Fixing the Elite Ice Hockey League (Great Britain) *Nottingham Panthers and Fauxbacks!*

[1clkgtramg]

Alrighty, so I was thinking of cleaning up the Elite Ice Hockey League in Great Britain in hopes of creating a European Hockey League that would rank 3rd in Pro Hockey leagues. It would feature the Elite Ice Hockey League, Leagues in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, France, Lower Countries and Scandinavia as the KHL basically owns the rest. Country restricted, football style leagues aren't working; KHL got that right. I also wanted to make it somewhat realistic with most of them being owned by NHL teams or at least have agreements to develop players and all that business junk - so if some look too cookie cutter, NHL templates, well it's gonna happen. I was also possibly thinking of an AHL style farm team, development league. I'm just trying to guess what it would look like if hockey was as successful in Western Europe as it is here in North America. But, I won't get ahead of myself; I will start with just the EIHL.

Most Fonts were from Conrad at http://fontsbyconrad.wordpress.com/
Templates are custom and some from http://nhluniformmatchupdatabase.weebly.com


Anyway, I will start with one concept every so often and if a few people think an edit is needed, I will work on that until I am happy with it. I have a few finished already but I don't want to rush it so here goes.



I'll start off with Hull Stingrays

I wanted a double blue look and I originally was testing out drawing Hockey logos as I completely suck at it. I basically copied the Devil Rays logo but then thought it wasn't right, I need to be more Creative. So I made a basic Stingray design but wanted to keep the Manta Ray to keep it unique and aggressive. I still kept the Devil Rays style logo as a secondary logo because I needed a shoulder patch and was out of idea at the time.

[JTswag187]

for a secondary you could have an H flow into a stingray

[1clkgtramg]

for a secondary you could have an H flow into a stingray

I could try something, I'm thinking of how that could work but it may look too forced. Another option is having the NHL team as one of the shoulder patches as the AHL does.. I'll see what I can do.

[AlexInHBurg]

That. Is. AWESOME! Get me one of those jerseys stat!

[hockey week]

That's beautiful. I like best the white shoulders on the road and lack of shoulders at home. Usually it's the other way around, and that works fantastically there.

[PackerFan98]

Hull looks really nice

[1clkgtramg]

Wow, happy with the positive feedback. That said, I may just leave Hull alone.

BTW there will be Winter Classic/Throwback/Fauxback/Tribute jerseys at the end for most teams - or maybe all.


For now, I will post a simple one. This one I came up with in a dream when Dallas Stars mentioned they were going green. I'm not a huge fan of their current jerseys at all, that colour of green just bugs me. So I decided I would just remake my Dallas Starts concept for Dundee Stars. There will be another one up later today. Feel free to suggest the next one; if it's completed, I'll post it

[1clkgtramg]

Nothing? Oh well, moving on.


Next up is Belfast Giants. I'm really not a big fan of the Eagles/Patriots logo that seems to be sneaking its way in. I think the main logo is pretty solid for the league it's in and is one of the more popular logos in the EIHL and is probably the best known team as well. I really love their Aquafresh Toothpaste colour scheme and I got the diagonal striping idea from the incomplete side striping they currently have. I decided to use the "Patriots" logo as a shoulder patch and with them being a popular team, I made them an alternate jersey with it as well. BTW I'm trying to be realistic, those teams hurting for money will have the same Helmets and Pants and no Alternate jerseys where those more financially stable will be able to have different Helmet and Pants for their Alternates.

[sparkychewbarky]

Nice clean work there, 1.

I agree with hockeyweek on the Hull unis.

I'm not a fan of white contrasting shoulders, but that idea works great with the Hull concept.

The Stars green 'n white looks great.

The Giants' second logo should be their primary IMO, and you're right, the Giants would be able to pull off a third.

Good work.

[Fullarmor]

Love the Belfast's jerseys.

[1clkgtramg]

Nice clean work there, 1.

I agree with hockeyweek on the Hull unis.

I'm not a fan of white contrasting shoulders, but that idea works great with the Hull concept.

The Stars green 'n white looks great.

The Giants' second logo should be their primary IMO, and you're right, the Giants would be able to pull off a third.

Good work.

Thanks guys

I tried to put the "Patriots" logo on the diagonal striped ones and it looks too plain. I think its maybe the triangle in the old logo that helps compliment the diagonal stripes. I will fool around with different designs and post them later.

[wildwing64]

Not sure if a Dallas-esque design would work for Dundee. Not to say it doesn't look nice, because it does, but I don't think green and white are the first colours people think of when they think of Dundee. Maybe a blue and white scheme reminiscent of the Scottish flag would work better here.

What I'd really like to see though is an original logo. It bugs me to no end when teams here in the UK lazily pinch pro team logos off of Google. Granted, it's usually better than what most teams have come up with on their own, the Stars included, but that of course is besides the point Would love to see what you can come up with!

EDIT: Just noticed the shoulder patch. What would that look like as the primary crest?

[1clkgtramg]

Not sure if a Dallas-esque design would work for Dundee. Not to say it doesn't look nice, because it does, but I don't think green and white are the first colours people think of when they think of Dundee. Maybe a blue and white scheme reminiscent of the Scottish flag would work better here.

What I'd really like to see though is an original logo. It bugs me to no end when teams here in the UK lazily pinch pro team logos off of Google. Granted, it's usually better than what most teams have come up with on their own, the Stars included, but that of course is besides the point Would love to see what you can come up with!

EDIT: Just noticed the shoulder patch. What would that look like as the primary crest?

I see your points, but there were a few reasons for it.

1. I already had the Dallas Stars concept and didn't want to waste it.

2. Dundee's current colours are Red, White and Blue which clashes with London Monarchs, Edinburgh Capitals and in some ways, Belfast Giants. I'm trying my best to make unique schemes.

3. As I mentioned in the first post, I picture a lot of these teams to be owned to some degree by NHL teams. This one is obviously Dallas. It also allows the Stars to use their old colours and logo that many still prefer over the new ones.

4. I didnt want to clash with the 2 major football - soccer- teams in Dundee (Orange being United, Blue being Dundee FC).

5. I have developmental teams for each of these Elite teams, so that makes Aberdeen North Stars the affiliate of Dundee - they will be Green, Gold and White.

I do put effort into my designs, I'm not being lazy, I just liked it the way it is. Just be glad I didn't use a Scotland map with a star like Dallas always has with Texas.

Basingstoke Bison will still use the old Buffalo logo they currently use, so prepare yourself lol.

as for the D* logo being the primary, it is far too bland. I didnt really like how it turned out, I almost didn't even use it as a shoulder patch.

EDIT

BTW Sparky, I realized I still had the teal outline on the Giants logo, switched it to white and it looks a little bit better. Maybe I am just too attached to the old logo, but this version is probably better.

[hockey week]

It might help as a point of reference to include what the teams currently look like. These are great, but I don't think we get just how great because we don't see the improvement.

[1clkgtramg]

It might help as a point of reference to include what the teams currently look like. These are great, but I don't think we get just how great because we don't see the improvement.

Great point, here's a little comparison for now, as well as a teaser for the team I'm currently working on. Belfast was pretty much untouched so there was no need to compare.

[qwerty]

The new logos look a hundred percent better than the actual ones

[1clkgtramg]

Alrighty, So I'm going to post my edited Belfast Giants again so people can see the old versions as well and see the progression. Also, I decided to use different names and numbers just to give people some variety.

I decided to bite the bullet and fuse the 2 logos together. I made the dudes hair the same Red colour as the Patriots logo and got rid of the Gold. Gold is still used subtly though, on the pants, and the giants wrist and headbands.

[sparkychewbarky]

Great idea to show the old and new, so we can see your improvements with some reference.

...And you've made all of them better.

I like what you've done with the Giants.

Belfast has a nice little franchise.

I've never been to a Giants' game, but I have been inside their arena.

It's a pretty sweet facility.

[mamiller99]

I hated the Manchester Phoenix old logo, it looked so blah. Glad to see you fix it.

[1clkgtramg]

Great idea to show the old and new, so we can see your improvements with some reference.

...And you've made all of them better.

I like what you've done with the Giants.

Belfast has a nice little franchise.

I've never been to a Giants' game, but I have been inside their arena.

It's a pretty sweet facility.

I think they are maybe the only one with a decent arena lol. I actually believe the one in Sheffield is nice. I have been in Edinburgh's Arena and damn is it awesome and horrible haha. The chairs are still the ones from the 1930's, the rink had a tighter curvature than IIHF rules are I believe. Glasgow's Arena was actually pretty good for being in a mall. Ayr demolished their new(ish) arena and put a Sainsbury's there lmfao so now they use their old one. I guess they never learn

Anyway, moving on to Manchester Phoenix. Can you guess which NHL team owns them? I already knew I wanted to use the Brick Red colour and it is fitting for a Phoenix - it being a bird on fire. I stayed away from copying the Coyotes template but similar to Dundee; I wanted to make a simple design, 1 colour only. I thought it was best for those franchises with mixed identities and obnoxious logos.