Sharks Review & Wolf Pack Revisited

What's happening everyone?

Since the Stars and Hurricanes jersey unveiling's earlier in the off-season, not much has happened jersey wise in the hockey world. But in the last week or so we've seen the AHL's Providence Bruins update their jersey lineup without a white home jersey but with a yellow one, and the San Jose Sharks finally unveiling their updated threads. Today, I will share my thoughts on the Sharks' new jerseys.

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 Earlier in the week, the Sharks shared teaser videos on Instagram over a couple of days with the hashtag "#NewWave" to promote the jersey unveilling's. What they showed on those seconds long videos were the elimination of some orange and the elimination of the colored shoulder yoke. And what they showed was basically all there is to the new jerseys...

Diagram from the Sharks' Website

Not much to talk about here... Just that the jerseys look empty with the elimination of the hem stripes, ONE orange stripes on the arms and no shoulder yoke. They did add collar laces which I like. If I had to pick my favorite of the two, I would probably choose the white jersey..

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Now a while back I posted a Hartford Wolf Pack concept with striping based off their sock striping that was used before being rebranded in 2010. Today I have another idea of what they should wear.

I merged two different eras into one set. The jersey design itself is an edgeified version of their inaugural jerseys, which were the Rangers' liberty jerseys with Wolf Pack logos, and the name/number font they used from 2008-09 until they were rebranded.

Here are full body mockups of the uniforms.

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I apologize if the post looks a little crazy as I threw it together as I was writing it..

 

Well, that's it for today!

 

-Scott

It's Official, The Pack Is Back!

What's going on guys?

Well, It's official! The Connecticut Whale have been re branded and will take the ice next season (13-14) as the Hartford Wolf Pack!

If any of you follow me on Twitter, you know by now that I am in favor of going back to the Wolf Pack brand. It's unique and has a winning tradition which sadly a lot of people here in Connecticut don't understand. Anyway, here is a link to the offical press release from the American Hockey League's website: http://theahl.com/the-pack-is-back-p183823

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The team has already begun to relaunch hartfordwolfpack.com. It's not much right now. Just a splash page with season ticket information for next season. The only thing I don't like is that it looks as if they will only be selling lower bowl seats and closing off the upper bowl at the XL Center next season. The last two and a half years, my seats have been in the upper bowl. Due to better sight lines (in my opinion) and not as crowded.

Along with the name change, the Wolf Pack's primary logo from 1997-2010 will return. It is still unsure if we will see the uniforms used from 2007 until the re brand to the Whale or a completely new set of uniforms.

(From Sportslogos.net)

I for one would not mind if they brought the old ones back or if they came out with a new set! But if they bring back the old ones, I think they should come out with an edge version of one of the Wolf Pack's inaugural season jerseys as an alternate. Witch were basically Rangers Liberty jerseys with the Pack's primary logo on them which were used until I believe the 02-03 or 03-04 season. You cal also see an idea I had for a new uniform set for the Pack in my last post!

Global Spectrum, the company who will run the day-to-day operations of the team next season will be holding a "town hall meeting" with season ticket holders to get them involved with creating marketing ideas.

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Anyway, that's all I have to share with you guys so far. If I find out anything else or if I have missed something, I will update this post and let you all know about the updated on Facebook/Twitter!

-Scott

 

The Pack Is Back!

What's going on guys?

As you all have probably heard by now, the AHL's Connecticut Whale are expected to be 'un-branded' back to the Hartford Wolf Pack. The change comes 2 1/2 years after Howard Baldwin re-branded the team with hopes to lure the Whaler fans who have been hiding under a rock since 1997 and catch the eye of the NHL so Hartford can once again be an NHL city. But instead, they caught the NHL's eye with a different reason as you all might know by now.

When/if the official announcement comes, I'll have a post dedicated to all the specifics.

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Anyway, here's the main reason for today's post.

Here is my entry to HJC's Wolf Pack re-design contest currently being held. The striping pattern on the home & roads are based on the team's sock stripes until 2010. I also used their primary logo as opposed to the Rangers style word mark on the chest and brought back the 'Wolf-head submarine' alternate logo. On the alternate, I created a edited wolf-head logo for the crest (They used a similar logo as an alternate at one point).

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That's it for today!

Also, if anyone knows where I can get a crash course (a free one) on how to use Adobe Illustrator CS6, or would be willing to do one via email, it would be most appreciated!

-Scott

Are The Wolf Pack Returning To Hartford?

What's going on guys? 

Today's post isn't a concept post but more of some speculation regarding the American Hockey League franchise in Hartford, Connecticut. My backyard if you will...There has been a lot of doubt these past few months as to weather there will be professional hockey in Hartford next season with the Connecticut Whale's lease at the XL Center being up at the end of this season. The New York Rangers have said that they would like to keep the franchise in Hartford but lease talks have been halted due to the fact that the current lease to operate the building is up in August. AEG, the company that currently runs the XL Center, has operated the building since 2007 (Before that, Madison Square Garden Inc. was in control of the building since the Whalers packed up for North Carolina) was among three companies the Capital Region Development Authority were accepting bids from to operate the building come august. The other two Companies bidding were "The Bushnell", a local company headed by former Hartford Whaler, Bob Crawford and Global Spectrum. A company that is owned by Philadelphia Flyers owner, Ed Snyder. And after months of mulling over the bids, the CRDA finally chose a winner last week...The Winner was Global Spectrum.

Now that all the craziness is all set and done, now comes the time to find an keep/find an AHL franchise in Hartford. Reason being is that the arena management contract deal can't really be finalized until one is secured. Global Spectrum has until March 1st to keep the current AHL franchise or have one relocate or the deal will be voided.

MSG has expressed that they want to stay in Hartford because of the success of their prospects and the close proximity to NYC. Shortly after the arena deal was announced, there has been talks that a lease deal with the CT Whale is very close from being done.

Now here is the part about the name of the franchise...

If/when a lease deal with the current AHL franchise is finalized, one question that comes to mind is what name will we be rooting for come next season? When Howard Baldwin was run out of Hartford late this past off season, his group allowed AEG to use the CT Whale's name and logos. Now that AEG wont manage the arena or the team, Baldwin may not let GS use the CT Whale brand. If not. What will they be called? Well, a few days ago, MSG renewed the "hartfordwolfpack.com" domain. Renaming the team the Hartford Wolf Pack would seem like the easiest option due to the fact that MSG still owns the rights to the Wolf Pack name and logos.

So hopefully sooner, rather than later, a decision will be made so Hartford Hockey fans can have a name to root for.

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I'm sure this story might not make sense to some of you because I am not great at writing thing like this. So, if you have any questions or need any clarifications, feel free to leave a comment and I will gladly answer!

-Scott