Falcons Saga Isn't Over Yet

Many were outraged by the blatant logo theft by a certain NAHL team last month. Now, the story gets even more pathetic as they throw everything at the wall to see what sticks.

NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons 2010-11 identity package

On Friday, the NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons officially unveiled not one, not two... but three new logos. And the worst part, is that the primary mark is the same one — with more minor alterations — that got them in trouble in the first place.

Nothing has ever really made sense about this team's branding decisions.Times Herald beat writer Paul Costanzo has been covering the team throughout Falconsgate. He says the logo above labeled "road crest" has been designated by the club as the official primary logo. The secondary logo, which presently appears on the team's website, will be worn on the home jersey.

The logo posted on Icethetics last week will more fittingly be a shoulder patch on both sweaters. By the way, not to add to the confusion, but the NAHL's website has it flipped, saying the home crest is the primary mark. And it would be odd if the home sweater gets the secondary logo. But nothing has ever really made sense about this team's branding decisions.

Which brings me to my next point: Who thought these three logos made for a single cohesive identity? Holy mismatch, Batman! They all use the same colors, mercifully, but not in the same manner. Only the home crest and shoulder patch appear to be in the same neighborhood, and you'll find out why in the next paragraph.

Having said my peace, I do like the new home crest. It is very much a solid minor league logo. In fact, I learned tonight that it was created by an Icethetics concept artist. Chad Stilson, who is also active in Icethetics contests, was hired by the Falcons to create the home crest and shoulder patch. You can see his full identity package here. (For the record, he says the team hired someone else to rework Mike Ivall's logo again.)

My thanks to Mike B. for keeping on top of this epic saga and introducing the term Falconsgate into the Icethetics lexicon.

By the way, this week's minor league wrap-up continues below, so keep reading.

Admirals go black on the road

Milwaukee Admirals unveil road jerseyThe AHL's Milwaukee Admirals unveiled a brand new road sweater on Thursday.

The Ads will wear the black jersey to the right for away games starting in the fall as they retire the grey one which has been in use for the past four seasons. Here's an excerpt from the release posted on the team's website:

The new jersey features the traditional Admirals colors (white, black, and ice blue) with black being the most prominent. Just like the home white jerseys, an Admiral skull adorns the chest, while blue accents run down the sides and also on the sleeves. The name and numbers on the backs of the jersey are white with a blue outline.

“We are excited to unveil this new look for Admirals hockey for the 2010-11 season,” said Greenberg. “The new black jerseys represent the toughness and ‘Never Say Die’ attitude by which our team plays and we look forward to playing in them for our 10th season in the American Hockey League.”

In case you don't have instant recall of the old gray sweater, all they did was fill in the gray parts with black and add a blue outline to the crest. The striping remains the same.

Kudos to C.J. for the heads-up on this one!

Chilliwack finally adds third jersey

Chilliwack unveils third jerseyThe WHL's Chilliwack Bruins unveiled their first-ever third jersey on Tuesday.

The maroon sweater will make its debut in October, according to the team. It will mark the club's 5th anniversary in the WHL. Additional details in this block quote:

For the first time in franchise history, the Bruins will wear a third jersey. The jerseys will debut on October 2nd versus the Kamloops Blazers as part of the Bruins First Nations Night. The jerseys worn that night will be auctioned off during the game and winning bidders will receive their jersey immediately following the game.

In other words, the Bruins like their new alternate jersey so much, they're giving them away as soon as the game is over. No, but seriously, if you're a Chilliwack fan, get one!

The Canadian junior clubs tend to be pretty good about designing awesome uniforms. It's those shady Americans you have to watch out for.

Thanks to Matt M. for the tip!

When Third Jerseys Attack!

Lastly, the OHL's Owen Sound Attack will also debut their first-ever third jersey this fall. The announcement, made on July 22, says the jerseys will be unveiled in "mid August."

Owen Sound Mercurys, 1951The alternate sweater will pay tribute to area's original hockey team, the Owen Sound Mercurys, which played from 1947 to 1957. They wore blue and orange, in contrast to the Attack's red and gold.

This team photo of the 1951 Allan Cup champion Mercurys (right) was the best image I could find on short notice depicting the historic uniforms the Attack will replicate this season.

The PR director had this to say on the team's website:

“Reebok has done an exceptional job in making this come to life”, says Brent Fisher, Director of Marketing and Public Relations.

“The jersey is an exact replica right down to the heavy stitching and felt crest and they have matched the pants and gloves perfectly. I wasn’t around during that time, but hopefully those who were or had relatives play on the team will be proud to see the uniform again. I hope it means something to them.”

“This is the first time the Attack have worn a third jersey and I know many of the fans and also the players are very excited about it. We can’t wait for the guys to hit the ice on September 25th,” said Fisher.

The jerseys will be worn for every Wednesday night home game throughout the season, plus the home opener on Saturday, Sept. 25. Replicas will be sold in the team store and game-worn sweaters will be auctioned off throughout the season.

Thanks to C. McPhee for the link!

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.)

A History of Logo Larceny

Take a good look. On the left is a logo created by Mike Ivall and first posted to the Icethetics blog on July 8, 2008. It has a habit of stirring up controversy in the form of infringement because, on right is the new logo of the NAHL's Port Huron Fighting Falcons, who will have an unveiling event for it on Wednesday.

There is no question where this Fighting Falcons logo came from. Too many distinct elements just copied outright without much else altered. What is perhaps most disturbing is that this team isn't even bothering to credit the logo's original creator and, in fact, crediting someone else entirely. Someone named Larry Smith of Tag Sports Graphics gets the nod on the team's website.

Mike tells me he emailed the team over the weekend and is waiting to hear back. I also have an email into the them seeking comment on the situation. I'll let you know if they reply.

This isn't the first time Mike's logo has been used without his permission. Most recently, he worked out a deal with the Maplesoft Hawks, a AAA organization based in Ottawa, had been using his exact logo on team merchandise.

However, a rather shady company called Chi-City Tees, presumably based in Chicago, is selling t-shirts featuring Mike's design — without his permission. They list no physical address on their website. Another company called MNM Hockey, is using a slightly altered version of the logo to promote its site. To my knowledge, neither organization has worked out a deal with Mike.

That just makes them thieves.

Update on Friday · Jul 16 · 2010 | 9:25 PM PDT by Chris

The situation regarding the logo seems to have sputtered out this week. The Fighting Falcons will apparently go back to the drawing board on this one. Times Herald writer Paul Costanzo spoke with president/GM Ernie Hicke at Wednesday's press conference:

On the logo: I talked briefly to Hicke about it, and basically the team is looking for a new one. Mike Ivall had created a logo very similar to the Fighting Falcons (not the same) and had contacted the team. Nobody wanted to get into a legal dispute over it, so the team is just going to create a new logo.

Sounds like that wraps things up. I'll keep an eye out for the new logo and share it here on the blog when the team does unveil it. The season begins Sept. 10, so we should see it before then.

New Logos Unveiled, More Coming?

The NHL and the Minnesota Wild unveiled the full version of the 2011 Entry Draft logo on Tuesday. It's very green.

The NHL set a new standard for draft logos with the 2010 edition, hosted by Los Angeles. The basic version of the mark features the word "draft" in big block letters above three shooting stars which identify the host and year.

The full version features elements that represent the host in some fashion. The Los Angeles logo, for example, features palm trees. The new Minnesota logo contains a wilderness scene. But my description hardly does it justice.

The best description can be found on the team's own website:

For those of you who live out of state, we here in Paul Bunyan's home state love us some trees, and some lakes. This logo has both, with pine trees surrounding a lake with what appears to be a brilliant sunrise coming up over the horizon. The primary color is the forest green seen in the Wild's third jerseys.

Another difference: While the full L.A. version was encased in a circle, the Minny one here is more of a shield. Will they stick with the shield in 2012 or keep changing up the shape? Not really a question that demands an answer. At least not until next year.

By the way, this was pointed out by a reader. For anyone who ever thought the Wild's third jersey looks like a baseball uniform. Guess what.

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The newest member of the North American Hockey League just unveiled a brand new logo. Welcome the Michigan Warriors.

Technically they're not a new member. They were the Marquette Rangers until this week. The junior club has now made the 400-mile move to Flint, Mich. for the 2010-11 season and given us a brand new logo to enjoy.

It's a little cartoony, but it is a junior team. And to be fair, it's a solid, fierce-looking mark. You could do worse with some of the stuff teams have come out with lately. (Yes, I'm talking about the Pensacola Ice Flyers. I'm always talking about the Pensacola Ice Flyers.)

Read more about the change-over at the NAHL's website. And find more details on the team at MyWarriors.net.

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One more thing. Scott K. writes in tonight to say it looks all but official that the Lowell Devils are headed to Albany — once again placing New Jersey's AHL farm club in New York's capital district.

Tom Gulitti posted the following on his blog, Fire & Ice:

It appears an agreement between the Devils and the Times Union Center in Albany to move the team’s AHL franchise back to New York’s capital will be finalized in the next two days. The Devils submitted a letter of intent last week to move the team to Albany for the next five seasons, but some details still had to be worked out about improvements to the arena that the Devils are seeking.

“Nothing is complete yet,” Lamoriello said. “Hopefully, we’ll have something by the end of the week the latest.”

So it's not full-on official, but it's looking more like they'll be the Albany Devils starting in the fall. And that means a new logo for us to drool over. Here's the thing, though. I'm betting they pull the Trenton nonsense. It's going to read ALBANY arched above the New Jersey Devils logo with devil horns on the A and Y.

Stay tuned to see what happens.

Update on Thursday · May 6 · 2010 | 10:29 AM PDT by Chris

There was one other item I accidentally left out last night. A new Twitter account named @OKC_Barons popped up on Tuesday claiming that the Oilers' revived AHL franchise will be called the Oklahoma City Barons.

Haven't been able to track down any confirmation of this, or even a second source. Verifying the legitimacy of the account is pretty much impossible at this point. But I guess it's worth keeping an eye on anyway.

There have been two tweets, both posted around 8 PM on Tuesday.

OKC_Barons YOU HEARD IT HERE 1st: The Oklahoma City Barons will be the new Edmonton #Oilers AHL affiliate starting in the 2010/11 season. #AHL #OKC

OKC_Barons The official name announcement will be in a few weeks. Until then... who's excited for the Oklahoma City Barons? #AHL #OKC #Oilers #NHL

Again, can't vouch for the validity so take it for what it's worth.