Red, White & Blue

I don't plan on blowing anything up tonight. It's not really my thing. Instead, you guessed it... concept art. And what NHL team is quintessentially red, white and blue? If you're Canadian, you might say Montreal, but then they're actually bleu, blanc et rouge, aren't they?

No, I'm speaking of the New York Rangers. And one reader has submitted some rather unconventional designs.



Doesn't really scream New York Rangers to me, but I see where he was going.

Another red, white and blue team is the Washington Capitals but that's a recent development after they spent more than a decade in navy and bronze (which I always loved, by the way).



That's a rather simple design and, if I do say so, not entirely worthy of this club. I've also been sent a peculiar design for a blue third jersey.



I'm not sure where they eagle came from, but it just feels unoriginal. It's a simple design but not in the good way.

And finally, I hate to leave out our Canadian friends, so with the next all-star weekend being held in Montreal, enjoy this set of concept jerseys for the big game.



American folk: Enjoy the fireworks tonight. Try not to blow off any appendages and we'll consider it a success. Canadian folk: Carry on as usual with your Friday night.

Reworking NHL Uniforms II

I'm sure many of your remember a new series we started last week from an artist under the moniker capn89. He's been redesigning the uniforms of each team league-wide, doing so without drastic changes to the colors or logos. It's been amazing work and while he began the series in alphabetical order, we're going to step out of that pattern for today's post.

We're starting with the Hurricanes.



Again, he's only making slight adjustments, mainly to the striping and design patterns on the sweaters, but in some cases that can make all the difference. Next up, my personal favorite as you well know, the Blackhawks.



It's amazing how the addition of a shoulder yoke suddenly changes my mind completely about these uniforms. For some reason it even makes the logo look better! I might be going crazy though. Finally, we have the Panthers.



And just for good measure, he wanted to see what the Cats would look like without the red.



I'll keep these posts coming as long as he continues to submit his artwork. I expect to have a post tomorrow but with it being the 4th of July, I may be out so don't hold me to that.

Wallpaper Wednesday IV

I've been at work for 15 hours today so forgive me if this post is less chipper than usual. I'm lucky to be posting at all at this point. But it is Wednesday so you deserve your wallpapers for the week. Today's post is rather player-focused.

Up first is Wild goalie Nicklas Backstrom.



Also got Bruin Phil Kessel inside some broken glass, I think.



A rather informative wallpaper for Ducks netminder Jonas Hiller.



This next one is all about the future of the only NHL team never to make the postseason (sorry Blue Jackets fans).



And lastly, newly signed Red Wings goaltender Ty Conklin up close and personal.



By the way, keep the wallpaper artwork coming. I'm starting to run low. And if I run out, we're going to have to skip a week.

Anyway, that does it for me. I need to get some sleep so I can be back at work again at 3 AM. Goodnight!

Preview Matt's Sabres Rebrand!

Aw, you didn't really think I'd do a launch with nothing more than a post about things you already know, did you?

Icethetics partner artist Matt (aka GhettoFarmBoy) has been hard at work on his latest design in the Rebranding The NHL series. And today, as we launch the new blog, he's offering up a preview of his new Buffalo Sabres logo.



It's looking good. He assures me that the final design will be ready soon.

But just so you don't walk away empty-handed, he's sharing with us one of the logos that didn't make the cut in his final Washington Capitals rebrand.



So I hope it was worth it on moving day. And I've been reading some of the comments posted so far. Here's some quick responses. The logo at the top is not final. It's a placeholder. I understand you like/dislike the color scheme (we can hold a poll on that if you want). The center ice tournament will feature "natural" logos — no all-star or anniversary symbols. We'll get to the mascots but I wanted the first Icethetics tournament to feature all 30 clubs.

Think that answers everything so far. Got any other questions? Feel free to email me or leave a comment.

Icethetics Launched!

Hey everybody! Icethetics is officially here and I know you're excited about that. It's a little bare right now, but give it time.

If you're new to this, Icethetics is a brand new blog born from the merging of the NHL Tournament of Logos and Tournament of Hockey Logos blogs. Icethetics will feature the same great combination of reader-submitted concept art and logo voting as well as so much more!

Over the next few weeks I'll be rolling out all the new features and additions including a brand new concept art gallery, an artist partnership program and a brand new tournament for you to cast your votes! And actually, I'm announcing the new tournament today. It's something I've been talking about for several months at NHLToL.

Get ready for the NHL Tournament of Center Ice Logos! (I know you saw that coming.) Each team has in their arena a unique design painted onto center ice — usually incorporating their primary logo — so in this tournament, you'll be voting on whose is the best.

Last year around this time we did a primary logo tournament which was won by the Montreal Canadiens. It'll be interesting to see if they keep that title for another year.

Anyway, I've got a lot going on today as I get this blog up and running. And like I've said, NHLToL and ToHL aren't going anywhere. But as of today, they will no longer be updated. All of your concept art and logo voting needs will have to be fulfilled by the brand new Icethetics blog!

By the way, my email address is not changing. It will continue to be nhllogos@gmail.com.

Enjoy!