Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here. Since neither Cole or us at DOY consider the Wild our "home team", we were able to get Derek Felska, founder of State of Hockey News to comment.

We've looked at changes with the Buffalo Sabres, New York Islanders, Phoenix Coyotes, Florida Panthers and now defunct Atlanta Thrashers. Today we'll be looking at the Minnesota Wild, which Cole has some big changes planned for.

Cole's Description: Finally up, after weeks of trying to fix one of the most broken identities in hockey (in my opinion), I present the Minnesota Wild.

Tackling this team required a strategy. First off, the color scheme of red and green clashes so horribly in my eyes. It can work, in some places, but I just don't think it works at all in the Wild's identity, so that had to go. I actually like the logo the team has, and find it very clever... but the colors had to change. The other big issue that stands between the Wild and a good identity has to do with chronology. A team whose name and logo are so ultra modern that it's hardly even a noun (let alone a plural noun) should NOT try to dress like an Original 6 franchise. Nor should a team that never saw the 1990's, let alone the 1950's.

With this in mind, I gave the Wild some sleek modern threads and a color scheme that while and dreary has a very "Wilderness at night" vibe to it.

The original plan was to give Minnesota a green version of the home jersey as an alternate, but my girlfriend stepped in the way and said that it was too boring to do that, and helped me put pencil-to-paper on some ideas for an alternate jersey. I settled on a simplistic contrast to the ultra-modern home and road, meant to make subtle reference to the Minnesota North Stars, while still respecting that one team's legacy has nothing at all to do with the other.

I hope you don't hate it, because I put way way WAY too much work into this concept. It just further underscored how much I hate everything about the Wild's identity.

After the jump, a vastly different Minnesota Wild...
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Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here. Since the team we're talking about isn't considered our "home team", we'll do our best to talk to someone who knows them best. Today we were lucky to talk with the only Sabres fan who likes Days of Y'Orr, Phil Kneitinger founder of the Sabres blog Black & Blue & Gold.

Today we will be looking at the Buffalo Sabres. If you haven't been following the project, we've already looked at the New York Islanders, the Phoenix Coyotes, the Florida Panthers and the now defunct Atlanta Thrashers. Here's Cole's thought process while working on the Sabres.

Cole's description: The home and road are the traditional Sabres uniforms, with traditional colors and traditional everything. Not the stupid modernized versions they wear now, that are the epitome of "over-designed". The colors are the shades used on their current third jersey. Royal blue and warm yellow.

The third jersey is a more straight forward homage to the Buffalo Bisons, that their current thirds pay tribute to. I went with football-style shoulder stripes, like the Bison and Seals wore. I also killed all the contrast stitching and contrast nameplate tomfoolery that ruins their pretty awesomely unique alternate right now. Other than that, pretty straight forward, but still a well-deserved return to what they belong in.

After the jump, a look at the new Sabres...
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Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here. Since we are not experts on the team we're presenting, we've gone out of our way to get one. Today we have Christian Arnold, Founder of Islanders Hockey Blog.

We've already taken a look at the Atlanta Thrashers, Phoenix Coyotes and Florida Panthers so now it's time to turn our attention towards the New York Islanders. Here's Cole's take on his design.

Cole's description: After spending forever trying to make a decent crest for the alternate jersey, I've finished the New York Islanders.

I know they recently switched back to royal blue from their short sojourn in navy-land, but it's my personal opinion that the Yashin/Peca era Islanders team is the best dressed team in their franchise history. Navy works for them. With that in mind, I set out to choose a shade of Navy that I felt would be unique, nautical, and visually pleasing, without picking one that looks entirely out of place in the Islanders color scheme. I think I chose a nice unique shade of greenish navy. To help balance out the colors, I took the Islanders red and gave it a slightly redder hue than what is currently used.

When it came to the Alternate, I didn't want to give them a boring orange version of their home or road, or anything orange at all. I decided to take the parts of the Fish-sticks era uniforms that I thought worked and bring them into the fold. Instead of using a greenish-teal and a grey, I decided to use a color inspired by the Dallas Cowboys "metallic silver green" pants. I also created my own crest for the front of the sweater that I really enjoy, but wish it were executed better. Logo design isn't my strong suit, so I'm open to suggestion or help if anyone has anything they'd like to say. I thought it was pretty clever, if nothing else. Since some of the detail is lost in the lower-resolution, I included a bigger version of the alternate logo. (click on the image for a high resolution picture)

After the jump, I present to you the New York Islanders...
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Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here.

If you haven't had the chance to look at the first two teams posted head over to the Atlanta Thrashers and the Phoenix Coyotes. Introducing the Florida Panthers.

Cole's description: Here's my take on the Florida Panthers... since this series is meant to put NHL teams in the uniforms that I think they should be wearing, not everything is going to stand out for its uniqueness. some teams either currently have it right, or had it right before the screwed it all up. the florida panthers fall in the latter category.

i think the florida panthers (similar to the houston texans) hit it out of the park with their inaugural season's uniform set. the florida panthers used to wear uniforms that i'd classify as "modern classics," before resorting to connect-the-dots Reebok templating and then falling into the 2-tone blue trend that everyone seems to be jumping on.

with that in mind, one of the most stunning hockey jerseys i've ever seen in person was the florida panthers white jersey from the mid 90's. photos and graphical representations don't do it justice. what stands out about the uniform is the metallic gold used in the panther's fur on the crest. it didn't even remotely clash with the sunflower yellow that's used on the rest of the uniform like you'd expect... that said, the stunning part was how the gold complemented the navy and red. i took that idea and ran with it, while drawing inspiration from the original striping pattern that guys like brian skrudland, scott mellanby, and stu barnes wore.

i returned to red at home, white on the road, and navy as an alternate, and i killed the "breaking-stick" logo, becaue i find it ruins one of the most underrated logos in sports. i went with new shades of red, blue, and metallic gold that the panthers do not currently use. (click the images for higher resolution)

After the jump, the Florida Panthers...
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Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here. Since neither Cole or Days of Y'Orr consider this team our "home team", we will do our best to bring in a fan of the team described to get their thoughts. Today we were lucky enough to get input from Jenna Volden, creater of the Coyotes blog Hip Checks

Welcome back. Our first official entry of the project was the now defunct Atlanta Thrashers so if you haven't had a chance to look at them, do that. Comment on the work there, we'd love to hear from you. After Atlanta, I figured it was only proper to post the other team discussed with moving to Winnipeg, the Phoenix Coyotes.

Cole's description: I present the Phoenix Coyotes:

I wanted to accomplish a few things with this team. First of all, I wanted a return to an aesthetic that was very desert-like and Arizonan. Take the current Phoenix Coyotes identity and plop them down in any city in the world, and they'd fit right in (which might come in handy next season). That used to not be the case. The original Coyotes sweaters had their flaws (waaaaay too many colors just to name one), but they were unmistakably a southwestern hockey franchise. I wanted to return to that.

With that in mind, I updated their original logo to fit with my concept. I kept the modern colors (slightly darker sand) and tried to fit in some Navajo style artwork to complement the old logo without over-designing the jersey to pieces. I drew inspiration from the Coyotes current alternate jersey for the brick helmet/black jersey/brick pants look, because it's pretty slick, unconventional, and would make them a team that wouldn't ever get confused for any of the other black or red teams.

Without further ado, here's what I came up with. The template for the alternate is based on the soon-to-be-defunct Thrasher alternate. It looks awful on Atlanta, but it's a very interesting cut that allowed me to do a few things I liked. (Click the uniforms for higher resolution pics)

After the jump, a look at Phoenix's uniforms...
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Welcome to the "Re-Imagining The NHL" project created by Cole Jones. Cole has been great enough to allow Days of Y'Orr to post his idea on different teams with his spin on them. You can follow Cole on Twitter. Please feel free to comment on the team below. Feel free to read the official announcement of the project here. We will also do our best to include someone who knows the team better than any of us. Editor's Note: The Atlanta Thrashers concept was created before the team was picked up and moved to Winnipeg.

Today we have the Atlanta Thrashers and to help talk about the uniforms is Laura Astorian, former Atlanta Thrashers ticket holder and writer of Thrashing The Blues. Let's start with the man who created it, Mr. Cole Jones.

Cole's description: The Atlanta Thrashers; a team that struggles to even have an identity, with a color scheme that could best be described as the rainbow (minus green).

I'll be honest... the home and road jersey designs started out as a Philadelphia Flyers third jersey concept I was working on... but it really reminded me of Atlanta more than anything, so I decided to use it. It reminded me of the T-bird logo, so I originally planned for the T-bird to be the primary crest (since i think it's their best mark)... however, it just didn't mesh as well as I'd hoped with that logo as the crest, so I kept the primary bird logo on the home and road, and put the T-bird on the third.

I'd feel like a hypocrite if I fought to preserve what "tradition" Tampa Bay has, but threw it all away with an Atlanta redesign, so I decided to make them a primarily blue team, since they seem to be really wrapped up in the whole "Blueland" concept. I kept it navy, however, as I just don't feel Columbia blue suits them very well. I also ditched the maroon and gave them copper and athletic-gold accents. To me, it just feels like a unique color scheme that feels like Georgia to me. I also preserved the controversial "asymmetrical" sleeves that have adorned the previous home/alternate sweater, since it's unmistakably an "Atlanta Thrashers" trait that I don't hate in concept... only in execution.

That said, here goes nothing: (click the images for higher resolution)

After the jump, it's ATL jersey time...
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Ever year it seems that NHL teams are pumping out new uniforms to fit the Reebok Edge template the NHL undertook after the lockout. I'm not sure if teams do this because they aren't comfortable with their jersey design or if it's a way to sell their product to their fans, but most of the times these teams are hit or miss. A good friend of mine Cole Jones, who was the creator of The Other 6 Seconds, took it upon himself to re-create every NHL team and their uniforms to his liking. After viewing what he posted, I figured that his pieces shouldn't be squandered away on a hockey forum most people don't know about. With Cole's permission I present to you a re-imagining of the NHL by Cole Jones.

Days of Y'Orr will display one team a month for 31 days (since we will include Atlanta) with Cole's description of his thought process then followed up by the home, away and alternate uniform complete with gloves, socks, pants, helmet and jersey. After we present the team, I'll give my spin on it. Feel free to comment on the team as well. Cole has a thick skin, he won't be offended. We will start the project tomorrow with the unvieling of the now defunct Atlanta Thrashers.

Here's a sneak peek.

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The biggest story this summer for the city of Boston hasn't been Channel 4's digitally enhanced fireworks. It hasn't been the on-field struggles of JD Drew as he continues to play mediocre baseball. Hell, the fact that I've watched an inning of baseball could possibly be the biggest story in Boston this summer, but it's not. Not even Lord Stanley, the greatest attorney this side of that dead Kardashian fellow, hasn't been the story of the summer. The story of the summer has been the lack of contract for one of Boston's long nosed brothers: Brad Marchand.

The reason it's such a story is because there hasn't been much of a story at all. Usually when a general manager and a player are working on a deal, you'll hear snippets from various media outlets. Hell, you'll even get the standard "xxx and xxx continue to hammer out a contract", but with Marchand it's been silence. Something has to be going on for these guys not to get something done. Well, world, I present to you the Top 10 reasons why Brad Marchand isn't a Bruin...yet.

After the jump, here's the list!...
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We all know about Darth Quaider, but how many people know the story of Darth Timmy?

Apparently Timmy's mask was first designed for a Darth Vader helmet. 

From the InGoalMag.com story: 

“When I made that the first time it was for a Darth Vader costume,” Calabro told InGoal. “I was going to a show and I wanted it square so I was going to put an accordion where the mouth area is and Tony (Priolo) from Sportmask saw that and asked can we change this, this, and this. And I said ‘why would you want to do that?’ and he said ‘I’m going to get Tim Thomas to wear it, he likes it like that.’ I thought that was weird, but next thing I know the guy has it on.” 

That would explain how he makes saves like this.


And these.

 
Check out the rest of the InGoalMag article for more good stuff, including Alex Auld gushing over Timmy's eyes. Add a comment

Now that's a gym we can learn to love. Lot better than those shitty Planet Fitness "gyms."

Today starts development camp for the Boston Bruins newbies.

Taking part in camp:

Forwards: Anthony Camara, Craig Cunningham, Alexander Fallstrom, Brian Ferlin, Justin Florek, Josh Jooris, Jared Knight, Alexander Khokhlachev, Brett Olson, Tyler Randell, Eric Robinson, Ben Sexton, Ryan Spooner

Defensemen: Ryan Button, Marc Cantin, Tommy Cross, Dougie Hamilton, Robby O’Gara, Steven Spinell, Zach Trotman, David Warsofsky

Goaltenders: Zane Gothberg, Mike Hutchinson, Lars Volden . 

Schedule
Should you be in so dire of need of a hockey fix (like us) that you want to go watch some teenagers practice here's the development camp schedule:

Thursday, July 7 (Wilmington, MA)
-Fitness testing at Ristuccia Arena in Wilmington, 9:30 a.m. ET (closed to public)
-On-ice practice, Ristuccia Arena, 1:15 p.m. ET

Friday, July 8 (Wilmington, MA)
-On-ice workouts (closed to public)

Saturday, July 9 (Wilmington, MA)
-On-ice practice, Ristuccia Arena, 10:30 a.m. ET
-On-ice workout, Ristuccia Arena, 11:45 a.m. ET

Sunday, July 10 (Wilmington, MA)
-On-ice practice, Ristuccia Arena, 10:00 a.m. ET
-On-ice scrimmage, Ristuccia Arena, 11:15 a.m. ET

Monday, July 11 (Wilmington, MA)
-On-ice workout, Ristuccia Arena, 10:00 a.m. ET
-On-ice scrimmage, Ristuccia Arena, 11:00 a.m. ET 

If you can't make it out for the workouts, you can follow Bish's Live Blog of it all... 'cause nothing screams excitement like getting play-by-play of how many bench presses J. Knight is doing.

EDIT: Holy shit, we called it.

Ristuccia Arena is located at 190 Main St, Wilmington MA 01887 Add a comment