Seattle Arena Design Proposals

On Friday, the city of Seattle released three design proposals from 360 Architecture for the new arena to be built in the SoDo neighborhood. The building is being designed to house NHL and NBA games.

Option 1: Iconic and transparent

Seattle Arena design proposal by 360 Architecture

The first option is a unique building with lots of exterior glass. It's very cool look that I think would fit into Seattle rather nicely. The designers tout it's "landmark, iconic form" while recognizing that the "highly transparent façade may create challenges with [the] Seattle Energy Code."

Option 2: Simple and efficient

Seattle Arena design proposal by 360 Architecture

This design is a "cost effective building that maximizes function, architectural footprint, and street frontage," according to the architect. There isn't as much open space around the building as in the previous option, but maybe that's a good thing considering the weather around here during the hockey season. But aesthetically, this isn't my personal favorite.

Option 3: Front porch to downtown (preferred)

Seattle Arena design proposal by 360 Architecture

This final design was proposed as the "preferred option." Like the second one, it maximizes its architectural footprint, but it looks a little more modern. The entrance creates sort of a "front porch to downtown," according to the designer. However, it has a much "less iconic presence" than the first option.

I could certainly live with this design, but I think Option 1 is still my favorite. Then again, I'd be happy to walk into any building that has NHL hockey going on inside. Right now there's no city with that.

What do you think of these potential designs for the new Seattle Arena? Which one is your favorite? By the way, if you want to see the entire design proposal, there is a PDF available on the city's website.

Walleye Prep Scout Night Jersey

ECHL team set to wear, then auction special sweaters on Jan. 5

Toledo Walleye "Scout Night" jerseyThe ECHL's Toledo Walleye will sport special edition jerseys on their Scout Experience Night on Jan. 5 when they host the Orlando Solar Bears at the Huntington Center.

The sweater design (right) was unveiled via Twitter on Nov. 14. As you can see, it looks a bit like a Boy Scout uniform — for better or worse. But in my opinion, this is really not a brilliant idea for a hockey jersey. Maybe it's the khaki.

On their website, the Walleye note that this will be their first time suiting up in special uniforms to honor their scout guests. But they have held these Scout Experience nights in the past.

The game-worn jerseys will be auctioned off after the game, according to the team. Proceeds from this live auction will benefit the Boy Scouts of America — an organization that's been on the controversial side these days. But we'll leave that conversation for another time.

Let's stick to talking about the jersey. What do you think? And more importantly, if you'll be in Toledo, Ohio on Jan. 5, would you consider buying one? (Though I think I already know the answer to that question.)

Update on Saturday · Dec 1 · 2012 | 1:25 AM PST by Chris

Several of you had questions about the insignia featured on the Walleye's Scout Night jersey. Are they real badges? Are the just made to look real? So I decided to do a little research to offer you some answers. And most of what I found is rather interesting!

Right sleeve features Boy Scouts of America logo

This is the most obvious mark to use on this jersey. Boy Scouts of America is the main scouting organization in the United States. And the Walleye's Scout Night will presumably be made up mostly of this group. (Not to discount the Girl Scouts, but it's probably a fair bet the boys are more into hockey.)

British Cub scout badges displayed on right shoulder

Here's where the jersey gets interesting — and begins to take on an international flavor. It turns out the four badges found on the upper right shoulder of the jersey are not badges any American kid would be wearing — boy or girl. These badges represent Challenge Awards given to young scouts called Cubs in the United Kingdom.

Cubs are kids between the ages of 8 and 10, according to the Scouts' official website. (In the U.K. there's no gender separation like there is in the U.S.) Now I'm curious just how many British scouts plan to be in attendance at this game in Toledo, Ohio in January.

International Scouting symbolism used on left shoulder

To keep the global theme of this jersey going, the left shoulder features some marks inspired by International Scouting insignia. But the thing is, they're not accurate and they hide a hilarious easter egg. The round purple logo is supposed to be the World Crest, which all scouts may wear on their uniforms. It symbolizes recognition of the worldwide Scouting Movement.

However the rectangular green logo is an enigma. My research has turned up nothing about the origins of this design. And for what it's worth, CJ_FTW writes in the comments, "as someone who's a scouter ... I have no idea what that green flag patch is supposed to be." So I'm wondering if the designer of this jersey just made it up.

All right, now onto what makes the purple logo inaccurate and what makes both logos a treat for hardcore hockey logo geeks. Check this out...

On the left is what the World Crest patch is supposed to look like. On the right is the fleur-de-lis worn for many years by the Quebec Nordiques. Now take a closer look at the fleur-de-lis featured on this Walleye jersey. How about that! (And go back and look at the actual photo of the jersey if you need more proof.)

I think whoever designed this jersey wants to see the Nordiques return to the NHL. Either that or it's an enormous coincidence (so big, in fact, that I don't believe it). Finding that alone made this extra research totally worth the time and effort.

It's also worth noting that the photo above is the only one the Walleye have offered so far. We can't tell what's on the left sleeve or on top of the shoulders. (It appears there might be another patch on the right shoulder.) I'll keep an eye out for when these jerseys are used in January and maybe I'll be able to expand this post.

Phoenix Coyotes Getting New Name

Arena deal requires team to be called 'Arizona Coyotes'

The Phoenix Coyotes — who haven't played in the city of Phoenix since leaving the America West Arena in 2003 — will have a new name in 2013. The city of Glendale, Ariz. approved an arena management deal on Tuesday that should help keep the team in town for the foreseeable future. Among other things, that deal requires the team to be renamed the Arizona Coyotes.

At the moment, the name change is not quite official. The sale to Greg Jamison still has to be completed and there are plenty of questions surrounding that these days. But assuming that all goes through as planned, I would expect the name changed to be announced as the same press conference as the sale.

Here's the exact wording from the arena agreement (page 40):

The Team Owner shall use commercially reasonable efforts to have the name of the Team changed to the “Arizona Coyotes” as soon as is commercially feasible.

New owner has planned for name change all along

The Coyotes' coming name change isn't hot off the presses or anything. It's been talked about for years (though I haven't really gotten it on the record here until now). In fact — more recently — Jamison has been talking about changing the name to Arizona Coyotes since at least June.

According to a report from CBS Sports:

It looks as if the Phoenix Coyotes will change their name although they will have to wait a year. Jamison wants to call the team the Arizona Coyotes, joining the NHL's Arizona Cardinals and baseball's Arizona Diamondbacks as professional sports teams seeking a statewide appeal.

Could they change more than just the name?

The logical next question I have to ask is whether Jamison would take this opportunity to change more than just the name. Could the team's whole image use a makeover considering the drama it's been forced to endure in recent years?

Franchise logo history: Winnipeg Jets 1979–90 | 1990–96 | Phoenix Coyotes 1996–2003

If so, it would be the franchise's fifth logo in 34 years (not including the WHA). The Winnipeg Jets joined the NHL in 1979 and changed logos 11 years later in 1990. The team then relocated to Arizona in 1996, a move which required a new logo to go with a new name. The Coyotes' current look was introduced in 2003, just seven years after that relocation.

What do you think? Keep the logos and swap out Phoenix for Arizona? Or go back to the drawing board and hopefully find something that could stick for decades to come?

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?

Speculating on Dallas' Future Rebrand

Assuming the NHL ever plays another game, the Dallas Stars will have a whole new look when they take the ice for the 2013-14 season. This much we know. What we don't know is what that will look like.

The Dallas Morning News has posted a few stories on the subject over the last couple of weeks. Thought it might be worth sharing them here so we all know what to expect.

Red, white & blue mockups from Stars' website

Rendering from Dallas Stars (official website) via Dallas Morning News

On Nov. 13, they posted these mockups credited to the Dallas Stars' official website. I haven't been able to find a link to where they were featured on the Stars' site, but it's my understanding that TV color analyst Daryl Reaugh — who writes a blog on the site — is behind the designs which may be about a year old.

I'll be straight with you. They're ugly. Really ugly.

I, for one, have no desire to see the Stars in anything but green and gold. But that's not up to me.

Stars owner answers questions about coming redesign

The day after those mockups were posted, beat writer Mike Heika talked to Stars owner Tom Gaglardi about what's coming. There's a lot of great information in his report. Here are some excerpts.

Gaglardi wants logo crest, not wordmark

"I’d like to wear our logo on our chest. That’s something that appeals to me. I think it’s the classic way to go, and I like classic things. We are one of the original 12 teams, and I do think that carries with it some history and weight, and that’s also something I believe we should consider when looking at a possible change.

"I just want a jersey that’s a classic hockey jersey. I want a jersey that looks like it could have been worn for 40 years. That’s kind of how I see things.

"I think the current jerseys are attractive. I really don’t have a problem with the style or the look. I don’t like just the wordmark "DALLAS" on there. I don’t think that’s really unique or clever, but the actually jersey to me is a good looking jersey."

I think Gaglardi just made up "Original 12," but at least it sounds like he looks at hockey uniforms the same way a lot of us do. That's a great thing to see in an NHL owner.

Stars considering a color scheme change

Gaglardi confirmed the team is looking at changing team colors, but didn’t want to go beyond that. He cautioned that the discussions change every day, and that there is a lot of positive on both sides (changing colors or remaining green, gold, black and white).

Process started in April; must be done by end of December

In talking to others in the organization, they confirm that a decision will need to be made by the end of December if the team wants to wear new colors for the 2013-14 season. They emphasized there is a little wiggle room with Reebok and the NHL, but that they have about six weeks to get this done.

You may recall that when the Lightning redesigned their uniforms (a process that would've been wrapped up by December 2010), they unveiled them right away (January 2011) to avoid any leaks. If the Stars follow this precedent, we might not have to wait too long to see what the final result is.

Throwbacks kept in mind even if colors change

On the good side, there appears to be some thought that if they do go in a new direction with color, they still can recall old throwbacks and wear them — and they seem to be comfortable with the possibility of having more than just two "kits," and could actually push the NHL to consider more specialty uniforms.

That's an interesting notion. Heika goes on to talk about the variety of alternate uniforms seen in the NCAA.

Stars not necessarily interested in fan input

On the bad side, there appears to be no appetite for fan input. They already have a lot of differing opinions, and the people making the decisions all are aware of what the fans think. They either interact with season ticket holders or they view fan blogs and websites.

As such, they will likely reveal these the same way they did the Mooterus and the current uniforms. You will be told when the decision is made, and that will be it. That’s not unusual in the world of pro sports.

I’m a fan of allowing possibly five different looks and letting fans vote down to two or three on the website. The buzz created would be fantastic, especially at a dead time like this. That would also allow the team to have the final say, but the fans to eliminate what they feel are the worst ideas.

That's a great idea, but as Heika points out, not all that realistic. But I have hope Gaglardi will find a way to hit the mark. He wants the same thing we all do. A sharp look for a team with a long history.