May Minor League Report

All this work on the IceHL's 13 Weeks of R&R project has kept from doing my real job on Icethetics — updating the blog with actual news. In other words, there's a lot to catch up on.

Hartford Wolf Pack officially return to AHL

Well that didn't take long. After playing parts of three seasons as the Connecticut Whale, the Hartford Wolf Pack identity has made a glorious comeback — thanks to their NHL parent club, the New York Rangers.

The Wolf Pack were established in 1997 when the Binghamton Rangers moved to Hartford. Then in 2010, Howard Baldwin happened. His effort to recapture Hartford Whalers failed miserably with the rebranding of the franchise as the Connecticut Whale.

Connecticut Whale, 2010—2013

We applauded the judicious use of green but not the name or the terrible logo. Within two years, Baldwin was gone — which probably says more about his management style than his taste in sports branding. But we're all grateful nonetheless that the Pack is back.

And not for nothing, but the New York Rangers' AHL affiliate is now operated by the parent company of the Philadelphia Flyers, is it not? Global Spectrum is running things these days and it would seem they have two masters. Interesting.

The Rivermen are dead, long live the Rivermen

Speaking of the AHL, some craziness took place on Monday. The Vancouver Canucks who recently acquired the Peoria Rivermen franchise from the St. Louis Blues, announced the team would not operate out of Illinois next season. They don't know where exactly yet. Just not Peoria.

So it seemed the end of a brand that has existed for nearly 30 years. But the Rivermen are plucky. They won't go quietly. After 12 years in the IHL between 1984 and 1996, the franchise transferred to the ECHL for about a decade. Then in 2005, they got the upgrade to the AHL. In 2013, they move down — way down — to the SPHL, that's the Southern Professional Hockey League. (It exists!)

The SPHL is home to teams like the equally plucky Columbus Cottonmouths and the Pensacola Ice Flyers. And now it's also home to...

Bloomington Blaze switch from CHL to SPHL

The Bloomington Blaze are jumping the sinking ship that is the Central Hockey League for the equally crummy SPHL. A lateral move at best. But one they apparently feel is necessary.

The Blaze were founded just two years ago after the folding of the IHL's Bloomington PrairieThunder. (All these minor leagues you've probably never heard of.) They begin play in their new league this fall.

Now that we're on the CHL, we might as well talk about their newest expansion team.

Brampton gets Beast to replace lost OHL team

Earlier this year when we learned the OHL's Brampton Battalion were moving to North Bay, Ontario, it seemed like the good people of Brampton would be without a team. But that's when the Central Hockey League jumped in, expanding into Canada for the first time.

On April 27, the Brampton Beast were revealed to the world. Along with a very vanilla CHL-like logo. I won't pass judgment too hard since somebody was obviously trying. (I just don't know what they were trying for.) In any case, the Beast begin play in the fall. Like Peoria, hockey fans of Brampton won't miss a beat.

For the record, the North Bay Battlion also begin play in the OHL this fall. They will keep the same logo they had in Brampton.

St. Charles Chill Unveil Logos

St. Charles Chill primary logo, designed by Alex Flick

New logos the product of a design contest

The Central Hockey League will have a new team a year from now. Its name — St. Charles Chill — was announced at a press conference back on Aug. 1. Now the team has a set of logos, which were the winning entries in a design contest that opened last month.

The new marks were unveiled via the Chill's official Facebook page. The press release announced Alex Flick of aFLICKdesign as the winning logo designer.

St. Charles Chill secondary logo

Logo designer gets tickets for life

According to the release, Flick will never miss a Chill game because he couldn't get tickets.

As the winner of the contest, Mr. Flick will receive four (4) tickets for life for the St. Charles Chill. He will also be a part of the opening day festivities for the Chill in October.

When asked how it felt to win Mr. Flick responded, “I feel very lucky to not only hear about the contest, but to also know that my work got people excited. I love hockey, and I've been interested in the design of hockey uniforms since I started learning graphic design, so to see my work be the identity of a hockey team/organization is exciting. I can't wait to see it in person.”

St. Charles Chill alternate logo (shoulder patch)

Chill received 50 entries in design contest

From the release:

Mr. Flick’s design was chosen out of over 50 entries that were submitted to the Chill.

“We were overwhelmed by the number of responses and the quality of work that we received,” states President/General Manager Nicole Kupaks. “It was a hard decision, but we feel Mr. Flick’s design represents the image of our team well and will be embraced by the community.”

Designer also submitted original entry to Icethetics

Last month, I mentioned the Chill's design contest here on the blog. I also said that if any designers wanted to send their entries my way as well I'd be happy to post them here. Only one designer took me up on that. It was Alex Flick. Here's his original submission.

Original logo submissions for St. Charles Chill by Alex Flick

Only one other Chill logo submission came my way and that was after the winning logos were unveiled on Tuesday. Look for it in an upcoming post on the Concepts page.

St. Charles Chill were previously Laredo Bucks

Want a brief history of the team? The St. Charles Chill are not an expansion team. On May 1, 2012, the CHL's Laredo Bucks announced the team was shutting down immediately. The club was subsequently sold over the summer and the new owner opted to relocate to St. Charles, Missouri.

The Bucks were founded in 2002 and played 10 seasons in Laredo, Texas. They had NHL affiliation agreements with the Florida Panthers and Phoenix Coyotes during their tenure.

All that's left now is to get your reaction. What do you think of the Chill's new logos?

Gotham City Crusaders Defend Tulsa

For tonight only, the Central Hockey League's Tulsa Oilers will be rebranded. The team will assume the role of the Dark Knight on Black Friday as they become the Gotham City Crusaders. And it actually goes beyond just dressing up like Batman.

From Tulsa Oilers (Facebook page)Of course any good theme night in the minor leagues will have a fun specialty jersey to accompany it. The Oilers certainly have that covered with these bad boys (right and above).

On Black Friday, November 23rd, the Tulsa Oilers will be transformed into the Gotham City Crusaders. Dressed as heroes, this band of Crusaders will extinguish the oncoming Bloomington Blaze and rescue Gotham from disaster.

The Crusaders are asking all Gotham citizens to wear black to the BOK Center. Fans dressed as Batman or other characters will be eligible for special prizes and all kids 12 and under are admitted free with a special voucher which can be printed off on www.tulsaoilers.com or the Tulsa Oilers facebook page.

But if seeing them isn't enough and you want one of these sweaters for yourself, there's good news. The team is auctioning off the game-worn threads following the game. You can place your bids on the team's website.

By the way, I might've had more to say on the subject, but Puck Daddy's Greg Wyshynski has us fully covered. No way I could beat his write-up. He suggests other ways the Oilers could expand on this particular theme night. Definitely worth a read!

By the way, thanks to everyone who sent emails and tweets about this jersey. Always helps!

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)

Denver Adds New CHL Team

Last week, the Central Hockey League got a little bit bigger. The minor league will welcome its 15th team for 2012-13 after Denver, Colo. was granted a new franchise.

This news comes only a year after the Centennial State lost its previous CHL team to the ECHL. The Colorado Eagles graduated this past season and are already set to host the next ECHL All-Star Game in 2013.

The CHL's new Denver team will play home games at the Denver Coliseum. According to a league press release, the venue has a quite a history with hockey.

The Denver Coliseum opened in 1952 and is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year and is owned and operated by Arts & Venues Denver, a division of the City and County of Denver.  In its past, the Denver Coliseum has hosted the International Hockey League’s Denver Mavericks (1958-59), the Western Hockey League’s Denver Invaders (1963-64), the Western Hockey League’s Denver Spurs (1968-76) and the International Hockey League’s Denver Rangers (1987-89).

“Hockey has been a part of the Coliseum’s history almost since the beginning and we’re excited to see it return,” said Kent Rice, Arts & Venues Denver Executive Director. “The CHL is putting its trust and assets into this community and we’re extremely proud.”

The team's name, colors and logos have not yet been unveiled. But it's safe to say we'll see them before the summer is out. The team takes the ice for the first time this fall.

Update on Thursday · Apr 19 · 2012 | 10:11 AM PDT by Chris

Looks like Colorado's new CHL team will be named the Denver Cutthroats. According to Denver Post writer Adrian Dater, says the city council mentioned the name and that it references Colorado's official state fish, the greenback cutthroat troat. You can find photos of what that fish looks like here.

Earlier this week, the Denver Business Journal revealed that the team has hired Adrenalin to develop its branding and marketing campaign. That's very good news for logo junkies. Adrenalin is responsible for the Colorado Avalanche logo as well as the 2003-refreshed Phoenix Coyotes logo. You can see more of their work on their website.

The Journal also confirmed the team name, citing documents filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Though apparently Mile High Magic, Denver Gold Miners, and Denver Storm were in the running or at least liked by fans.

Might as well continue the link dump. We can keep an eye on the team's development via their official website. And on Facebook, they're holding a Guess Our Name contest.

So, Denver Cutthroats. We'll look forward to seeing what Adrenalin comes up with this summer.