BIG NEWS! Vote On The Minor Leagues!

Hi everybody! As you may know, I've had plans in the works to set up a site where we can hold tournaments for other hockey leagues such as the AHL and ECHL. Well the wheels are in motion. Introducting the Tournament of Hockey Logos!

I'm launching it officially tomorrow, but you can get your first look at it today and vote on which league will get the first tournament. Check out the link below.

Check out the Tournament of Hockey Logos!

The first logo tournament to be held at ToHL will be either the AHL or ECHL but it will be up to you guys to decide which. The other reason I'm announcing this site today is that I want you guys to help me to start generating interest in the site with fans of other hockey leagues. Post the link on blogs, message boards, or wherever you think would be suitable.

As far as differences between the two sites, you probably won't find as much content there as you will here. I'm more of an NHL fan personally, and I'll take all the help I can get with the minor leagues. You'll also notice that the layout and design is similar but for some changed colors and fonts.

Hopefully the Tournament of Hockey Logos will be as big a hit as this site has been. Thanks to all of you for your support and feel free to post any suggestions or comments here or over there at ToHL!

Possible Secondary Logo Tournament

You've still got 4 days left to vote, but I thought I'd show you what a Secondary Logo Tournament would look like. Apologies for the delay but for some reason I thought I'd already posted it.

Last weekend I posted the possible Third Jersey Logo Tournament which was in the lead at the time. Then I posted the possible Vintage Logo Tournament which has now slightly overtaken the former for the lead.

The secondary logos are behind in the voting, which doesn't mean we'll never do it — just that it probably won't be the next one. But regardless, here are the 18 that would be used if it were next.

That's a very colorful group. The bracket would be determined randomly but wouldn't be posted until the tournament begins.

I'm a little concerned, however, that the Chicago Blackhawks secondary mark I have is a little off. Comparing it to photos, the "C" and the black stroke aren't quite right.

If any of you have the logo that appears on the Hawks' shoulders or know where I could find it, please let me know. I want everything to be as accurate as possible with this. You can leave a comment or email me.

One last thing. A couple of people have mentioned doing a concept logo tournament, throwing a bunch of the concept logos we've seen into the pool. I'm trying to gauge interest on that. Would you guys want to vote on that at some point in the near future or do you think it would be a waste of time? Drop me a line, either way.

Updates Made To Galleries

I've been making updates to the photo galleries that I thought I'd tell you guys about.

First, I've uploaded tons of concept art to the Concepts Gallery so be sure to check that out. As you all know, I'm notoriously bad at remembering to add credits to your images, so if I haven't yet, please drop me a line and remind me. That's probably the only way it will get done.

I've also been adding preseason game photos to the official Rbk EDGE gallery. You can now see action stills of almost all 60 jerseys. At the moment I'm waiting to find photos of the Blue Jackets' white, Sabres' dark, and Capitals' dark. I should have them soon.

The Jackets' next two games (tonight and tomorrow) are on the road while the Sabres play at home tomorrow night. The Caps will play their next two at home so by tomorrow at the latest we should have complete galleries. That is, photos of all 60 sweaters in action.

Another cool feature I've just added tonight to the EDGE gallery is a Reader Photos album. Because I have the greatest blog readers ever, you guys have been sending in photos of your new Rbk EDGE sweaters. I figured this would be the best place for them.

If you've got photos you'd like me to add, please send them along.

Anyway, as you can see I'm always trying to improve the site. If you have any thoughts or suggestions, you can email me or post a comment below. Have a wonderful night!

Archive: Changing Logos

You guys may have noticed that the sidebar has been getting rather clogged in the past several weeks. In an effort to start cleaning it up without losing all of the information completely, I'm going to begin archiving certain things.

The first to be removed from action is the Changing Logos element. It's no long needed. We all know by now which teams have changed their logos. So for posterity, here it is.

Poll Removed Temporarily

Dear NHLToL readers,

It's a really sad and pathetic thing when a handful of arrogant and uneducated people decide they have to ruin something that was only meant to be fun. I'm appalled by what happened with the Canadiens vs. Blues poll last night.

For anyone who is unaware, I've taken taken it down today indefinitely. In checking the results when I woke up this morning, I discovered almost 60,000 votes had been cast while just over 30,000 hits were logged on the site itself during the day. If you're thinking that those numbers don't match up, you'd be right. I've tried really hard to avoid this but since I know what was going on was a sham, I am unable to continue with the poll right now.

I will, however, still continue to write this blog and post other polls, but I don't feel it would be right to continue with the tournament at this time. I hope to reopen it soon and avoid a repeat of yesterday's events.

Now I'd like to address those responsible: I'm sure you think you're just the coolest right now. I would imagine many other people, myself included, would disagree. It was a childish and immature stunt that I hope will not be repeated. Everyone here knows this tournament doesn't have any real meaning. If that was your point, way to state the obvious. Congratulations.

All I was merely trying to do this summer was offer a simple respite to those waiting for hockey season to start up again. We're all hockey fans here and it seemed like this would be something fun to pass the time. So I set up this hole-in-the-wall blog and started posting polls. I'm saddened that you refuse to take it for what it is.

I would ask you to please avoid the temptation to do the same thing when I re-post this poll in the future. I don't know why you did it. I don't care. I would just like it to stop. It's entirely unnecessary.

If you would like to address me personally, you can email me at nhllogos@gmail.com.

Thank you.

Chris
NHLToL

Yahoo! Pick Of The Day!

I'll tell you when you know you've made it as a blogger. It's the day you become a Yahoo! Pick. Well guess what site is the Pick of the Day for today.

I can hardly believe it! Huge thanks to whoever is responsible for that!

To those of you visiting for the first time via Yahoo!, may I recommend you cast your vote in the poll that will determine the best logo in the NHL. And I hope you enjoy your visit!

Want To Be An NHLToL Expert?

I've been getting emails lately with some really great suggestions on ways to improve the site. One thing that was brought up that I really like the sound of is bringing on experts to discuss logos for future tournaments. I'm still developing ideas.

One possibility is doing an expert run logo tournament. The experts would weigh the pros and cons of each logo, determining a winner in each match-up along the way to determining a champion. Another would be simply assembling a panel of experts who would share their educated opinions on a given poll prior to the opening of voting. I feel like a lot of readers would be interested in this. Am I off the mark here? Would that be something you guys would like to see?

So, assuming this is something we may do in the near future, I'd like to start hearing from folks who would consider themselves "experts" in the fields of graphic design, logo design, marketing, art or any other related area. I don't have any set criteria or application process in mind at the moment, so just email me and briefly tell me why you should be considered. I'll probably ask you a few questions and we'll see where we stand.

And remember, I'm always open to suggestions on the site. If you think of anything that might improve the NHLToL, you can reach me at nhllogos@gmail.com. I look forward to hearing from you!

Great Photo Gallery on SI.com

I can't believe how busy I've been today and how long it's taken me to get some stuff posted. I have so much. I wanted to start off though by passing along a great link that was sent to me.

Sports Illustrated has posted an awesome photo gallery on their web site that is very relevant to this blog. It's a bunch of photos comparing the old and new uniforms of the NHL. I highly recommend a look.

Check out the SI.com photo gallery!

Possible Vintage Logo Tournament

There are still 9 days left to vote, but yesterday I showed you what the next logo tournament might look like if the present results stand. At the moment, the Third Jersey Logos are in the lead, followed by the Vintage Logos. If Vintage ends up being the subject of the next Tournament of Logos, here are the 16 logos that would be used.

I'll determine the bracket randomly but that wouldn't be posted until the voting is over, anyway. Personally, I hope we get to do this tournament at some point in the future. I'm very curious to see what the results would be. I think it would be a very close competition.

Later this week I'll show you what the a secondary logo tournament would look like.

Possible Third Jersey Logo Tournament

You've still got 10 more days to vote, but it's starting to seem like we've got a front runner in terms of our next logo tournament. Over 3,600 votes have been cast this week and most of you seem to be interested in third jersey logos.

So just to clue you all in on what to expect if that's the next Tournament of Logos we end up doing, here are the 16 logos that will be used.

I'll determine the bracket randomly but that won't be posted until the voting is over — because as we know, anything can happen.

Tomorrow I'll show you what the a vintage logo tournament would look like. And then perhaps some time next week I'll do a look at a secondary logo tournament.