The All-New NHLToL!
Icethetics returns to its roots on Monday!
I've been leaving cryptic clues all week, so what do they mean? Glad you asked. We're revisiting what made this site so great in the first place. If you want a history lesson about Icethetics' origins, check the About page.
If you just want the basics, Icethetics was born in 2007 as the NHL Tournament of Logos — a website in which readers like you would cast votes to determine the best logos in the NHL, and other leagues. Starting on March 8, the ToLs are back and better than ever!
Take note you're on a new page. This is NOT the Icethetics blog. This is the new Vote! page where you'll come for all your tournament/voting-relating needs. Currently it's the default page when you visit icethetics.info but that will change back to the blog after this weekend.
With these new tournaments, there will be shorter schedules and tons of polls to vote on at the same time. No more one-and-done polls that eliminate great logos too soon from competition. The best of the best will stand out. So here's how the all-new NHL Tournament of Logos will work:
The Basics
I won't deny that the Olympics gave me some inspiration on how to best present this competition. Instead of all 30 primary NHL logos being randomly thrown into a rigid bracket, a round-robin preliminary round will commence the tournament.
All 30 teams will be divided up into 6 groups of 5, based on conference. The Eastern and Western Conferences will each have 3 randomly generated groups of 5 logos (not the same as NHL divisions). From there "play" will begin in the preliminary round.
Preliminary Round
Each team will face every other team in its own division once, for a total of 4 matches per team, over the course of 5 weeks. A match will be a head-to-head poll featuring two teams. Users will vote for one at their own discretion. At the end of each match, both teams are awarded points equal to their percentage of the vote (rounded). A total of 100 points will be awarded in each match. In all cases, every poll will be open for 7 days.
For example, if Logo A receives 55% of the vote while Logo B receives 45%, Logo A would be awarded 55 points and Logo B awarded 45 points in the standings, and so on with each match. Teams are ranked within their conference by points, from highest to lowest, with the group leaders placed as No. 1, 2 and 3 (similar to NHL playoff seeding).
Wildcard Week
Following five weeks of divisional action, Wildcard Week will allow each team the opportunity to bring back points from the other conference. In other words, every Eastern Conference team will face a random Western Conference team for one final poll before the Quarterfinals. Points will be awarded the same as in previous polls but the key here is teams get to bring in points from outside their group.
Quarterfinals
After each team has completed 5 polls, the top 4 seeds from each conference will advance to the Quarterfinals. The teams with the most points in each division will be seeded No. 1, 2 and 3 based on points within their conference. The 4th seed will be the team remaining with the highest number of points.
The bracket will then be set up as follows: Eastern Conference Seed #1 (E1) will face Western Conference Seed #4 (W4), E3 vs W2, W1 vs E4 and W3 vs E2. Teams will not be re-seeded at the end of the Quarterfinals.
Semifinals
The 4 winning teams from each Quarterfinal will advance to the Semifinals. The winner of E1vW4 will face E3vW2 while the winner of W1vE4 will face W3vE2. The winners of these two matches will take part in the Final.
The Final
Obviously, the winners of the Semifinals will meet for one final poll to determine the true logo champion. The bracket has been set up in such a way that would allow the Final to be made up of two Western teams, two Eastern teams, or one from each conference.
Repeat Polls
It is possible that two logos that met in the Preliminary and Wildcard rounds could meet again in later rounds, however it is highly unlikely as early opponents were selected at random. In the event of a duplicate match, the poll will go on as normal. A repeat of the same result may be likely but is not definite.
Why Change the Format?
I changed the format from previous tournaments for a few reasons. First of all, it provides a ranking of sorts as each logo has the opportunity to garner more points than the others. Also it separates these new tournaments from ones we've done in the past, hopefully providing a more accurate result. (Yes, we're starting with the NHL but there will be more!) And finally, because you guys can't get enough logo voting.
In addition, this weekly format is easier on me, in terms of maintenance. Instead of being forced to make daily updates, I'm only needed once a week, leaving more time to keep up with other aspects of the site, such as the blog, concepts page and jersey galleries (which have been on temporary hold while I get the tournaments re-launched).
Questions?
If you still have more questions regarding the new format of the tournament, drop by on Saturday for a live chat. I'll answer all your questions and I'll also be revealing the breakdown of the six groups! I know you're dying to find out.
Chris
Enjoyed a great live chat with everyone this morning! I was surprised at the turnout and glad to see so many of you excited about the return of logo tournaments. As promised, during the discussion I revealed the six groups. Below are the logos we'll be using for the NHL Tournament of Logos 2010.
Eastern Conference - Group A
Eastern Conference - Group B
Eastern Conference - Group C
Western Conference - Group D
Western Conference - Group E
Western Conference - Group F
Reader Comments (21)
Welcome back Tournament Of Hockey Logo's!
Woohoo! I've been waiting for the ToL's return for about a year. Can't wait to get it started. I'll try to attend that live chat too.
I so had this figured out like 4 days ago. Nice to see I was right.
Will you keep a weekly standings update, or will it be a surprise until the end?
Nice ! Excited to see what it'll look like in action.
There should be a tournament of winter and summer olympic logos then the winter and summer face off in the finals for the best ever olympic logo!
why is the ducks logo the D? It should be the full logo on there jersey?????
Hi Jerry. It's not about what's on the jersey. It's about the primary logo. The Ducks use a wordmark on their jersey, kind of like the Rangers. And don't forget some teams use different logos for their home and road jerseys, such as Minnesota and Edmonton. Which would I choose? Primary logos all the way. The Ducks use the D-only logo on their website, NHL.com and other marketing materials so I consider that their primary mark for the purposes of this competition. Also, it fits a lot better in a square than the wordmark. Make sense?
Toughest group by far: Group D. 'Hawks, 'Avs, AND Wild? Wow. The 3 best logos in the entire league (in my humble opinion) in one group. I'm going to have to sit and think hard about that one. Maybe I'll just vote for all three and wait to see what happens. Every other group I see a sure fire winner...save for maybe for the group F duel between Calgary and Detroit. This is such a great idea.
Pretty easy to predict how this is going to end up:
East:
Group A: Canadiens
Group B: Bruins
Group C: Maple Leafs
Wild Card: Flyers because it is such an easy division outside of Boston. Other groups more competitive.
West:
Group D: Avalanche
Group E: Blues (One of the top logos in the league, in a group of nobodys)
Group F: Red Wings
Wild Card: Blackhawks because its pretty much a toss up between them and Avs, both will advance.
Continuing on,
Canadiens - 1
Maple Leafs - 2
Bruins - 3
Flyers - 4
Blues - 1
Red Wings - 2
Avalanche - 3
Blackhawks - 4
Canadiens over Flyers
Bruins over Leafs
Blues over Blackhawks
Avalanche over Red Wings
Canadiens over Bruins
Blues over Avalanche
Canadiens over Blues (The same FINALS as the ORIGINAL ToL.)
Canadiens will be 1 seed because they will go undefeated in division play, with their only somewhat close matchup vs. NYR. Leafs and Bruins are supposed to be flip-flopped, but its still the same matchup in the playoffs. Bruins at 2 because the only matchup they may struggle with is vs Flyers, Leafs at 3, probably least points of any division winner because of tough competition.
Blues will be 1 seed in West because its a popular logo with virtually no competition in its own division, the Blue Note will go undefeated. Red Wings 2 with only the Oilers posing some sort of a threat to them. Avs 3 and Hawks 4 because they have a tough division, may not end with as much points as Blues or Wings, but will both get in playoffs.
if montreal, boston, philly and toronto are favourites because they have simple logos, then chicago and detroit should be in deep trouble. detroit may only have 2 colours in it's logo, but there are so many little red feathers, it is super hard to replicae in a drawing. and the hawks. they dont have a simple logo at all. it has the most colours out of any logo in the league. the reason that these teams will do well is that they have logos that have been around for a long, long time, allowing them to grow on people over time. that said, here is what i would LIKE TO SEE HAPPEN:
A- Montreal, the other logos are all bad IMO.
B- Boston, the worst division in the competition=easy win for a good logo
C- New Jersey, very clever logo, with the NJ that some might not see. The leafs logo is so boring, look at it!
Wildcard- Washington, not conventional, but its sleek and new, something fun.
D- Colorado, my childhood team, i have always thought this was one of the best in the league.
E- San Jose, in a group with 3 bad logos and the boring blues logo, im hoping for a miracle.
F- Calgary, one case where simplicity works, plus they're my favourite team now. And i hate detroit.
Wildcard- Minnesota, a fairly new logo to the league, but a great one, only losing to the aves in my mind.
Winner- Colorado, i love this logo, not simple, but not complicated.
I BELIEVE that montreal will win the competition, probably over the blues (again).
Is there an email I can contact you at with a quick question Chris?
Absolutely. It's in the Quick Links box at the top of the page.
Why you don' use the reel NHL divisions ?
Honesly, love this. It was the best part of the original NHLToL, so I'm glad it's back. One thing, though - the Wildcard Week isn't very clear. How do they "bring in points from outside their group"? It's confusing to me.
Thanks for the questions, guys.
Krach911, I didn't use the "real" NHL divisions because I wanted the match-ups to be random and to avoid any complaints about any division being stacked with good logos. It's random, so complaining is pointless. However, I kept the conferences intact so the league is still recognizable to everyone — and so we can have East-West match-ups in the later rounds.
Jacques, because each logo only faces the other logos within their own group in the preliminary round, they're really just trading points with each other for the most part. Every logo will get points in every poll (because 100%-0% is highly unlikely). In a nutshell, by facing a random logo from the opposite conference, it gives them a chance to bring back points that they would otherwise have to trade.
For example, let's say Logo A and Logo B are in the same group. Logo B is 10 points ahead of Logo A in the standings. If Logo A faced Logo B in the final poll of the prelims and the score was something close like 52-48, Logo A winning, then Logo A is really getting only 4 points instead of 52 (basically trading in those 48) and Logo B advances anyway. By playing outside their conference, Logo A could still win 52-48 while Logo B could lose with 41 points or fewer, thereby allowing Logo A to advance when it otherwise might not have.
Sorry to be so long-winded, but I just wanted to be clear about the theory behind Wildcard Week. You never know how things turn out. It could be critical for a logo looking to advance, or it may not matter at all.
Any other questions?
Thanks Chris, that clears up a lot.
If I Were The Only Person Voting, Here's What Probrobly Would Happen:
Group A: Sabres: Yes, I Know It Dosen't Have Legs, But I Still Like It.
Group B:Thrashers: Tough One With The Bruins In There, But Still Seems Great To Me.
Group C:Sens: Sorry Again, But Not Alot Of Competition.
Wildcard: Isles: My Favorite Team, And Good Logo.
Group D: Columbus: Not Alot Of Competition.
Group E: San Jose: Just About The Only Good Logo In It's Division.
Group F:Ducks: More Obviousness!
Wildcard:Wild: Closest Team Is NASHVILLE In My Book.
Hmm...three of the playoff matchups (Montreal-Calgary, Boston-St. Louis, Philadelphia-Detroit) are former Stanley Cup Final matchups as well. Cool.