Team Web Updates (pt. 5)

The last few teams have finally unveiled their new site designs, so let’s get to it:

MONTREAL CANADIENS

I really like this design. They pull off the wispy background very well, and the player shots are just about right. One of the better team redesigns.

PITTSBURGH PENGUINS

Very “web 2.0″ glossy and slick. It’s clean, which I like, and the Stanley Cup side bars are very well done. I like it, but it may be a little too clean.

NEW YORK RANGERS

I loved the site previous to this.  They tried to carry over the whole “torn paper” motif to this site, but I don’t think it works too well here. There’s no real contrast at the point of the tear, so to me it just looks like a white scribble running across the site. Darken one part or try adding red to one part and it might have been a little more clear.

OTTAWA SENATORS

Love the side bars and header, but the three-column main content section appears cluttered with so much red. Darken the background up a bit and it’d be perfect.

MINNESOTA WILD

I like the stitched logo in the header. I get what they’re doing with the new third jerseys in the side bars, but the players look rather unenthused to be up there.

TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

I like the Lightning’s redesign well enough. I’m just wondering why the players start so far down on the side bars. Bring them up a bit and this would be a great site. Oh, and nix the social media links in the header, or replace them with better versions.

CHICAGO BLACKHAWKS

I like this design quite a bit, though I probably wouldn’t have put the vertical stripes down the outer edge of the content area. Really nice redesign.

BOSTON BRUINS

I love this design. Keeps with the Old Time Hockey flavor. A little heavy on the right side with all the text running down the side, but overall a great site.

Team Web Updates (pt. 4)

We’re finally getting towards the end of the mass redesign. This batch of teams loves the crazy textures in their backgrounds:

NEW YORK ISLANDERS

I like this design overall, but without a high resolution allowing you to see more of the sidebars, you can’t really make out that it’s the Islanders crest in the background. As a result, you don’t initially recognize that the right diagonal block in the header is, in fact, the hockey stick “Y” found in the team crest.

DETROIT RED WINGS

Love the sidebars, and love how they carry over into the header. I would argue in favor of dropping the crest from the middle of the header though. It contrasts too much with the site heading and tag line. I think the site could survive without it.

CAROLINA HURRICANES

Minimal, much like the Flyers site. I like the texture and like how it fades under the main content. Nothing overly complex, but still good looking.

SAN JOSE SHARKS

I actually like the player shots and how they fade into darker texture. I would have left out the transparent wording and face-off circles though. The header is nice as well, but would have left off the solar flare and embossing on the text.

COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS

Great site. Love Nash on the right and how he fades out at the bottom. I maybe would have tried darkening the center background just a bit to make the individual content boxes stand out a little more from all that texture, but overall a great redesign.

Team Web Updates (pt. 3)

Four more teams have recently revealed their new sites. Wispy backgrounds appear to be the safe bet for many teams this season:

ANAHEIM DUCKS

Minimal, just like their jerseys. Not horrible by any means, just not a lot going on. I almost wish they would have put the full “Ducks” logo on the left instead of just the D with the generic bevel font in the middle. I do like the wispy background. It just needs a little more, or a bit of something else back there.

WASHINGTON CAPITALS

Not sure how I feel about this one. The wispy background doesn’t feel quite right here. Too much red perhaps? I like the header and cropped logo though.

NEW JERSEY DEVILS

Love this site. The Devils crest falling behind the main content is darkened just enough to be largely unobtrusive. I also really like the texture bleeding out into the sidebars. Maybe a little too much header-centric, but overall I like it.

TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS

Very impressive. Thinking outside the box with regards to the background image. This is definitely one of my top five redesigns. I would bump the header elements up a touch to make them completely visible (screens taken via Firefox), but otherwise and excellent design and homage to hockey’s roots.

Team Web Updates (pt. 2)

Sorry for the delay. I was hoping the rest of the league would have updated before now, but it looks like most are holding out a bit longer. A few additional teams have updated since my last post though:

CALGARY FLAMES

Flamey. Nothing too impressive here other than the logo being engulfed in flames. I almost feel like Kipper and Iggy should be reversed. Iggy’s legs are clipped a little too much, while Kipper is almost fully represented. I also wish they’d make the 30-year anniversary logo a bit more prominent. It’s rather lost up there next to the header ad.

DALLAS STARS

The header is too busy for my tastes, but I love the locker room side bars. They’ve dimmed it just just enough to not overpower the main content of the site.

VANCOUVER CANUCKS

Absolutely love this site. Simple sidebars and header don’t detract from the main site content. Not as minimal as Philly’s site, but not as busy as most of the others. Love the diagonal striping and texture back there as well.

LOS ANGELES KINGS

This is more along the lines of what I wish the Blues would have done. A little confusion in the header with the sidebars carrying over into the background, but otherwise another great use of both. I would have made the tag line a few points smaller in size to give the Kings word mark a little more breathing room.

Team Web Updates (pt. 1)

What a better way to kick of the new season and the revival of Bleeding Blue Note than to take a quick look at what the teams are doing in terms of new website updates. I know a couple of other NHL fan sites are doing this as well, so I’ll defer to to them for in-depth critiques.

Working in the web/graphic design industry, I’d like to think me eye has become accustomed to what I consider both good and bad design. I realize it’s entirely my own personal taste, so what I like or dislike may not agree with what you consider to be a good design.

It looks as though all the teams are finally updating their sites to be center-justified, which I always prefer to left-justified. It allows more flexibility in terms of both content as well as overall design. The main NHL site has been center-justified for some time, so it’s nice to see the teams conforming to it as well. I’m sure it was an NHL mandate.

With that said, let’s get into it by looking at my home team, the St. Louis Blues:

ST. LOUIS BLUES

Pretty much a carbon copy of their old site, save for the addition of the Scottrade image in the left sidebar, which you can barely make out. I like the gold navigation bar though. The jersey behind the logo could have come out and the header could have carried through into the left sidebar into a larger crowd shot. Overall fairly average.

ATLANTA THRASHERS

I like the header, but giant players in both sidebars are too imposing make it feel a bit cluttered, especially with the fans in the header as well.

PHILADELPHIA FLYERS

Sort of the exact opposite of the Thrashers, the Flyers go minimal in design. I actually really like this design, though compared to some it almost looks unfinished in a sense. The textured background doesn’t detract from the main content and I love the header pulling the sidebars through.

FLORIDA PANTHERS

Egads. All kinds of bad. The navigation is transparent and gets lost as a result. The two players on either side makes the sidebar much too busy, especially when they’re pulled into the header under the navigation. The header has way too many elements in it as well.

NASHVILLE PREDATORS

I like this design, though the sidebars are almost too muted or unclear being taken from the upper bowl. It takes a second to figure out what you’re looking at.

EDMONTON OILERS

Love the header and the wispy sidebars running through the header. The two players don’t look right being two different sizes and two different justifications. It looks like the one on the left is falling off the page.

BUFFALO SABRES

While I appreciate what they were going for, the sabre sidebar is way too contrasty with the royal blue near the edges and have too big of  drop shadows. I give them points for keeping a player shot out of the sidebars though. Also, which logo is their official logo? Both the classic and Buffaslug are incorporated everywhere, including over each other in the header. Talk about your branding identity crisis.

PHOENIX COYOTES

I’m almost willing to cut them some slack due to their financial troubles, but this design is just really poor. There’s almost nothing there, and the player shot on the right sidebar is cropped way too much even at this wider resolution.

COLORADO AVALANCHE

This is by far my favorite site design so far. They do an excellent job incorporating the sidebars through the header, and not one element is too much. I would argue the player shot is a little too hidden, but at lower resolutions should look decent.