Re-Imagining the NHL: Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars

The 305cHL Dallas Stars

Click here for a larger and more detailed version of the jerseys.

Dallas' Current Jersey Set
(est. 2011)

Dallas has one of the worst jersey sets in the NHL. The jersey is very plain and actually seems to try and mimic the jerseys of the main sport in Dallas, football. Although I understand that it is hard to get people to watch an unconventional sport in a warm city, but there are ways to grab a Texan's attention.

The Color Scheme: Dark Blue, Red, Yellow & White.

In 1991, The Minnesota North Stars anticipated a move to Dallas. They decided to re-brand and adjust the color scheme. Dallas, being very original, kept everything virtually the same from 1993 to present day, 2012.

Debut Jersey Set (est. 1993)

For me, Dallas should not be using the colors of The North Stars almost twenty years later. They should embrace their Texan roots and set themselves apart from Minnesota.

I really shouldn't be reaching out to other sports to make an NHL jersey, but for Dallas, I had to make an exception. Their color scheme is all wrong and they need to see what other Texas sports franchises are doing right.

The Dallas Cowboys are blue, white and silver, but the blue epidemic in The NHL will dismiss the Cowboys' theme as 'Just another blue team...' The Houston Texans, MLB's Texas Rangers, and the MLS's F.C. Dallas all have a similar, but striking color scheme. Utilizing the Texas state flag, these teams have a red, white and blue scheme that really stands out. Yes, a red, white and blue team might seem a bit cliche but it is something that I think a lot of Texans can get behind.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Colorado Avalanche

The Colorado Avalanche

The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche

Click here for a larger and more detailed version of the jerseys.

Colorado's Current Jersey Set
(est. 2009)

Here is my bold statement to start off The Colorado Avalanche re-design; The Colorado Avalanche has the best primary and secondary logos in the entire NHL. There, I said it. Now it is my job to try and convince you why I barely used these logos on The 305cHL Colorado Avalanche.

The Color Scheme: Black, Burgundy, Dark Blue, Baby Blue & White.

After they moved from Quebec in 1995, the team was successful on the ice, winning 2 Stanley Cups (1996, 2001) and looked good doing it. The only thing that stood in their way, design-wise, was the implementation of the Reebok Edge Jersey System in 2007. Colorado was an early casualty of the Reebok system and got too wrapped up in the jersey piping fad (too many unnecessary stripes).

Debut Jersey Set (est. 1995)

For the most part, Colorado's color scheme is right on the money. Their black, blue, burgundy, white and silver really remind me of Colorado. Cold and mountainous is the way to go. Having said that, I wanted to tweak those colors to give you more of a feel for the mountains.

The blue was darkened, along with the burgundy. The current burgundy is a little too red for me and I thought I'd bring it closer to purple to give you more cold colors. The silver was swapped out with with a baby blue to once again keep the cold feeling in your face.

The main colors were switched from blue and burgundy to dark blue and white. I think of cold and snow when I think of Colorado and I wanted this team to really express that with their colors.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Calgary Flames

Calgary's Current Jerseys (est. 2007)

The Calgary Flames already have a solid jersey set, but there is definitely too much going on in the home and away jerseys.  It's time to bring back some history to The Flames and really make them stand out as one of the best designed teams in Canada.

The Color Scheme: Burgundy, Dark Red, Red-Orange, Yellow & Eggshell.

Calgary's hockey team was born out of Atlanta's failure in 1980. The original team, The Atlanta Flames, got their name from the famous 1864 fire that destroyed the city and was widely viewed as the beginning of the end of the Civil War.  When the team moved from Atlanta to Calgary, the owners decided to keep the name and jersey style.  So, really, the team jersey was nearly unchanged from 1972 to 1995.  To me, their color scheme was almost as perfect as possible for a team named The Flames.  After 1994, Calgary introduced black into the mix and they've struggled with a consistent design ever since.

Debut Jersey (est. 1980)

I took it upon myself to get rid of the black color and go back to basics.  My red was brightened a few shades to almost orange, the yellow was dulled a bit and the white was tweaked to more of an eggshell white.  To me these three main colors really give off a feeling of fire.  Again, I didn't want this jersey turning to an over-used vintage white, but I thought that instead of a strikingly bright white, we should make it a dull yellow to really keep that warm feeling in the jersey.

The burgundy and dark red colors are to try and combat that troublesome black color that Calgary is insistent on using. I thought that using a monochromatic scaling of reds could give them an alternate look without trying to use the obvious black for the sake of black or white for the sake of white.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina's Current Jerseys
(est. 2008)

I might get in trouble for this one.  The Carolina Hurricanes were established out of the remains of the beloved Hartford Whalers in 1997. Every hockey fan outside of the Carolinas has a soft spot in their heart for The Whalers.  Even though the Hurricanes won their first cup while being in the league for only eight years, everyone wants the Hartford Whalers back. Well, sorry everyone, but The Whalers are dead.  Raleigh is a hockey town and it's time to get over it!

The Color Scheme: Navy Blue, Light Blue, Red & White.

With all of that being said, I actually did not base this new Carolina color scheme off of The Whalers blue, green and white palate. The blues and white were for a whole different reason.

Debut Jersey (est. 1997)

What's wrong with the current red, black, white & silver scheme, you ask?  Pretty much everything.  The red does make sense in the fact that the flag warning system for indicating horrible weather conditions is red, but I'm not liking it.  When I think hurricane, I think water and wind.  Who first thinks of a red flag? Possibly people much smarter than I.

Anyways, I started this redesign with shades of red, mixed with shades of blue.  The result was interesting, but not very cohesive. As I started thinking about water, I thought that blues and white would remind the viewer of a violent Atlantic Ocean with foamy waves crashing against the shore.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Buffalo Sabres

Sabres' Current Jersey (est. 2010)

The Buffalo "Don't Call Us Sabers" Sabres, established in 1970, have had an identity crisis for almost half of their existence.  Does 305c solve the problem?  No.  In all honesty we probably made matters worse...

The Color Scheme: Burgundy, Red, Light Gold & White.

The original (and current) colors of the Buffalo Sabres are blue, yellow and white.  Why?  I'm not quite sure. I haven't found any information on why these colors were chosen, which is a scary thought.  No designer in their right mind would just put something together without intent.  To add to the confusion, in 1996 the Sabres moved to a new arena in Buffalo and decided to re-brand everything.  New logos, new red and black color scheme, no explanation. Ugh, Buffalo, you make my brain hurt.

'96, The Red & Black Era

Although my reasoning for The 305cHL Buffalo color scheme might be laughable, at least I have a reason.  I decided to ditch the blue and yellow from Buffalo because there is a blue epidemic in the NHL right now: teams with no blue in their color scheme are finding ways to use it in their 3rd jersey.  So, one less blue team certainly wouldn't hurt.  I believe that the team was onto something during their 'red and black era'.  They looked intimidating. What I didn't like was the brightness of the red with the high contrast of the black.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Boston Bruins

Bruins' Current Jersey (est. 2007)

The Boston Bruins are an original 6 team, and it is time to bring them back to the beginning - color-wise that is.

The Color Scheme: Brown, Gold, Off-White.

The current color scheme for the Bruins is black, gold and white. It is cool because you can say that you are rooting for the black and gold (which sounds way better than rooting for the brown and gold), but I believe that the Bruins should embrace their past and have one of the more unique color palates in the NHL. Who else could pull off a brown jersey? No one, that's who.

Debut Jersey (est. 1926)

The original colors of brown and gold came from the then owner's Brookside Stores. Their main color scheme was brown and gold, so why not dump that on to the hockey team as well? The Bruins' first jersey had a lighter brown and brighter yellow.  I decided to make the brown very dark, almost like a black, and slightly dull out the gold to fit with the off-white third color. The off-white gives the whole jersey a vintage feeling, not to be confused with the new vintage fad in hockey, but to embrace the Bruins' stance as an original 6 team.

Re-Imagining the NHL: Anaheim Ducks

Ducks Jersey (est. 2006)

Here we are. The first re-imagined 305c NHL jersey. And to start it all off, we're going back to Anaheim's original color scheme. 

The Color Scheme: Black, Green, Purple, Silver & White.

Although the orange streak in the current jersey format connects Anaheim geographically (Orange County), I'm not a fan. The orange is a bit too distracting in the Black, Gold and white color palate. It seems to really jump out and take all of your eye's attention. So, I decided to mute the colors a bit and return to a near replication of the Jade & Eggplant. The green is a bit darker than the original, less teal and more 'pond scum' green. The eggplant was tweaked to a more full purple which worked well with the black. 

Debut Jersey (est. 1994)

The one thing I do like about the current jersey is the black. A black background with a few highlights of color can be more intimidating (and more fun to wear) than a green jersey or, gasp, a purple jersey. So, I stuck with the black to make the players feel a bit more manly in the sweater.

305cHL: It Begins

Stay Tuned...

Project 305cHL

Well, let's get this blog started.

Eggplant & Jade
The Mighty Ducks

As a graphic designer and a die hard hockey fan, I can't help but always wonder, 'What If..' when I watch an NHL game. What if The Ducks went back to their original color scheme? What if The Hurricanes embraced the fact that they stand on the carcass of the dead Whalers franchise? What if the Flames went back to their roots (and I'm not talking barber pole roots)?

These questions, and others are always on my mind and one day I finally thought, "What if I took a stab at re-designing an NHL team's jersey set?" One thing led to another and soon I had re-designed all 30 NHL teams. One home jersey, one away jersey and one alternate jersey for a combined 90 jerseys... Yeah, it got out of hand fast.

Once I got started, I knew that I had to lay out some ground rules for re-designing each franchise. 

• Take into account the team's entire history when re-designing the jersey. For example, if I am re-designing The Colorado Avalanche, then I must include The Quebec Nordiques because Quebec was the original franchise.
• The color palate is wide open. If I think the current colors don't work, then I'm changing them to fit either the location of the team or the name of the team.
• Do not change the logos. I will have to use the logos that are provided for me. I can not pretend that I can make a better logo the franchise already has. Using the team's entire logo history, I will chose which logo works best for the team and only alter it with my new color scheme.
• This isn't so much a rule, but more of a guideline; If the jersey, color scheme and logo set work for the hockey team, then leave it alone. There are a couple of teams in the NHL that have it right when it comes to design and I wont pretend that I have a better solution for them. If it works, keep it.

The Hartford Whalers

Along with these jerseys, I have written about each decision I made in creating the re-imagined franchise. Each description gives you a brief history lesson on the team, critiques on the current color scheme, current home/away jersey design and current alternate jersey design. Accompanying the current critiques are critiques of my own work. I try not to come across as a know-it-all so, there's no way that I can say my re-designs are the only way to go. These are just options for the current clubs while trying to tie history into each jersey.

Finally, this project needed a name. Our small design and web development company is called The 305 Creative Company. So, it's only natural to call this  The 305 Creative Hockey League Project, 305cHL for short. Since I am re-designing but not re-branding the entire league, I'll have to steal the idea of 'Re-Imagining the NHL'. (I wish I knew which blog I was reading to give credit to the people that came up with the title. If I find it, I will give full credit for the name.)

So, very soon, we will be releasing each team in The 305cHL and can't wait for people to either ignore us, rip us apart or actually comment on the designs.

Images and historical information used in The 305cHL Project come from Icethetics, Chris Creamer's Sports Logos and The Hockey Uniform Database.

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I am a Graphic Designer that graduated from UMASS: Dartmouth in 2007 with a BA and currently own/operate The 305 Creative Company. For more information, visit us at 305c or email us. We love to hear your feedback.