First Look: 2014 Relocation & Realignment

On Monday, I announced the plan for the upcoming realignment of the IceHL and subsequent relocation of an IceHL EAST franchise. Since we have a couple of weeks before that project begins, I wanted to lay out some more details and open it all up to feedback from the community at large.

Brackets

With the Icethetics tournaments back in full swing this summer, I thought it would make sense to use the bracket format for some of our IceHL votes. In fact, I have four in mind!

City Bracket
To make things simple, we'll start with 16 cities which will give us four rounds of polls to determine an ultimate winner. Scroll down past this section on brackets to to see the 16 cities I currently have in mind.

Naming Bracket
When it comes time to pick a team name, we'll have 8 to choose from. You'll all be free to suggest names over a period of several days. And one of the cool new features of the Icethetics comments section will help determine which of those will be the 8 that go to the bracket.

If you hover over a comment on any post, you'll see some icons pop up in the corner, one of which is a like button. The name suggestions with the most likes (assuming they're appropriate) will be included in the bracket.

Logo Bracket
Just as with previous IceHL projects, all appropriate logo submissions will be included in the voting. But this time, we'll do it bracket-style. I'm allotting two weeks to get through them but the number of rounds will be determined by how many logos are submitted.

Jersey Bracket
Jerseys will work the same way as the logos. All appropriate submissions will be included in the bracket. Seeding for these brackets is still up in the air. I haven't yet decided how that will work, but if all else fails, seeds will be assigned randomly.

16 Cities

The plan for the City Bracket is by no means final, but I wanted to give everyone a look at what I'm thinking so you can suggest changes before voting begins next month.

Tentatively, the bracket will include these first-round pairings:

• Albuquerque NM vs Phoenix AZ
• Whitehorse YT (Canada) vs Billings MT
• Honolulu HI vs Mexico City DF (Mexico)
• Boise ID vs Cheyenne WY
• Des Moines IA vs Omaha NE
• Oklahoma City OK vs Wichita KS
• Las Vegas NV vs San Francisco CA
• Sioux Falls SD vs Fargo ND

As you can see, I've tried to pair cities based on geography. Again, I have not yet determined seeding, but I do think these pairings would make for good opening match-ups.

The idea behind these 16 was to look at states, provinces and major metropolitan areas that don't already have IceHL teams.

Timeline

I anticipate getting this project off the ground almost immediately after the season ends on April 13. The league champions will be announced April 14 as will the IceHL EAST team that's moving west. On April 15, I hope to launch the first city polls. The process will conclude in mid to late July with the full branding of the new team complete.

It may seem like a lot for one team — especially given how many we did last summer. But bear in mind that at the same time we'll be launching the third league, IceHL World. That'll include all of the same processes from choosing cities to names, logos and jerseys. We'll stay plenty busy this summer.

Once we get things underway for the IceHL WEST relocation, I'll announce the plans for the IceHL World. I will reiterate that we'll be starting the league with 8 teams. Stay tuned for more.

If you have any suggestions, leave a comment or send me an email.

FAQ: Aces moving to IceHL EAST in 2014-15 season

The 2014 IceHL Playoffs officially begin tonight! With that, I have an official announcement to make regarding changes to the league for the 2014-15 season.

Background

The Philadelphia Aces were in the IceHL WEST this season despite the fact that their geography should have them in the IceHL EAST. This move will happen prior to the start of the 2014-15 season.

Prior to being relocated by a vote of Icethetics readers last summer, the franchise was known as the Regina Renegades, based in Saskatchewan. To avoid upsetting the balance of the two leagues and any inconvenience to the sitting GMs, I decided to put off realignment to 2014-15.

I also wanted the community to be able to use the extra time to come up with the best way of handling the realignment situation. After hearing from many GMs, a decision has been reached.

Which EAST team will move?

When the Aces move east, an IceHL EAST team will be required to move west to keep the leagues balanced at 16 teams each. That team will not be selected arbitrarily and will not be completely out of the hands of the GMs.

The IceHL EAST team that finishes last in the overall standings (at the conclusion of the Consolation Ladder) will be automatically relocated to the IceHL WEST and rebranded by the Icethetics community. Teams that qualified for the playoffs will NOT be eligible.

Also ineligible for relocation is any team that has won an IceHL championship. The idea is to build a history around teams that have made their mark on the league. The North Carolina Nighthawks won it all in 2012 but did not qualify for the 2014 IceHL EAST Playoffs.

However, due to the nature of the 3-week Consolation Ladder, the No. 9 and No. 10 teams cannot move down far enough to finish in last place.

As such, only the following teams have the potential for relocation:

• Hartford Mariners
• Chicago Hitmen
• Halifax Dragons
• Hamilton Steelcats
• Quebec Armada
• Tampa Bay Barracudas

Again, the final result of the Consolation Ladder will determine which team moves. That announcement will be officially made on Mon., April 14.

Where will the team move?

Voters will choose the team's new location from a predetermined list of cities in western North America. Only cities west of Minneapolis (the westernmost EAST team) will be considered. We'll start with about a dozen and narrow them down through a series of polls.

The following cities, in no particular order, are eligible to take the relocated team:

• San Francisco, California
• Las Vegas, Nevada
• Omaha, Nebraska
• Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• Cheyenne, Wyoming
• Boise, Idaho
• Billings, Montana
• Kansas City, Missouri
• Sioux Falls, South Dakota
• Bismarck, North Dakota
• Whitehorse, Yukon
• Phoenix, Arizona
• Albuquerque, New Mexico

This list is NOT exhaustive. If there are other cities you think should be included in the voting, please let me know by email, Twitter (@theIceHL), or by leaving a comment below.

What happens to the fantasy league?

The swapping of two teams between the IceHL EAST and WEST will create a problem for the two GMs involved. Since Aces GM Dan Roesch is the only one without the ability to alter his team's fate, he will get to decide how to proceed. There are three scenarios.

Scenario A

In Scenario A, as the Aces move east, Dan may choose to follow the franchise and move to the IceHL EAST along with it. His roster would not be able to follow because the players he owns in the WEST may be owned by other GMs in the EAST.

Instead, Dan would gain the roster of the franchise that moves west — or any available roster of his choosing should any IceHL EAST GMs resign by this point. He'll have first choice above any other GMs wishing to change teams.

In this case, the GM of the displaced IceHL EAST team would also be displaced — but by no means removed from the league against his will. Should the GM in question choose to remain in the IceHL, he would have his choice of any other available team, including the one Dan vacated in the IceHL WEST.

Scenario B

In Scenario B, Dan may choose to retain his roster and stay in the IceHL WEST. His team would then gain the new locale and branding selected by the Icethetics community this summer.

This is the simplest solution as it would not displace the GM of the last-place IceHL EAST team. Instead, that GM would simply become the GM of the Aces, remaining in the IceHL EAST. No GM would lose his roster — specifically Keepers.

Scenario C

In Scenario C, Dan may absolve himself of the Aces franchise entirely by resigning or by choosing to move to any team made available by a GM resignation. (As commissioner, I am aware of at least two teams that will become available this summer. They will be named after the playoffs end.)

If Dan chooses this scenario, the GM of the last-place IceHL EAST team will then decide what to do next. His choices will be A) following his franchise to the WEST and taking on the Aces roster; B) retaining his roster and remaining in the EAST as the new Aces GM; or C)  resigning or choosing to take over any team that has become available through GM resignation.

If both Dan and the displaced East GM choose Scenario C, existing IceHL GMs will have the option of taking over the Aces or the displaced team. These GMs must notify me of their wishes by a set deadline, at which point a lottery will be held.

If no GMs are interested in taking over either team, they will become available to new GMs joining later this summer. Details will be announced in September.

When will all this take place?

The playoffs wrap up on April 13, at which point champions will be crowned in both leagues. Within a week or so, I hope to hear back from all 32 GMs on whether they plan to leave or return for another season. But circumstances may change over the course of the summer meaning some decisions may change as the new season gets closer.

Once it's known which teams are becoming available through GM resignation, Dan may make his decision. However, his deadline to decide will be Sept. 1, 2014 — allowing him to wait and see if any other GMs resign, making new teams available prior to the start of the season.

In other words, this could be decided immediately after the season ends, or almost five months later before the new season begins. We'll find out as we go. Follow @IceHLAces on Twitter to hear from Dan directly.

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If you have any other questions, please ask in the comments. I may add the answers to this post if necessary.

The IceHL 2013 Yearbook

It's finally here!

The IceHL 2013 Yearbook has arrived on Icethetics. It's brimming with facts and figures on the 2012-13 season as well as recaps of every phase of the project. It's got everything!

It's available now as a free PDF download. Choose from two download options:

• HIGH QUALITY VERSION (22 MB)
• MOBILE VERSION (12 MB)

The yearbook features 92 pages (including the front and back cover) of more IceHL content than you can imagine. Like last year, it was a major undertaking, involving more than three months of work. I'm responsible for the design, layout and most of the writing, but inside you'll find contributions from several other IceHLers.

The result is comprehensive guide to all things IceHL. It has, of course, team logo and jersey designs as well as complete recaps of the 2012-13 season including individual team and player stats along with scores from every game all season. It really is comprehensive.

And if you're new to this IceHL thing, the first several pages of the book should get you caught up on what it is and why it's so popular with Icethetics readers.

Hope you guys enjoy it. New this year, I plan to have the book actually printed. But I won't start the ball rolling on that until later next week. In the meantime, if you spot any errors inside, let me know so they can be fixed before we go to press.

Drop me a line in the comments or via Twitter to let me know what you think — and what you'd like to see in next year's book. Never too early to start thinking about what's next.

By the way, if you want to relive history, you can still download the IceHL 2012 Yearbook and the IceHL 2011 Yearbook as well.

The 2013 Cover

Winning Jersey Designs Unveiled!

These last 13 weeks have been quite a ride for the IceHL Project. Eleven teams got rebranded and today I'm announcing the winners of the jersey design contest, the final phase of 13 Weeks of R&R.

With 39% of the three-way vote, Alan John Herbert had the winning design for the Boston Colonials. He's a regular concept contributor but this is his first IceHL jersey win.

As previously reported, Bastian Schmülling's design will continue to represent the Calgary club, now known as the Calgary Stallions. A second-round vote was unnecessary as Bastian's design was the only one to receive a net positive rating during the first round.

In the end, this team's name was changed but the logos and jerseys remained the same as before. The one thing that will change, of course, is the wordmark. You can get a peek at it on the Stallions' Twitter page. It will be officially unveiled in the yearbook this fall.

Stefan Lundrigan added another winning IceHL jersey to his portfolio as his Detroit Chargers entry garnered 65% of the two-way vote. Stefan created the winning looks for the Kodiaks and Gators last year.

Derek Heilmann became a first time contest winner. His Halifax Dragons jersey picked up 58% of a three-way vote. The Dragons now join the Hitmen, Lagers, Narwhals, Armada and Aviators with Canadiens-style chest striping. As commissioner, I don't mind saying I'm somewhat disappointed.

The winning Hamilton Steelcats jersey design is from newcomer Daniel Otters. It grabbed 38% in the three-way vote. In his submission, Daniel explain a key element of his striping design. He said the unique design is meant to be the "front view of a steel girder," also known as an I-beam. It also appears in the collar, emulating Reebok's "hanger effect." Daniel points out that if you rotate the I-beam it can be seen as an "H" for Hamiton. Very clever design.

Colin May has entered a lot of designs in the IceHL's jersey contests, but this year he finally enters the winners' circle with his Montreal Olympiques efforts. He won with 36% of a four-way vote.

With 40% of a three-way vote of Philadelphia Aces jerseys, Matt McElroy became the first designer to create the winning uniform of a team for which he designed the winning logos. Matt made his foray into the IceHL Project last year, creating the winning jersey for the Narwhals.

Now if you look at those last two jerseys, you realize we may need to do some tweaking to the final designs for Montreal and Philadelphia. Because of their color schemes, they're awfully similar. More to come on that.

Jon Wold may have been unseated as the designer of the Olympiques' jerseys, but he's back on top with the Saskatchewan Snipers. His work garnered 37% of the three-way vote.

Also unseated from the team he originally designed for was Gary Beatman. His Renegades jerseys were replaced when the team relocated but he's back with the winning design for the Texas Outlaws — and interestingly, another black jersey. He got the edge with 53% of the two-way vote.

Another newcomer joins the fray as Coin Magee had the winning design for the Vancouver Lumberjacks. His submission earned 45% of the three-way vote.

And finally, Caleb Fuller took a slim 35% margin in a three-way vote to be declared the top jersey designer for the Washington Sentinels. He's also a first time winner.

That gives us six first time winners out of a possible 11 jersey designs this year. Herbert, Heilmann, Otters, May, Magee and Fuller are now part of the IceHL's brotherhood of designers. Congrats to them!

Unfortunately, these guys managed to remove a handful of artists from that group. Kevin Dallatore designed the original Colonials jerseys. Mike Szalay did the original Outlaws. And Ryan Hawkes created last year's Steelcats jerseys.

Justin Nahhas, the previous leader in winning jersey designs with four, dropped to three when he lost the Lumberjacks. He's now tied with Stefan Lundrigan and Brendan Nashman, all with three apiece. But the designer who'll be taking the rebrands the hardest is Ricky Hajduk. He had two winning designs last year for the Motorheads and Arsenal. Both of those teams got rebranded this year.

13 Third Jerseys project on hold

All right, I've been saving the bad news for the end. After seeing how the jersey voting went for these rebranded teams, I'm not eager to start on a third jersey project using the same format. I think middle-of-the-road designs aren't bad for primary uniforms, but they don't work as alternates. And I'm afraid that's what we'll get by using this format again.

I'm currently working up new ideas for this project. I'm also considering whether to scrap it altogether. Before you panic, let me explain.

First, a new format could save this project. I'm open to new ideas. The original format had three of the teams being assigned an artist rather than using an open competition format. This would allow one person to really get behind their vision. Would we want to do something like that with all 13 teams?

Others have suggested a voting committee. I could perhaps gather 100 IceHL diehards and designers to put together a handful of designs then choose the best amongst themselves. But that breaks away from the original goal of the IceHL Project — a crowd-sourced league where the decisions are made by the community.

However, if these community votes aren't yielding the best winning designs, maybe that premise needs some rethinking. I don't know. Like I said, I'm open to new ideas. Feel free to share yours.

The other option would be to cancel the third jersey project altogether and replace it with something else. A while back someone suggested the idea of teams having a primary jersey and a contrasting, or "clash," jersey not unlike what you see in the world of soccer.

That idea has really stuck with me. And my thinking is that maybe we drop the third jersey idea in favor of changing the entire format of IceHL uniforms next spring. It would be another big project involving all 32 teams. We could start by selecting a primary jersey from the existing designs. Dark or light, doesn't matter. Then we'd do a competition to create clashing designs. Of course we'd still have to revisit the voting format, but later on down the road.

So let me know what you guys are thinking. I'm eager to figure out what's next for the IceHL, as I'm sure you are as well.

Week 11: Jersey Design Contest

As the IceHL's 13 Weeks of R&R begins to wind down, it's time to move on to the final phase of the project. From now until Sat., July 6, jersey design submissions will be accepted for the 11 teams that have been rebranded this summer.

There are 3 rules to the contest:

• Design 2 jerseys (light and dark) using team colors and logos only. You may not alter or add to the official colors or logos for each team.
• Assemble your final design on the PNG template provided and submit it to icethetics@gmail.com. Please keep the image transparency intact.
• Include your first and last name and email address in the graphic where designated as well as in your submission email. (Unlike in past competitions, your name WILL be displayed during voting. However, your email address will remain private.) 

IceHL Jersey Design Kit – 13 Weeks of R&R (.zip/622 KB - updated 6/26)

Download the jersey kit and keep in mind that eligible submissions must use the official jersey template provided. It was created to be compatible with almost any graphics software out there from Microsoft Paint to Adobe Photoshop. I also recommend GIMP and Pixelmator for Mac as other software options. (To be included in the voting, your design must be submitted in PNG format.)

Recommended link: Paint Users Paradise at SportsLogos.net

To assist you in your designs, feel free to implement or mix-and-match aspects of existing hockey uniform templates. There are many available at at the link above. The copy and paste functions are your friends in this case and make designing a great jersey so much easier. But feel free to experiment on your own too.

The template includes the front and back of a jersey as well as gear like socks and pants. All you have to do is design the jerseys. Designing the gear is up to you. I'd also request that you include a full alphabet and number set as seen in the Design Kit sample. You may choose to leave out any of the elements, but keep in mind that if you do, I reserve the right to design those elements myself or disqualify your entry.

Last thing. Simply submitting your jersey design doesn't guarantee it will be included in the voting process. If it doesn't meet a certain level of quality, I'll give you the opportunity to try again as long as you meet the deadline. But I always accept far more than I reject.

For customization purposes, you may use any name and number you choose to customize your jerseys.

Remember to stick to the official team colors and logos. You may sample the colors in the logo graphics using an eyedropper or similar tool in your chosen graphics software. If you need assistance with RGB codes, feel free to ask via email.

One last note about your jersey designs. Do something creative and original. Avoid copying existing jersey designs. We want IceHL teams to stand out and be unique!

Deadline: Saturday, July 6

You have two weeks to design and submit your work. Good luck to everyone!

Update on 2013-06-25 07:40 by Chris

Someone emailed me asking for wordmarks to use as helmet decals in the uniform designs. Since I didn't include them in the original Design Kit, here they are:

IceHL 13 Weeks of R&R – Wordmark Set (.zip/109 KB)

Final Winning Logos Unveiled!

Last week, everyone cast their final votes in the logo design contest portion of the IceHL's 13 Weeks of R&R project. After the first round of polls, five races were still too close to call. So one more set of polls has determined our winners!

The Olympiques become the IceHL's first single-color team with this rebrand by Francis Matte, who picked up 64% of the vote over the incumbent from Craig Wheeler. Francis now has three logos in the IceHL.		Prepare to witness the domination of Matt McElroy. With 65%, he topped Francis Matte's entry for the newly-relocated Aces. This gives the IceHL two warplane logos, but from very different eras and in very different color palettes.
Unseating the existing Sharpshooters/Snipers logo by Dave Delisle, Matt McElroy wins another one, this time with 56% of the vote. Going forward the Snipers will have this updated look.		Is that Matt McElroy again? With a whopping 73%, his Lumberjacks logo win gets him a fourth logo in the league, overtaking Francis Matte for the most wins this summer.
Lastly, like a cherry on top, Matt McElroy completes the sweep with four winning logo designs in the final week of voting. His efforts beat the existing logo by Rik Oko with 56%, as an eagle, instead of a solider, now stands watch over the capital city.

It was truly Matt vs. Matte this summer with some epic logos from both designers. The pair combined for eight of the 10 new logos we got (Calgary's remained the same). Eric Poole revisited his Colonials concept and Slavo Kiss added a fourth winning design with his take on the Chargers.

Designer updates Huskies branding

Speaking of Slavo, he joined Eric in refining his work from five years ago. Today, I get to introduce updated branding for a 12th team! Check out the revised Alaska Huskies logos from Slavo Kiss.

Only slight updates to the primary, but certainly for the better. The secondary is also much-improved but it's the new wordmark that really solidifies the Huskies' identity. If you'd like to compare the new logos to the original, I recommend downloading a free copy of the 2012 IceHL Yearbook.

By the way, here's the email Slavo sent me with his redesign. Thought I'd share it with you guys.

[A] lot of teams will get brand new logos, so I thought I'd make some improvements to these old designs. Hope you don't mind.

It's nice to see some great new designs and artists showing up and participating in this project. Hope the uniforms will be as good as the new logo sets produced! And maybe we could come up with some new uniform designs for some of the old teams as well... similar process as we just did with the logos. It's just suggestion.

[For the Huskies,] I kept original color scheme because I think that dark night sky blue along with the silver and white is quite a unique combo and represents [the] cold Alaskan wilderness well. Hope new secondary logo, where the mountain and sea wave form the letter A for Alaska is clearer and more readable now. I also simplified the primary logo and created brand new wordmark.

I'd also love to thank this way to all the fans, who supported me and voted for my designs. I appreciate that! It's [a] really great feeling to have designed official identities for four IceHL teams. It's a 100% success for me as all four logo sets I've ever submitted to the IceHL design contests won (Huskies, Archers, Narwhals and Chargers), which makes me very happy and thankful for the support my work and I have had from Icethetics readers and fans of the IceHL.

Thank you guys! Thanks for your support!

Six Winning IceHL Logos Revealed!

At this late stage of the IceHL's 13 Weeks of R&R project, I'm pleased and excited to announce the winning logo designs for six of the 11 IceHL teams undergoing rebranding this summer.

Based on the first round results, there's no need for any further voting for these teams. Scores (out of 100) were determined for each design based on the voter evaluations. Any logo whose score was at least 20 points higher than the next highest — demonstrating a clear favorite among the voters — automatically won for their team. Here are the victors!

Eric Poole decided to refine and update his original Colonials logo from 2008. The designed earned a score of 84/100 — the second highest in the entire contest. The runner-up for the Colonials this year was Matt McElroy's design, which earned a 64.		Chris Smith (the other one) retained his place as the logo designer for the IceHL's Calgary franchise — even with the new name — with a score of 77. Chris is hard at work on a new wordmark for his logo set. Once again, Matt McElroy was the runner-up for the Stallions, earning a 53.
Slavo Kiss got his second contest win in as many years. The Narwhals logo designer created a clear favorite for the Chargers, earning an 82 for his efforts. Once again, Matt McElroy was the runner-up with a 55.		Francis Matte's logo design will represent the Halifax Dragons. With a score of 87, it was the highest-rated logo of the entire contest! Jesse Feltner had the runner-up design, which earned a 62.
Finally, after multiple second-place finishes, Matt McElroy has a winning logo design! His Steelcats set picked up an 84 — tying Eric Poole's Colonials entry for the second-highest-rated design of the summer. Unseated was Chris Smith's original 2008 design, which earned a 61.		The talented Francis Matte is a winner twice over this summer. His Texas Outlaws logo earned an impressive score of 83. Mark Morgan had the runner-up design with a 55.

If you're curious about how the scoring worked, it's pretty simple. We use the percentages from the polls. Take the positive score and round to the nearest whole number (45.5% becomes 46). Take the neutral score and round it up to the nearest whole number, then divide that in half (round up again if necessary to get another whole number, so 36.5% [37/2=18.5] becomes 19). Add those two numbers together and you have your score.

Five more logos still to be decided

That leaves five teams with logos still to be decided. Those polls go up first thing Monday and will be open for a week. The top two designs for each team will be included in this next round. Next weekend we'll get started on designing jerseys for these 11 teams.

If you want to know which designs will be facing off this week (and you don't want to do the math yourself), I've got you covered:

• Olympiques: Craig Wheeler (current) vs. Francis Matte
• Aces: Matt McElroy vs. Francis Matte
• Snipers: Dave Delisle (current) vs. Matt McElroy
• Lumberjacks: Matt McElroy vs. Tim Schellenberg
• Sentinels: Rik Oko (current) vs. Matt McElroy

So clearly, Mr. McElroy is the man to beat! He already has one winning design in Hamilton and now has the potential for four more. Matt entered logos for all 11 teams and was the only designer to do so. But he's got stiff competition for these teams.

I'm excited to see how it all turns out. Until then, what do you think of the winning logos we already have?

2013 IceHL Logo Evaluations

The time has finally come to begin voting on next logos to join the IceHL ranks as 13 Weeks of R&R continues. We have more than a hundred logos representing the work of dozens of artists. Because there's so much here, each team gets its own evaluation page. The number logos for each team varies, though, with some having as many as 15 designs to choose from and others as few as five.

The logo decisions will be a two-week process. This week, you'll grade all eligible entries on a very simple scale. Positive, neutral or negative are your options. These results will determine which logos make it to the final voting round next week.

NOTE: Included among these sets are not just logos submitted in the last three weeks but, if applicable, select logos submitted the first time around when we began this league back in 2008. We're allowing some second chances for those designs.

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask and feel free to share your thoughts on each team's set of submissions in the comments on each page. Happy voting!

Update on 2013-06-12 19:06 by Chris

Two days in, voting is going very well. The designs are getting lots of feedback — good and bad. And it looks like we're on our way to having some great new logos for a handful of IceHL teams next season. While we're still early in this process, I wanted to take the time to answer some questions.

Can logos from different sets be put together?

No. I know some of you may like the primary logo from one set and the secondary from another. But in most cases we're looking at two very different design styles. Each artist has put together a package of logos that they believe complement each other and we're not going to fracture their vision. We're voting for the entire package, not piecemeal. All or nothing.

How many logos go to the final round of voting?

This is a tricky one. I don't have a set number. It will vary from team to team based on the sort of feedback the logos are receiving. For example, if three different entries are neck-and-neck, I don't want to have to throw one out because of an arbitrary rule that there can only be two. Something like that.

So instead, I'll look at it case-by-case. If there's one design that's running away with positive grades and I don't think any other designs stand a chance, I might call it this weekend. For teams where multiple designs are doing well, the final round of voting could have 2 or 3 options.

How is the score determined for each entry?

If you want to figure out how I'm scoring these jersey, it just takes a little bit of math. Take the positive vote percentage and round it up to the nearest whole number. Take half the neutral vote and round that up to nearest whole number. Add those together and you have your score out of 100.

For example, at the time of this writing, I'll score Eric Poole's redesign of his Colonials logo. It has 71% positive (71 points) and 21% neutral (11 points, after rounding). So right now the score of that design is 82 — very high. If other designs end up approaching that number, they'll be included in next week's polls.

How do I know who designed what after I vote?

I realized some of you were having trouble describing your favorite designs after you voted, since the designer's name was only visible in the poll question. First off, if you click "Return to Poll" it'll take you back to the original question. But just to save the extra click and make life easier, I've added the designer's name beneath each entry.

Once again, happy voting! (And let me know if you have any other questions.)

2013 IceHL Logo Submissions

We're 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 Teams

Voters have made 11 teams eligible for rebranding this summer. See all the names and recommended color palettes here and scroll down for the design contest rules.

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.

The Rules

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.

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!

Thanks to the IceHL Branding Committee

I also wanted to make a point of thanking the hastily-formed IceHL Branding Committee. It was a group of 12 guys who had some great discussions on how best to brand our relocated franchises in Halifax and Philadelphia. Their work resulted in the names Halifax Dragons and Philadelphia Aces.

The committee was comprised of (in no particular order) Ross Taylor, Matthew McElroy, Andy Petzold, Tony Pomposelli, Mike Burmeister, Matt Riegler, Ed Power, Matt Marczel, Thomas Ogilvie, Mike Kelly, Brandon Hebert and Dan Roesch. They are GMs, former AGMs, designers and all-around fans of the league and each made a lot of great contributions to the process. We'll surely go back to them to solve any future branding problems.