Week 4: Name Finalist Selections
Tuesday · May 7 · 2013 | 2:00 AM PDTI closed Name Nominations a day early due to the overwhelming response — more than 140 comments on that post! I can see you guys are definitely into this summer's IceHL revival. The 13 Weeks of R&R project continues now by narrowing down the many name submissions.
It was a difficult task, but I've counted up all the submissions and collected what I deem to be the top five options for each team (six for Detroit, Halifax and Philadelphia). But I'm sure some of you will be disappointed with my omissions. That's why every poll has an "other" box to enter a name you think I overlooked. (Feel free to start a write-in campaign in the comments if you really feel strongly about it.)
Some nominated names have been disqualified. I'm happy to explain why if anyone asks, but before you ask, Google search the name and that'll probably give you your answer.
These polls will remain open through Friday. Then on Saturday, each team's top three names (from these polls) will go into one last poll for Final Voting. By Tuesday, we should have our winning names for each team. After that, we choose color schemes before handing it off to our talented design community.
Enough talking. More voting!
Choose up to 3 names per team.
Original team name in ALL CAPS where available. Options displayed in random order.
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In cases where one option includes multiple names (ex. Brothers / Brotherhood), short run-off polls will be held if necessary to make a final determination.
NOTE: If "other" is one of the top three finalists, the most popular write-in candidate will move on to the Final Voting.
REMEMBER: These polls will not determine winning names. They are simply to help narrow down our many submissions into a manageable group of three. Results will remain visible so users can track voting progress.
Reader Comments (67)
For anyone upset about the Wranglers going away, you're about 25 years too late. They had a cool logo too.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary_Wranglers
DPH: Write-in votes are not screened. I'm not sure what you're asking. Can you clarify please?
Blue: Halifax Citadels were an AHL team in the late '80s so the name is disqualified from the IceHL Project.
Chris Rosinski: I can look at write-in votes on a case-by-case basis. If it seems like one name is getting a lot of votes that way, I wouldn't dismiss it completely. But I don't want more than three per team in the final polls. As for Calgary Crusaders, it's not so much about whether paintball is a pro sport as we're talking about a name that is simply already in use — where a claim could be made. I'd like to steer clear of that.
The next logical question is, what about Boston Brave and Philadelphia Freedom as options? I feel like the singular versus plural argument makes a difference. And I'll let that one be up to the voters.
Is it wrong that i'm enjoying all this drama to the point i'd love to see an expansion 3rd Conference of 12-20 teams to keep these fun times going?????
Chris For the singular/plural debate, should one of the options that is affected by this question win it's vote, just send it to a 24 hour poll to vote which people feel better about.
As far as the issue where a number of teams current monikers are polling high. I do feel to certain extent that is a matter of people while wanting change do not see enough potential in the other selected choices. I know that has effected my votes for some cities. Heck if the Motorheads were still an option for Detroit I don't doubt they would be in the running despite how maligned they were in the second week of voting. As far as write-in options, I very much doubt there could be any sustained effort for a campaign that could be brought together in enough time to pull one option into the running.
And Chris for that 3rd Conference thing above, should that ever be considered, think of the opportunity of setting up outside of North America, as that could create some interesting designs should teams be based in an area not know for Hockey like Australia/New Zealand or South America. I think that would be a lot more interesting than pushing for another North American grouping or Europe which would be too predicable as an expansion territory. That it would open up potential spots for additional GMs would be an extra benefit/burden.
I'll try submitting write-in candidates again. Although I doubt anyone's write-in candidates have a real shot.
Honestly, I think the reason the quality of the nominations is poor is that not enough time was provided for people to dream up names for 11 different teams. (Then, that short time was shortened even further.)
Washington Monuments
Washington Pandas (denizens of the National Zoo)
Washington DCers
Washington USers
Washington Stripes (Stars & Stripes)
Vancouver BCers
Vancouver British Columbians
Saskatchewan Wheaters
Saskatchewan Dusters
Montreal Aigu (the name of the accent mark in Montreal's name)
Montreal Accents (the punctuation mark and residents' distinct accents)
Hamilton Hammerheads (alliteration)
Halifax Machine (just a little word play)
Halifax Scotsmen
Detroit Snow Leopards (Detroit already has Tigers and Lions)
Texas Tex
http://freedomlaxx.com/
^ this claim is as valid as the paintball team. There is even a "Copyright © 2013 Philadelphia Freedom Lacrosse Club. All rights reserved." at the bottom of the page.
@Chris
Just curious on why some of the original names are still up as options? The only old one I do not see in the running anymore is Detroit Motorheads. I thought the purpose of this was to come up with new names for most of the franchises as voting during the first few weeks indicated MAJOR changes were wanted for the majority of clubs as opposed to minor changes (uniform tweaks) etc.. For all the clubs that did have MAJOR changes as the majority vote why is the option there to still keep the name??
JSLEEPS: The Rebranding Voting Results post from last week answers a lot of what you're asking. But I can go over it again here.
The purpose is not to come up with new names. It's to rebrand a handful of IceHL franchises. That doesn't necessarily mean new names. For some teams it will just mean new logos but with the same team name. I'd consider a complete logo redesign to be "major" changes. But as I said before, those "major and minor changes" polls were more for the guidance of the designers and not strict directives — except where the percentages were 75% or higher.
It's explained in the post I linked to above why Detroit is the only team that cannot go back to its old name. Other teams like Hamilton, Dallas and Saskatoon will have to update or change their logos but may keep their names. The other teams (Boston, Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver and Washington) may all go back to their old designs if the rebranding options don't work out. Philadelphia and Halifax can keep their old names but entirely new logos will be required.
Let me know if you have any other questions.
Chris--
Three PHILADELPHIA ideas for you, largely because I HATE all the names you picked out for Philly... Keystones is okay, but ONLY because it would make a solid jersey crest....
(1) INDEPENDENTS / INDEPENDENCE: It has two easily identifiable icons, Independence Hall, and the Declaration.
(2) MARINES: The United States Marine Corps was founded in Philly, and had its original volunteers sign up in Tun Tavern (now non-existent). The logo could be some combination of the USMC's Eagle, Globe and Anchor. At least THIS ONE is a proper noun attached to an object, versus a concept or idea...
(3) LIBERTY: For obvious reasons. I've seen at least two Flyers jersey concepts on this board where they've tried to use the Liberty Bell as a primary or secondary logo
For the love of what SHOULD HAVE BEEN our nation's Capitol, please... Don't let the Philadelphia FREEDOM win out. Phonetic alliteration aside, it's too broad of a concept to garner a real iconic logo, and a wordmark as a jersey crest will really suck compared to the others. I know you're a busy guy, and can't spend too much time agonizing over true iconic images for each city, but please....Allow for some wiggle room in the renaming process.
Philadelphia Freedom and Freedoms are both copyrighted by sports teams in the city. This has been pointed out a number of times, but hasn't really been addressed, and leads that poll. Chris, could you offer some explanation as to why it is allowed?
Outside of the Phila Founders I think Phila Independence is the best suggestion I've heard. Brilliant alternative and in this case I think the singular noun/concept works better than the plural noun and is wayyyyyy better than Freedom. Assuming PHILADELPHIA INDEPENDENCE doen't already exist it should skip right to the finals!
@Chris - is there a particular line regarding what/when an existing usage of a name rules it out for IceHL?
I get what you've said previously, but if a beer league team or a little league baseball team is found to be using Baltimore BlueCrabs or Tampa Bay Barracudas do we have to rename those teams? If I was a headier 10 year old I should have trademarked some of those awesome team names I created for my fantasy leagues, but really I think I (and most other sport enthusiasts in contrast to pro franchise owners) would just be psyched that a sports name I pondered up became an actual pro team. This actually happened recently when the "Seattle Reign" went from notebook paper circa 1991 to a professional soccer team in the NWSL. Seems like we need a line drawn somewhere between the top level of each sport and the amateur/recreational ranks as a guide for eligibility in the future.
Hey Chris,
As always thanks for doing this. Even though I would have liked to see a few different option up there, I love reading what was selected as well as the banter among everyone else in the comments.
Cheers!
Hi Chris,
I was wondering if you could create (I know it's some more work but it's actually pretty crucial info we need BEFORE rebranding) create a shortcut or a gallery for everybody to easily check the jerseys and logos of every team in the IceHL. I'd like to check for example the present design for Barracudas, but can't seem to find it except if I browse two years of posts history.
Thanks a lot!
Pablo: I've been directing everyone to the IceHL 2012 Yearbook. It's a free PDF download and it has every logo and jersey for all 32 teams as well as tons of league information.
I think the Saskatchewan Thunder might be DQed too...the ECHL's Western Conference Champions (Stockton) have that nickname.
While it is not a choice, I have seen the Philly Liberty mentioned. Would that name be disqualified because it is a semi-pro roller hockey team of the same name. The American Inline Hockey League website has them listed as a team: http://www.aihlhockey.pointstreaksites.com/view/aihlhockey/team-by-team-information
Also the Washington Eagles (Colorado ECHL team)...I'm leaving the whole Federals thing up to you (they were a USFL team, I'm not sure whether or not that's notable enough to count)
OAN: Just realized all the awesome possibilities with the Halifax Acadians name...
Burmy: Thanks for catching Eagles and Thunder. Overlooked those teams. They will have to be disqualified. I've been going back and forth on the Washington Federals. To play it safe, we'll leave that one out.
I'm also going to back down from the Freedom name. I know I suggested it, but given the similarities to the Team Tennis franchise — which I never even knew existed — it might be wiser to go in a different direction.
I also have decided to give the write-in voters a bigger voice. I agree to some extent that people are just voting based on what's readily available. So I'm going to give consideration to the team with the most write-in votes. At this point, that would be Halifax.
Unfortunately, the most popular name is Halifax Highlanders — a fictional team from the film Goon. Next on the list is Halifax Citadels. But that was the name of an AHL team in the past. So both of these are disqualified, sadly. After that is Halifax Schooners — but we already have so many nautical themes going in this league, it's hard for me to back that. (Plus the similarity to Mariners is not acceptable.) Then there's the Whalers, who were of course an NHL team.
That brings us to Halifax Atlantics. Similar thematically to Acadians. So when the poll goes up, Acadians and Atlantics will be part of the same option. If it wins, there will be a run-off to determine the winning name between those two.
Final Voting will begin tomorrow! We'll have the top three eligible names for each team.