IceHL World: Div. A Name Selection, Final Round

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We're down to the last set of nickname polls. This set will determine what we'll call three of our new IceHL World franchises. At the end of this batch, we'll determine the full names.

Results: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Sunday night. Happy voting!

Canada

No polls necessary. Team will adopt existing Quebec Armada branding.

My apologies for the lack of predictable updates on Icethetics lately. My life and work away from this community have kept me incredibly busy of late. So please bear with me as I do my best to stick to the schedule I, myself, laid out for this summer's IceHL-related projects.

For the next few weeks, I'll be mostly away from my computer though this break was built into the schedule. (Hence the extended window for Hawaii Honu logo submissions!) I anticipate things once again running normally around here by the end of June. Thanks for understanding!

IceHL World: Div. A Name Selection, Round 3

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We're down to the last set of nickname polls. This set will determine what we'll call three of our new IceHL World franchises. At the end of this batch, we'll determine the full names.

Results: Round 1 | Round 2

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Wednesday night. Happy voting!

Canada

No polls necessary. Team will adopt existing Quebec Armada branding.

IceHL World: Div. A Name Selection, Round 2

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Each team will start with a bracket comprised of eight names suggested by Icethetics readers. Over the next two weeks, a series of polls will determine the winners.

Results: Round 1

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Saturday night. Happy voting!

Canada

No polls necessary. Team will adopt existing Quebec Armada branding.

Submit your logo design for the Hawaii Honu

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The IceHL's newest team has officially been named the Hawaii Honu. Now that the club has a moniker, it needs a logo and uniforms.

Today, we start the logo design process! Artists of all experience levels are welcome to submit their creations to represent the Hawaii Honu.

The Rules

There are a few ground 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!
  • 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 in creating graphics for the website 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 your EMAIL ADDRESS on the actual artwork. 
  • Finally, by submitting artwork, you agree to allow Icethetics to use it in conjunction with all IceHL-related projects and publications.

DEADLINE: Friday, June 13

You have nearly four weeks to design and submit your work. Have fun and good luck! We'll begin voting on Wed., June 18 so if you end up needing extra time, please let me know in advance.

Not a Designer? You can still help!

Maybe you lack the skills and talents needed to create a logo, but you have a great idea for a design. 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 everyone!

IceHL World: Div. A Name Selection, Round 1

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The IceHL World Initiative is speeding ahead as we begin the process of voting on the team names. As fate would have it, one name has already been decided.

Based on the results of last week's poll, the Quebec Armada will be the first team to join the new international conference.

After finishing last place in the IceHL East this season, the Armada were marked for relocation to the IceHL West to trade places with the Philadelphia Aces. Fans elected to keep the team alive in the IceHL World.

But we still need names for the teams in Russia, Sweden and Japan. Below the bracket are the first round polls.

0414-SaveTheArmada-Twitter.png

Each team will start with a bracket comprised of eight names suggested by Icethetics readers. Over the next two weeks, a series of polls will determine the winners.

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Wednesday night. Happy voting!

Canada

No polls necessary. Quebec Armada already selected as team name.

Feel free to talk about the merits of the various name options in the comments!

IceHL Hawaii: Name Selection, Final Round

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The IceHL will have a new team in Hawaii next season! After four rounds of polls, voters have decided to name the club Honu — Hawaiian for the native green sea turtle. Our final poll will determine the team's full name.

Results: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4

Results are hidden until the poll closes. The bracket ends on Sunday night. Happy voting!

The Honu will be based in Honolulu, Hawaii. However, to prevent a repeat of the "Calgary Cavalry" debacle, we will not be considering Honolulu as a locator for this team.

Instead, you may choose between Hawaii and Oahu, the island on which the city is located.

What's next? On Monday, the winning name of the new team will be officially revealed! Then on Tuesday I'll begin accepting logo design submissions. Check back for details on how to submit your work.

The logo submission window will last about four weeks, longer than any in IceHL history. There are a couple reasons for this. First, I'll need the extra time to organize the naming of our Division A IceHL World teams. In addition, I'll be away for a time in June with limited web access. More details to come.

IceHL Hawaii: Name Selection, Round 4

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The IceHL will have a new team in Hawaii next season! Right now, we're deciding what to name it. A bracket that began with 16 possible names is down to just two! Will it be Tikis or Honu?

Results: Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Thursday night. Happy voting!

Tikis

"Tikis are spiritual figures who use their big, scary mouths and menacing expressions to frighten away evil spirits. Hawaiian tiki god statues have various headdresses, each with different meanings." —WeBeTiki.com

Honu

"The Hawaiian green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is the most common sea turtle in Hawaiian waters. The honu grows to an adult breeding size of 200 pounds or more." —Malama na Honu

After the team nickname is selected, we'll decide which locator to add — Hawaii, Honolulu or Oahu. That vote will take place this weekend. Logo submissions will then begin next week!

IceHL World: Name Nominations, Division A

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WinningNations.jpg

Winning Nations

Over the weekend, polls closed and the eight nations that will be represented in the inaugural season of the IceHL World were revealed! It's now time to name and brand our the new franchises.

Moving forward, the teams will be separated into two divisions of four each so that name nominations and design contests are more manageable.

Division A

  • Canada
  • Russia
  • Sweden
  • Japan

Division B

  • United Kingdom
  • Australia
  • Switzerland
  • Greece

For those wondering, these will not necessarily be the divisional breakdowns when the teams begin play in the fall. They are simply based on the eight nation groups we started this process with.

The name nomination process begins today with Division A. Please read the submission rules before posting your suggestions.

Save the Armada?

Because Canada was selected in Group 1, we now have the option of transferring the Quebec Armada branding to this franchise. That's the first thing we will decide here.

Vote in the poll to the right. Should a majority of voters decide to keep the Armada name, we will only continue with the naming process for the other three teams in Division A.

However, please continue to suggest names for the Canadian team in case the vote goes the other way. Remember, only Ottawa and Toronto are eligible locations for this team.

0414-SaveTheArmada-Twitter.png

Name Submission Rules

The following guidelines will help this process go smoothly:

  • Name nominations will be accepted in the comments area of this post.
  • Suggest names for ONLY the 4 teams in Div. A (Canada, Russia, Sweden, Japan).
  • Include a CITY and NICKNAME (ex.: Montreal Canadiens or New York Rangers). Stick to the larger cities in each country.
  • Team names should be in English. Names in local languages may be considered but an English translation must be provided.
  • Enter only ONE team name per comment and a maximum of 3 nominations per user. (You may elaborate on your name idea within that comment.) Other users may then "vote up" your suggestion if they like it.
  • Vote up names you like by clicking the "heart" button that appears in the upper right corner of the comment when your cursor hovers over it.
  • AVOID DUPLICATES. Read through what's been suggested before you post.
  • If you wish to comment on someone else's suggestion, do it only by replying to their original comment. (Use the "reply" button that appears when your cursor hovers over it.)

The reason for the comment restrictions is to keep this page manageable. Comments will get out of control during the week if we don't have a few limitations. I will be monitoring the page and deleting extraneous comments as needed to keep things organized.

Voting Process

Just as with the Hawaiian team, we will use brackets to determine the each team's name. We will have a bracket of 8 names for each team. It's important you use the "heart" button on the names you like so I know which ones you guys most want to see included in the brackets.

Restrictions

You may NOT nominate a nickname if it is or has been used by:

  • any current or past IceHL team;
  • any current or past NHL team or any WHA team;
  • any current AHL, ECHL, NFL, MLB or NBA team;
  • or any European hockey or KHL team.

A quick Google search goes a long way. Make sure your idea is not already in use elsewhere.

In addition, names that are vulgar, make any direct pop culture references or serve only to be silly will be removed. Repetitive distractions may get you blocked from posting future comments anywhere on the website. If you're not here to help improve the league, your participation is not necessary.

I will also remove any other name nominations that are deemed to be unacceptable.

Submissions end May 16

One last note to bear in mind. Don't try so hard to find a name that "means something." In the past, some people have tried so hard to do that, they lose perspective on the fact that we're branding a hockey team. It should be something fans would want to scream at a game.

And most important... BE CREATIVE!

Summary

This week, submit names only for Division A teams:

  • Canada — Ottawa or Toronto ONLY
  • Russia — Moscow or St. Petersburg
  • Sweden — Stockholm
  • Japan — Tokyo or Osaka

If you have any questions, please ask!

IceHL Hawaii: Name Selection, Round 3

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The IceHL will have a new team in Hawaii next season! Right now, we're deciding what to name it. A bracket that began with 16 possible names has been cut to eight after the first round of polls. By the end of this week, four more will have been cut.

Results: Round 1 | Round 2

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Monday night. Happy voting!

If you're stuck deciding which names to vote for, this should help.

Tikis

"Tikis are spiritual figures who use their big, scary mouths and menacing expressions to frighten away evil spirits. Hawaiian tiki god statues have various headdresses, each with different meanings." —WeBeTiki.com

Akua

"The gods who created everything and keep everything working." —MythHome.org

Honu

"The Hawaiian green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is the most common sea turtle in Hawaiian waters. The honu grows to an adult breeding size of 200 pounds or more." —Malama na Honu

Koa Warriors

"The Hawaiian Koa warriors were the elite fighters of the islands. Their name originated from the tree they would use to fashion their weapons, the Koa tree." —Legends & Chronicles

The word "koa" also translates as brave, fearless or bold.

For details on how the bracket was created, check out the previous round pages (links up top).

IceHL Hawaii: Name Selection, Round 2

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The IceHL will have a new team in Hawaii next season! Right now, we're deciding what to name it. A bracket that began with 16 possible names has been cut to eight after the first round of polls. By the end of this week, four more will have been cut.

Results: Round 1

For details about how this bracket was created, scroll down past the polls below.

Results are hidden until polls close. This round ends on Friday night. Happy voting!

If you're stuck deciding which names to vote for, this should help.

Tikis

"Tikis are spiritual figures who use their big, scary mouths and menacing expressions to frighten away evil spirits. Hawaiian tiki god statues have various headdresses, each with different meanings." —WeBeTiki.com

Volcanoes

"Volcanoes are monuments to earth's origin, evidence that its primordial forces are still at work. Volcanoes are also prodigious land builders. Kilauea and Mauna Loa, two of the world's most active volcanoes, are still adding land to the island of Hawaii." —National Park Service

Destroyers

"A destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship. Hawaii's Naval Station Pearl Harbor is currently home to seven United States destroyers." —Wikipedia

Akua

"The gods who created everything and keep everything working." —MythHome.org

Honu

"The Hawaiian green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas) is the most common sea turtle in Hawaiian waters. The honu grows to an adult breeding size of 200 pounds or more." —Malama na Honu

Emeralds

"Gems native to Hawaii include peridot, obsidian and gem-like crystals called olivine, which contribute to Hawaii's green beaches. These gems are formed through cooling lava, as well as heat and pressure." —eHow

Emeralds are not found in Hawaii so the name would be more symbolic of the islands' greenery.

Koa Warriors

"The Hawaiian Koa warriors were the elite fighters of the islands. Their name originated from the tree they would use to fashion their weapons, the Koa tree." —Legends & Chronicles

The word "koa" also translates as brave, fearless or bold.

Eels

"All of the eels in Hawaiian waters are known by the Hawaiian term puhi, which is often qualified with another descriptive term. In ancient Hawai‘i some eels were considered ‘aumakua (spiritual guardians)." —Hawaiian Encyclopedia

About the Bracket

In anticipation of questions about how I came up with this Nickname Selection Bracket, I wanted to take the time to offer a few answers in advance.

Narrowing down the names
So many great names were suggested last week but it was simply impractical for me to build a bracket using all of them. So as commissioner of the league, I took the liberty of selecting 16 names that I felt would yield the most creative branding for the new team.

Voting on nicknames first
You likely noticed that the bracket includes only nicknames without the locator that was required in the name nomination process last week. It became apparent during the week that the recommended locators were all great and could be used interchangeably for many of the names.

Because of that, I didn't want to risk any names being voted down simply because of the locator that was suggested. Instead, we'll choose the nickname first and in the last round of voting we'll add the locator, be it Hawaii, Honolulu or Oahu.

First round pairs
You may have noticed that many of the pairs in the first round are similarly themed. This is by design. Many of you suggested similar names that would work equally well so I wanted to make sure the voters got a chance to consider all options around particular themes.

Disallowed names
As usual, I'm sure some of you are disappointed with some of the names left off the bracket. So I wanted to address several of those.

  • Armada and Fleet — Since it remains a possibility for the Quebec Armada to be resurrected in the IceHL World, that will take precedence. Plus, it'll be more fun if we give the Hawaiian club a fresh start.
  • Snappers, Humpbacks, Sand Tigers and Triggers (or Triggerfish) — We already have three teams named for ocean-dwellers, the Blue Crabs, Barracudas and Narwhals. Let's branch out.
  • Tsunami, Riptide, Surfers and Surf — The team's chief rival is likely to be the California Wave, to which the names are too thematically similar.
  • Leatherbacks, Greenbacks, Loggerheads — Hawaii is known mostly for its green sea turtles, though leatherbacks and loggerheads are native. But I think we're covered with Turtles and the Hawaiian term Honu in the bracket. (By the way there was a question regarding the North Shore Honu, a winter baseball team. Shouldn't be a problem as we won't be using "North Shore.")
  • Lava, Eruption and Magma — Now you're just describing geological features. Remember, this is supposed to be a hockey team.
  • Pineapples, Leis and Tree Frogs — Yes, it's fantasy hockey, but if you call Dustin Byfuglien a pineapple, you're on your own. (Luongo might not mind.)
  • Humuhumunukunukuapuaa — Seriously? No. At least IceHL Podcast host Tony Pomposelli will thank me even if no one else does. Though I'm not sure what's worse, typing it or trying to pronounce it.
  • Other Hawaiian words — I did include a few options in the native language but I tried to limit us to those with the easiest pronunciations and best translations.

Like I said, there were plenty of other cool names suggested, but ultimately I felt like these 16 were our best options. If you have any other burning questions, feel free to email, tweet or comment. I'm always happy to answer.