The Times They are a'Changin'

You might notice a bunch of new things here on HockeyWeek.blogspot.com, starting with the link at the top of the posts. It is the first of many changes to this blog, aimed at giving the online arm of the Hockey Week in Review more of a role. You'll also notice that every post now has labels or tags. By clicking one of them at the bottom of a post, you'll find all the other posts in that category. For instance, if you click "rant man" at the bottom of a post, you'll be taken to every post that the rant man is featured in. If you click "written posts", you can read all of our typed ramblings on one page, etc. All of the categories are available in the lower right column of the page.

First off, nothing is leaving the blog. You'll still see all the episodes posted on here shortly after their airing, watchable and downloadable for your viewing pleasure/pain. There'll be plenty of new stuff in all of the categories you're already used to seeing.

But there are some new things, oh yes, there will be new things.
First off, I'd like to formally introduce Christopher Covert to the Hockey Week family. He made an appearance in what was originally a blog-only special, but I figure he needs a full introduction here. He's a Penguins fan, a Junior at Mercyhurst, and a major jersey fanatic like myself. After this year, he will be replacing me in the studio on this show (but I'm sure I'll stay involved in some way). So he is heir apparent to the Hockey Week throne.
This year, he will have a unique role. I have wanted to do this for a while, and finally he is the perfect man for the job. Chris will be paying close attention to the show, laptop in hand, checking all of our facts as we say them, at the end, he will come on camera to correct our errors and maybe throw his two cents in. He will be our "Corrections Officer" (clever, eh?).

There is a reason why I am introducing him now, however. This blog is adding an entire new section. For over a year, I have been posting on Hockey Jersey Concept pages under the name HockeyWeek. After working to gain a respected though often different opinion, I feel it is time to throw our hat into that ring. Hockeyweek.blogspot.com will contain hockey jersey concept art along with everything you've seen previously.

Some of the competition and inspiration:
UniWatchBlog.com has been a constant bulwark in this niche, but owner Paul Lukas has always been about jersey news, and he's a baseball fan, so I'll tip my hat to him and stay out of his way.
Icethetics.info, the former NHL Tournament of Logos that went so far as to be quoted on NHL.com, was the front runner in all things hockey art related for quite some time. Recently, owner Chris has strayed from his roots, adding tournament after tournament, never finishing those, moving towards news rather than concepts, adding unrelated things such as a free-agency tracker, and even shutting down for the entire playoffs. They are slowly returning to the forefront, but not without problems already. I wish them luck, but I fully plan on Hockey Week jumping into that category.
PuckDrawn.com has picked up a lot of icethetics' slack. Owner Johnny Griswold has done a great job of keeping abreast of all things new, and has started some fantastic projects of historical jersey concept art (check out his WWII concepts, they're very nice). However, I have disagreed with most everything he says, especially on the topic of powder blue and traditionalism, and instead of being a constant dissenting opinion over there, I will post things here instead.
What separates me from the previous two websites other than my opinion, is their focus. Both Icethetics and PuckDrawn are run by graphic designers (or at least users of Adobe Illustrator), and therefore focus a lot more on logos. I have never been a logo nut, as fascinating as they may be, rarely do I come up with something completely original for a logo. Instead, I am a jersey man, and as I have said very often, the jersey/sweater is what represents the team, and should be as recognizable as any logo. So these concepts will all be very jersey-oriented.

I want to start out right, so I'm posting two concepts that I think everyone can grasp: The Winter Classic.

First Concepts Post!

The Winter Classic is THE place for the NHL to introduce new throwback jerseys. The Pittsburgh Penguins adopted their throwback as a 3rd jersey because it sold so well, even though they only bothered to wear it 10 of the allowed 15 times this season because they played so horribly in it...just like the actual team that wore it. Buffalo brought back an updated version of their throwback logo for copyright reasons. Chicago is adopting their Winter Classic jersey (with the addition of shoulder patches), and Detroit wore their Winter Classic jersey for their last game against Chicago last season, leading me to believe that it might remain an unofficial 3rd jersey for the Wings - which would be a first for them.

The matchup will almost certainly be the Boston Bruins hosting the Philadelphia Flyers after the push NBC made to see them, so the teams are depicted as such. Considering that the Flyers are wearing their orange throwback 3rd jersey as their home jersey this season (something the Islanders weren't allowed to do), this would be the perfect opportunity for them to unveil the white throwback, which could be adopted as their away jersey next season. The big question is what the Bruins will wear. My hypothesis is that they will use a jersey already marketed as a sweater in the CCM Vintage collection just like the Red Wings, Penguins, and Sabres did previously. This jersey was seen from 1949-1955.


What I would love to see, however, is this matchup:

Those sweaters saw each other in 1929, The Philadelphia Quakers were a team that only lasted one season after moving from Pittsburgh; it was wiped out by the Great Depression. This first NHL team in Philly would be perfect outside on the ice at Fenway. On the other side, the sweater worn by greats such as Eddie Shore and Tiny Thompson when the Bruins won their first Stanley Cup in 1929. Since the Bruins have acknowledged that this horrible logo exists with their new updated secondary logo (which is awesome), what better time to use it? I really do hope the Bruins don the brown and gold, but I fear it's just a pipe dream.

So that starts it off, my biggest post in a while, and hopefully the first of many. You'll see a lot of concepts from Chris Covert as well in the near future. Keep checking back, and you'll have plenty to see.

-John