San Francisco Bulls Unveil Jerseys

ECHL expansion team San Francisco Bulls unveil uniforms

The ECHL's San Francisco Bulls won't hit the ice for the first time until later this year, but today they unveiled their new uniforms. And somewhat disappointingly, they're an odd amalgam of NHL sweaters.

The jersey itself is essentially the template based on what the Buffalo Sabres wore between 1996 and 2006 — otherwise known as The Goathead Years. I'm assuming they were chosen strictly for the bull horn style stripes on the sleeves. Not a bad call, but not all that original either. (Not that that's necessarily a bad thing.)

The colors being identical to those of the Anaheim Ducks, the Bulls have also borrowed the Ducks' number font. And the nameplate is straight off a Philadelphia Flyers jersey. And if I'm not mistaken, exact same font as well. The socks also look a lot like the Sabres' from the late '90s.

So it's not the most original uniform we've ever seen, but you'll notice the shoulders are bare. Last week, I mentioned that the Bulls agreed to look at some logo designs by Icethetics artists to use as a shoulder patch. Some awesome designs have been submitted and I can't wait to post some of them. And who knows, maybe one of them will be seen on this uniform by the time the team hits the ice.

You might also notice from the above photo that the logo on the jersey doesn't quite match what's on the backdrop. The Bulls went through some brand licensing issues this winter which pigeon-holed them into keeping the original logo that was being used for marketing purposes — or at least something very similar. The logo on the jersey is the newer one.

You can read more about the jerseys on the team's official website.  Feel free to sound off on the San Francisco Bulls uniforms in the comments.

WHL Player Wears Jerseys He Designs

Taylor Vause, Swift Current BroncosIt's probably a safe bet that most of the jersey concept designers here at Icethetics play hockey at a level no higher than recreation.

But there's always an exception. You should really get to know the captain of the WHL's Swift Current Broncos, Taylor Vause.

Vause emailed me this week to talk about a couple of the specialty sweaters his team has worn recently and subsequently auctioned off to benefit charities. What's interesting about these sweaters? He designed them. 

I'm sure more than a few Icethetics readers can claim they've worn jerseys they've designed for their beer league teams, but how many can say their work has raised nearly $15,000 for charity?

Vause, 20, wrote: "I have followed your site for a very long time [and] have always been a fan of jersey design. ... Over time, you've [written] posts about major junior hockey with regards to special event jerseys. For me, this is very interesting because I play at that level and I'm directly involved with those jerseys."

He's not kidding. Vause tells me he approached the Broncos last season about using a sweater he designed for Broncos Beat Breast Cancer Night on Feb. 4, 2011. As it turned out, the team liked his design — so they used it.

"I scored in that game while wearing the jersey I designed," Vause said. "Quite an awesome experience for me." Unfortunately, it was the Broncos' only goal as they fell 6-1 to the Medicine Hat Tigers.

Broncos Beat Breast Cancer Night / courtesy Taylor Vause

Between the jersey auction and the in-game sale of pink carnations, the Broncos raised $6,400 for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. For the record, Vause's jersey sold for $755. That number was second only to the $1,000 one dedicated fan spent on Justin Dowling's jersey.

The story doesn't end there. "I was preparing for my fourth and final season of major junior hockey," Vause said of this year, "and I had already talked to my team's front office about doing another jersey for this season.

"I'm not sure if you know much about the Broncos history," said Vause. "There was a terrible bus accident 25 years ago and four [Broncos] players died. Since then we've always worn a four-leaf clover with the four players' numbers on it. Seeing as it was the 25th anniversary of the crash I thought it would be a great honour to do a Four Broncos memorial jersey."

Broncos Memorial Jersey / courtesy Taylor Vause

Once again, the Broncos used his jersey design. And again, "I scored in this game," said Vause. "Another amazing feeling to score in the jersey that I designed." And to complete the trifecta of history repeating itself a year later, Vause's goal was only one the Broncos scored in the Feb. 11 game, falling 4-1 to the Regina Pats.

Regardless, Vause is quick to point out that it was still a special night. "I was very proud of this jersey because of what it meant to the community," he said. "We did another jersey auction and this time around we raised $8,153.67 for our Education Fund."

You can read more about this jersey and see Vause wearing it in a photo shoot on the Broncos' website. 

"I'm hoping to continue designing jerseys for the Broncos and branch out to other teams in the league as well," Vause said. "Whether that happens or not remains to be seen but jersey design will continue to be a passion of mine either way."

Taylor's story is pretty cool and I appreciate him sharing it with us. He's on Twitter at @wizardofvause if you want to give him a follow. And if you want to check out some of his quirky Photoshop creations, here's a link.

Bay Area's ECHL Club Preps Unveiling

A big announcement is scheduled in San Francisco for Wed., March 7. No, I'm not talking about the iPad 3. It's the jersey unveiling for the ECHL's newest expansion franchice — the San Francisco Bulls.

The Bulls' new logo (left) was recently leaked on the team's Facebook page after a fan found it on the designer's online portfolio. Last September, we got our first glimpse at the original Bulls logo — which was downright awful.

The new logo is only a slight upgrade, but it's my understanding the team ran into some issues with the league over changing the design too drastically from that original mark. That's a shame, but it's not all bad news — especially if you're among the more creatively inclined.

For logo designers: I've been in contact with the San Francisco Bulls and I'm told they're willing to look at proposals from Icethetics artists for a secondary logo. Any artist whose work is used will, of course, be compensated. So here's what they're looking for:

• The Bulls "want to do something featuring an intertwined 'SF' akin to the 49ers and Giants for [their] shoulder patch." It goes without saying, but they need something original so don't copy either of those teams' logos.
• Also, the team owner is fond of the Golden Gate Bridge, particularly as viewed when one is driving across it. You can get an idea from this logo.

If you have a logo design, you'd like to submit, email it to me by clicking the red Gmail icon at the top of the page (beneath the Icethetics logo). I'll forward them on to the team and I'll post the good ones on the Concepts page. 

At this point, no deadline has been set. It's kind of open-ended, but you're probably wise to shoot for the end of the month at the latest. Good luck!

Update on Wednesday · Aug 1 · 2012 | 10:57 AM PDT by Chris

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a straight answer from this team and five months have past. So I'm going to post the entries here on Icethetics for all to enjoy. They'll go up on the Concepts page over the course of the next four weekends as part of a series called San Francisco Sundays.

Orlando Solar Bears Logos Unveiled

ECHL's Orlando Solar BearsSo... happy new year! And the ECHL's incarnation of the Orlando Solar Bears have officially unveiled their new logos. You can see them now on the team's website.

It's a very sharp look but the folks at Joe Bosack always do outstanding work so that's no surprise. It's certainly an improvement on the previous version of the logo from the 90s.

Quick bit of a housekeeping. Obviously, the updates have been few and far between. Part of that is lack of news. Part of it is lack of time on my part. So it goes.

Anyway, I'm taking a short vacation back to Florida for a few days — where I plan to take in a Lightning game or two — but when I get back I hope to be able to make a little more time for the blog.

In the next few weeks, we should start getting information about logo and uniform changes for the 2012-13 — and there will be a few. 

For those of you following the IceHL Project, I have an update over there for you.

Loose Threads: New in the Minors

Been a bit slow news wise, lately. But there have been a few new jerseys introduced around the minor leagues I thought you guys might want to talk about. One of the best alternates in the minors has to be this one.

The ECHL's Toledo Walleye have long been mocked for their joke of a '90s-style logo — a toothless fish angrily wielding a hockey stick. (Not really helped by the addition of a Santa hat, currently seen on their website.) But I think they nailed it with this new alternate sweater. Great use of their colors and a classic design inspired by everyone's all-time favorite — the Chicago Blackhawks, who are also their NHL affiliate.

Over in the AHL, former Icethetics concept contributor Aaron Masik designed this specialty jersey for the San Antonio Rampage.

As the team's designer, Masik designs a lot of the Rampage's specialty sweaters. This one (right) was for the club's 8th annual Salute to the Badges Night.

It was worn Sat., Dec. 10 against the Peoria Rivermen, a game which San Antonio won 2-1.

Elsewhere, following the NHL Winter Classic between the Flyers and Rangers (really enjoying this season's installment of 24/7 on HBO, by the way), the sheet of ice at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia will be used once more by the AHL.

The Adirondack Phantoms and Hershey Bears will meet on Jan. 6 for an outdoor game. According to the Phantoms' website, both teams will wear special jerseys to mark the occasion.

The Bears unveiled theirs last week. You can see a rendering on their Facebook page. As for the Phantoms, I haven't been able to track down anything yet. Feel free to share a link if you've got one.