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.