Rough Seas in Hartford

The other day, a source told the Hartford Courant that the New York Rangers have severed ties between them and Whalers Sports & Entertainment. The group founded by Hartford Whalers founder Howard Baldwin Sr. had taken over the day-to-day operations of the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack late in the summer of 2010, later rebranding the team the Connecticut Whale that November.

The first game under the new banner had an attendance of over 13,000 to the XL Center Veteran's Memorial Colesium in a shootout win over their in-state rivals, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Which showed optimism that the fans in Hartford were still there. Later that season, the Whale hosted a week long outdoor hockey festival at Rentchler Field in East Hartford, CT which was highlighted by a Boston Bruins- Whalers alumni game followed by the Whale hosting division rivals, the Providence Bruins that broke the AHL's single game attendance record. But weather took a huge chunk out of Baldwin's wallet with the cost of snow removal as he winter of 2010-11 brought record snowfall to New England.

I have heard to this day, that WSE had not paid the full tab to the city of East Hartford and AEG, who runs Rentchler Field as well as the XL Center, for the event. Sources also told the Courant that WSE had not paid the bill for the uniforms from last season. All of which has WSE in the hole for $1.5 million dollars. WSE's financial status has always been a concern for the Rangers and with negotiations for a new lease (current lease, that has a rent of $25,000 per game, expires after the 2012-13 season) have become stagnent between Baldwin and AEG, the Rangers have decided to end the agreement. More info is on the Hartford Courant's website, just search "Baldwin" or "Hockey" for links on the home page.

Earlier today, a press conference was held in the XL Center atruim to announce that the University of Connceticut would be moving to the highly competitive Hockey East Conference beginning in 2013. Which can pose a problem for scheduling between UConn and the AHL franchise if a new lease is agreed to. Note that I didnt say the Whale because with WSE owning the rights to the name, a name change is uncertain.

Could this be the end of professional hockey in the city of Hartford after next season? Only time will tell.



NOTE: This is just my interpretation of the situation.

Syracuse Crunch "ReDesign"

Shortly after the Norfolk Admirals defeated the Toronto Marlies to win the Calder Cup in the American Hockey League the Admirals' parent club, the Tampa Bay Lightning, announced that they will be moving their affiliation to the Syracuse Crunch. With that happening, the Crunch's parent club, the Anaheim Ducks, moved their affiliation to Norfolk. Here is what I think the Syracuse Crunch will look like for the 2012-13 AHL season:

Here Is the Crunch's primary logo from the past two seasons while being with the Ducks.

And here is what I think it will look like for the up coming season with Tampa Bay colors.

Now for the uniforms.

I didn't change much to the uniforms except for the color changes and numer and name font. Here are their Home and Road uniforms from the last two seasons.


So concludes my quick "ReDesign". But here's one note, after creating the re-colored logo i noticed that Icethetics.com (another hockey blog site) had created the same thing. Things like this happen a lot in the concept creating world.

FHL Re-Design/ EDGEification Part 2

Akwesasne Warriors Concept

This past season, Akwesasne wore the Ottowa Senators' old "SENS" jerseys, (seen here), and so did the Brooklyn Aviators, but I will get to Brooklyn in another post. For the Warriors, I took the striping pattern from the jerseys they wore in the FHL's inagural season, as you can see here, and placed them in more of a classic way.

EDIT:

If anyone knows where I can find a template for the new Nike NFL jerseys PLEASE let me know! Thanks!

GOOD NEWS!!!

No new concepts but I do have some good news to share!

The "Pink in the Rink" concept you've seen in a previous post and the other was posted on the Facebook page a cuple of weeks ago. Anyway, I sent these two concepts into Whalers Sports & Entertainment, the company who run the day to day operations for the CT Whale, last week and got an email from them back today! They liked them and that they will keep them in mind if they decide to do anything like these!!!

Rangers Alternate

New York Rangers Concept

This is basically an EDGE version of the road jerseys the Rangers wore in the 80's with collar laces added.

FHL Re-Design/ EDGEification Part 1

Here is a new concept series i'm doing for the Federal Hockey League.

Cape Cod Bluefins

The Bluefins ave very basic home and road jerseys, so, i gave them very basic Reebok EDGE jerseys. Their alternate is a fauxback jersey which I put into the EDGE template.


Danbury Whalers

The Whalers have very similar uniforms to what the Hartford Whalers wore until the 90's. There are then on the EDGE template. Danbury has an alternate jersey but I didn't include it so I can get this post up. I will post it at another time.


NOTE: For the readers who don't know, Reebok calls their hockey jersey system the EDGE system. They were introduced at the 2007 NHL All-Star game and were iuntroduced league-wide the next season. These uniforms are designed to lighter, more ventalation and moisture resistant than the previous uniform system.

Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks have a really unique jersey set. My favorite from the set is their alternate jersey. So, I took their alternate and made a matching road white to make a new primary set.

Heres the first post to the revamped blog! Only one today, Enjoy!


Connecticut Whale "Pink in the Rink" Concept

Not much to say about this one. I havent seen the Whale do specialty jersey nights very often but would like to see the do a "Pink in the Rink" night. I am actually sending this in to Whalers Sports & Entertainment in the coming days. Wish me luck!

Working on an overhaul on the blog. Stay tuned!