Victoria Royals Unveil Logo, Jersey

Victoria Royals logo and jersey / RoyalsTwo months ago today, the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins announced their relocation to Victoria. Now, the club finally has a new name and logo.

On Monday, the Victoria Royals revealed their colors, logo and dark jersey (right) — all of which will be used when they hit the ice to start the 2011-12 WHL season this fall.

Before I share my thoughts, got to tip my hat to Chris Creamer at SportsLogos.net for being the first to show the logo to us. He tracked it down in a trademark search a couple weeks ago.

Now the logo. I'm surprised by it. This may be junior hockey, but in Canada that's no excuse for having a below average logo. Nothing really stands out about it, except for the red maple leaf which looks tacked on.

In fairness to the designer, by no means is it on the level of the Connecticut Whale or anything. I was just expecting something more along the lines of fellow WHL clubs like the Giants, Rebels or Silvertips — not the Ice or Rockets.

The Province, in Vancouver, talked to artist Brent Lynch about the design.

The logo is a stylized, heraldic lion designed by Vancouver Island artist Brent Lynch of Nanoose Bay, who designed the Vancouver Canucks’ orca logo and the logo for the WHL’s Vancouver Giants.

“It’s a contemporary look that has a bit of an edge to it,” said Lynch. “It’s cool for the kids, and adults can relate to it, too.”

I'm not so sure. But then there's the jersey. Clearly, it's the Tampa Bay Lightning's blue third jersey with the new Royals logo on it.

The Vancouver Sun said this has to do with the quick turnaround time.

The franchise had to go with an existing colour template. Reebok didn’t have enough time to customize a colour scheme because the relocation of the Chilliwack Bruins to Victoria was only made official in April.

This explains why the jersey itself lacks one of the club's colors — red. No other team wears that color combination — blue, red, silver and black. A white jersey will be unveiled later this summer.

Now it's time for you to weigh in. What are your thoughts on the new Victoria Royals and their branding efforts? Am I missing the mark with my assessment or do you agree with it?

Loose Threads: Red and the Rest

Obviously the big news yesterday was the announcement of the sale and intent to relocate the Atlanta Thrashers. But that's not all that went down yesterday. Here's a quick run-through.

Panthers Bringing Back the Red

Panthers 1993-2007 / from Getty ImagesAccording to Miami Herald beat writer George Richards, the Florida Panthers are revisiting the past with new red sweaters starting in the 2011-12 season.

I highly recommend reading his latest On Frozen Pond blog post. But if you can't be bothered, here's some of what he wrote on the subject.

The Panthers are shifting their marketing focus this summer to coincide with their return to their orginal look.

A restyled red jersey will become Florida's primary jersey this season — the first time the red will be the team's primary home jersey since the early 2000s when it was relegated to alternate thirds and then dropped during the Reebok restyle in 2007. I was told Alan Cohen hated the red look, and for parts of his ownership, the team only wore that color on weekends.

I have seen mockups with the new circle logo — which debuted on the Tampa Bay JetBlue thirds — on them although I have been told it will be the leaping cat on the front. Sans stick.

No word on whether the JetBlues will return as the alternate for a third season. Florida may keep the home blue jerseys it has worn since the 2007-08 season as the alternate. When I find out about the thirds, will let you know.

He says the secondary logo — sun with crossed hockey stick and palm tree — will remain on the new sweater, which will be unveiled at the 2011 NHL Entry Draft on June 24. The new draftees will be the first to sport the new design.

So look for lots more red from the Panthers this summer. Personally, I think this is great. Always like the Panthers better in red than navy.

Moves Around the Minors

The rest of this post can be done with bullet points and, since I'm up against the clock, that's a good thing.

• The Telegram in St. John's is reporting that a deal has been reached to relocate the AHL's now homeless Manitoba Moose to Newfoundland for the start of the 2011-12 season. With the acquisition of the Thrashers, True North was obviously eager to unload the minor league franchise that filled Winnipeg's NHL gap for the last 15 years. No word yet on what the team's new name will be. full story
• Chicago Express jerseys unveiled / ExpressThe ECHL's newest expansion team, the Chicago Express is set to begin play in the 2011-12 season. So yesterday, they unveiled the jerseys they'll wear. Unsurprisingly, they're based on the Blackhawks' uniform design in the Express' blue and silver color scheme. They grey third jersey steps outside the box a little bit, but overall an unimpressive set. full story
• In other ECHL news, the league approved the membership of the Colorado Eagles, formerly of the Central Hockey League. With the folding of the Victoria Salmon Kings and the addition of the Express and Eagles, the ECHL will begin play with 20 teams this fall. full story
• Joining Victoria and Atlanta in losing hockey teams this summer is Lewiston, Maine. The QMJHL's Lewiston MAINEiacs have folded and the league announced that in 2012, it will expand to Sherbrooke, Quebec — which is actually where the MAINEiacs relocated from in 2003. Ouch. full story

That's all I have for now. Be sure to follow @icethetics on Twitter or keep an eye on the feed in the sidebar for the latest updates. I intend to have more updates on these stories throughout the summer or, at the very least, full coverage in the 2011 Icethetics Season Preview in September.

Loose Threads: Kings of All Kinds

Haven't done one of these in a while but there's a laundry list of things I need to get on the blog sooner rather than later. I'll try to keep it brief, but no promises.

Kings Dropping Hints About New Road Jersey?

Since being eliminated from the playoffs, the Los Angeles Kings have been getting their website in shape for next season. As mentioned over the weekend, the purple has been removed, leaving just the black and white logos.

Frozen Fury promo graphic / KingsThey're now starting to promote the 2011 preseason, which includes the annual Frozen Fury event — which usually pits the Kings against the Avalanche at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

A cursory glance at this home page promotional graphic (right) might have you thinking you're looking at a new jersey! The team's "Insider" blogger has indeed said a white version of the current third jersey will become the new road uniform.

In reality, however, it's just the black jersey with a little color inversion magic via Photoshop. But might that be what the new sweater will look like? Will they wear it for the Frozen Fury game?

LA Kings Hockey Fest logo / KingsBut wait, there's more. A few weeks ago, the club announced this year's LA Kings Hockey Fest will be held on Sept. 11. It's one of those fan-centric events every team holds in late summer to get folks jazzed up about the new season.

Why do we care? Well, for one you have a new logo there. But more importantly, I try to keep tabs on these events because teams tend to use them to unveil new jerseys to fans.

With that new road uniform expected from the Kings for the 2011-12 season, it might not be a bad idea to keep an eye out. I've added the event to the Icethetics calendar (sidebar).

In the meantime, I'll continue to watch for an official unveiling date or event. Until then, this is probably our best bet to see it before the regular season begins.

NHL Premiere: 4 teams, 3 countries

As has become tradition, the NHL will open the 2011-12 regular season with a handful of games in front of European crowds in an event called NHL Premiere. Four games will take place over two days amongst four different teams in three different cities. Did you follow that?

The NHL made the announcement a month ago and, since then, some logos have been trickling out. They're basically the same as the NHL Premiere logos used in 2010, customized for next season.

That graphic should quickly explain who's playing who in which cities and when. So you're welcome. But just for the sake of having it in text form: Helsinki, Finland hosts the Ducks and Sabres on Oct. 7. Stockholm, Sweden will see the Rangers play the Kings (10/7) and Ducks (10/8). And for the first time, the NHL will play a regular season game in Germany as Berlin hosts the Kings and Sabres on Oct. 8. 

NHL Premiere 2011 generic logo / KingsFor what it's worth, this generic logo (right) has been featured on the Los Angeles Kings' website as they try to sell tickets to fans eager to make the journey to watch their team open the season on the other side of the world.

As for the logos above, it's clear they're all built on a standard template that varies based on location. The city name, national flag and dates are customized for each event.

Teams playing in these games have customarily worn the logos as jersey patches to recognize which one they're playing in. Only difference is the sponsor logo at the top is replaced by the NHL shield and the date is moved below the circle. Click here to see an example from 2010.

R.I.P.: Victoria Salmon Kings (2004—2011)

As Victoria, B.C. prepares to welcome WHL hockey, they said goodbye to the ECHL on Friday with the folding of the Victoria Salmon Kings franchise — one of the league's originals. (And really, that title should read 1988—2011. I'll explain shortly.)

For now, I throw it to our friend Woody Wommack who covers the ECHL for the Naples Daily News in Southwest Florida. He writes about the Victoria club's sudden demise:

The Victoria Salmon Kings are no longer a part of the ECHL. The team announced Friday that requested and was granted a withdrawal from the league by the league's board of governors.

From the team's official Facebook page: "The Salmon Kings have officially announced today that the team has withdrawn from the ECHL wit h the unanimous approval from the league's Board of Governors."

Victoria isn't leaving for financial reasons, but rather because the team's owners recently purchased a WHL franchise with the intent of moving the team to Victoria next season. The Salmon Kings didn't have a place to play and therefore don't have a franchise.

Rumors continue to swirl about the possibility of the ECHL adding one or more teams to the Western Conference for next season. With the loss of Victoria, the Western Conference only has seven teams.

Now I have a little history lesson which explains how this is like the NHL losing an Original Six franchise. 

When the ECHL launched in 1988, it was called the East Coast Hockey League and made up of just five franchises. In the 23 years since, all of them have either relocated or folded. And believe it or not, the Salmon Kings are the second to hang 'em up for good.

The Erie Panthers were a founding franchise in 1988. They had one good season in 1989-90 but lost a lot more than they won. In 1996, they left Pennsylvania and moved to Louisiana to become the Baton Rouge Kingfish in an ECHL now made up of 21 teams.

But the losing didn't stop in the new city and people don't usually like to pay for hockey tickets to see the other team win. The Kingfish suspended operations in 2003. By this time, the ECHL had a new name and was expanding west with the demise of the West Coast Hockey League. In 2004, a new arena in Victoria was begging for a hockey team. They got the Kingfish and renamed them the Salmon Kings.

Despite spending the last five straight seasons in the playoffs, no deal could be worked out to keep the team together in a new market when the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins arrived Victoria on April 20.

Victoria's new WHL team has yet to be named. But it's safe to say they're dropping the Bruins moniker.

Saying Goodbye

Wednesday night brought a couple of possible "last times" in the NHL.

For example, with the Red Wings' sweep of the Phoenix Coyotes, it could turn out to be the last time fans gathered to watch an NHL game in Glendale, Ariz. Rumors have run rampant that any deal to keep the team in the desert has dried up (I intended that pun) — paving the way for a relocation back to frosty Winnipeg.

Those pesky rumors also suggest that such an announcement would be imminent as soon as the club's playoff run ended — which it has, in rather short order. It could be today (Thursday) or even as soon as tomorrow. On one hand I'm hoping they don't move because I can only imagine the devastation for the few hardcore Coyotes fans. But then again, I'd be fascinated to see another rebranding this offseason — and thrilled to see Canadians getting one of their teams back.

Another last time: If the Tampa Bay Lightning don't turn things around in their series against the Penguins, Wednesday night could prove to be their last time wearing black jerseys for the foreseeable future. Icethetics readers are well aware of the rebranding efforts unveiled in January, which eliminated the black from the team's identity

Imagine if the Bolts were to win the Cup wearing black (again). It would make it a lot harder to see them completely lose that color scheme in the following season. But if they keep playing the way they have been, that won't be an issue. They face elimination in Game 5 first thing Saturday in Pittsburgh.

One more thing hockey fans are saying goodbye to are the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins. It's official. They played their final game on April 2 in a 6-4 loss to the Spokane Chiefs.

At a media conference today, the league announced the sale and relocation of the club to Victoria, B.C. The ECHL's Victoria Salmon Kings are expected to be sold or folded, according to the Times-Colonist. Either way, it boils down to two groups of fans losing their teams.

Chilliwack Bruins third jersey / BruinsA website has already launched — www.vicwhl.com — for the Victoria franchise. By the way, the Chilliwack Bruins' website has been wiped from cyberspace and you'll find no reference to the team on the WHL's website. It's kind of annoying, actually. But I digress.

Currently, the new owners of Victoria's WHL team are holding a poll on their website asking fans what name they prefer for the team. The choices are Victoria Capitals, Dragons, Force, Royals, Tide and Thunder. (They do not offer a "none of the above" option. But Royals would probably be for the best.)

My guess is that poll couldn't matter less. The jerseys are probably already headed into production along with a load of knick-knacks with the new name and logo — whatever that may be. Though it could just be my cynical side saying that.

What else are we saying goodbye to in 2011?

67's Bring Back Barber Pole

New 67's jersey / Blitzen PhotographyThe OHL's Ottawa 67's announced yesterday that they'd be bringing back their classic barber-pole jerseys for the 2011-12 season.

The new sweater will be unveiled to fans at tonight's game but the team has posted a preview on their website. In addition, the Ottawa 67's Fan Blog posted a better shot (right).

The 67's haven't been able to wear the full stripes since before Reebok took over the CHL's uniforms for the 2009-10 season. The manufacturer blamed limitations to the jersey "technology" on the inability to recreate the unique effect.

Reebok says the technology has now "advanced" allowing the 67's to bring back their classic sweater. It replaces the black jersey the team had been wearing since 2009.

I may not be the biggest fan of the barber-pole look, but I certainly know it has its place in Ottawa. And with their combination of logo and colors, it just looks right on the 67's.

Now that we've seen the 67's new sweater, could you see the Senators borrowing this look for their forthcoming new third jersey? Do you think it'll be more like the black jersey the 67's just retired? Or will it be something entirely new?