Clear Seas In Hartford!

What's going on guys?

A lot has been going on lately in the hockey world ranging from the Blackhawks going on their historical points streak to Buffalo firing head coach Lindy Ruff after 16-years behind the bench and also the professional hockey future in Hartford. In the last post I told you guys what was going on until that point but to day we received great news that Madison Square Garden and Global Spectrum have come to an agreement to keep the Rangers' AHL franchise in Hartford through 2016 with an optional 2-year extension! There is still no word on weather there will be a name change for the team.

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Now onto today's concepts!

I decided to start a new "Promoting The Alternates" concept series. Like the ECHL redesign series, I will post them as I get them done. So let's get to the first of them!

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 You guys have seen these from me before. But I decided to do some tweaks like putting them in my 2013 presentation and adding details that weren't on the original concept.

The Bruins have one of the more simple alternate jerseys in the league. Along with one of the best in my opinion. For the road version, I could have easily went with the "Boston" version bear logo, but I felt that having two crest logos would be weird. That should stay with word marks.

It's like a weird flashback to the 80's! The flamed re-introduced the red jersey as an alternate a couple of years ago but in a CCM template. Then they converted them to the Reebok Edge template the following season.

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That's it for today! As I said, I will try to post them as they get one.

-Scott

Are The Wolf Pack Returning To Hartford?

What's going on guys? 

Today's post isn't a concept post but more of some speculation regarding the American Hockey League franchise in Hartford, Connecticut. My backyard if you will...There has been a lot of doubt these past few months as to weather there will be professional hockey in Hartford next season with the Connecticut Whale's lease at the XL Center being up at the end of this season. The New York Rangers have said that they would like to keep the franchise in Hartford but lease talks have been halted due to the fact that the current lease to operate the building is up in August. AEG, the company that currently runs the XL Center, has operated the building since 2007 (Before that, Madison Square Garden Inc. was in control of the building since the Whalers packed up for North Carolina) was among three companies the Capital Region Development Authority were accepting bids from to operate the building come august. The other two Companies bidding were "The Bushnell", a local company headed by former Hartford Whaler, Bob Crawford and Global Spectrum. A company that is owned by Philadelphia Flyers owner, Ed Snyder. And after months of mulling over the bids, the CRDA finally chose a winner last week...The Winner was Global Spectrum.

Now that all the craziness is all set and done, now comes the time to find an keep/find an AHL franchise in Hartford. Reason being is that the arena management contract deal can't really be finalized until one is secured. Global Spectrum has until March 1st to keep the current AHL franchise or have one relocate or the deal will be voided.

MSG has expressed that they want to stay in Hartford because of the success of their prospects and the close proximity to NYC. Shortly after the arena deal was announced, there has been talks that a lease deal with the CT Whale is very close from being done.

Now here is the part about the name of the franchise...

If/when a lease deal with the current AHL franchise is finalized, one question that comes to mind is what name will we be rooting for come next season? When Howard Baldwin was run out of Hartford late this past off season, his group allowed AEG to use the CT Whale's name and logos. Now that AEG wont manage the arena or the team, Baldwin may not let GS use the CT Whale brand. If not. What will they be called? Well, a few days ago, MSG renewed the "hartfordwolfpack.com" domain. Renaming the team the Hartford Wolf Pack would seem like the easiest option due to the fact that MSG still owns the rights to the Wolf Pack name and logos.

So hopefully sooner, rather than later, a decision will be made so Hartford Hockey fans can have a name to root for.

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I'm sure this story might not make sense to some of you because I am not great at writing thing like this. So, if you have any questions or need any clarifications, feel free to leave a comment and I will gladly answer!

-Scott

Cleveland Barons Concept

What's going on guys? This post involves a first for me. It's my first concept where ALL primary/secondary logos are original work by me! I normally do not make logos due to the fact that I am not very good at making them. But for this, I decided to jump out of my comfort zone and swing for the fences so to speak...Anyway, I'm gonna first post the logos then the uniform set...ENJOY!

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(Primary)

(Secondary. Top- Home, Bottom- Road)
 

*I will update the post with a word mark at some point...

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And here is the uniform set...

(3rd based on jersey worn by the AHL's Cleveland Barons)

Purple & black isn't currently used by many teams right now, only two that I can think of. The Manchester Monarchs (AHL) and the Reading Royals (also ECHL). I think it's an awesome color combo but when I got the suggestion to use them, I thought adding grey would help the purple and black contrast a little more. I also went with a striping pattern that's unique to the ECHL.
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Hope you enjoy it! Feel free to comment!

Also, stay safe for my fellow New Englander's this weekend with the the monster snow storm!

-Scott