Design contests resume for #IceHLsummer!

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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.

Regular season design contests suspended

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There's bad news for IceHL fans who were hoping to take part in the many design contests planned for the 2014-15 regular season.

As commissioner of our league, my excitement got the better of me this fall when I announced an ambitious plan to hold of series of design contests during the IceHL season. My hope was to extend the great engagement we had over the summer.

The community created a great logo and specialty jersey for the ABC Cup several weeks ago, but it did not get the kind of involvement we see during offseason contests. But this is very understandable.

The majority of designers who take part tend to be high school and college students who are just beginning to hone their craft. They take advantage of the great feedback offered by the large and diverse Icethetics community. 

As students whose schedules are defined by classes, these designers tend to have more spare time during the summer, when we typically hold these contests. When fall rolls around, they go back to spending most of their time studying. As such, their ability to spend any free time participating here dramatically decreases this time of year.

But I'm not suspending the rest of our planned contests because of designer availability. Ultimately, it comes down to me. My job comes with different demands at certain times of the year. Much like the student designers, my free time decreases in the fall and winter. And by its nature, Icethetics only gets updated when I have free time — in which case the IceHL always takes a backseat to the Blog and the Concepts page.

Basically, my eyes were bigger than my stomach here. I thought I could find time to run all these contests and keep the league vital from a branding perspective during the hockey season. But that has just not been realistic, unfortunately.

That being said, notice I'm talking about "suspending" these contests rather than canceling them. I would like to revisit our planned contests — particularly for the "outdoor" Ice Classic Series — during the offseason. The designs could be "retroactive" for the 2014-15 season or we could simply do something new for the 2015-16 season.

Either way, it'll have to wait until late spring or summer. I'm still planning to expand the IceHL World by two teams for total of 10 next season, so we'll have that.

I also want to publicly apologize to the four guys selected for the new IceHL Design Council. They're certainly not getting what they expected from the experience at this point. I'm planning to extend their first term to make sure they do get the most out of it.

I appreciate their patience and yours with me on this. I know you've come to expect a lot more from Icethetics and from me, but there's only so much I can do. Thank you for understanding.

Meanwhile, on the fantasy hockey side, things are going great! We added a couple of new GMs during the season and the teams have been fascinating to watch. And that's all I can ask for!

—Chris

IceHL celebrates special week with inaugural ABC Cup

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ABC Cup logo designed by Matt McElroy

The IceHL is bringing fantasy hockey into the realm of real-world philanthropy by hosting a unique charity game this week.

The current match-up between the Philadelphia Aces and Baltimore Blue Crabs, dubbed the ABC Cup, is being played in honor of Ronald McDonald House Charities' 40th anniversary.

The organization was founded in Philadelphia, the home of the Aces fantasy hockey franchise, in 1974 "to create, find and support programs that directly improve the health and wellbeing of children."

Aces GM Chad Waters will join Icethetics and the IceHL in making special donations to Ronald McDonald House chapters in their areas. 

The IceHL's Ronald McDonald House donation!

All Icethetics readers and IceHL fans are encouraged to donate to Ronald McDonald House or any charity of their choice this week!

The IceHL's ABC Cup is designed to be an annual event between the Aces and Blue Crabs.

Philadelphia Aces ABC Cup theme jersey designed by Matt McElroy

Of course this wouldn't be Icethetics if there weren't logo and jersey designs involved somehow. During this special match-up between the Aces and Blue Crabs, both teams have a special patch on their jerseys and the Aces have a special theme jersey for the occasion.

A recent contest yielded these fantastic designs, both by Matt McElroy. The contests were decided by the newly formed IceHL Design Council, of which Matt is a member — but don't worry, he didn't cast any votes for himself.

Design Council Results

The new Design Council is made up of seven votes — four independent council members, the IceHL commissioner and the Icethetics community, which gets two votes. Because Matt entered artwork into both contests, he recused himself from voting this time around.

ABC Cup Logo

Matt McElroy's design earned 5 council votes while the other 2 went to Colin Magee.

Aces ABC Cup Jersey

Each member of the Council was asked to make two jersey selections, resulting in a total of 14 votes cast. With Matt recused, his two votes went to the community, which went from 4 to 6.

Matt's jersey picked up 6 votes. The runner-up was Brendan Anderson with 4 votes. Colin Magee earned 3 votes and Christian Legault got 1 vote from the Council.

Check back later for a detailed account of how each Design Council vote was cast in both contests.

Up next, the IceHL will hold a new design contest for the Evergreen Cup in Week 10.

Vote for the 2014 ABC Cup logo and Aces theme jersey

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The time has finally come to choose a logo and theme jersey for the 2014 IceHL ABC Cup benefiting Ronald McDonald House Charities.

I have to begin by apologizing for the delay in getting this vote done. The entries have been in for a while but I simply have not been able to make the time to put the polls together. There's no excuse. Unfortunately, we now have very little time to vote — this weekend only — since the ABC Cup match-up between the Aces and Blue Crabs begins Monday.

Polls close Sunday night. Happy voting!

The winning 2014 IceHL ABC Cup logo will be used as a special patch on the Philadelphia Aces and Baltimore Blue Crabs jerseys during Week 6.

Please vote for the design you think should represent the first annual IceHL ABC Cup.

There are 8 eligible entries. The winning jersey will be used by the Philadelphia Aces during Week 6.

You may vote for 1 or 2 designs. The entry with the highest percentage will earn the community's two votes on the IceHL Design Council.

The results will be announced via Twitter by the IceHL Design Council on Sunday night. You can follow the Council at @IceHLDesign.

NOTE · Future IceHL design contests will return to the bracket format we introduced over the summer. However, because of the tight turnaround needed on the results in this case, there is not enough time to execute the bracket system. Thanks for understanding.

Meet the 2014-15 IceHL Design Council members!

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Beginning this season, IceHL design contests will be judged not only by the Icethetics community but also a panel of judges as well as the league commissioner. Together, this group will be known as the IceHL Design Council.

I'm thrilled now to announced our first foursome of judges!

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Matt McElroy
Created logos for 7 teams and jerseys for 4 teams

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Colin May
Created winning jersey for Montreal Olympiques

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John Elbertson
Submitted work to several design contests

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Will Sinnott
First participation with IceHL Project

Matt and Colin were selected by a vote of the Icethetics community. John and Will were chosen by me, as IceHL commissioner. I strongly believe these four guys will guide the league's design progress in the best way possible.

Contest winners will be determined by a total of seven votes, broken down as follows.

Each independent member of the Design Council will cast one vote. To avoid possible ties, the community will get an extra vote. Should the winner of the public poll receive less than 55%, the community's two votes will be split between the opponents.

A judge will relinquish his vote to the community if his work is included in a given poll — which will give the community three total votes. (In such a case, a design must exceed 70% of the public poll to earn all three votes, otherwise the will be split 2-1.)

The first vote of the IceHL Design Council will take place this weekend to select the winning designs for the ABC Cup logo and Philadelphia Aces ABC Cup jersey. Stay tuned!

Elect the 2014-15 IceHL Design Council members!

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It's time for you — the Icethetics community — to select the first two members of the newly formed IceHL Design Council!

You'll find below the campaign statements from the 13 candidates who have applied to join the Council. You may score each candidate from 0 to 3. The two with the highest average score will become Council members effective Wed., Nov. 5, 2014.

Two more candidates will then be selected by me — your IceHL commissioner. Polls will close at 7 PM PT on Tuesday — America's election night! (Ha, see what I did there?)

PLEASE REVIEW ALL 13 CANDIDATES BEFORE VOTING!

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Colin May

I am a longtime Icethetics contributor, and designer of the Montreal Olympiques uniforms. I appreciate it when designers take a creative risks, but also love a good traditional design. Above all, designs should not be lazy. They must be original, clean, and pay attention to detail. As a design council member I will ensure that these values are upheld.

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John Elbertson

I am running for the IceHL Design Council because I have a keen eye for designs that are traditional and/or retro, yet still push the bounds of creativity. I have an extensive graphic design background, and since I don't get to use it much when I'm living the dream of delivering appliances, I would be thrilled to volunteer my services for a great cause like the IceHL.

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Matt McElroy

With seven total logos, and four uniform designs representing my brand in all three conferences of the IceHL I feel that I have gained not only the community's support for my work but an understanding of what the style and overall brand of the league is and should be. I have already spent three years doing my best to better the league and the Icethetics community I see this as just another way for me to help.

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Caleb Fuller

You may remember me from such concepts as Connecticut Fail Whale and Washington Sentinels. I have come a long way in my concept designs and feel I have a good understanding of what is needed for a good jersey.  I have over 100 jerseys in my collection — I may have a problem, but I am not looking for help.

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Dylan Alexander

I think I should be a judge because I like to think I have a good eye for design, especially hockey design. I've got work that's worn in the OHL, been talked about on BarDown, and especially Icethetics. I've contributed to the IceHL before and I'd like to help make it look nice all the time.

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Will Sinnott

"Long time listener, first time caller." BA in visual arts from University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Since 2001, I have designed for sign and T-shirt companies. This year, my eye and "L" logo won a competition to design the logo for the Lookouts of the Lewis & Clark Baseball League.

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Joshua Benkelman

I would like to join the Design Council because aside from my love for hockey (and my wife, if she sees this) my other love is sports logos. I've always been captivated by the beauty of a great logo. I would love to be able to ensure that the IceHL sees only the highest quality logos to represent its teams. Thanks for the consideration!

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Kyle Rubin

I think I should be on the IceHL Design Council for a couple of reasons. For one, I believe I am a very active supporter of the IceHL and site, and only want to help out. But more importantly, I think that being a member will help myself learn and grow at designing jerseys and as a designer in general.

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Michael Burmeister

I've been following the league from the initial contest, submitting the St. Louis Archers and North Carolina Nighthawks and my idea being expanded for the Moscow Cosmonauts. As these (and the current GM of the Osaka Samurai), I am no stranger to good logos and will encourage more solid design if chosen for the Committee.

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Justin Mills

I have an Industrial Design Degree from the College for Creative Studies and have been working in my field for over 10 years. Hockey and hockey uniforms are great passions of mine. I love simplicity in design and I love attention to detail. Team uniforms should be as impactful from across the ice as they are from five feet away.

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Mike Kelly

I’m well-travelled, experienced, independent and open to change and new ideas, while being respectful of the past. I’ve always loved logos/designs that reference the location/local knowledge, and smart design, while maintaining a quality esthetic. I’ve been a long-time participant in the IceHL and an avid GM. @DetChrgrsIceHL

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Dominic LoVallo

I love concepts! Logos, Jerseys, masks! Every stripe and cut down to the wire can make or break a design and I love that! I'm all about originality, and I want new ideas that I could see on an NHL team! I don't know how to put designs together, but I know when it is done well.

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Andrew Smart

I own impeccable taste. My bedroom smells of rich mahogany.

As a final note, IceHL Design Council members will hold a one-year term and may run for re-election next fall. Council members will be limited to four terms. Good luck to all!

The IceHL Design Council will go to work beginning Wed., Nov. 5 to select the winning logo and jersey designs for the IceHL's first annual ABC Cup between the Aces and Blue Crabs.

How to join the new IceHL Design Council!

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Starting this season, the IceHL will experiment with a new judging format for design contests. Winners will no longer be decided by a simple popular vote. Instead, that vote will be only a part of the process.

Winners will be determined by the IceHL Design Council, comprised of six members:

  • the Icethetics community, who will continue to vote in public polls;
  • the IceHL Commissioner;
  • and 4 independent judges, including at least one current IceHL GM and one person with design credentials who has no previous connection to the league.

Each member of the Design Council will cast one vote. To avoid ties, the community will get a second vote (for a grand total of seven votes on the council). Should the winner of the public poll receive less than 55%, the community's two votes will be split between the opponents.

Two of the independent judges will be selected by a popular vote. The other two will be selected by the commissioner. A judge will relinquish his vote to the community if his work is included in a given poll — which will give the community three votes. (In such a case, a design must exceed 70% of the public poll to earn all three votes, otherwise the will be split 2-1.)

Judges will be asked to publicly defend their decisions with a brief explanation of why they voted the way they did in each poll.

Want to be a judge on the IceHL Design Council?

To apply for one of the four judge positions, email icethetics@gmail.com by Sat., Oct. 25 with "IceHL Design Council" in the subject line and containing the following:

  • Your first and last name
  • In under 60 words, explain why you should be a judge
  • An avatar (a photo of yourself or another image to represent you, 400x400 pixels)
  • Optional: A campaign graphic (960x480 pixels or 2:1 aspect ratio) that demonstrates either your own design work or your favorite design styles so the community can get a feel for your personal preferences

The community will be given the information you provide and will then select two judges in a popular vote. The other two judges will be selected by the IceHL Commissioner.

IceHL announces ABC Cup logo and jersey design contest!

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A month ago, the IceHL announced its 2014-15 season special events — including a unique Cup Series and Ice Classic Series. Now it's time to start designing!

The first event takes place in Week 6 (Nov. 10) — the 2014 IceHL ABC Cup benefiting Ronald McDonald House between the Philadelphia Aces and Baltimore Blue Crabs. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the charity, which was founded in Philadelphia.

To celebrate the occasion, the IceHL will be encouraging fans and teams to donate to their favorite charity during the month of November. For the game, the Aces will wear special fan-designed uniforms and both teams will sport ABC Cup jersey patches.

And that's where the contest begins!

ABC Cup Design Contest

There are two parts to this contest. You may submit artwork for one or both:

  • Design an ABC Cup logo (using Aces and Blue Crabs or neutral colors)
  • Design a red Ronald McDonald House theme jersey for the Aces (the Blue Crabs will wear their standard white jersey for the game)

THE LOGO

The official name of this event is 2014 IceHL ABC Cup benefiting Ronald McDonald House. It can be shortened to 2014 IceHL ABC Cup, but the RMH logo should be included.

The IceHL roundel must be included. The Aces and Blue Crabs logos may be included but are optional.

Ideally, the ABC Cup logo will be set on a base/shield that could be replicated and revised for our other two Cup games during the season — the Evergreen Cup and the Pacific Cup. This would be similar to the recent NHL Draft logos which are distinct but still share elements and styles from year to year that make them part of a set.

THE JERSEY

As for the Aces jersey, just have fun with it. Ronald McDonald is a clown, after all. We've seen some interesting McDonald's style hockey jerseys over the years. Try to make your design really stand out!

Keep in mind that while the design kit allows for the creation of socks and other equipment, only the sweater itself will be seen in the official graphics related to the event.

DEADLINE: Wednesday, October 29

You have two weeks to design and submit your ABC Cup logo and/or Aces jersey. Any questions? Ask in the comments or by email.

Voting will be held from Oct. 30 thru Nov. 7 with the winning designs revealed on the first day of Week 6 (Nov. 10).

IceHL Design Council

For this season's design contests, we will try out a new judging format. Winners will no longer be decided by a simple popular vote. Instead, that vote will be only a part of the process.

Winners will be determined by the IceHL Design Council, comprised of six members:

  • the Icethetics community, who will continue to vote in public polls;
  • the IceHL Commissioner;
  • and 4 independent judges, including at least one current IceHL GM and one person with design credentials who has no previous connection to the league.

Each member of the Design Council will cast one vote. To avoid ties, the community will get a second vote (for a grand total of seven votes on the council). Should the winner of the public poll receive less than 55%, the community's two votes will be split between the opponents.

Two of the independent judges will be selected by a popular vote. The other two will be selected by the commissioner. A judge will relinquish his vote to the community if his work is included in a given poll — which will give the community three votes. (In such a case, a design must exceed 70% of the public poll to earn all three votes, otherwise the will be split 2-1.)

Judges will be asked to publicly defend their decisions with a brief explanation of why they voted the way they did in each poll.

Want to be a judge on the IceHL Design Council?

To apply for one of the four judge positions, email icethetics@gmail.com with "IceHL Design Council" in the subject line and containing the following:

  • Your first and last name
  • In under 60 words, explain why you should be a judge
  • An avatar (a photo of yourself or another image to represent you, 400x400 pixels)
  • Optional: A campaign graphic (960x480 pixels or 2:1 aspect ratio) that demonstrates either your own design work or your favorite design styles so the community can get a feel for your personal preferences

The community will be given the information you provide and will then select two judges in a popular vote. The other two judges will be selected by the IceHL Commissioner.

Final IceHL World jerseys unveiled!

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The IceHL's summer 2014 design contests officially end today with the unveiling of winning jersey designs from the final four brackets. Let's take a look!

Representing the Crete Minotaurs is this gorgeous and subtle set of jerseys from the talented Nick Burton. Nick currently holds the honor of being the most frequently featured artist on the Icethetics Concepts page. But believe it or not, this is his first ever winning IceHL jersey.

Simple yet superb, the Geneva Mountaineers get their uniforms from Christian Legault. This is Christian's second IceHL contest victory after creating the new look of the Quebec Armada earlier this summer.

Dylan Alexander also picks up his second win of the summer with this pair of sweaters for the Gold Coast Rush. You may recall Dylan previously created the Moscow Cosmonauts jerseys.

And finally, it's the Cinderella story that keeps on giving. Matt McElroy continues to make his distinctive mark on the IceHL as he becomes the first artist to design the winning logos and uniforms for, not one, but two franchises with the fan-voted look for the Royal London H.C. He accomplished the same feat last summer with the Philadelphia Aces.

Given his amazing contributions to the league, I was pleased to offer Matt the job of GM of the Crete Minotaurs, which he happily accepted — though I think he might've preferred London seeing as how the team's branding turned out! You can follow the Matt and the Minotaurs on Twitter at @IceHLMinotaurs.

Congratulations to everyone who entered artwork for all of the design contests held this summer. It takes guts to submit yourself to the judgement of a community like Icethetics.

We'll be back next summer in some form to do it all over again!

IceHL announces special events for 2014-15 season

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The league that put a new spin on fantasy hockey is doing it again!

As the world's only crowd-sourced fantasy league enters its fifth season, the IceHL will introduce special events during the regular season — including three "outdoor" games and much more. That means that the jersey and logo contests once reserved for the summer months will continue into the regular season.

Let's take a look at all the cool stuff coming to the IceHL in 2014-15!

Division Realignment

First, let's review the new divisional alignment for this season.

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Our 40 teams are now split into 10 divisions of four. This new format will intensify rivalries as teams now face their divisional opponents at least three times a year. While the divisions continue to be based on geographical regions, they are no longer named for boring compass directions, allowing for more creative designations.

Due to restrictions on the number of teams allowed in an ESPN fantasy league, the IceHL's three conferences will be separated into their own fantasy leagues. So while all 40 teams co-exist in the IceHL universe, there will be no cross-conference play this season.

Special Events

But you're not here for division names and whatnot. You want to know about this season's special events. Here's a week-by-week summary. Scroll past for details on each event.

WEEK 2 · The IceHL Celebrates 100 Weeks!

When we began the first IceHL fantasy season, I can't say I ever imagined reaching this milestone — the 100th week of IceHL hockey! But that's exactly what's happening.

If marketing has taught us anything, it's that no big sports milestone is complete without a logo. So get ready for the unveiling of the special IceHL100 logo during the first week of the season!

I would've held a contest to let you guys design one, but we sort of ran out of time with the creation of the IceHL World this summer. I hope you'll be satisfied with what I've created.

WEEK 4 · 17 Teams, 7 GMs Celebrate 100 Games!

The IceHL100 logo will also be used by teams across the league who as each plays its 100th franchise game. An astounding 17 teams will mark that milestone in Week 4. And seven of our GMs will also reach 100 games. That's a lot of fantasy hockey, folks!

Alaska, Boston, Calgary, California, Chicago, Edmonton, Hamilton, Houston, Montreal, Philadelphia (formerly Regina), Quebec, Salt Lake City, Saskatchewan, Seattle, St. Louis, Washington, and Winnipeg will all have special IceHL100 patches for their jerseys that week.

Meanwhile, these GMs will be offered special IceHL100 logos to use on their Twitter profiles:

  • Simon Cable, Sentinels
  • Kyle Grossman, Scorpions
  • Ryan Laden, Archers
  • James Leggett, Hellcats
  • Ed Power, Kodiaks
  • Daniel Raposo, Winterhawks/Steelcats
  • Jon Wold, Wave

Two more GMs will hit 100 games later in the season. I'm thrilled to see so many of these guys have stuck with the league since Day 1.

WEEK 5 · 3 Teams Celebrate 100 Games!

Due to bye weeks during one of our past seasons, a few teams will mark their IceHL100 milestone a week later. Milwaukee, Portland and Vancouver will get their patches in Week 5.

WEEK 6 · ABC Cup benefiting Ronald McDonald House · Philadelphia

This is by far my favorite event of the season, so it only makes sense we lead off with it.

The IceHL's first-ever special event game will take place in Philadelphia as a one-of-a-kind charity event. I doubt any fantasy hockey league has done anything quite like it.

The ABC Cup name has a dual meaning. It is a reference both to the children helped every year by Ronald McDonald House Charities as well as the teams participating in the game — the Philadelphia Aces and Baltimore Blue Crabs. (Get it? Aces and Blue Crabs.)

This fall marks the 40th anniversary of the founding of Ronald McDonald House in Philadelphia in 1974, so it's fitting for the Aces to honor them in this way. Throughout the week, the IceHL will encourage fans and teams to make a small donation to this or any other charity of their choice. I hope this will be a tradition we can continue in the seasons to come.

The Aces will wear special fan-designed jerseys for the ABC Cup game and both teams will have an ABC Cup patch for their uniforms. I'm sure our talented artists can come up with a tasteful Ronald McDonald-inspired sweater. After all, it's for a great cause!

(For the record, Ronald McDonald House has no involvement in this project whatsoever. But I'm sure they won't object to us invoking their name to get them a few extra donations.)

WEEK 10 · Evergreen Cup · Seattle

It's been going on unofficially for a few seasons, but now the Evergreen Cup goes legit! After years as division rivals, the Seattle Aviators and Vancouver Lumberjacks will be separated this season, so we're going to make sure their only regular season meeting is a memorable one!

Since both teams already wear green, there's no need to design special sweaters, but both teams will wear an Evergreen Cup patch for the week. Meanwhile, @theIceHL will spend the week live tweeting from landmarks in the host city of Seattle!

The Evergreen Cup will be hosted by Vancouver in 2015-16.

WEEK 13 · 2015 Ice Classic Series

The most exciting week on the IceHL calendar promises to be the 2015 Ice Classic Series! While the rest of the hockey world will be watching the NHL Winter Classic, we'll be holding three stadium games of our own!

Montreal, Portland and Stockholm will host games in the Ice Classic Series so that we'll have one in each conference. Here are the locations and opponents for each game:

MONTREAL

Olympic Stadium

Montreal Olympiques
vs. New York Guardians 

PORTLAND

Providence Park

Portland Pioneers
vs. Winnipeg Winterhawks

STOCKHOLM

Friends Arena

Stockholm Hammers
vs. Moscow Cosmonauts

Each team will wear fan-designed "fauxback" jerseys. The IceHL is only six years old so they won't be real throwbacks, of course. But it'll be fun imagine what these teams might have worn if they had existed 50 or even 100 years ago. I expect some cool sweater designs!

We'll also design Ice Classic Series logos that will be used on the jerseys.

The Ice Classic Series will be back for another round in 2016!

WEEK 16 · 2 GMs Celebrate 100 Games!

Two more longtime GMs will mark their IceHL100 during Week 16. Curtis Lanton (Armada) and Steve Sonricker (Huskies) have both been with the league since the beginning, but employed AGMs to handle their AHL rosters during the NHL lockout season, hence the delay.

WEEK 18 · Pacific Cup · Sydney

The Gold Coast Rush will make the short jaunt south to Sydney where they will host the Osaka Samurai in the first annual Pacific Cup game! The idea is to showcase the league in non-IceHL cities around the Pacific rim.

The Rush will wear special jerseys for the game. The fan-designed sweaters will feature artwork inspired by Australian culture.

Among the cities hoping to host the Pacific Cup in 2016 are Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and Seoul.

WEEK 21 · Retro Week

Do you ever find yourself longing for IceHL jerseys of days gone by? Not to worry, Retro Week will wrap up our series of special events on the 2014-15 schedule.

In the IceHL East, the Montreal Olympiques will host the Hamilton Steelcats with both teams donning their original threads. And for this special week, the Detroit Chargers once again become the Motorheads as they host the Halifax Dragons, who go back to being the Atlanta Arsenal.

In the IceHL West, look for the Texas Outlaws to once again don their Dallas duds as they host the Gators. Meanwhile, the Saskatchewan Snipers resurrect their Saskatoon Sharpshooter sweaters against the Huskies. And in the IceHL World, the Quebec Armada will show off their original threads as they face the Rush.

WEEK 24/25 · IceHL Playoffs Begin

Since the IceHL World is a smaller conference and therefore requires a shorter playoff schedule, the East and West will start their playoff push a week earlier.

The top two teams from each division will advance to the divisional playoffs. This first round of playoffs will determine the division champions. In the World, the winners will advance to compete for the first IceHL World Championship.

In the East and West, the division champs will advance to the Semifinals. These winners will then compete for their championships in the final week of the season.

WEEK 26 · IceHL Championship Week

The final week of the IceHL's 2014-15 season will be special not just because of the three championship games we'll all be watching, but because eight more teams and four more GMs will celebrate their 100th games!

Baltimore, Detroit, Minnesota, New York, North Carolina, Tampa Bay, Boulder and New Orleans will don their IceHL100 patches as the season comes to a close. And if one of them could nab a championship, the storybook ending practically writes itself.

Here are the GMs who will reach 100 games during championship week:

  • Brendan Anderson, Nighthawks
  • Mike Kelly, Chargers
  • Rich Lunghino, Guardians
  • Rob Brown, Beasts

As IceHL commissioner, I cannot begin to describe how excited I am for the IceHL's fifth season — and I'm not even a GM anymore. But as you can see, I simply wouldn't have time for it given all of these special events. So much to do and so little time.

My hope is that these events will spur ideas for more events in the coming seasons and that there will come a year when we have something cool going on almost every week!

Tell us what you think of these events and feel free to suggest others for future seasons.