The last time I had an IceHL update, it was bad news — the cancellation of the design contests meant to take place during the 2014-15 regular season.

Now the season is over and summer is almost here! That means it's time to get back to designing logos and jersey for the world's first and only crowd-sourced fantasy hockey league. This #IceHLsummer is shaping up to be the best yet!

When we officially kick off #IceHLsummer on June 1, I'm hoping to start by posting polls for the first Ice Classic Series. That means we'll begin accepting logo and designs right now! (Details and design kit coming soon.)

Now take a look at the calendar and scroll down for details.

World Expansion

First, we're expanding! The IceHL World will add four new teams growing to 12. The other two conferences each have 16 teams. Over the next few months we'll pick locations and vote on logo and jersey designs!

Sixteen nations not yet represented in the league will be divided into four groups. One nation from each group will be awarded a franchise in this round of expansion.

GROUP A · Finland · Iceland · Latvia · Belarus
GROUP B · Czech Republic · Germany · France · Ireland
GROUP C · Brazil · Argentina · South Africa · New Zealand
GROUP D · South Korea · China · Egypt · United Arab Emirates

Special Events

Last season's special events may not have gone as planned, but summer will give us plenty of time to rectify that. We'll start by designing logos and jerseys for the inaugural Ice Classic Series. Then we'll tackle last season's Pacific Cup and next season's ABC Cup before taking care of Ice Classic Series II.

Speaking of which, you may have noticed two cities will host games in our second "outdoor game" series. Edmonton and Milwaukee will take part, hosting Calgary and Detroit, respectively. The IceHL World will have its own separate event to be announced at a later date.

So why are we designing jerseys and logos for special events that have passed? Well, they will live on as part of IceHL history so we should get it done, even if we're a bit late.

Want to be a GM?

And finally, the question on many minds — how can I join the IceHL? Glad you asked! We're adding four expansion teams so we'll obviously need at least four new GMs. But that process will not take place until September, so check back then.

2016 and Beyond!

All of the 2015-16 regular season special events will be announced later in the summer and may involve some additional design contests. Also still in the cards are third jerseys — just not quite yet. We'll take a look a long look at the IceHL third jersey situation in summer 2016.