Merry Christmas!

Time to get off the bench. I've had a couple of weeks to get comfortable in my new city and new job so it's about time to liven things up again around here. I'm declaring my moving hiatus officially over today. That doesn't mean daily updates, but certainly more frequent than they have been over the last month.

Appropriately, we'll start with some hilarious specialty sweaters from the minors.

Wranglers sport Santa suitsThe ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers hit the ice last weekend decked out in Santa Claus-themed jerseys.

They were totally ridiculous. In a good way.

The Wranglers announced their intention to spread holiday cheer on their website, Dec. 10. The jerseys were worn Dec. 18 and 19, then subsequently auctioned off, as is standard with these things.

The key feature of the gaudy red sweaters is a big white beard that descends from the collar down to the belly. Sound familiar? The Santa suit imitation is topped off by Wranglers logos around the belt.

Santa celebrates a goal!This is the kind of thing we've become accustomed to seeing over the years in minor league hockey and there's nothing wrong with that.

Plus, it makes for a fun post on my return.

To be fair, Puck Daddy picked up this story first. I must say I'm thrilled to see the continued uptick in jersey-related posts over there. It's cool to see our favorite nerdy subject matter on a mainstream hockey blog.

I'll do my best to get to all of the news of the past few weeks as I wade through rivers of email. In the meantime, drop me a line if you notice any glaring oversights on my part. Good to be back!

Chicago Express Joins ECHL

Chicago Express logos unveiledToday, the ECHL's newest franchise unveiled its name, colors and logos. The Chicago Express will begin play in Hoffman Estates, Ill. in the 2011-12 season.

The name was selected from the "Name Your Hockey Team" contest held by the organization this summer. The reason was explained in an article on the team's website:

Chicago is the most important railroad center in North America. More lines of track radiate in more directions from Chicago than from any other city. Chicago has long been the most important interchange point for freight traffic between the nation’s major railroads and it is the hub of Amtrak. Chicago ranks second (next to New York City) in terms of volume of commuter rail passengers each day.

I like the colors. The logos are about what we've come to expect from minor league hockey teams. They get the job done. But here's what I noticed: The designer used the Icethetics font for the word EXPRESS in the primary logo! It's called Continuum. I think that's kind of funny.

Anyway, there's an article about the name contest winner on their website as well. His name is Marc Johnson and he is stoked, as you would imagine. No jerseys have been unveiled yet and the team won't actually begin play until next season.

And by the way, based on the reaction to yesterday's renaming of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack to Connecticut Whale — this is going to be fun. Comment away.

The Minor League Report

Because I'm pretty awful at keeping up with minor league news, things tend to pile up. When that happens, I usually end up with a patchwork post featuring a wide variety of items. Such as this one.

Everblades jersey history on a poster

Everblades jersey history posterWhile working an event today at Germain Arena, home of the ECHL's Florida Everblades, I noticed the team was handing out a neat new poster (right).

It's the History of the Everblades Jersey — not that it's a very long one. The Blades hit the ice in 1998 and only changed their uniform once in their first decade, after a run to the Kelly Cup Finals in 2004. They wore special 10th anniversary sweaters throughout the 2007-08 season, my first year living in Southwest Florida.

Since then, I haven't seen this team wear the same uniform for more than a single season. So it makes me wonder whether they'll bring back last season's sweaters for 2010-11 or come up with something new again and end up expanding this poster. I guess I'll let you know in October.

Crunch unveil new uniforms

Syracuse Crunch get new sweatersIn case you missed the mention on Twitter this week, the AHL's Syracuse Crunch unveiled their new uniforms for 2010-11 on Thursday. They now feature the team's new colors — those of their NHL parent club, the Anaheim Ducks.

The Crunch were previously linked up with the Blue Jackets and as such, wore their colors. This season they'll be orange, bronze and black. And the sweaters are pretty sharp, considering. All right, in all fairness I never thought the Ducks had a bad color scheme, just a bad logo.

Which brings me to the shoulder patch on the new Crunch jerseys. It's just further evidence the webbed "D" is awesome on its own. No one likes the "UCKS" part anyway. Disney's out of the picture — no more "Mighty" — we get it!

Hopefully this is something the Ducks have realized and will take advantage of this season when they launch their new third jersey. Of course, it would also be nice to see an entirely new logo that a little more... ducky?

If you're craving more pictures of the new sweaters — including a juxtaposition with the Ducks' threads — and the ladies who modeled them, take a trip to the Crunch's Facebook page.

Fighting Falcons unveil new logo, take two

After enduring a haranguing from Icethetics readers, the NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons thought it best to go in another direction with the branding of their team.

This new logo pays tribute more to the team's hometown than its moniker and is far more appropriate. It allows the nickname to be just that and instead celebrate Port Huron in its identity.

The mark appeared on the Fighting Falcons' website this week without a lot of fanfare. It doesn't specify who's behind the design. But it is a pretty solid one.

Thanks to Mike B. for the tip!

Remparts add third jersey?

Remparts add a black sweaterThis one must've slipped under my radar. Back in June, the QMJHL's Quebec Remparts handed out a new jersey to their newest player at the draft.

It's essentially a Chicago Blackhawks' alternate with the Remparts' logo. For the record, the team previously had two jerseys — one red and the other beige.

While there's been nothing posted on their website about adding a third jersey for 2010-11, it seems there is one on the way for the Remparts, as seen on draft day.

Thanks to those loyal Icethetics readers who emailed in this info! (And sorry for the delay in getting it posted.)

ECHL Adds Chicago Franchise

Chicago will complete its hockey trifecta when a new ECHL team begins play in fall 2011. The league announced the new franchise awarded to C&S Family Sports last week.

The Windy City is currently home to the NHL's 2010 Stanley Cup champion Chicago Blackhawks as well as the AHL's Chicago Wolves. It's also home to the USHL's Chicago Steel, the AAHL's Chi-Town Shooters and the brand new Chicago Hitmen of the NAHL.

It begs the question, where does Detroit get off calling itself Hockeytown?

Anyway, the new ECHL club doesn't have a name yet, as you might've guessed. Just like the Greenville team, the owners are holding a name the team contest, which can be conveniently found at www.nameyourhockeyteam.com. The contest runs until July 21.

A feature of the website usually lists the Top 5 names being voted on. Unfortunately, it seems to be down at the time I'm writing this. At last check, Chicago Icehawks was in the lead. Hopefully they can do better in the next few weeks.

Draft Day Checklist

It's NHL draft day and a handful of teams around the Hockeyverse have jerseys and logos to unveil at some point tonight. So what good would Icethetics be if it didn't offer you a checklist of what's coming?

So here's how the schedule shakes out:

• 5:30 PM - Doors open at the New York Islanders Draft Party, where John Tavares, Matt Moulson and Trevor Gillies will be on hand to officially unveil and model the team's new white road sweater. A raffle will give fans the chance to go home with these jerseys right off the guys' backs, complete with a fresh autograph. [details]
• 6:00 PM - The AHL's Charlotte Checkers are unveiling their new uniforms at a draft day party at Buffalo Wild Wings in Charlotte. It's widely expected they will adopt a uniform design similar to that of their new NHL affiliate, the Carolina Hurricanes. [details]
• 7:00 PM - Hockey Greenville will unveil the name of its new ECHL franchise, formerly known as the Johnstown Chiefs. An email sent to fans today doesn't specifically say whether colors or a logo will also be revealed, but it is expected. The event takes place at the Hyatt Regency Plaza in downtown Greenville. [details]

Did I miss anything? Drop me a line if so. Otherwise, these are the new logo and sweaters we're keeping an eye out for tonight.

Update on Friday · Jun 25 · 2010 | 4:08 PM PDT by Chris

It's just after 7 PM and we can check everything off of our Draft Day Checklist above.

Islanders unveil new road sweater

Islanders unveil new road sweaterThe New York Islanders unveiled their new road jersey at their Draft Party tonight.

As promised, last year's No. 1 overall pick John Tavares was on hand to model it alongside Matt Moulson and Trevor Gillies. A couple of photos were posted to the Islanders' Facebook page.

As expected, the new sweater is a white version of the blue jersey introduced two years ago as an alternate uniform. Both are throwbacks to sweaters worn by the Isles during the first 20 years of their existence — colors and all.

Charlotte Checkers unveil 3 jerseys

Checkers unveil new uniformsThe AHL's Charlotte Checkers have unveiled their new home, road and third uniforms along with a special alternate logo.

They did so at their NHL draft party tonight in Charlotte. And as predicted, the home and road jerseys are carbon copies of what their NHL affiliate Carolina Hurricanes wear.

There was a surprise, though, that came by way of the third jersey. The black sweater features a brand new logo, which combines elements of Checkers and Hurricanes identities — incorporating the Canes' red storm flag.

Checkers' new alternate logoThe jerseys and logo were revealed by way of the Checkers' Twitter account tonight. The team has planned an overhaul of its website in July. While it currently features relevant news, the design is a carryover from their recent years in the ECHL when their colors were blue and red.

And on a personal note, I have to say I'm impressed with the new logo. Yes, it may seem weird that a polar bear is carrying a tropical storm flag on a hockey stick, but I just think the mark itself looks great!

The integration is nice so long as the Checkers and Hurricanes remain affiliated. When/if that ends, the logo becomes obsolete since, again, it's a polar bear with a tropical storm flag.

Greenville welcomes Road Warriors

The Greenville Road Warriors was revealed as the long-awaited name of the newest member of the ECHL tonight.

The team's name colors and logo were unveiled in an announcement by owner Neil Smith to fans in Greenville at the big event and on the club's new website, greenvilleroadwarriors.com.

A press release on that new site explained the symbolism of the team's name and colors, as chosen by the fans among the more than 5,000 name-the-team entries:

The name pays tribute to Greenville-Spartanburg’s current day business and cultural presence, while the logo features an intimidating warrior ready for battle. With the highway behind him, the fearless fighter appears on the road to victory.

The area hosts an integral piece of the South’s growing automotive industry — BMW manufacturing, tire manufacturer Michelin and Clemson University’s International Center for Automotive Research all make enormous contributions to the local economy — as well as a large and supportive communities geared towards cycling and race car enthusiasts.

Additionally, the team’s blue, white and copper colors mirror items unique to South Carolina. The blue and white represent the colors in the South Carolina state flag, while the copper highlights are similar to the sunset found on the state’s license plate — and typically on the horizon.

It wouldn't have been my first choice, but I don't live in Greenville. And you know what? It's better than Grrrowl. Isn't it?