Over the years I have always come up with ideas and concepts for hockey jerseys ranging from BC Hockey League and the National Hockey League through hand drawings and the Electronic Arts NHL games. Now that I’m in graphic design school, I’ve had the opportunity to come up with real jersey concepts for teams in the BCHL.
This time around is a focus on the four teams located in Lower Mainland as they are near me. Given that I live in Chilliwack and have already done a full redesign for the Chiefs, I thought it would be appropriate to do them again and their closest rivals.
These are my concepts and not the actual jerseys the teams will wear. The logos have stayed the same with some minor tweaks for some different looks. I have been following closely how the teams have brought out their colors over the years and incorporated that into the jerseys for each team.
Chilliwack Chiefs
The Chiefs have had some simple looks over the years and some more outgoing jerseys over the years. Recently, Chilliwack has stuck to the crimson and gold colors introduced in 2011-12.
In the last couple of years, including their current jersey, they phased out the gold in their color scheme. Some might not have noticed, but the Chiefs also introduced a new word mark over their main logo for their corporate email signature graphic.
In a previous article, I did a complete rebrand of the Chiefs, changing the logo and colors. This time around, I kept the current colors and logo but made a few changes.
In this instance, Chilliwack’s white and dark jerseys mirror each other. The white jersey has four alternating stripes on the sleeves and waist that represent the four BCHL championships the Chiefs have won over the years. The Indigenous logo that has been long-standing for Chilliwack is moved to the left shoulder.
The main logo on the jerseys is the Chiefs wordmark on a diagonal going from the top right to the bottom left. The font for the letters in the logo and numbers is a narrow western style font to give a little country feel to the look.
Coquitlam Express
The Express have had a nice look since changing away from the cartoonish logo they started with back in 2001-02. The current logo is one of the best in BCHL and also in junior A hockey across the country. Switching its colours from red and black to yellow, black, and grey to match their minor hockey association was also a great move and brought in a new era of Express hockey to younger fans.
The current look has yellow and black stripes on the white jersey and yellow and gray on the black jersey. The logo is the same as it has been since 2004-05. The Express has had some tremendous third jerseys as well with their 60th-anniversary jersey being one of the best as it featured a more stern-looking steam engine and included brown among the colours.
The concept I designed is inspired by the Hartford Whalers of the late 1990s before they moved to Carolina to become the Hurricanes. The Express wore a jersey inspired by the Hurricanes during their underdog trip to the 2014 BCHL championship. The jersey incorporates the grey it introduced this season.
The white jersey has grey, yellow and black stripes on the sleeves and waist, with grey cuffs. The black jersey mirrors the white jersey with the black stripes changed to white.
The logo for the Express doesn’t change other than removing the wordmark above the train skate.
Langley Rivermen
Langley has had one look for 11 years, using the same jersey since they became the Rivermen in 2011-12. The only change the Rivermen made is to the numbers and font on the jerseys. Langley moved away from the block-style numbers and lettering the Columbus Blue Jackets use on their version.
However, the Fraser Valley city has had some interesting looks over the years with other Langley teams. The Thunder of the mid to late 90s had two different jerseys. One had lightning bolts for stripes before switching to diagonal stripes, similar to the Anaheim Mighty Ducks jerseys. The Rivermen revised that jersey last season for their 60th-anniversary look.
The concept I came up with is kind of a Chicago Blackhawks third jersey inspiration. The dark jersey has a navy blue base with cream and grey stripes on the sleeves and waist, with cream-coloured cuffs and collar. The cream jersey has navy and royal blue stripes on the sleeves and waist, with royal blue cuffs and a navy collar.
The logo stays the same with the only change being the removal of the circle around the explorer’s head in favour of just the head itself. The navy jersey logo has a cream outline.
Surrey Eagles
Since the New Westminster Royals relocated to Surrey in 1991, the Eagles have had the same colors of blue, green, and white for the last 31 years. They’ve experimented with different looks over the years, drawing design inspiration from the likes of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, and Buffalo Sabres.
The Eagles have used a pair of different logos over the years. Their first was a copy of the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds logo with the word “Surrey” in place of “Seattle”, and the logo they use today. In 1997 and 1998 when they won back-to-back BCHL championships, the logo featured a “South Surrey Eagles” word mark above it, and the eagle’s design was just slightly different.
The concept I came up with for the Eagles is inspired by the new colours in the hallway leading to their newly renovated dressing room along with the wordmark around the South Surrey Arena.
The white jersey is a Buffalo Sabres-inspired jersey with navy blue and yellow stripes on the sleeves and waist. The shoulders are navy blue with yellow piping around them. The dark jersey is a University of Michigan-style with yellow and white stripes on the sleeves and waist.
The logo has a small change to it with the green stripes on the eagle swapped out for yellow stripes.
