver accents is in the dictionary next to "ugly." That was harsh, but look, even the purple in the logo doesn't match the purple of the jersey itself. Same with the gold. And that numbering style is not a saving grace either. This jersey design needs to be buried. Deep.

So while I'm enjoying myself in Vegas, I hope this post freaked you out sufficiently. As I mentioned earlier, there will be new concept art posted right here automatically every day until Tuesday.