Weeks 6-8: Logo Design Submissions

We're almost halfway through this summer's 13 Weeks of R&R to reinvigorate the IceHL Project. Now the time has come to put our talented artists to work! If you have an idea, send it along.

The Design Contest

Voters have made 11 teams eligible for rebranding this summer. We're still doing some late evaluations on six of them, but the other five are final and fair game for designers. So we'll start accepting new designs for those right now.

The Requirements

There aren't many rules in IceHL design contests, but they must be followed: 

• DO NOT STEAL ARTWORK. No copying or tracing. No clipart. No adapting existing designs. No "borrowing." Create something original and distinctive!
• Exception to adaptation rule: Since we're rebranding teams, you may choose to update the team's current logo in some way. In that case, you will share credit with the original designer. (I'll decide whether you've made enough of a change to be included in voting.)
• Entries must be submitted via email to icethetics@gmail.com.
• Valid entries will include at least a primary logo and a wordmark. Secondary logos are at the designer's discretion.
• Please submit vector artwork (PDF/AI/SVG) if at all possible as this will be helpful to me when creating graphics for the web as well as the IceHL yearbook. (I will also accept high-resolution JPG and PNG formats.)
• Include your first and last name as well as email address on the actual artwork. 
• Finally, by submitting artwork you agree to allow Icethetics to use it in conjunction with IceHL-related projects and publications. 

DEADLINE: Saturday, June 8

You have three weeks to design and submit your work. Have fun and good luck! We'll begin voting on Mon., June 10 so if you end up needing an extra day, please let me know in advance.

The Teams

As I said, we're starting with five teams, but the other six should be decided within the next few days. The graphics below give you the team names as well as the voter-recommended color palettes. I suggest sampling the colors in these images. However, if you need RGB values, please let me know.

The colors are not mandatory. If you have your own color scheme in mind, we won't stand in your way. However, I'd encourage all designers to avoid any shade of blue. It is easily the most overused color in the league. We could use a little variety at this point.

The colors listed include current, suggested and alternate so that each team has at least two color palette options. If no "suggested" palette is listed, then voters picked the current palette. Again, you're not limited to these colors, but this lets you know what the voters might prefer.

Non-Designers Can Help Too

One more thing. You may not be skilled in graphic design, but maybe you're the big-picture type. If you have a great idea for a logo design, but can't put on paper, try putting it into words. Describe your idea in the comments and maybe it'll help one of our designers who's struggling to come up with an idea. You may not get a design credit, but you can still be part of the process!

Good luck to all!

IceHL Podcast: Episode 10, Part 2

The IceHL Podcast crew is wrapping up the 2012-13 season with a three-parter. In Part 2, Tony talks with Matt, Jim and Chris about the delayed return of the NHL following the lockout and how it changed the trajectory of the IceHL season.

Recorded 5/11/13

Resources: Music provided by OverClocked Remix. Opening: Distortion HQ by Nutritious. Closing: Siren Synapse by Alexander Brandon and Jimmy Hinson. Both tracks can be found on the album Deux Ex: Sonic Augmentation.

Part 3 coming soon!

Name Voting Results

Voting ended Tuesday night in the latest series of polls in the IceHL's 13 Weeks of R&R. Voters selected names for nine of the 11 teams being rebranded or relocated. Two teams will require run-off polls over the next two days. Click here to vote!

Dallas, Halifax still to be determined

The run-off polls will close Thursday night. Voters have decided to stick with Outlaws as the name of the Dallas franchise. The question now is whether the team will continue to be named for Dallas or switch to Texas instead.

Then for the Halifax team, voters will choose between Acadians and Atlantics. The two names have little to do with each other but were placed together due to conceptual similarity.

Five teams will keep their names

Based on the results, at least five of the 11 teams will keep their names.

• Boston Colonials (51%)
• Hamilton Steelcats (37%)
• Montreal Olympiques (57%)
• Vancouver Lumberjacks (42%)
• Washington Sentinels (54%)

On a personal note, I have to express my disbelief at the continuation of the Hamilton Steelcats name. After all the complaints I've received over the years about the lack of a team in Toronto, I created many opportunities to change that. And it never happened. The voters have been heard loud and clear now.

Also, I'm somewhat disappointed to see we're sticking with the Lumberjacks for Vancouver. The rest of the names I'm happy to see stick around for the foreseeable future.

Four teams get new names

The Cavalry become the Calgary Stallions (47%) this summer. Happily, this allows for the possibility that the team could keep its horse-centric logo.

The Motorheads will now be the Detroit Chargers (49%). I'm not sure what the voters had in mind when they chose this name, but I'm very eager to see what our logo designers come up with.

Our team in Saskatoon will now represent its entire province as the Saskatchewan Sharpshooters (47%). Like the Stallions, the Sharpshooters could potentially keep their existing logo.

And finally, the Sharpshooters' former provincial rival, the Regina Renegades, have become the Philadelphia Patriots (37%) after a close vote. It topped "Renegades" by a very small margin.

This post will be updated Friday following the end of the Dallas and Halifax run-off polls.

IceHL Podcast: Episode 10, Part 1

Following the conclusion of the IceHL 2012-13 season, the landmark 10th episode of the IceHL Podcast wraps up the year's action. In the first part of this three-part episode, Sharpshooters GM and host Tony Pomposelli is joined by Mammoths GM Matt Riegler, Lumberjacks GM Jim Hayden and IceHL Commissioner and Barracudas GM Chris Smith as the group weighs in on the AHL experiment that opened the season.

Recorded 5/11/13

Resources: Music provided by OverClocked Remix. Opening: The God Machine by Vig. Closing: Tears in Rain by Level 99. Both tracks can be found on the album Deux Ex: Sonic Augmentation.

Halifax, Philadelphia to Join IceHL

Well this is only a week late.

Last Friday, our city polls came to an end. The two teams being relocated got new homes and voters made some decisions about what to call the teams that are being rebranded.

New cities to be welcomed in 2013-14

That's where two IceHL teams are being moved to this fall. Halifax, Nova Scotia was the most popular locale as it won both polls. But of course only one team can go there. With 39% of the vote, it'll be the Atlanta Arsenal moving north. 

Coming in at a close second, Philadelphia, Penn. will be the new home of the Regina Renegades. The move puts the team squarely on the eastern side of the map, which means they'll probably have to come out of the IceHL WEST fantasy league. More on that in a moment.

Sharpshooters become Saskatchewan's team

For the most part, our teams marked for rebranding will be keeping the city name they've had for five years. Almost all but the Saskatoon Sharpshooters. With the relocation of the Regina club, the Sharpshooters will be renamed for the province of Saskatchewan. Whether the Sharpshooters name sticks around still remains to be seen.

Voters were also split over whether to rename the Dallas franchise for the state of Texas. So during name voting, both options are available.

League realignment still to be determined

Now to this. Realignment will be a hot topic this summer. With the Renegades moving east, it would be silly to keep them in the IceHL WEST. But moving teams isn't as easy as it sounds now that we have a committed group of awesome GMs managing each team.

It would be most obvious to move the Minnesota Mammoths — clearly the westernmost team in the IceHL EAST. But this is a team coming off a championship season, expecting to pick first overall in the next draft. If they moved to the WEST, that league would have two championship teams — and only one team can pick first overall.

So let's take a look at the map. The St. Louis Archers are the second westernmost team. They could move. But GM Ryan Laden has been doing a masterful job assembling a roster full of talent. Should his team move to the WEST, he faces a Keeper problem. Every year, IceHL GMs get to carry four players over to the next season. Certainly there would be overlap with existing IceHL WEST clubs.

This keeper overlap will be a problem no matter which teams move. That is, however, unless the GMs stay in their respective leagues. For example, if Philadelphia and Minnesota switch fantasy leagues, the GMs could switch teams as well meaning rosters wouldn't be an issue. The Mammoths' keepers would transfer to Philadelphia while the Renegades' keepers would transfer to Minnesota. But I doubt Minnesota's champion GM Matt Riegler will be eager to give up his Mammoth identity easily.

I've been coming up with ways of dealing with this realignment problem and how to compensate teams that end up losing out. But it's a tough call, I have to tell you. There don't seem to be any easy solutions.

How do we deal with realignment?

I know the GMs are all very nervous about what happens next. Given the keeper implications, all GMs have the potential to be impacted by this. So before I make any decisions, I'd like to get some feedback from the community here.

Bearing in mind the impact on the GMs, how do you guys think we should handle this? Do we make it simple and let Philadelphia play in the IceHL WEST for a season (a la Winnipeg in the NHL's Southeast Division) leaving the tough calls for a later date? Or do we just rip off the Band-aid and get it over with? And if so, how?

For now I leave you with this.

Hope my photo edits make IceHL relocation feel a little more real.