From The Ground Up, Part 3

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Part 1 · Part 2

Today voting ended on the poll about how many teams our little fantasy league will have. Much to my disappointment, you all chose 30 — same as the NHL and same as the IHA. I know I run the risk of alienating readers by calling 34% of you a disappointment, but that's something I'm just going to have to live with. (Unless someone can give me a really good reason why we should be unoriginal and then I'll eat my words.)

I'll tell you I almost didn't include it because I wanted to stay off the beaten path. I used it more or less as a test to see how much you guys were willing to stray from what you know and move into new territory. Comfortable is comfortable but let's not make a habit out of recreating the NHL here. That's not the point, remember?

I've been reading the comments in the last two posts. A lot of you seem to like the idea of doing a league with all non-NHL cities (with an Original Six exemption, oddly enough). That's not a terrible idea considering what we've witnessed in the last two polls. But to do that would be an executive decision by me. Instead, here's the plan.

THE PLAN
Instead of creating a giant list of cities and allowing you guys to pick your favorites, I have a better idea. First, you're going to choose the geographical boundaries for the divisions.

I've created five maps for you to choose from. I think they're each different and good in their own way. None of them are even close to being in line with the NHL's current divisional map. You guys can study them and pick your favorite. Once we have the divisional boundaries decided, everything we vote on will be done division by division. Makes less work for me.

At some point tomorrow the new poll will appear in the sidebar with the five choices.

The next step will be selecting the markets that will have teams. I say markets (or metropolitan areas) for a couple of reasons: 1) I'd like to avoid multiple teams from the same market like New York or L.A. (I know it's one decision I'm taking away from you. Sorry. Let's make this easy.); and 2) if, for example, a city like San Francisco is chosen, I want there to be the option of placing the team in San Jose or Oakland or something.

I'll pick 12 cities from each divisional area (based on market size, most likely) and the 5 with the most votes will be awarded franchises. Simple as that. If you don't think this is the good plan, present a better one to me either by email or as a comment.

THE FUTURE
I've also been planning into the future of this league and while I won't go into detail right now, I will offer a few tidbits. Once we have all the cities picked out for each division, we'll move on to naming the teams, one division at a time. We'll take nominations and every entry that meets the guidelines will be included in the voting. More details on that later.

To keep the rest of the process from becoming excruciatingly tedious, we won't be voting on things like logos and colors separately. Once all the teams have been named, I'll begin taking logo submissions. That means you pick the color scheme to go with your logo set. The team's colors will be determined by the winning logo. All entries that meet the guidelines will be included in the voting. More details on that later.

All of the accepted entries will appear on one page and you'll rate each logo from 1 to 5 stars. The logo with the highest rating wins. In the event of a tie, we'll hold a run-off poll. After we have logos, we'll do jerseys. After that who knows. But all that will probably take us several months anyway.

THE NAME
By the way, this league is going to need a name. Start making suggestions. The only criteria I have is that it must use the name Icethetics in it and it cannot have the acronym IHA or NIHL. Let's hear some creative ideas.

For what it's worth, I like the idea of the guy who said we should pretend we're creating a new league in a world 20 years after the collapse of the NHL. Let's say some Bettman-like character holds the trademarks to every team name and logo from the NHL and he's vindictive. You steal one of his logos or team names — even a little bit — and he'll eat your children. You don't want your children eaten do you?

Let's try to be original and, mostly, have fun!

Project: IHA Central

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First, if you have no idea what the Icethetics IHA Project is then click here to get caught up.

Second, I apologize for the delay in getting you the final division. I've been a little preoccupied what with working at a television station that did 14 hours of continuous live coverage of Tropical Storm Fay. The worst is past us now but it just keeps dropping tons of rain here. Quite an ordeal.

Now, you've seen the Atlantic, West, Northeast, Pacific and Great Lakes Divisions. Today we move on to the final division — Central. Remember, your job is to take the name and colors and create an identity for a hockey team from scratch. Have fun with it!

You guys have been coming up with some great logos as you've seen with the first few divisions. This week we've been voting on Pacific Division logos. Next week will be the Great Lakes. I may wait an extra week before doing this division just because I posted the names and colors so late.

Here are the final five teams of the IHA!

IHA: CENTRAL DIVISION


CHICAGO TIGERS / Chicago, Illinois
yellow (ECB90A), blue (0A58A0) and grey (CCCCCC)


MANITOBA THUNDER / Winnipeg, Manitoba
white (F0F0F0), navy (03055C) and dark grey (404040)


MILWAUKEE CRUSADERS / Milwaukee, Wisconsin
yellow (E2A500), red (AA0606) and white (F0F0F0)


MINNESOTA MILLERS / Bloomington, Minnesota
brown (90906A), green (037703) and black (202020)


ST. LOUIS SPIRIT / St. Louis, Missouri
blue (465FA8), red (B40000) and white (F0F0F0)

I've supplied colors in hexadecimal format. Should you need RGB conversion, here's a decent resource. By the way, you aren't tied to the exact colors here. Feel free to alter them a little if need be. But please shy away from the standard colors like total black or total white or total red. Remember, be different! As similar as it might be to the NHL, it's not the NHL!

GUIDELINES
Once again, follow these guidelines when submitting your original IHA artwork or it probably won't have a chance at being a finalist (there, I said it):

  • Don't steal artwork. You guys have gotten better about this but I'm still saying it. This is supposed to be where you let your own creativity shine through. Send in something original!

  • Submit three (3) logos: primary, secondary and wordmark. Use a white background. If your logo requires a white outline (think Lightning or Capitals), then use a gray background with the white outline included.

  • Submit vector art if possible. I will accept .ai, .psd and .pdf files. If you cannot submit vector art, you must be able to provide high quality raster art in .jpg or .png files. No .bmp files, PLEASE!

  • Try to stick to the assigned colors. Change them only if you deem it necessary and then explain why you made the change. Remember, the "fans" chose these colors and they're who you're working for in the end.

  • Email them to nhllogos@gmail.com with IHA in the subject line. Please include your first and last name (it will not be posted). Please also submit your nickname which will be public if you don't want your real first name used.

  • By submitting your own original artwork to the email address above, you agree to grant permission of its use for online or print publication by Icethetics. Do not watermark your logos or they will not be considered.

  • And finally, be prepared to accept feedback and criticism of all kinds!

As always, you can email me questions directly or post them in the comments area. Start designing your logos! I look forward to seeing what you all come up with!

Caps GM Says No Third Jersey

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Washington Capitals fans may not be happy about this news — I guess, depending on your stand with regard to third jerseys. On Monday some information I received seemed to indicate the Capitals might be among the teams with third jerseys this season. But according to the team's general manager, that is not the case.

Washington Post writer Tarik El-Bashir wrote in his blog Capitals Insider that GM George McPhee said his team won't be wearing an alternate sweater anytime soon.

As you might have heard, the Capitals won't be among the 18 teams introducing a third jersey this season. But it might not happen next season, or the season after that, either, if McPhee has his way.

"We just came up with these jerseys a year ago and we're still building equity in them," he said. "Personally, I'm not a third jersey fan. Half the time, you don't know who is playing out there. So I'm in no rush to do it."


So if you were among those hoping for a blue "Weagle" jersey — keep dreaming. It sounds like there's no possibility of a third until at least 2010.

Thanks to James for the tip!

Catching Up On News

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It seems I've been slacking a little this week when it comes to news coverage. I really try to stay on top of this for you guys so here's a wrap-up some of what's going on.

The Buffalo Sabres became the first team in my book to bring the new third jerseys into their marketing campaign. This ad began appearing on their official web site this week.

This comes after Sunday's announcement of a sweater unveiling ceremony to be held on September 20.

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On Monday the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins — better known as the baby Pens to fans — unveiled their new third jersey. Yes, even the AHL is going that route this year.


credit: wbspenguins.com

No word on whether the green plaid shorts will be part of the official uniform.

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The WHL's Prince George Cougars unveiled a new logo on Wednesday.


credit: pgcougars.com

You may remember the Cougars saw a first-round exit courtesy of the Regina Pats in the WHL Tournament of Logos back in March. Perhaps this logo will give them a better shot at advancing further in the future.

Such a cute kitty.

There you have it. Sometimes I think it's just better to get it out all at once.