It's been a long time since we've had a full-fledged logo tournament underway here or on NHLToL. In fact, in the 26 days Icethetics has been up and running, we haven't had a single one aside from finishing up the CHL tournament. So today I'm announcing the first tournament here on Icethetics — it's the Center Ice Tournament.
Your vote will help determine which NHL arena has the best center ice design. The criteria you use to cast your vote is entirely up to you. You just have to pick which one you like better for whatever reason you choose.
There are 30 teams and each one will be included in the tournament. This means two teams will get first-round byes. They have been randomly selected as has the bracket which you will get a peek at tomorrow. But all 30 graphics are ready to go and in no particular order, here they are.
The original ice graphics were created by CanuckFanatic92 at hockeydownloads.com.
They are as close to accurate as I could find. They generally reflect last year's designs so this is what you'll be voting on regardless of whether anything has changed for next season. I recognize that teams celebrating special anniversary or hosting the all-star game tend to use special designs but I'm going with just the standard looks here. If you notice any major inaccuracies, best to point it out right away, though I can't say for sure whether I'll be able to make any changes.
BRACKET You'll get your first look at the new bracket tomorrow and the tournament will begin on Monday. It's going to run basically the same as any other tournament we've done in the past. I think it's been a fairly effective system and you guys already know how it works so what's the sense in changing it?
POLL LENGTH The only major adjustment will be to the number of days a poll remains open. It was previously five days but I'm now cutting that to four. The majority of the votes are cast within the first two or three days anyway.
SCHEDULING A new poll will be posted every day in the first round. For later rounds, polls will be scheduled so that they can be posted on consecutive days. We will have a few days off between rounds as the tournament progresses, but I prefer not to have days off within rounds, if possible.
LAYOUT The individual polls will also have a new layout. If you've voted recently on the CHL championship poll you'll know what I'm talking about. The logos will now be arranged vertically and alongside the radio button you use to make your selection. The logos will also appear in random order when you load the page.
If you've got any questions about this tournament, feel free to ask by emailing me or leaving a comment. Remember, I'll reveal the bracket tomorrow and the voting will commence on Monday. And just because I enjoy teasing you, I'll tell you which poll will be first: Predators vs Bruins.
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Just as we're wrapping up our Center Ice Tournament, we learn things will be changing pretty drastically for one team — not the Canadiens. In fact, it's their arch-rival the Toronto Maple Leafs I'm talking about.
