Looking To The Future

The NHL Tournament of Logos is winding down but don't worry, it won't be over even when it's over. There's still the Championship Tournament where we'll pit the best of the East against the best of the West. That will be the ultimate decider of whose logo is really the best. Who will be able to stand up to the stiff competition in this marathon tournament.

I see a handful of you have voted in the poll I recently placed on the sidebar. I'm glad to see that. I'm also glad to see that no one has voted "no" so far. That's appreciated. Just so you know — if you're interested — I am working on a plan to implement a polling system for this site.

It likely won't be sorted out until after this tournament ends, but just so you know, there will be plenty to come. In future "mini-tournaments" I'll take random logos (secondaries and third jersey logos included) and place them in 16-team elimination grids and determine overall winners in a Stanley Cup playoff style competition (except not best-of-seven as that would not work). I may even go back in time and grab logos from teams that no longer exist. The sky's the limit, right?

Anyway, those are just some ideas I'm throwing around at the moment. If you have any suggestions for me, I'd love nothing more than to hear them. Drop me a line in the comments section and I'll certainly respond.

As a side note, it has come to my attention that I have a typo — I put "wade made" instead of "was made" — but unfortunately once votes have been cast I cannot make any changes to it. So there my typo will stay until I take the poll down. It pains me deeply but it is sadly out of my hands.

Tournament Introduction

Welcome to the NHL Tournament of Logos!

The NHL season is coming to an end and that leaves scores of hockey fans everywhere with a very dull offseason ahead of them. Sure it's summertime and that means vacation and beaches and such. But that doesn't change the fact that there will be no hockey until September.

So to cure our pain, I've come up with a solution. The NHL Tournament of Logos is a fierce battle which pits team logos and nicknames against one another to determine who is the best. It's good, because with the Stanley Cup playoffs ending, we need an outlet for that competitive edge we've all got going.

Whether your team got eliminated too soon or went all the way, this tournament will be worth following. It's a whole new mini-season while we wait for 2007-08. Individual team schedules have been posted so you can follow along with your favorites. Just click on your team's name in the sidebar standings. Also posted are the rules and regulations of the tournament since every competition needs its edicts. And when the Stanley Cup Finals are over, that is when the fun begins. At the moment, Game 7 of the Finals is scheduled for June 11. But anything can happen. The schedule can change and the series may not even go to seven games. Regardless, the tournament will begin on June 12.

Basically, here's the way it works. The tournament will be played in a blog format. Each day, three or four matches will be "posted" here on the blog. A match features two teams in a one-on-one battle. Each team plays every team in its own conference. To find out more about how that works, check out the rules post. For now, just enjoy the rest of the playoffs and come back here when its all over.

Also, keep checking back here for updates as I plan to follow very carefully any logo or uniform related news and forward it on. As you know, next season will feature the introduction of the new Rbk EDGE uniforms and many teams will be redesigning logos and looks as well. And be sure to get in on the action and discuss your feelings by clicking on the comments of any post. We're looking forward to an awesome competition!

Rules & Regulations

Any good competition has to have a set of rules and regulations to guide it. Even the NHL Tournament of Logos, if you can believe that. So before the tournament begins, get familiar with how it works right here.

Team Posts
Each team in the tournament will have its own page with information related to it. You can access a Team Post by clicking on the team's name in the sidebar standings. On each page, you will find a large-sized logo for the team, the team's tournament schedule, logos used by the team (both current and past), and links to news posts related to that team. In addition, several teams have plans to change/update their logos. If the date has been announced, it will be posted on their page. One more not, regarding the schedules. Don't expect to see the scores updated on each post as that would take me forever to update every day. You can use the Team Posts to follow along with your favorites and find out what days they have matches.

Tournament Play
There are 30 teams in the NHL — 15 in each conference. To limit the number of matches that would have to take place during the tournament, every team will only face the 14 other teams in their own conference once each. That's 14 matchups for each team — 210 total for the league. (And you have to admit, even that's a big number.) The regular season wil take place over the course of 60 days and each day, 3 or 4 matches will be played.

Three points will be awarded in each match so they will all have a final score of either 3-0 or 2-1 with a definite winner and loser. A team can earn a maximum of 42 points during the tournament (assuming it wins every match 3-0). (Note: Bonus points will be awarded at the end of the tournament, prior to the Championship Tournament.) Matches will be judged (by me) on three facets: 1) The Aesthetics, 2) The Nickname, and 3) The Analysis. This is where things start to fall apart. (As in, I'm the one judging. So much for rules, right.) If you want to know how each point is awarded, here is a rough breakdown.

The Aesthetics
This is where I just stare down both logos, side-by-side. Whichever one I think is more appealing to the eye wins the point. I'll also make comments on the logos and how they compare. Uniforms may come in to play here from time to time.

The Nickname
This one is usually pretty farcical. For example, the Rangers/Thrashers matchup may go something like this: "If the Thrasher is living in a national park, the park Ranger is protecting it and therefore has the upper hand." And then I would give the Rangers the point. Expect to see some pretty ridiculous explanations in this category.

The Analysis
This category will have a slightly more serious tone than the last two, where I really take a look at the team's name and logo and how it meshes with the club/organization and home city/location. The team that does a better job meshing and such gets the point.

Don't be surprised to see these change from game to game for the same team. A lot of this will probably depend on my general mood the day I write it. So we'll see what happens. At the very least, this tournament should serve as an amusing way to keep us hockey fans occupied during the offseason.

Bonus Points
At the conclusion of regular tournament play, and just prior to the beginning of the Championship Tournament. Bonus points will be awarded based on a series of questions. They won't be completely arbitrary, but I challenge anyone to find a real rhyme or reason to them. It'll just be a little something to stir the pot at the end of the tournament. The bonus points will be included in the final point totals which will determine the teams that will play in the Championship Tournament. The bonus point guidelines will not be announced until after the tournament, so don't ask what they are.

Championship Tournament
After regular tournament play has concluded, we'll need to decide on a Logo Champion. Only 14 of the 30 teams (7 from each conference) will advance to the Championship Tournament (or the playoffs). The top 2 seeded teams in each division will automatically advance. The 7th team in each conference, the "wild card," will be the team with the most points (or best record) of the 9 remaining teams.

Then, each team will play all 7 teams from the opposite conference (since they've already played all the teams within their own conference). Standings will be kept just like in the regular season portion of the tournament. The team with the most points (or best record) will be declared the Logo Champion be awarded the Stanley Cup Logo.

Tiebreaker
The easiest and most obvious tiebreaker is head-to-head. Since each team plays the others only once, if two teams are tied, the team that won during their regular season matchup gets the edge.

If there's anything I didn't cover here that you're still curious about, check the FAQs. There is a ton more information there. (Basically, I didn't want to cram everything into one post.) If you have questions about anything I didn't address, feel free to leave a comment here or on the FAQs and I'll do my best to get back with you.

Tournament FAQs

You asked. We're answering. Well, you didn't ask and it's just me here. But I'm nipping this in the bud. Should you have any questions beyond what I'm covering here, feel free to drop a line under the comments area and I'll get back with you.

I'll try to keep this short. Let's get to it.

Standings

If a team has only losses, how can it have points in the standings?
The tournament standings don't work like the NHL standings. Teams get points based on the scores of each match. A team can lose 2-1 and still get a point in the standings. (The winner would get 2.)

Schedule

Why don't you have a post with the full tournament schedule?
Too much work and I'm lazy like that. Individual team schedules allow you to follow your favorite teams. If you want to know every team that's playing on a given day, then come visit the blog on that day and find out.

Why does my team sometimes go for weeks without a match while other teams have matches for days in a row?
I used Microsoft Excel to come up with a completely random schedule. But this speaks to my laziness as well in that I didn't know how/care to try to even things out. What you have is a manageable schedule of three to four matches a day. With 30 teams, that means you have 14 matches over the course of 60 days. We were bound to have lots of spaced out matches. Try to deal.

Offseason Logo Changes

What happens if a team announces a new logo during the tournament?
It's simple, really. When a new logo is unveiled, it goes into effect the following day in the tournament. (I have to have time to make the graphics.) My plan is to have each day's matches posted in the morning and any announcement would likely come in the afternoon. (Ex.: The Washington Capitals are unveiling a new logo on June 22. If they had a match scheduled for June 22, it would be played with the old logo. The new logo would take effect on June 23, the day they actually have a match.) Follow that?

This post will continue to be updated with new questions for as long as I feel like updating it so keep checking back and be sure to ask a question if you've got one.