One Million Hits!

Not to detract from the obvious big news of the day, but I wanted to mention that today, the blog broke the seven-digit barrier in the hits category.

I took that screenshot of my stats page earlier today. As of this moment, the all-time hit count is 1,051,336. You guys are really awesome! Thanks for visiting. If you'd like to show your support, click on any of the ads in the sidebar. I'd like to say any money I make will go back into the blog. But this blog doesn't cost anything to make.

So I've decided to spend it on a trip to Canada next year. I've always wanted to visit you guys up there. Florida sucks. And I figure there's no better way. Send me to Canada! Check out the ads, if you're so inclined.

Anyway, once again, thank you all for visiting. I've had a blast making this blog!

The New Concepts Gallery Is Open!

Hey all. I know I've been light on posts this weekend — save for the Lightning, of course. But the reason is that I've been hard at work on a new feature I'm rolling out today!

One of the things you all seem to enjoy about this site is the many concept designs I post on a daily basis. Over the past few months, I've posted hundreds of fan-created artwork for all 30 teams. Finding them all would be quite a task. So to make things easier, I'm compiling all of the concept art I've posted — and some I haven't — all in one simple image gallery.

If you click on that screenshot of the gallery, you can go look at it for yourself. It is divided up by team and I also threw in a couple of bonus categories — including Vintage.

As a side note, if any of the work posted there is yours and you would like credit, please email me at nhllogos@gmail.com. Let me know what you want in the caption — your name, a web link or a description. Conversely, if your work is posted there and you would like it removed, let me know and I'd be happy to oblige.

Enjoy it, everybody! And please let me know what you think.

New Concept Feature Coming Soon

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you know I'm always coming up with new ideas to implement. Came up with another one today.

I've posted so many concept designs in the last few months and so many more have been sent to me just in the last few weeks. At the moment, it requires a lot of searching around the blog to find them all. So to help in compiling them all in one place, I'll be creating a photo gallery where you can view all of the concept jerseys I've posted — and some I haven't.

You'll be able to find those galleries along with the galleries of the new official Rbk EDGE uniforms being unveiled league-wide.

Just giving you all something to look forward to. I'm going to try and get it started tonight but a majority of the work will probably be done this weekend when I have time. Thanks to everyone for the support both in the comments and by email. You're all awesome!

Half A Million!

Just thought I'd mention that today the blog surpassed the half-million hit mark. Quite a feat! I can't believe how popular this site has become. When I started it, I was lucky to have 100 hits in a day. Now I'm averaging well over 20,000. I'm glad you guys are enjoying the content and I hope I can continue to provide it. As of the time of this post, I've had 515,589 hits since mid-May. A very nice milestone, to be sure. If I had a bottle of champagne, I'd crack it over all of your noses. Thanks so much for visiting!

Let's Speculate Together

All right, at the request of a reader and in the interest of making information more easily accessible on this blog, I've added a new sidebar element I wanted to make note of here.

In less than a month from now, we should know what all of the new Rbk EDGE uniforms and logos look like. In the interim, we're forced to speculate. Along with all of the concept artwork I post, I try to keep up with potential information leaks as well. Among them are the Lightning and Senators logos and the Penguins' new uniforms.

Now, if you scroll down past the Changing Logos section of the sidebar, you'll find Speculation. There, I will post quick links to posts which feature content that might reasonably be considered to be leaked information, such as the specific examples cited above. If I've missed anything, do let me know and I'll add it.

Hope this makes the site a little more user-friendly. If you've got any other ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to send them along.

The Rbk EDGE Photo Gallery!

Here's a little something I thought might be helpful. So as to be able to separate the fact from fiction, I set up a photo gallery where you can view all photos of the new Rbk EDGE uniforms that have been officially unveiled.

The Official Rbk EDGE uniform photo gallery!

At this point, only 8 teams have made their jerseys official and I'm compiling photos of these new jerseys in this gallery. If you've got any photos that I don't have in those galleries which would be worth adding, feel free to email them to nhllogos@gmail.com.

My goal is to compile a huge gallery of photos of these new jerseys. I know there are a ton out there that I don't have, including players wearing them on draft day (Bruins, Capitals, Blue Jackets), so if you know where to find any, please send images or links. Let's make this gallery the go-to place for all things Rbk EDGE!

Also, I won't post photos of any new jerseys unless we know for a fact they are the real deal. So the photos we've been seeing of potential Canucks and Islanders jerseys don't count. Let me know what you think!

Prepare For Voting Mania!

No, I'm not talking about the 2008 presidential election. Har. As you know, tomorrow is the first day of voting for the Championship Tournament wherein you, the readers, will decide which NHL team has the best logo. It's tough work but somebody's got to do it.

Sidebar Changes
In preparation for that, I'm making a few changes to the sidebar. Regular readers will understand. New readers won't have a clue what I'm talking about.

For one thing, there's is now a bracket graphic toward the top. Click on that to see the bracket setup. It's based on how the logos finished in the Qualifying Tournament (a.k.a. my bullshit tournament wherein I wrote a lot of nonsense). In the future, the bracket will be completely random, as this might well have been.

There will also been a block letting you know what polls are open for voting so you can make your voice heard if you hadn't yet. In addition, there's no more need for standings so they're gone — replaced by a list of all 30 teams alongside the year their current logo went into use.

Future Tournaments
By the way, yes I said future. Once we finish with the Championship Tournament, there's still so much we can do. We can decide on the best secondary logo, best uniform, best vintage logos... There's just so much. Anyway, more on that at a later date. For now, we've got the first round of the Championship Tournament ahead of us.

The Championship Tournament
As you can see, all 30 NHL logos are eligible for the Championship Tournament. But since there's an odd number of teams in each conference, the top team from each will get a bye in the first round. That means the Hurricanes and Avalanche get a free pass whether you think they deserve it or not.

For each match, the poll will be open for seven days. That means you have an entire week to vote on any given match so that should make it fair for everyone. It also means this competition will take some time to resolve itself. The anticipated date when we'll know the champion is currently October 3 — just prior to the start of the season.

The Schedule
The schedule is now in place for the first round of the Championship Tournament. Remember, each poll will be available for one week from the date it opens. Below is the schedule for Round 1, showing the matchup followed by the day the poll will open.

• Devils vs Maple Leafs, Aug 12


• Wild vs Ducks, Aug 13


• Panthers vs Penguins, Aug 14


• Flames vs Blackhawks, Aug 15


• Canadiens vs Islanders, Aug 16


• Blue Jackets vs Oilers, Aug 17


• Senators vs Rangers, Aug 18


• Predators vs Blues, Aug 19


• Bruins vs Capitals, Aug 20


• Stars vs Coyotes, Aug 21


• Thrashers vs Sabres, Aug 22


• Kings vs Red Wings, Aug 23


• Lightning vs Flyers, Aug 24


• Sharks vs Canucks, Aug 25

The winners from each of those polls will move on to the second round of the tournament. Be sure to vote in the polls where you want your voice heard!

How Often Can I Vote?
Good question. Supposedly, each poll will only let visitors vote once. And I'd appreciate it if we kept it that way. No reason for any one person's opinion to count more than others. Still, if you want to inflate your team's vote count, I recommend wrangling all your friends and pointing them the way of this site so they can vote too.

Hopefully I'll get another FAQ page posted soon for the Championship Tournament. If I don't, you can email me or leave questions here on this post.

We're Going Interactive!

Big shock there, right? I've been talking about it for quite some time. But today I'm here to announce that it's actually going to happen and for those of you who are interested, I've got the full details all worked out.

How The Blog Began
So if you've been reading any of my head-to-head logo matches, you know my judgment isn't exactly... sound when it comes to these things. My intent was never to spout off my opinions of all the logos, but to get the opinions of others, I needed visitors. Which I didn't have.

When I started this blog, I'd be lucky to have 40 or 50 hits a day. Well, in just the past week or so, so many people have stumbled upon this site that our numbers are now averaging 3,000 to 4,000 hits per day. That's astronomical in comparison. We're also averaging about 2,000 individual visitors. Those numbers are stunning to me. As it stands now, for a site that's been up just about two months, we've already got over 50,000 total hits. You guys are awesome! Thanks for visiting!

You Can Vote Starting August 12!
Since that's now the case, I feel like it's time to make the switch to interactive. Beginning Sunday, August 12, YOU will decide which team is the logo champion. The part of the tournament that's going on now — we're going to call that Phase I — or rather more like a qualifying round. All 30 logos will be eligible for Phase 2 — or the Championship Tournament — and the current qualifying round will merely determine the placement of each team in a bracket-style setup.

Here's how it will work. The teams that finish No. 1 in the standings in each conference (as determined by my ridiculous judgment) will get an automatic bye in the first round since there are an odd number of teams. From there, the teams will be placed based on their seeding in the standings at the close of the qualifying tournament on August 10. No. 2 will face No. 15. No. 3 will face No. 14. No. 4 will face No. 13... and so on.

However, that is the last time my input will make any difference in the tournament as the logos will not be re-seeded after each round like the NHL's Stanley Cup Playoffs. If you don't quite follow, that's okay, you will.

How The Voting Will Work
As far as voting, it will start on August 12 like I said. The first poll will be posted and then there will be a new one every day until the end of the Championship Tournament. Each poll will stay active for one week. So if don't vote on the day it's posted, don't worry, you'll have plenty of time. This format means that readers who visit this site every day or every other day will have a new poll each time they visit. By the same token, those who visit only once or twice a week will still get to have their voices heard.

The poll format will be very simple. You'll be presented with both logos facing off in that day's match and you simply select the one you think is better (or your favorite). Click vote and consider your opinion heard. When the poll closes a week later, the post will be updated and the logo with more votes will be considered the winner and move on to the next round. (By the way, I haven't yet figured out what to do in the event of a tie so if you have any ideas, please send them in.)

Then once you've voted, you can talk about why you chose one logo over the other in the comments section and perhaps even try to persuade other readers to vote your way so your logo wins.

Other Notes
On August 10 or 11, I'll post the full schedule of the first round of the Championship Tournament. That can only be done when the qualifying round is over. At that point, I'll be placing a bracket at the top of the page so you can see where all the teams stand. Also, there will be a sidebar box that will let you know what polls are open so you know what you can vote on.

Anyway, I think it should be an exciting way to determine which team really has the best logo while keeping my opinion completely out of it. I hope you guys like the idea and will participate in the voting to make this tournament worthwhile. And I'd also recommend that you let all your hockey friends know so that they can come by and vote as well.

The Future Of The Tournament
One final subject I wanted to touch on. Depending on how popular the Championship Tournament ends up being, I'd like to keep this blog going for a long time to come. So once you guys determine a champion, it won't be over. We can continue it by holding a tournament with uniforms or vintage logos. There's all sorts of things we can still do so if you're interested, definitely drop me a line and let me know — or just vote starting two weeks from today!

For the record, I had a poll up for two weeks to gauge interest in voting on logos. When asked if you'd like to participate, out of 352 votes, only 10 (2%) said they wouldn't vote; 17 (4%) said maybe and 325 (92%) said yes in a rather lopsided finish. Huge thanks to everyone who voted!

Announcement Teaser

I know I promised an announcement today with regard to the future of the NHL Tournament of Logos, but something came up that prevented me from doing so. Without a doubt, you can expect that announcement to be posted early Sunday. It's nothing earth-shattering despite the hype I've been giving it, but for anyone who's been following along, I'm sure you'll be interested to know. So I'll give you a little preview.

Starting in a couple of weeks, we'll begin a process wherein you will vote for the best logo in the NHL. You shouldn't be surprised. Over 300 people have said they'd vote if I make the site interactive. So I'm going to do just that and tomorrow I'll outline just how that will work. Thanks for reading guys!

Coming Tomorrow: Tournament Announcement

This post is for anybody who has been following the tournament or voted in the sidebar poll. As you can see, the number of people interested in getting involved with the voting is outstanding! Over 92% of the people who voted want their voices heard as to which logo should win the tournament. And I'm listening because I trust your judgment better than mine when it comes to these things.

So stay tuned! Tomorrow I'm going to make an announcement regarding the future of the NHL Tournament of Logos and what your involvement can be if you're interested. Expect it some time on Saturday. As a reminder, the sidebar poll closes at 3 AM Sunday morning, so if you still want to vote yes, no or maybe, this is your last chance.