0048: The Atlanta-Hartford Freak Out

Ross Taylor takes his NHL brand blending series to a new level by giving us two teams at once in this concept. On the left, it's the Atlanta Thrashers and Flames being combined. If Ross' goal is to use the best aspects from each design, you can see how he feels about these two teams. There's hardly a whiff of Thrasher at all. Speaking of which, if we have Wild Stars and Rockalanche, what would you call this hybrid? The Flashers? The Flamers? Yikes. Of course, there's always Firebirds, which I'm partial to.

On the right, we have a merging of the Hartford Whalers and Carolina Hurricanes — though, let's be honest, it's more Whale than Canes. The Hartolina Whalicanes? The Caroford Hurrilers? Probably should stop doing the names at this point. Regardless, I'm still impressed by what Ross is showing us with his hybrid redesigns. Even if this one fits the Freak Out bill better than all of his previous efforts combined.