Project: IHA Central

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

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!

IHA Poll: Vancouver Dynamo

Cast your vote and leave a comment about your decision. Then tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Starts Fri Aug 22
Ends Mon Aug 25

Catching Up On News

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.

…
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.

…
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.

Finding Lost Logos

Tuesday's post about blogger James Gordon finding unreleased logos in public trademark filings and an email from JP at Japers' Rink got me thinking about what other hidden gems might be out there on the United States Patent & Trademark Office's web site. Now I think "gems" is misleading because, by and large, logos that were trademarked but never used probably weren't that good in the first place.

Even one that was trademarked and will be used wasn't that good. I'm of course referring to the Kings.



That got me thinking about the one other team who is supposed to be getting a new logo for their third jersey — the Blues. And we haven't seen anything from them yet. So I did a search. Unfortunately, it seems they haven't filed yet. However, I did find one interesting wordmark.



A Blues fan would have to let me know if this was used or not at any point. But I don't remember ever seeing it. I believe it dates back to the days of the trumpet logo you see on the right. That was a secondary logo worn as a shoulder patch during the Gretzky days when the team introduced red into the uniform.

I did like that trumpet logo a lot though, for what it's worth.

Moving on now to the Capitals. Here's a logo we have seen before here.



And here's one we haven't.



This is what JP pointed out to me in the first place. Last year he wrote up a post about these two logos. He didn't like either and while I know my opinion doesn't count for anything, I have to say I really like the one on the right.

Yeah, it has text in it and all that, but if you can look beyond it's major flaw, I think it's a very balanced and well-designed logo. Shame it never saw the light of day.

And finally, I have to bring it all back to my Tampa Bay Lightning.



This logo was trademarked by the Bolts but never used — thankfully. I first saw it at Boltsmag a few years back.

If you guys find anything else of interest, let me know and I'll post it.

UPDATE (8/22 1:02 AM): All right, this is incredible. Not only were both of those Blues logos used, a reader emailed in a picture of a banner that features both on a hockey mask — together!



How cool is that?

IHA Poll: Seattle Metropolitans

Cast your vote and leave a comment about your decision. Then tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Starts Thu Aug 21
Ends Sun Aug 24

IHA Poll: San Jose Express

Cast your vote and leave a comment about your decision. Then tell all your friends to drop in and vote! The more voices heard, the more accurate the results!

Starts Wed Aug 20
Ends Sat Aug 23

Logos Revealed In Public Docs

A rather industrious reporter for the Ottawa Citizen may have found some new third jersey logos. In his blog Hockey Capital, James Gordon writes, "Potential new logos and third jersey centrepieces are starting to trickle out of public document filings in the lead-up to the 2008/2009 NHL season and I've posted a few here for your perusal."

The new image we haven't seen before is this one, which appears to be the Los Angeles Kings logo described by Howard Berger last month.



He said, "The Kings will unveil a predominantly black jersey with the letters 'LA' inside a pencil-point logo on the front." If he's right, this appears to be our winner.



This concept jersey I posted a few days later is the closest yet.

It doesn't end there. A logo he found for the Coyotes all but confirms the logos I posted here and here.



Though this is the black and white version. I really love that logo, by the way.

And for whatever it's worth, Gordon also had this logo for the Edmonton Oilers' 30th anniversary celebration.



My unending appreciation goes to Greg at Puck Daddy for the tip as well as continuing to pimp Icethetics!