1 2013 ICEHL RANKING COMMITTEE POWER Matt McElroy, IceHL logo designer INSIDE Tony Pomposelli, Snipers GM RANKINGS 4 Jon Wold, Wave GM FROM THE GROUND UP... Matt Riegler, Mammoths GM 6 13 WEEKS OF R&R During the summer, a small group sat down to hash out the first Mike Kelly, Chargers GM 8 TWITTER & ever IceHL Power Rankings. But these rankings aren’t about how Ryan Laden, Archers GM THE PODCAST good the fantasy teams are. Naturally, they’re all about branding. 9 LAGERS JERSEY The committee was asked to consider each team’s uniform set, Daniel Raposo, Winterhawks GM 2013 YEARBOOK use of logos and overall design flow. The scoring scale is 0 to 100. Simon Sweeney, IceHL fan 10 ICEHL WEST 2012-13 Thomas Ogilvie, Mariners GM SEASON REVIEW 13 ICEHL WEST NORTH CAROLINA SALT LAKE CITY 2013 AWARDS 93 NIGHTHAWKS 50 SCORPIONS FROM THE COMMISSIONER... 14 EDMONTON KODIAKS 16 SALT LAKE CITY SCORPIONS MILWAUKEE PORTLAND Hello IceHL fans! LAGERS PIONEERS 18 NEW ORLEANS GATORS 75 49 When the IceHL Project began five years ago, I never 20 ALASKA HUSKIES imagined it would become the beacon it has for so many CALIFORNIA NORTHWEST 22 VANCOUVER talented and dedicated people from around the world. Every LUMBERJACKS 74 WAVE 48 NARWHALS year it grows and develops in great and unexpected ways. 24 TEXAS OUTLAWS 26 SASKATCHEWAN SNIPERS HAMILTON BALTIMORE In 2008, the Icethetics community engaged in a design- STEELCATS BLUE CRABS by-democracy process to build and brand a hockey league 28 CALIFORNIA WAVE 69 48 from the ground up. Readers suggested ideas and submit- 30 SEATTLE AVIATORS ted artwork while voting on every aspect, from names to 32 PORTLAND PIONEERS VANCOUVER NEW ORLEANS logos and jersey designs. LUMBERJACKS GATORS 34 NORTHWEST NARWHALS 69 47 Over the past two years, we’ve added two expansion teams 36 HOUSTON HELLCATS and rebranded 11 others. And still the project is as strong 38 MONTREAL EDMONTON WINNIPEG as ever with more and more people participating in the WINTERHAWKS 67 OLYMPIQUES 47 KODIAKS various facets of the league. 40 CALGARY STALLIONS 42 PHILADELPHIA ACES WINNIPEG CALGARY In 2010, life was breathed into the IceHL when we began an ESPN fantasy league built around our teams — a league 44 BOULDER BEASTS 65 WINTERHAWKS 46 STALLIONS which even an NHL lockout couldn’t stifle. It’s amazing to 46 ON THE MAP think we’re now embarking on our fourth season. The fact 48 ICEHL EAST 2012-13 WASHINGTON PHILADELPHIA that nine of our original 20 general managers are still with SEASON REVIEW 59 SENTINELS 44 ACES us today is astounding. 51 ICEHL EAST 2013 AWARDS The remarkable commitment and enthusiasm from fans is TAMPA BAY QUEBEC 52 MINNESOTA MAMMOTHS what drives me to find new ways to involve more people 54 QUEBEC ARMADA 59 BARRACUDAS 43 ARMADA and to keep the project constantly moving forward. 56 ST. LOUIS ARCHERS SASKATCHEWAN SEATTLE With that, I sincerely hope you enjoy this third edition of the 58 HAMILTON STEELCATS and the 2013-14 IceHL season! 57 SNIPERS 43 AVIATORS IceHL Yearbook 60 HALIFAX DRAGONS 62 MILWAUKEE LAGERS ST. LOUIS HALIFAX 64 BALTIMORE BLUE CRABS 55 ARCHERS 41 DRAGONS 66 NORTH CAROLINA Chris Smith NIGHTHAWKS ALASKA BOSTON IceHL Commissioner 68 WASHINGTON SENTINELS 54 HUSKIES 38 COLONIALS www.icethetics.info 70 MONTREAL OLYMPIQUES 72 DETROIT CHARGERS HARTFORD NEW YORK P.S.—Don’t confuse me with the talented IceHL logo artist who 74 BOSTON COLONIALS shares my name and whose work you’ll see throughout this book. 53 MARINERS 38 GUARDIANS 76 HARTFORD MARINERS 78 CHICAGO HITMEN The IceHL is an Icethetics endeavor. DETROIT HOUSTON 80 TAMPA BAY BARRACUDAS Icethetics.info debuted in 2007 and tracks branding 82 52 CHARGERS 29 HELLCATS and marketing trends in the world of pro hockey. NEW YORK GUARDIANS ©2013 ICETHETICS.INFO • CHRIS SMITH 84 CREATIVE SPOTLIGHT TEXAS BOULDER 86 2013-14 PREVIEW 88 51 OUTLAWS 26 BEASTS BOOK DESIGN & LAYOUT ICETHETICS Chris Smith YEAR IN REVIEW MINNESOTA CHICAGO SPECIAL THANKS 90 2014 & BEYOND... Jacob Born | Matt McElroy | Tony Pomposelli | Matt Riegler | Jon Wold MAMMOTHS HITMEN 91 AUTOGRAPH PAGE 2 51 15 3 FROM THE FROM THE GROUND UP... ALIGNMENT OPTIONS Below are the original division options CITY SELECTIONS GROUND UP... which where intended to avoid teams becoming clustered in certain areas. 07.15.08 PROJECT: IHA 08.24.08 08.30.08 ORIGINAL 30 The IceHL’s story begins with a guy wondered if there would be any inter- ALIGNMENT OPTION A • 33% PACIFIC DIVISION CENTRAL DIVISION named Nicolas Dallaire. He came to est in branding his fictional teams. As Next, voters were presented with Vancouver, B.C. 15.6% Chicago, Illinois 14.7% Icethetics in the summer of 2008 with it turns out, there was. a handful of divisional alignment an idea for a unique project. Seattle, Washington 15.0% Detroit, Michigan 14.2% Project: IHA was born on July 15, 2008. options to determine how the Los Angeles, California 11.4% Minneapolis, Minnesota 12.6% Dallaire had created a simulation Artists of all stripes — amateurs and teams would be spread out. Anchorage, Alaska 10.5% St. Louis, Missouri 9.9% hockey league of 30 teams, each of even professionals looking to hone A offered the most equal geo- Portland, Oregon 9.9% Milwaukee, Wisconsin 8.6% which already had names and distinct their craft — submitted some amazing graphical spread, placing no Las Vegas, Nevada 9.7% Kansas City, Missouri 7.5% color schemes, but no logos. After logo artwork as their fellow readers emphasis any particular region. San Francisco, California 8.7% Cleveland, Ohio 7.3% seeing the impressive talent on display voted for their favorites over the next Kelowna, British Columbia 6.0% Sudbury, Ontario 6.5% in concept posts on Icethetics, Dallaire three months. B placed an emphasis on north- San Diego, California 5.6% Indianapolis, Indiana 5.7% ern cities and would have limited Spokane, Washington 3.2% Cincinnati, Ohio 4.5% 08.10.08 PHASE I the inclusion of southern markets. OPTION B • 11% Boise, Idaho 2.6% Grand Rapids, Michigan 4.3% Flashback to 2008: This is how Icethetics looked during the early phase of the project. Missoula, Montana 1.8% Columbus, Ohio 4.1% C would have restricted western A few weeks into Project: IHA, a new was wasted in getting the new project, cities while putting more focus on 09.21.08 PHASE II idea was floated to Icethetics readers. “From The Ground Up,” off the ground. those east of the Mississippi River NORTH DIVISION NORTHEAST DIVISION What if we built an entirely new league Winnipeg, Manitoba 18.2% Montreal, Quebec 14.2% With cities selected and teams named, original logos for the Icethetics reader- When asked whether the new league but would have provided for more from the ground up using input from every Edmonton, Alberta 16.0% Toronto, Ontario 12.7% it was time to start the process of ship judge over several weeks. should be based in North America or teams based in Canadians cities. member of the Icethetics community? Calgary, Alberta 15.8% Quebec City, Quebec 10.5% creating visual identities. the entire world, 59% expressed a It was determined the logo voting D was primarily centered on Saskatoon, Saskatchewan 11.1% Boston, Massachusetts 10.3% The response was overwhelmingly desire to move forward with a North One division at a time, team logo would be handled in two parts. Canada and the northeastern Regina, Saskatchewan 9.2% New York, New York 9.6% positive. The community was eager American league. designs were accepted. Artists were United States — areas where Yellowknife, Northwest Terr. 6.7% Ottawa, Ontario 8.3% First, all eligible logo entries were to move forward. With that, no time given three weeks to design and sub- hockey tends to be most popular. Fargo, North Dakota 5.4% Hartford, Connecticut 7.1% put through a two-week rating period mit artwork, which was subsequently It would have limited teams in the Omaha, Nebraska 5.4% Halifax, Nova Scotia 6.8% where every design could be evaluated put up to a community vote. 08.18.08 HOW MANY TEAMS? southern and western states. OPTION C • 13% Sioux Falls, South Dakota 4.6% Buffalo, New York 6.5% on its own. Then the three highest-rat- Bismarck, North Dakota 2.8% Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 5.6% Dozens of extremely talented design- ed logos would be pitted head-to-head The next step was to determine the league’s size. Voters were given five options. E was a mix of B and C as it Cheyenne, Wyoming 2.7% Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 5.5% ers submitted hundreds of exceptional in individual team logo polls. 24 TEAMS 27 TEAMS both focused on northern cities Lincoln, Nebraska 2.2% Providence, Rhode Island 2.9% and would have allowed for more 11.01.08 THE HIATUS teams in Canada with four divi- SOUTH DIVISION SOUTHEAST DIVISION sions spread across the country. Denver, Colorado 14.6% Washington, D.C. 15.2% In November, Icethetics relaunched But before the new format could be One week and 2,208 votes later, Salt Lake City, Utah 12.4% Baltimore, Maryland 13.4% with an all new website designed to fully realized, the entire site lapsed readers had selected Option A. Dallas, Texas 12.3% Atlanta, Georgia 11.2% include a special section intended into an extended five-month hiatus New Orleans, Louisiana 10.1% Tampa, Florida 9.5% solely for The IceHL Project. from February until June of 2009. Houston, Texas 10.1% Charlotte, N. Carolina 8.4% 08.30.08 Phoenix, Arizona 9.1% Miami, Florida 8.1% 07.21.09 THE REVIVAL CITIES OPTION D • 27% Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 7.8% Raleigh, North Carolina 7.8% Colorado Springs, Colo.