IceHL Fantasy League
Lately, I've been trying to think of ways to revive the IceHL project. If you're new to this, the IceHL was a fantasy hockey league where readers made all the decisions. You picked what cities would have teams then voted on user-submitted logo designs. All in all, we ended up with 30 unique teams. It was an exercise to get creative, and brand teams from the ground up.
So I thought, why not set up an actual IceHL fantasy league this year? We'd use an online service like Yahoo or ESPN. Icethetics readers could own and manage IceHL teams and go head-to-head throughout the season. And maybe there could be a small prize or two for the winner.
This is not a done deal yet. I haven't decided whether to do it. But there's been a big response on Twitter and via email, so I'm going to take the next step. If we use ESPN, which is most likely, you can only have up to 20 teams in your custom league. This means we won't be able to use all of our IceHL teams, unfortunately.
My guess is there are more than 20 of you that will be interested in joining this league. (I could be wrong.) That being said, everyone who wants in will have to apply to play. Here are the rules:
Applying for an IceHL team
I'm not going to require that you have experience playing fantasy hockey, but at least that you have an attention span long enough to finish the season. I know a lot of people start a team and forget about it by December. You have to be willing to commit if you're going to apply.
If you are awarded a team, you must be willing to use the IceHL team's name and logo that is assigned to you. Changing it without permission from the commissioner will be grounds for termination from the league. So how do you apply for a team?
Application Instructions
Apply by posting a comment below which must include the following:
- Your first name and last initial (ex.: Chris S.), no screennames
- Your email address (it will only be seen by me and is the only way I'll be able to contact you if you are awarded a team)
- In the body of the comment, please note your experience, if any (remember, it doesn't matter), playing fantasy hockey and list your preferred IceHL team choices. List at least 3 and no more than 10. (If no teams on your list are available to you, one will be assigned at random.) Also please note whether you designed any of the winning IceHL logos. Teams will be assigned to owners based on order of preference. All 30 teams and logos are listed below.
How owners/teams will be selected
The only fair way I can see to select owners and assign teams is at random. However, some applicants will be given an advantage in the selection process. If you designed any of the winning logos for the IceHL and would like to participate in the fantasy league, your name will go in the hat twice, while everyone else's goes in once. This doesn't assure you'll get a team, but it does give you better odds (which you deserve for your hard work).
Other advantages will be revealed later. However, I don't want to give them away now so as to avoid potential cheating.
IceHL teams
Select your preferred teams from this list.
| Alaska Huskies |  |
Atlanta Arsenal |  |
| Baltimore Blue Crabs |  |
Boston Colonials |  |
| Boulder Beasts |  |
Calgary Cavalry |  |
| California Wave |  |
Chicago Hitmen |  |
| Dallas Outlaws |  |
Detroit Motorheads |  |
| Edmonton Kodiaks |  |
Hamilton Steelcats |  |
| Houston Hellcats |  |
Milwaukee Lagers |  |
| Minnesota Mammoths |  |
Montreal Olympiques |  |
| New Orleans Gators |  |
New York Guardians |  |
| North Carolina Nighthawks |  |
Portland Pioneers |  |
| Quebec Armada |  |
Regina Renegades |  |
| Salt Lake City Scorpions |  |
Saskatoon Sharpshooters |  |
| Seattle Aviators |  |
St. Louis Archers |  |
| Tampa Bay Barracudas |  |
Vancouver Lumberjacks |  |
| Washington Sentinels |  |
Winnipeg Winterhawks |  |
If you would like to apply for a team in the IceHL Fantasy Hockey League, please read the application instructions above. Failure to follow the 3 simple instructions will disqualify you from consideration.
Chris
Forgot to mention something. All applications must be submitted by Thursday night. None will be accepted after that time... unless I deem it necessary for some reason. Then the winners will be announced on Friday morning. If you are selected and do not reply within 24 hours, your team will be given away to another applicant.
Applications close Thursday at 11:00 PM
Chris
A lot of great response to the idea of an IceHL fantasy league. Already around 100 individual applicants looking for one of 20 IceHL teams. I think it's safe to say we'll move forward with this. And I'm going to set it up through ESPN's fantasy website, in case you were wondering.
With so many entries, I know most of you will be disappointed by not getting a team. Some have asked whether we could do two separate leagues of 15 teams so we could at least use all 30. This is still an experiment so I'm going to stick with just the one 20-team league for now. We'll see how it goes and maybe do it up next season.
My vision for that would include an extension of the IceHL project next summer in which we expand the league to 40 teams and set up two 20-team fantasy leagues in 2011-12. Then maybe we take the top 3 or 4 finalists from each group and do a playoff pool for the ultimate IceHL champion.
Back to this year's league. I have some more details for you. The 20 teams will be divided up into four divisions, each of which will be named after a popular IceHL artist. We'll be using the guys who had by far the highest number of nominated and winning logos in the project.
The IceHL divisions will be named: Wheeler Division, Smith Division, Robbins Division and Taylor Division. Just my way of making sure we don't forget about our incredible designers. By the way, the league will be available for all to see and follow along with, so even if you don't own a team, you can still feel involved.
Chris 