The Charitable Side of the NHL

The effects of the NHL lockout are not just being felt by the players and owners who are quabbling over their share of billions of dollars. Every team has its own charitable organization that keeps the money flowing to those in need over the course of the season. And without full arenas, things like 50/50 drawings aren't happening.

The good news is that these organizations are still finding ways to help their communities. And in an effort to give them some attention and fulfill the purpose of this blog (logos!), here's a little something for you to enjoy this weekend.

So how about that? All 30 charitable organizations tied to NHL franchises. You probably noticed that while most are team specific, a few are not. For example, the Colorado Avalanche work with Kroenke Sports Charities as both are owned by the same parent company. Similar situation with the Maple Leafs and MLSE Team Up Foundation as well as the Rangers and Garden of Dreams.

Now go and be charitable!

IceHL Jersey: From Fantasy to Reality

Today I'm thrilled to announce that for the first time ever, you can place an order for an Icethetics-branded product — and it's all thanks to our new friends at RinkGear!

Over the last several weeks, we've been conducting a series of polls to determine the most popular IceHL jersey design. And as you can see, the winner was the Milwaukee Lagers. And as of now, RinkGear is accepting pre-orders for this jersey!

If you're new to this party, the IceHL is a fantasy hockey league created from the by the Icethetics community, who wanted a creative avenue to fully brand a group of hockey teams from the ground up. And we did. The project began in 2008 and hundreds of polls have been conducted along the way to make sure the community is driving the decisions. For more on The IceHL Project, download the Yearbook.

The Milwaukee Lagers logos were designed by Joshua Frederick and the jersey was assembled by Matt Madore. Congratulations to these guys on seeing their work go from a computer screen to the real deal!

The Lagers sweater is being sold as part of RinkGear's Geeky Jerseys line and costs $95 — customization included. As far as the quality you can expect, here's what the company promises:

Your handmade jersey will feature high quality embroidered front, shoulder, and IceHL chest crests, lace-up neck, digitally sublimated stripes, plus a custom cut and sewn name and number of your choosing.

I have yet to see a RinkGear jersey for myself, but from everything I've read, they have a lot of satisfied customers. And the fact that this sweater features an embroidered crest and shoulder patches says a lot. Sounds to me like quality matters to them.

Obviously, the Lagers jersey was popular with voters but so were a lot of other IceHL designs! So if you're hoping to see another one go into production, place your Lagers order now. RinkGear will consider doing more IceHL jerseys depending on how this one sells. If it's a success, there will be more. And for my part, I'd like to own a North Carolina Nighthawks jersey!

By the way, for all you fantasy geeks, check out The IceHL page for weekly league updates. Listen, just because there's no NHL doesn't mean there's no fantasy hockey. The IceHL is currently in action and being powered by AHLers instead. (But of course we're keeping our fingers crossed that the NHL resumes soon.) You can follow along this season right here on Icethetics all year long!

New York Islanders Moving to Brooklyn

The New York Islanders announced today that they will be moving to Brooklyn, New York and playing their home games at the Barclays Center beginning in the 2015-16 season — after their lease at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum expires.

Barclays Center hockey seating chartOf note to Icethetics readers is the fact that the colors, name, logo and uniforms will be remaining the same. In other words, the club will not be named the Brooklyn Islanders. (Then again, the move is still three years away and who knows what could happen between now and then.)

The Barclays Center is actually not ideal for NHL hockey so I was a little surprised by the announcement. The arena holds on 14,500 for hockey when most other "state-of-the-art" buildings seat about 20,000. Naturally, it seems like it will have to mean higher ticket prices and a need for higher attendance.

Not unlike Seattle's much-maligned Key Arena, the Barclays Center wasn't really designed with hockey in mind. And when you replace a basketball court with a hockey rink, you lose a lot of seats at one end. Not much you can do about that, I guess.

But it gives me hope Seattle can put a team in the Key until new arena is built. I'd be all for that!

What do you think of this announcement by the Islanders? And what do you think of the fact that the 40-year-old name and logo will remain the same?

St. Charles Chill Joining CHL in 2013

The Central Hockey League is expanding next season. Well, re-expanding.

After the Laredo Bucks were sold this summer, the new ownership decided to the suspend the franchise for a season while it relocates to St. Charles, Missouri. The team will pick up in the 2013-14 season as the St. Charles Chill.

This, of course, means we'll be anticipating a new logo unveiling at some point within the next year. And the Chill are actually looking to fans for a little help in that regard. Last week, the team posted the following message on its Facebook page:

We have been working on getting the perfect logo for your new team. Anyone out there who would like to submit a logo can send it to nicole@stcharleschill.com.

Their colors are black, white, silver and "ice blue as an accent color," as they put it. So if you have a logo idea for the Chill, your email goes straight to the team's GM, Nicole Kupaks. By the way, if you do submit a design, feel free to send it my way too and I'll be happy to post it on the Icethetics Concepts page.

St. Charles Chill's official website (10/23/12)

Gladiators Add 10th Anniversary Jersey

Photo from Gwinnett Gladiators official website

The ECHL's Gwinnett Gladiators will be sporting a special edition 10th anniversary sweater this season and fans can get their hands on one for the first time tonight when the club opens its home schedule.

The Gladiators are looking to their NHL affiliate, the Phoenix Coyotes, for inspiration, quite clearly. It's essentially the Coyotes' home sweater with some text on the front. That's right, text. My favorite. (Sorry, hope I didn't drip any of that sarcasm on you.)

It sounds like this won't be an alternate jersey so much as the Glads' go-to dark jersey this season. ECHL teams wear white and home and colors on the road until the midpoint of the season when they all do a big switch-a-roo. (It gives teams a chance to showcase both of their uniforms to fans in an effort to sell more of each.)

Here's what else the team had to say about it a couple weeks ago.

In honor of their 10th year in Gwinnett, the Gladiators have decided to commemorate the anniversary by introducing a new maroon jersey for the 2012-2013 season. Fans in attendance at this past Sunday’s pre-season game were privy to a special sneak peek at the new sweaters.

The Gladiators will wear them for Opening Weekend before their designation on road games as the "dark" sweater option per ECHL mandate. At the midway point of the season, member teams will switch their jerseys, and the Gladiators will finish the 2nd half of the year wearing their maroon sweaters at home.

In homage to the history of hockey, the jerseys have a decidedly vintage feel complete with lace-up neck and "Gwinnett" across the chest.

The right shoulder will bear the ECHL's 25th anniversary patch while the left will have the team's 10th anniversary patch. But whatever floats their boat, I suppose.

I have to say, the design is quite plain and really does nothing for me, but I'd rather hear what Gladiators fans think of it. Would you buy one? It turns out they'll actually be kind of a "limited edition" type deal since the team's contract with SP Apparel is ending and they don't want to be left with stuff they can't sell. (Does this also mean we'll see more new Gladiators jerseys in 2013?)