Olympic Dreams of New Zealand

Did you know New Zealand has had a national hockey team since 1987? Neither did I. Not surprisingly, they aren't represented in Sochi, but Ryan Wick put together should they need it in the future. He explains:

I've got a concept that I'd like to contribute from you tweet today about a team currently not playing in the hockey in Sochi. I've done the New Zealand "Ice Blacks" who currently play in the Div. 2B of the IIHF World Hockey Championships. Quick run down of my design:

• On the bottom of the jersey, incorporated a sublimated Maori tribal design
• On the arms, a sublimated silver fern
• The crest is what they use in IIHF tournaments, but is not their national federation logo, which is not allowed in Olympic competition
• On the left arm, the NZ flag; on the right, the NZ Olympic Committee logo
• The shoulder logo is the Team New Zealand logo used for the London games
• Hanger effect is a line from their national anthem

African Olympic Dreams

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Hey, if Jamaica can have a bobsled team, why can't the Ivory Coast have an ice hockey team? Okay, there are plenty of reasons why. And the Ivory Coast is not one of the four African countries that does play hockey. But that hasn't stopped Jared Pozzobon from coming up with a jersey design — you know, should they ever need it.

European Olympic Dreams

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Greece isn't exactly known for its ice hockey prowess, but that's the point of this theme week. We're looking at countries that did not qualify for Sochi. Alan John Herbert came up with this stripe-heavy set. It's a good look and immediately identifiable as Greek.

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Icethetics' only Portuguese reader (probably) is Diogo Ferreira and he sent in this jersey design for his home country. It's based on the uniform for a sport that's a little more popular in there — soccer. Unfortunately, I understand Portugal no longer has a national hockey team, which only played three games during its existence. But Diogo assures me there are plenty of NHL fans.

Olympic Dreams on the British Isles

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This week we're looking at concepts for nations that are not playing Olympic hockey in Sochi. Today, we head to the British Isles where Matt McElroy put together this set for Ireland. It's no surprise the Irish aren't participating. The highest they've ever been ranked by the IIHF is 40th. (And they once lost a game to Romania 22-0. A hockey game.)

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David Parkinson takes us across the Irish Sea for a set of British uniforms. The crest is a little hard to see over the chest stripe, but I like the use of Nike's new shoulder embellishments. What do you think of these two sets?

Turkish Olympic Dreams

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I'm using this International Sunday as an early launch pad for a new theme week. It's all about what-ifs. What if Team X qualified for the Olympics? What might their jerseys look like? Jake Miller gets us started with this set for Turkey.