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Sebster · 05-25-2021, 02:26 PM

All of my rankings and opinions are highly subjective and more than arbitrary so I hope I don’t offend anyone here. Also just a foreword, I assume none of these will come even remotely close to the Moon Knight branding so I have prepared myself for disappointment.

Atlanta Inferno:

Starting off with the Atlanta Inferno here, we have a great logo! I love the way the phoenix is built into the black in the background, and the yellow/orange accents on the wings are a great touch. Unfortunately I’m going to have to take some points off for the uninspired color scheme. Atlanta already has the Falcons (black/red) and the Hawks (black/red/yellow). I guess the idea may have been to keep the colors the same throughout all the sports in the city, but that just comes off as lazy to me when you could have thought outside the box a bit more. Alternate patch #1 does a great job of blending the “ATL” into a legible logo and incorporating a hockey stick! Very cool! Alternate patch 2 is ok, not much to write about there, it's just a white phoenix outline. Moving on to the jerseys, again they are fine, but just unoriginal. I’ve seen black/red/insert complementing color too many times before to be impressed here. That being said, the black out jerseys are phenomenal and are a great use of the alternate logo.

Baltimore Platoon:

While at first I was not a huge fan of this kit, it definitely grew on me. To be honest, even as an American, the red/white/blue colorway never really did it for me. It always seemed like a lazy cop out to try to get some Walmart fans on your side. The logo here does a great job of spacing out the 3 stars on either side so it doesn’t feel too cluttered and the grey on the eagle is a great touch to add some depth and really make this logo pop. The jerseys are clean, and I feel like red teams will often struggle with adding too much red to a jersey and overloading it. The color balance here seems to be pretty on point and there is not too much to nitpick. Unfortunately, like I said earlier, the red/white/blue just doesn’t really do it for me, but all that being said this is a solid kit of branding material. It was also nice to see the 20th anniversary patch and the stadium with a custom message about 20 years of Platoon hockey!

Buffalo Stampede:

Alright now we’re talking, finally some bold colors. Green and yellow are so hard to pull off but when done well it can be such a pleasure to look at. The logo is nice but part of me thinks some white outlines here and there would help really make it pop and give it some much needed pizzaz. The green jersey looks great as does the white jersey, but I can’t quite get on board with the yellow jersey. I think adding white outlines here (like with the logo) would really help out and make it easier on the eyes. Or black outlines. Not sure, I just know it needs something else. Both colorways for the secondary logo are top notch and I love the use of the state of New York here. All in all, this is definitely my early favorite.

Chicago Syndicate:

Oooh black and yellow. A timeless, iconic colorway. First of all I am a huge fan of the name “Syndicate”. I think this is the only name I have never heard for any other sports team. Not little league, high school, club, pro, nothing. Moving on to the logo, they do a great job of showing the “boss” of the Syndicate here with a menacing look on his face. The logo is shadowed very well and the colors all work very well together. The secondary logo is fine, I like the use of the 4 stars to pay homage to the 4 stars on the Chicago flag. The home and away jerseys are great, nothing too jarring, everything blends together well. I touched on this above, but the alternates are just a biiiiit too much yellow for my liking, however I do like these alternates more than Buffalo’s. Lastly, I’m glad they swapped logos, looking at the old logo. The old one was a bit too cartoon-y and this new one has the right amount of styling on it.

Hamilton Steelhawks:

Blue/Steel is a very solid, and in my opinion, underused colorway. This branding kit really begins to shine though when the yellow is added as a tertiary color. The yellow truly allows the blue/steel to shine and brings these colors to life. The alternate logo with the hawk claw grabbing the logo is straight up phenomenal and is probably the best alternate logo on this list (haven’t seen any below this yet).The home and away jerseys are nice and clean, but I feel like could be made a bit better if powder blue was the blue the team went with, i.e. Denver Nuggets with steel. The alternate logo is absolutely great, as you can probably tell I’m a sucker for black jerseys. Top notch kit from the Hamilton club.

Manhattan Rage:

The rage is an awesome team name, and the logo does a great job of conveying the rage name. A bull staring at you straight on is pretty metal and I think is a great way to start this branding kit off. I am still, believe it or not, not a fan of the black and red colorway so not much to say there. Unfortunately there isn’t much more info on the forum page about this team’s branding so I guess the review stops there.

New England Wolfpack:

First of all shoutout Ace. Now that I have that out of the way, green/black is a straight sicko mode colorway. Wolfpack is also a great alternative to a boring name like “Wolves” and implies the team hunts together. I like how the logo incorporates a hockey stick like the ATL alternate logo did earlier in my review as well. The home and away jerseys are very clean and blend the colors used very well without being too garish. My only recommendation on the jerseys is to drop Adidas. The only other gripe I have with the New England kit is the alternate logo, which comes off a little cartoon-y.

Tampa Bay Barracuda:

Ok yes. Yes. All of the yes. This is it folks. Not sure why, but I am still going to continue on here. The Miami Vice colors? Yes. The fade on the jersey. Yep. The GIANT FISH. Hell yes. This is my early favorite for best branding but we’ll see how the rest of the list plays out. The triangle behind the barracuda in the primary logo is so 90s. It would have been nice to see a little bit more from the secondary logo than just *primary logo but with no triangle* but that’s ok, this is still perfect. The jerseys are an absolute masterclass, pulling the fade off perfectly. This branding kit truly brought a tear to my eye and the wonderful people at Tampa Bay should be extremely proud of this branding set they have constructed.

Toronto North Stars:

This is a great logo here, with the fade from the tower into the maple leaf. The fade is pulled off very well, and I was surprised to see this as it would have been very easy to botch. The shoulder logo is simple but very clean and nice to look at. The home jerseys are fine, very normal, but where this jersey really shines is on the away. The sleeve design, incorporating the maple leaf looks wonderful and not shoehorned in. I’m a fan of the alternates as well. I think. I’m not really sure as I’m still trying to process the drastic color shift that is happening there.

Calgary Dragons:

Oh look, another red and black team. Real original. I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but again, the jerseys look fine. It’s just the same damn color scheme over and over again. This is what? The third time already on this list I’ve gone over a red and black team? I mean to be fair, this kit is probably my favorite of the red and blacks so far, and they definitely get bonus points for having their own streaming service and a bunch of other extras, but come on let’s mix it up a bit y’all.

Edmonton Blizzard:

Right away this team caught my eye because “Blizzard” is a great team name, but then things got even better! The typical issue that teams named after weather phenomenon run into (i.e. Thunder, Blizzard, Rain) is they use that phenomenon as the logo. I was pleasantly surprised to see the logo was a fox! The multiple shades of blue here really make the logo pop off the screen and give it almost a 3d feel. Another trap I was worried the team would fall into was using all of these shades of blue on the jersey itself, but again it was nice to see only two shades employed. I do feel like some more yellow would have helped the jerseys sizzle a bit, maybe as the stripes on the socks, I think that would add a good flair to the jerseys. Great design all around, and a really solid kit.

Los Angeles Panthers:

Now this is interesting, because I have been racking my brain for a minute and have struggled to think of another team that has used teal and orange as their colors before. Someone will probably correct me in the comments with a very obvious answer and make me feel dumb, but that’s ok I’m used to it. The primary logo is pretty cool, however I am not a fan of something about it. The vagueness maybe? I’m not sure. I feel like the logo should convey “Panthers” and instead they chose to have it convey “Los Angeles”. I am a much bigger fan of the alternate logo and personally think the primary and alternate logos should just be swapped. The jerseys on the other hand all look great, much better than what I was expecting a teal and orange team to look like. Now, for once, you’re all going to hear me say it. That is an acceptable red and black jersey. You know why it’s acceptable? Because it’s an alternate! That means we barely have to see it and don’t have to look at it every night.

Minnesota Monarchs:

The Monarchs! I’ve been looking forward to reviewing this team as a London Royals alum. I love the incorporation of purple, as that is historically a “royal” color. That royal feeling persists throughout this kit. To start us off, the logo is literally a king. Then just looking at the jerseys, I kind of get reminded of those big flowing robes that you would see Kings and Queens wear in old timey movies and tv shows. The purple jerseys especially caught my eye, as it can be hard to design a purple jersey. Purple is a rather jarring color, especially this shade, and the grey stripes do a great job of offsetting that aggressive tone. All in all, this is an awesome kit and probably takes my #2 spot so far.

New Orleans Specters:

The Specters! Another awesome name for a team that I can’t think of another team using. Looking at the primary logo I was slightly disappointed, it doesn’t look bad, but it would have been nice to see some New Orleans flair on it. Then imagine my eyes when I scrolled down to the Mardi Gras alt! This is a pretty sweet logo and is only made better by the Mardi Gras alt. Like the Monarchs right above here, the Specters do a really good job of offsetting the purple color with a striped design. My favorite part of this jersey is the inlaid la fleur in the stripe on the sleeves and jersey. The alternate jerseys really let the Mardi Gras colors jump out of the screen, and complete the kit. This is the one branding set that may be able to rival Tampa Bay’s in my eyes.

San Francisco Pride:

Pride! I love this team name because of the annual pride parade in San Francisco so it’s nice to see this in the SHL. As a Lakers fan, the purple and gold is great to see, and I love a good lion mascot/logo. I’m a huge fan of the shoulder patch due to the lying laying next to the main lion really driving home the point of the Pride name. Now, the jerseys. Wow! These are great! I’m not sure what to call the design, so I’m just going to go with barbed wire here. Colorblock usually isn’t my cup of tea, since it usually comes off as boring, but this is how its done right here. Using the barbed wire to separate the colors on the jersey is a great way to pull of this look and I love it here! Not to mention the alternate jersey calling back to the pride parade I mentioned earlier. Another great kit here in the SHL.

Seattle Argonauts:
You guys and your funky team names. I actually had to go look up what an argonaut was. And… I am astounded. This is such a creative and exciting name and logo combination, I am so happy to see it here. I do wish it was a bit brighter, but I understand the somewhat “gloomy” color choices here. The primary logo is great with the big eye on the side of the ship, and I like to see the return of the background triangle here in the secondary logo. The home and away jerseys both look great and clean, with a solid color ratio on each one. I think I nailed down why I like this branding so much actually. It gives off a Navy vibe, and I have always been a fan of their college football jerseys.

Texas Renegades:

I mentioned disliking it earlier, but the red/white/blue REALLY works here. I think using these colors in combination as the secondary color of the kit was a genius move and I’m very happy with how it turned out. Especially looking at the pre season 41 logo, this is a marked improvement. The black and grey jerseys are pretty solid overall, reminding me of the Raiders jerseys which I have never really had a problem with, but this kit absolutely shines with the white jerseys. That little touch of red/white/blue is great and doesn’t just scream AMERICA at you, but rather hints and reminds you that we are the best country on the planet.

Winnipeg Aurora:

That is a lot of green. A looooooot of green. But you know what? I think I like it. The logo is definitely top notch, but I am personally not a huge fan of the home jersey. Like I mentioned on a couple other spots in here, too much green can be a bad thing and this has, in my opinion, too much green. The away and alternate jerseys are very solid though. The grey on the alternate jersey lets the green spark as the secondary color instead of the green needing to carry the jersey as the primary. The slight fade at the bottom and the logo on the alternate jersey are also great calls to the Aurora Borealis, the namesake of the team. The shoulder patch is also pretty sweet, I mean who doesn’t love a big old bear with a rainbow behind him?

Top Three:
Instead of ranking all the jerseys and potentially dividing some members of this community, I’ll just list my top three;

#3: Minnesota Monarchs.
#2: New Orleans Specters
#1: Tampa Bay Barracudas
That’s all for now! Thanks for giving me a read and welcoming me to the community. Watch out for Willie in the coming seasons!

(2707 words, 2x media, hold off on my first media bonus for now please, I'll claim it on my next one since it cannot stack with the 2x media)

PremierBromanov · 05-25-2021, 02:32 PM

CHOMP CHOMP

Sebster · 05-25-2021, 02:38 PM

05-25-2021, 02:32 PMPremierBromanov Wrote: CHOMP CHOMP

Chomp on brother man.

SlashACM · 05-25-2021, 02:52 PM

Ayyyyy love seeing people like the jersey. I spent a lot of time on it !!

**_Blitz_** · 05-25-2021, 03:03 PM

Miami Dolphins in the NFL use a teal and orange. But yeah, not a common mix.

Sebster · 05-25-2021, 03:06 PM

05-25-2021, 03:03 PMCapt_Blitzkrieg Wrote: Miami Dolphins in the NFL use a teal and orange. But yeah, not a common mix.

Ah called it, there it is.

***sve7en*** · 05-25-2021, 03:15 PM

Quote:I am a much bigger fan of the alternate logo and personally think the primary and alternate logos should just be swapped.

Oh man do I have some awkward news for you lmao

Urq660 · 05-25-2021, 03:56 PM

Me likey

Sebster · 05-25-2021, 03:59 PM

05-25-2021, 03:15 PMsve7en Wrote:
Quote:I am a much bigger fan of the alternate logo and personally think the primary and alternate logos should just be swapped.

Oh man do I have some awkward news for you lmao

Please fill me in mr. 7

***sve7en*** · 05-25-2021, 05:38 PM

05-25-2021, 03:59 PMSebster Wrote:
05-25-2021, 03:15 PMsve7en Wrote: Oh man do I have some awkward news for you lmao
Please fill me in mr. 7

We swapped them like this season lol, it used to be the alt.

Sebster · 05-25-2021, 06:31 PM

05-25-2021, 05:38 PMsve7en Wrote:
05-25-2021, 03:59 PMSebster Wrote: Please fill me in mr. 7

We swapped them like this season lol, it used to be the alt.

DeletedAtUserRequest · 05-26-2021, 07:27 PM

Great post from a new players perspective
It’s true Calgary’s red based colours are nothing new.. but TBF we were one of the original founding red teams..

+1

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Sebster · 05-26-2021, 07:28 PM

05-26-2021, 07:27 PMMike Izzy Wrote: Great post from a new players perspective
It’s true Calgary’s red based colours are nothing new.. but TBF we were one of the original founding red teams..

+1

I guess that makes it *slightly* better

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