Lethbridge College, More BNG, and A Few Other Thoughts

So, it's been almost a long week without a single post, that's not good.  My life has been pretty busy as of late, and it can't be helped, but I really want to thank you guys for reading my blog still and keeping the blog alive.

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First, I wanna show off a few concepts I've made during the week:

Here's one I made for my current school, Lethbridge College.  The Kodiaks do not have a hockey team repping the school yet, but with their athletics logo and wordmark logo elements making up this jersey, as well as a classic looking 3rd jersey, I would be pretty happy if these jerseys were used.

This was done for a contest at HJC, making jerseys for the bottom 10 teams in the IIHF World Rankings.  I chose Israel simply because I had this design in my head already, and while it's a simplistic design, I still like how it turned out.

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While I'm talking about some concepts, let's take a look at some more designs sent in from Ricky at Buffalo Nickel Graphics:

Here is (I assume) a Colorado Avalanche redo. The logos are really cool, and it does relate to mountainous terrain for sure, but I'm not sure how 'Avalanchey' these logos are. The dog paw with the 'A' looks really good as a logo, but I thought at first it was for an Arizona logo (Future Arizona Coyotes logo? Could work).  The jerseys are nice and modern, yet keep the Avalanche look. The 3rd logo is decent, but the one-armed design is what I like most about the jersey. It looks really cool in Colorado colours.  Overall, not convinced that the logos do the job, but its a cool design.

Oh my goodness.  As god awful as this would look on the ice, this looks like a fantastic ECHL specialty-jersey design.  From a design standpoint, the lettering and numbers is hard to notice, especially the front number. This could never pass as an on-ice jersey, but if I seen a t-shirt like this, I'd probably buy it. Aloha Anaheim!

I don't have much to go on here, and I'd love input if anyone has more to add here, but to my knowledge this is for the Indigenous Round of the AFL, Aussie Rules Football.  It's a celebration of the native cultures of Australia, and some of the foundations of what created the game that connects most Australians together.  I know less about this sport than probably any other semi-major sport in the world, especially from a design standpoint.  But the artwork of the jersey, and how its blended with the jersey, is absolutely beautiful.  This sort of artwork is similar to how Team Canada designed their Olympic logo, which was a hit amongst Canadians.

And there are a few more of Ricky's concepts coming hopefully in the next couple of days, so stay tuned for that.

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Is it troubling anybody of how many suspensions have been handed out so far this season?  Not like I'm complaining about the suspensions, but the high amount of suspend-able offences committed.  5 during the season, 7 during pre-season.  Most of those were hits to the head or checks from behind.  

I like how the league is handling these incidents. There are no small 1 or 2 game penalties, with some 5 and 10 game sentences being handed out.  Pretty tough, but good for the league in the long run.

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In a very tragic incident in the USHL, a player lost his helmet during a fight, and fell with his head hitting the ice.  He started going into convulsions right on the ice, and had to be sent to hospital, where he is still recovering.  He will likely make a full recovery.

But while this was a tragic event, this will of course bring back the debate of fighting in hockey.  With occurrences such as this, or with George Parros earlier this year, the water cooler talk is at an all-time high on the issue.

I've always said that fighting needs to be in hockey, and until it's removed at the NHL level, it will not and should not be removed at the junior level.  Injuries like this are unfortunately not new, but seem to be getting more and more exposure to the problem of concussions in hockey and the problems caused by fighting.  

Is the game any safer without fighting?  That is a very important question, which I think I'd still say no to.  Things like this are going to happen with fighting or not  As I write this, Trouba from the Jets got sent off on a stretcher.  He wasn't fighting, he wasn't hit, he just lost his footing and hit the boards hard.

Fighting has a risk, of course.  And I think I could support a move to limit fighting, such as a game misconduct after a fight, or additional penalties if the fight was deemed to have no meaning (Laraque's "Good luck" fight), or was overly aggressive (John Scott's attack on Kessel).  But removing fighting all together will not be the answer, as more players will aim for dirty hits without the consequence of being stood up by one of the other team's tough guys.  

Fighting give the game accountability, and while it has an injury risk itself, it keeps the game safe from the Torres', Cooke's, and Kaleta's of the league.  You can suspend them, but will that make them learn any more than having to stand up for themselves?  Have you ever seen Cooke, Torres, or Kaleta fight?  Cooke fights players like Kovalchuk, Callahan, and E. Kane.  That's a weak fight card.  If Scott Stevens got a hold of Cooke, do you think that could change him?  I think it would.

Overall, I think there should be less fighting, particularly "staged" fighting.  But I don't think I would like the NHL's direction if they decide to remove fighting all together.  Fighting is both a safety risk and a safety device, but a perfect balance needs to be needed, or else it could be the game itself being removed on a stretcher.

Thoughts On The First Few Days

Hey gang, I'm back.  It's been a bit of a long week for me, so I haven't been able to update the blog like I would have liked too.  Here's a few little notes from the first few days of the season:

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Patrick Roy made his coaching debut in a big way, coaching the Avs to a 2-0 start, and possibly beginning a new divisional rivalry with the Ducks by means of Roy acting like classic Roy.

Did he deserve a $10000 fine for his tantrum?  Of course he did.  It's fine until you start tearing down the arena.  But I'm sure it was a fine well worth it, as it helps fire up his young team.  He drives his players hard at practice, and shows just as much passion for the game as he did during his playing days.    That's something the young players like MacKinnon and Landeskog can get inspired by.

Its hard to say whether this experiment in Colorado is successful or not yet, but surely its off to a great start.

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I'm winning my hockey pool on Facebook so far, because Ovechkin has been performing like I thought he would.  5 points in 2 games?  Thats hardly even fair!

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Radem Vrbata, a 32 year old vet playing for Phoenix with a career plagued with injury, has started this season with a hat-trick.  He's always flown under the radar because of his injuries, but this is a great sign for the Coyotes.

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Toronto started 2-0, thanks to a great start by both Reimer and Bernier.  Bernier had the better game of the two, but both kept their team in their respective games.  This is definitely a goaltending controversy Toronto likes to have.  If they both can play solid hockey, look for a season similar to St. Louis' goalie tandem a few years ago.  Exciting time to be a Maple Leafs fan.

And staying in Toronto, can there be anyone left who isn't a Mason Raymond fan?  He went from being unsure if he'd be on a pro lineup this season, to working his way onto the Leafs, to being one of their best players so far.  Gotta love it.

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It sounds like the plan for Teemu Selanne is that he's going to sit at least once for every back-to-back game this season.  If healthy, that gives him a 70 game season max.  It's kinda sad to see that happen, but its an obvious sign that he can't keep up with the game full-time anymore.  Hopefully as the season continues, he can prove everyone, including Father Time, wrong.

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And finally, I had my HJC blog post on Thursday go live without a hitch.  Lots of good, interesting concepts on there.  If you'd like to see, go here:  http://www.hockeyjerseyconcepts.com/2013/10/thursday-puck-drop.html

Thats all I got today.  Being the first HNIC Saturday of the season, you can bet I'll be watching lots of hockey tonight.  Hope you all have a good night, and thanks for reading!

Guest Concepts, And An Early Goof Up

This is probably the earliest I've made a post, and theres a bit of a reason and story behind it, but I'll get to that later.

First, I'd like to give a shout-out to friend-of-the-site Ricky, from Buffalo Nickel Graphics.  He sent me his concepts wondering if I could display them on my blog.  Considering he's been very helpful to me by displaying my concepts on his own blog, I am more than happy to feature his work.

I like Ricky's work, and he is one of the few hockey designers I know that also does designs for other sports, as you will probably see in the near future.

But for now, I'll start with two concepts of the hockey variety, both involving some infamous jerseys:

Ah yes, the St. Louis Blues jersey that never was.  The best thing Mike Keenan has ever done for the NHL was preventing his players to wear this original set.  Ricky has a go at this set, and considering there really isn't a template to base this colourful jersey from, the effort involved is rather impressive.  I'm still not a fan of the design, but as far as execution goes, this was really well done.  I'd maybe suggest a more standard sports font, but thats just me.  And I should mention that I love what was done with the background of the concept.

This is 100% better than the current Buffalo alternates.  Getting rid of the blue "cape" went a long way to making a hockey jersey out of patchwork.  I like how he kept the new "C" patch, but coloured it so its not yellow on yellow.  I think the jersey looks better with this logo rather than the regular Sabres logo, although it looks a little high on this jersey.  Everything else looks really good on this design, and the detailing on the equipment is really nicely done.  This looks like a good alternate uniform set for Buffalo.

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You'll probably be seeing more of Ricky's work in the near future, although he'll show us some of his concepts from other sports.

And to anyone reading who wants their work viewed on this site, don't hesitate to drop me an email and set it up.  I'd love to showcase other designers' work on here.

I'm also setting up a Guest Concepts page, where you can see concepts from other designers who have been featured here.  It's a work-in-progress right now, but it should be set up in the next few days.

Thanks again to Ricky for showing us his concepts.  Hopefully he doesn't mind my nitpicking, but they are very impressive designs.  I look forward to seeing more of his work.  And if you'd like to see more of his work for yourself, he has his own blog, Buffalo Nickel Graphics.  The link to that blog is on my Links page.

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Now I get to explain how I done goofed.  Last night, when completing my HJC post for today, I set the schedule for 4:30am ET.  The post is SUPPOSED TO go live at 4:30pm ET.  Apparently someone (me) forgot about the whole 24-hour clock system.  Thankfully, the good folks at HJC caught the error this morning before too many people noticed, and saved the day.  I'll definitely have to pay more attention to that from now on.

For those wanting to see my HJC post later, it will be live on HockeyJerseyConcepts.com at 4:30pm ET, or 2:30 for my local friends.

I might have a second post today talking about that post, depending on my schedule for the day.  Until then, thanks for reading and have a good rest of your day.

The Debut

Hello everyone.  After going balls to the wall the last few days for my school work, I finally have some time to update on my post.

Today was a pretty big milestone day for me, as I got to make my HockeyJerseyConcepts.com writing debut.  I'd say it went pretty smoothly, and the concepts I got to review were really good.  The reception by the writers for me has been phenomenal, and I'm really excited to have this first post done.

If you want to see my post, then go to http://www.hockeyjerseyconcepts.com/2013/09/thursday-rookie-debut.html

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And speaking about jersey concepts, I've been really in a creative funk lately for my own designs. Other than the 2 contest designs I showcased a few days ago, I really haven't been able to sit down and make a design.  Part of this is because of my schedule, but mostly I haven't had any inspiration or motivation to make a design.  I simply don't know what team I should redesign, or have any cool redesign ideas.

I've been kind of thinking about doing a league-wide concept for the RMJHL.  Don't know what that was? Well it was the predecessor to the BCHL, British Columbia's Junior 'A' league.  My hometown Fernie Ghostriders started there, and many teams from the current BCHL and KIJHL began in that league.  That was the first hockey league I really watched and followed, so I thought it would be a cool, if not difficult, concept.  What do you guys (especially my friends from the area) think?

And if anyone has any other suggestions for designs or concepts, let me know and I'd love to give it a shot.  Maybe doing a few fan-suggested concepts will get me back into the swing of things for design.  Who knows.

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One more thing I want to ask you, as my readers.  One of my next posts will be about the poll I just conducted, determining which of the Buffalo Sabres' jerseys were the worst designs of all time.  I could talk about the results, and compare the jerseys, in a standard blog format.  Or, I could also create a "Vlog" post, if people would be interested in watching a video for my blog rants.  If it gets enough interest, I could have a weekly video, or something like that, coinciding with this blog.  It could get me some practice in video editing (which is useful for my college program), and give this blog a bit more exposure.  That would be cool, but its not necessary.

Would you guys watch something like that?  Or would you rather me keep the traditional blog format?  I may do one or the other, regardless of opinion, but I really value my readers' (and friends') opinions on it.

So thanks for reading, and hopefully I can come up with another post soon.  Until then, enjoy the preseason!

Back In The USSR, and Anyone Up For Some Pool?

Hey gang. So I got my first set of concepts to post on HJC for Thursday, and I'm really excited to get this post out already.

In the meantime, here's a couple of jerseys I'd like to share.

This was for a contest I entered for HJC, where you had to submit jersey designs for the Anaheim Ducks, using the colours they proposed to use before going with black, bronze and orange. Orange was one of the colours involved in this contest as well, but I left it out because I thought the green and orange looked awful together.  Anyways, I picked out one of the old secondary logos, and gave the jersey a unique wing style to it. I wasn't sure how it would be received, but I came 7th out of 24 designs, so it must not have been too bad.

Here's one that I made today for the current HJC contest, asking for a new design for the Soviet Union. Really cool contest idea, so I gave it a go. I really like how it turned out, looking like their classic jerseys and staying simple, while having its own style.

What do you guys think?  I'd love to know your thoughts on these.

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I don't exactly have much to talk about today, but I do want to point out that it didn't take long for Toronto's new contract for Nazem Kadri to look like a bargain deal.  Early in the preseason game against the Flyers, he absolutely undressed Hal Gill and scored a brilliant goal for Toronto.  He showed signs of stardom last season, and I think he has nowhere to go but up this season.  For a player under the microscope so much in Toronto, its nice to see for sure!

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Theres only a few more days to vote on my poll for the worst Buffalo jersey of all time. For the few votes I'm getting, I'm not overly surprised how it's shaping up so far, although I'm disappointed how bad the Goat-head jersey is doing, as those were always my favourites.  Expect a discussion on these jerseys in a few days.

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Now, just wanna give a quick question to those who read my blog.  I'm thinking about starting a hockey pool.  Would anyone be interesting in something like that?  Depending on interest, we'll figure out the rules and stuff later, if it does happen.  Its just a thought for now. 

Thanks for reading!

Musical Coaches, Baseball, Regis Philbin, and Jerseys

Before I get to today's topic, a few little things I'd like to share.

First, I have to say that I absolutely love Jay and Dan from TSN FoxSports1. I was really sad to see them leave TSN, but watching their first episode on American networks makes me feel like they're in good hands.  I'm still a fan.

But you know who isn't a fan? Regis Philbin.  He was on one of the sports channel's segments this morning, and had a few things to say to the Canadian duo:

Not sure if trolling, or just mad.  Why you heff to be mad, Regis?  Either way, this definitely made me laugh.

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Second, I'll give a quick shout-out to Team Canada at the Little League World Series.  They were eliminated earlier today after losing to Panama.  It got kinda ugly, lasting only 4 innings in a 12-0 blowout. The Canadians leave the tournament with a 1-2 record.

Despite the blowouts to both Panama and Taiwan in the first game, they played hard and deserved to represent our country on the world stage.  Expectations, as usual, weren't very high on our team, but we were well represented nonetheless. Congrats to the remaining teams and good luck for the rest of the tournament.

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Third, I created a couple of new concepts that I'd like to share.

This first one is of the Calgary Hitmen of the WHL.  Named after famous wrestler Bret "The Hitman" Hart.  He also founded and part-owned the team.  Like his wrestling outfit, the Hitmen's original jersey made black and pink badass, something almost impossible in the world of sports.  Since then, the team upgraded their logo and look, changing the colours along the way.  Well fooey with that, I like what the Hitmen pink stood for.  So I brought back the pink, kept their new cleaner logo, and gave it more Calgary flavour by giving it the Flames' style of the mid-90's.

This was made for a contest at HockeyJerseyConcepts.com. The Hawthorne, California police department wanted to set up a youth hockey organization that would give the sport of hockey to youth that cannot afford to be in sports or activities.  They got an equipment grant from the NHLPA, and wanted an artist to design their jerseys to show city spirit, pride of the police force, and to be a "badass" cool jersey for these kids to wear.  I'm all for that.  So I created the logo using a police badge outline, stars, sticks, and wings to give this jersey a unique flair of pride.  I kept the main colour a "police blue", while adding light blue, black, and white.  I also gave them the Anaheim Ducks' jersey style because, well its just that cool of a jersey, but deserved to be in better colours.  I mean, double blue, thats the best colour combination a jersey could have!

Besides maybe black and pink ;)

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So finally to what I wanted to talk about, which is the question:

Who won the game of Musical Coaches?

This off-season had a lot of coaches fired, hired, moved, traded, etc.  Which team got the best deal out of it?

Buffalo Sabres: 

Fired: Lindy Ruff

Hired: Ron Rolston

Lindy Ruff in my mind is a legendary coach, but his time in Buffalo was over when players stopped listening to his messages.  That tends to happen to any coach, good and bad, at some point.  Unless you're Barry Trotz apparently.  His replacement, Ron Rolston, has a ton of NCAA coaching experience, but only 2 years experience coaching in the AHL.  He was signed during last season in Buffalo, and had a .565 winning percentage, not a bad start at all.  Still, his inexperience is going to be the downfall of a struggling Sabres franchise for a few seasons yet.

Dallas Stars:

Fired: Glen Gulutzan

Hired: Lindy Ruff

Interestingly enough, Ruff landed with the team that effectively stole a Stanley Cup away from him in 1999.  A veteran, no-nonsense coach that can lead a young group of players (and possibly straighten Seguin out for good) to great heights.  

Tampa Bay Lightning:

Fired: Guy Boucher

Hired: Jon Cooper

I never really liked Boucher as a coach.  His style really didn't jive with the roster he had, who (besides goaltending) should have been a highly competitive team during his tenure.  He is replaced by Jon Cooper, an inexperienced coach in the NHL, but has had wild success in the AHL for the few seasons he's been there, winning the Calder Cup in his 2nd season in Norfolk, then the following year leading Syracuse to the best record in the league until he was hired by Tampa Bay.  Despite his success, his leash will be short, given the expectations of this team.

Vancouver Canucks:

Fired: Alain Vigneault

Hired: John Tortorella

I've said it before, and I'll say it again, I don't like the sounds of this.  I love Tortz as a coach, but his hard-nose, physical style of play, along with the short leashes he gives to younger players, will not fit well with the Canucks, unless he has a total change of heart when he's there.  AV is a great coach, but his message wasn't getting across to the Canuck players, and he couldn't spark them to playoff success.

New York Rangers:

Fired: John Tortorella

Hired: Alain Vigneault

To complete the coaching trade, we have AV replacing Tortz in New York.  Unlike Vancouver's situation, I'm really excited to see what Vigneault can do with a dependable cast in NY.  

Edmonton Oilers:

Fired: Ralph Kruger

Hired: Dallas Eakins

Kruger was a smart, savvy veteran coach, but couldn't adapt to the NHL game from his home in the Swiss league.  Eakins is getting his first stint as an NHL coach in Edmonton, and has been coaching the Toronto Marlies of the AHL, with reasonable success.  His style will benefit Edmonton, but lack of experience will hinder this young team.

Colorado Avalanche:

Fired: Joe Sacco

Hired: Patrick Roy

This is my favourite coaching hire since Anaheim nabbed Boudreau.  Sacco's coaching record has been mediocre at best, barely making the playoffs once out of 4 seasons.  Patrick Roy was brought in to single-handedly reform the team, being head coach and head decision maker in Colorado.  He ran the whole show in Quebec in the QMJHL, winning the Memorial Cup in his rookie year and keeping Quebec a dominant team since.  His experience will no doubtedly be questioned, as will his antics.  But he's the kind of guy that can fire up a young team like Colorado and get them playing full-hearted hockey, and thats something the league seems to be missing right now.

So who do you think won the off-season for coaches?  My say would be New York, but potentially Colorado.  Anyway, let me know what you think, and thanks for reading!

Ivan Hlinka, Tennis, Canadian Hockey, and Pokemon?

Okay so I forgot yesterdays post, and almost today's as well.  I've been fairly busy the last few days but I figured I should at least try to get a post in before nights end.  It's gonna be short and sweet, but a few different things to talk about today.

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First to something that isn't exactly hockey related.  Well, it isn't at all.  But as a Canadian, I feel I should say it, this week I'm excited for tennis.

And no, not because of the commercials running on TV luring youth away from hockey and into tennis.  I, of course, don't agree with the commercial, but its a worthwhile tactic and honestly well timed and placed, considering that hockey is getting more expensive to play and getting more violent.  I'd never switch hockey for tennis, but I respect the commercial.

But no, the reason why I'm a tennis fan this week is the fact that at this year's Rogers Cup (aka the Canadian Open of Tennis), there were two Canadians in the semi-finals, and one who made it to the finals tomorrow against tennis star Rafael Nadal.  That is cool in so many ways.  Canadians don't often hold the spotlight in any sport besides hockey and women's soccer.  But its been a great year for Canadian tennis, climaxed by this tournament.  No Canadian has made it to the finals of this event in more than 50 years. Milos Raonic is one of tennis' biggest stars, and making the finals for him was a great result, but not totally unbelievable.  What is unbelievable, however, is the run by fellow Canadian Vasek Pospisil, who completed a few huge upsets until he was defeated by Raonic in the semis.

And while I'm still not the biggest tennis fan out there, this is surely a huge day for Canadian sports and its fans in general.  And it can get even better tomorrow if Raonic can win the whole tournament at home against Nadal.

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Now back to hockey.  First, I'll comment on the Ivan Hlinka tournament, which was the subject of my last article.  Since then, Canada was able to defeat Russia and then the strong American side to win the gold medal, and did so in very convincing fashion.  This is absolutely outstanding news for the future of Canadian hockey, who is facing the darkest time in their history right now.

Besides being reigning Olympic gold medalists, Canada has done very poorly in hockey in the last few years, with respect to what they usually can produce.  Their world championship performances have been awful.  Yes, many of their stars are playing in the playoffs at the time, but the sheer depth of Canada's team should easily be able to produce a gold-contending team every year.  The world junior teams haven't fared much better, failing to win gold since 2009 and winning a medal at all last year.  Yes, our expectations are extremely steep compared to most countries, but we have the players and resources to justify most of the expectations, and the results haven't been there.

Canada has seemed to get in the habit of sitting on a comfortable lead, and folding late; or not showing up for 60 minutes in a game, and coming up short after a last-ditch effort at the end.  Big leads are always a problem for Canada and the teams' attitudes.  But these kids at the Ivan Hlinka tournament not only dominated the tournament, but did so without putting the foot off the pedal, or looking any less calm than the first minute of the first game.  I think it was an outstanding effort by this team, and coach Dale Hunter deserves huge recognition for keeping the team in focus, while gelling together extremely good team.  If Sutter wasn't on board with the World Jr team already (who himself is really good at keeping teams calm and focussed himself, and his World Jr record shows it), than I'd say Dale Hunter would make an excellent coach for Team Canada again.  Heck, he could coach in the NHL again no problem, but he doesn't want to.

So once again, congrats to Canada's U18 team for winning the tournament, and looking so composed while doing so.  I'm sure we'll see some of those names in the NHL very soon.

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Thats most of what I wanted to talk about today, but there is one more thing I want to bring up.  Today while surfing the web I found an article that featured NHL logos redrawn with Pokemon in them.  Pokemon and hockey are almost the last things I would ever put together, but this is actually extremely cool!  The logos are well done, and for the most part keep the nature of the logo intact, while clearly showing off Pokemon artwork.  I'd even go as far to say that some of these would make better logos than ones currently on NHL teams.

Here is the article featuring all of the artwork, including Detroit's, Dallas', Carolina's, Calgary's, Anaheim's, Nashville's, and other logos redrawn as popular Pokemon characters.  It even includes the BrockHawks, no joke.

Just for kicks, here are my two favourites: (Of course, no artwork credit belongs to me, I'm just a fan).

These are my 3 favourites, but there are plenty more.  The Pikachu/Lighting logo is cool, but too gimicky and obvious to use as a serious logo.  However, the Ursaring/Bruins logo is very well done and could pass as a proper logo, looking much fiercer than the other bear featured on this logo.  My favourite has to be the Pidgeotto/Red Wings logo. It works so well, and I'd proudly wear any jersey with that logo on it.  Plus with that logo, Detroit could definitely rebrand as the falcons, and I dont think anyone would complain with that look.  Overall, really cool concepts.

Lets Take This Outside

Hey everyone, a few quick little notes before I get to my rant today, one of them leads on to my subject.

But first, my NHL All-Star Game concept got reviewed on HJC today, and got a fairly good review.  If you want to see that concept and the other reviews for today, go to: http://www.hockeyjerseyconcepts.com/2013/08/thursday-sabres-warrior-cup-and-more.html

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Second, I made a new concept that I'm really excited to complete.  I've hit a bit of a creative snag during the last week or so and really haven't been able to complete anything.  But last night I had a huge brainwave of an idea and started it, finishing the concept this morning.

As you can see, its a concept for the 2015 Winter Classic in Nashville, against the St. Louis Blues.  I gave Nashville a totally new look and logo, and gave them a retro looking jersey to go with it.  I went with the Blues' current colours, but gave them a throwback logo and then some arm-striping to really set this jersey apart from their others.  Aside from those 90's jerseys with the diagonal lines, they really haven't had that unique of a jersey.  Not saying this is over the top, but a fresh change, I think, while giving them an older look.  I also created the Winter Classic logo (of course borrowing the already-made NHL, WC word mark and LP Field logo), which I think stands out and shows the flair of Nashville.

Anyways, let me know what you guys think about the jerseys.

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So that leaves me with my topic for today, the NHL Winter Classic.

I love the idea, and these games get me excited every year.  I haven't had a chance to go to one yet, but thats probably one of my dream destinations that I can hopefully fulfil in the near future.

Next year, of course, the NHL is trying to "make-even" with the fans by introducing 6 outdoor games into the schedule, instead of the 1 or 2 during a regular year.  Many fans are saying that this waters down the thrill of the event, and I agree somewhat.  But the NHL is banking on this making "a new billion dollars in league revenue", and I think it's possible.  People love these games.  The games feature teams that are already good TV draws anyway, so the revenue just from TV will be increased and make more than regular profit.  As for those attending the games, its not like a game like this happens often in your hometown.  So far, all of the games have been hosted by hockey-mad cities, and generate huge ticket sales, as well as cool merch to go with it.

Case in point, I have my Heritage Classic Flames jersey hanging behind me as I type, and its my favourite jersey in my collection.

So I'm pretty sure its safe to say that the NHL is doing the right thing by milking the outdoor games for what they're worth, at least for this year.  I'd like multiple games during the year, but no more than 3.  After this year, if they had a "Winter Classic", a "Stadium Series", and a "Heritage Classic", that would be great, no more, and no less.

But what about after this year? Where should these games be played?

Well, assuming the NHL keeps its current formula of letting smaller-market cities host the All-Star Game (as it usually does), then they probably shouldn't host outdoor games as well.  That seems fair, most of these cities are not the best climates for outdoor games, but are better suited for the star-studded All-Star red carpets and pizazz that goes with it.  Other than for special occasions, the All-Star games should be in places like Florida, California, Dallas, Carolina, Nashville, etc. Of course, other cities will get the chance, but places like this should get first dibs.

But back to the event at hand, the Winter Classic.  There is still many other places that should host an event like this, yet the NHL seems to be milking a lot of the same teams over and over.  Here is a list of the outdoor games the NHL has played/announced since the Heritage Classic began, as per Wikipedia:

November 22, 2003	Heritage Classic	Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Alberta	Montreal Canadiens	Edmonton Oilers	4–3	57,167
January 1, 2008	NHL Winter Classic	Ralph Wilson Stadium, Orchard Park, New York	Pittsburgh Penguins	Buffalo Sabres	2–1 (SO)	71,217
January 1, 2009	NHL Winter Classic	Wrigley Field, Chicago, Illinois	Detroit Red Wings	Chicago Blackhawks	6–4	40,818
January 1, 2010	NHL Winter Classic	Fenway Park, Boston, Massachusetts	Philadelphia Flyers	Boston Bruins	1–2 (OT)	38,112
January 1, 2011	NHL Winter Classic	Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	Washington Capitals	Pittsburgh Penguins	3–1	68,111
February 20, 2011	Heritage Classic	McMahon Stadium, Calgary, Alberta	Montreal Canadiens	Calgary Flames	0–4	41,022
January 2, 2012	NHL Winter Classic	Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania	New York Rangers	Philadelphia Flyers	3–2	46,967
January 1, 2014	NHL Winter Classic	Michigan Stadium, Ann Arbor, Michigan	Toronto Maple Leafs	Detroit Red Wings	N/A	N/A
January 25, 2014[15]	Stadium Series	Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles, California	Anaheim Ducks	Los Angeles Kings	N/A	N/A
January 26, 2014[16]	Stadium Series	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York	New York Rangers	New Jersey Devils	N/A	N/A
January 29, 2014[17]	Stadium Series	Yankee Stadium, New York City, New York	New York Rangers	New York Islanders	N/A	N/A
March 1, 2014[18]	Stadium Series	Soldier Field, Chicago, Illinois	Pittsburgh Penguins	Chicago Blackhawks	N/A	N/A
March 2, 2014[19]	Heritage Classic	BC Place, Vancouver, BC	Ottawa Senators	Vancouver Canucks	N/A	N/A

No team has hosted twice prior to next season, which is how it should be.  Strangely, out of the big-market American cities to host so far, New York hasn't as of yet.  This changes next year, as they get 2 games, which to me seems fair.  Chicago also gets to host another game next year, which is alright considering the team's attendance is 2nd only to Montreal on a yearly basis.

Detroit gets to host for the first time next year, playing in their second outdoor game against outdoor-rookies Toronto.  This is great because Toronto finally gets involved in an outdoor game, and it will likely break the world record of highest-attendance at a hockey game (which Michigan Stadium currently holds already with its game between NCAA rivals Michigan vs Michigan St.)

Ottawa and Vancouver get their first taste of outdoor* hockey (the game could be closed-roof possibly), and I'm glad another Canadian city gets to host it.  But it seems strange, since the NHL is determined in having more events in the eastern part of the country for TV reasons, that all 3 western Canadian teams have hosted a game before Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, and to a lesser extent Winnipeg.

And lastly, I'm glad L.A. gets a shot at hosting an outdoor game.  It could go bad, and its a risky move, but its a huge novelty game in a huge market, and could turn huge revenue for the league, as well as bringing in some new fans from California, and turning out some cool throwback jerseys for both teams.

So who should get a game soon after next year?  Well immediately I'd rule out Pittsburgh (played 3 games), Chicago (hosted 2), and Detroit (hosted 1, played 2).  

Toronto and Montreal should host a Heritage Classic soon in the near future. Toronto maybe not right away, since they're included next season in Detroit.  But Montreal should play host in one of these games, as it is the oldest and most historic franchise in the NHL.  Toronto or Boston seem like very good opponents.

Edmonton hosted the original Heritage Classic, but that was 10 years ago.  I don't think anyone would cry foul if they got to host the game again.  Calgary makes sense as an opponent, but if Winnipeg could get the rights to their WHA-style jerseys, then I'd like to see that game more, as a WHA re-match.

Winnipeg is a bit of a smaller market, but it still could put out a great game there.  If they could get their WHA jerseys as mentioned above, Edmonton would be a cool opponent.  If not, then playing Calgary or Minnesota would be cool too.  It would also be interesting if they hosted Phoenix, but fans might not like that.

Colorado and Minnesota are both western teams that really deserve an outdoor game.  They could either play each other, or some division rivals. Colorado could play L.A., St. Louis, Vancouver, or Detroit (I love that idea).  Minnesota could play Winnipeg, St. Louis, or Dallas in a North Stars throwback game.

Nashville and Carolina are two teams that probably shouldn't host the Winter Classic (despite my concept above), but are teams that should be involved.  Fan support for these teams was slow from the start, but are becoming big hockey markets for the league, and being part of a game like this could go a long way for growing the fanbases there. 

Columbus and New Jersey could probably host the games, and probably should.  Columbus isn't doing great for fan support, and New Jersey's financial troubles are well-documented.  Hosting a game here would be feasible, and would help both franchises from financial trouble.  Ohio Stadium in Columbus is gigantic and could draw a huge crowd there, with MetLife Stadium in New Jersey being just a little smaller.

There are just a few suggestions I have for the Winter Classic and other outdoor games.  If you have any ideas for games, or comments on my own suggestions, please send me a comment and let me know.  Thanks for reading.