Back in the SMJHL, Jett Labyrinth’s favourite team to play away was the Nevada Battleborn, which of course is located in the city of Las Vegas. Jett is not much of a gambler and didn’t participate in many antics there, but the sheer spectacle of the city always fascinated him. They were not in the same conference as Newfoundland so they weren’t there often which made it even more special each time they visited. Now in his rookie season in the SHL, he’s experiencing a whole different set of cities he’s never been to that he's enjoying as a first timer. So far his favourite city to visit has been Chicago, which he’s been to twice now as they’re a division rival. Jett had a day off there and decided to take a city tour with a few of his teammates. All of the beautiful architecture in the city is what really stood out to him and made him fall in love with the city.
Erik Johnson is really excited for when his time in the SHL comes around, as he was born in Bloomington Minnesota, so hell be able to go home and have a nice hot dish with his parents when he gets the oppurtunity, for right now in the SMJHL hes really been enjoying Maine and Vancouver, he loves vancouver because it strongly reminds him of all the stories and pranks he has played in seattle, and seeing as vancouver is essentially canadian seattle, the parallels are easy to draw between the two cities, but he absolutely adores maine. Erik Johnson simply cannot get enough of this maine lobster, hell eat lobster bisque, lobster rolls, lobster salad, straight up lobster butter, maine lobster has opened his eyes to how upsetting red lobster as a chain is and frankly has ruined alot of childhood memories for him involving the seafood chain, but has enlightened him to the glorious creation that is maine lobster as a whole
Bam loves to do some traveling during the season and his favorite place to that’s out of conference is to Anchorage to do some fishing with the locals. There’s nothing like fishing to clear your head before a game. Hockey is giving Bam a chance to travel to places he has never been are thought about ever going. Now in conference would have to be St Louis because of the bbq. Them St Louis ribs hit a little different. As the agent of Bam Morris it’s been interesting to get this country boy to different places. There’s more places he likes to get to especially when there’s fishing involved. Hopefully the next time I’m in Maine somebody can take Bam hunting.so on behalf of Bam he wants to give a shootout to the Highlanders for having him on the squad. Anytime you in Texas I’ll take y’all fishing and hunting and some of that good old Texas bbq.
Being in his second season in the SHL, Ville Sato-Maki always enjoys playing in San Francisco against the San Francisco Pride. Game-wise, it is always brutal to play against the Pride as they stomp on the Aurora (at least for now). However, city-wise it is great to be in a temperate area with the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Park with food from all sorts of cultures and such. Of course, San Francisco has a few blemishes that all big cities in North America has, but it has many highlights as well! In particular, Ville Sato-Maki loves the Japanese food in Japantown with the food being arguably the 3rd best place to find Japanese food behind Vancouver and of course Japan itself, but that's a given. It's also really nice to see the bright sun most of the days compared to rainy Vancouver! However, nothing truly beats being at home in Vancouver where Sato-Maki grew up and lives in the offseason.
philippe eko eel's favorite place to visit is tampa bay - not because he likes playing against the barracuda or anything like that but because he enjoys being so close to the water (in the bay). eels are from water and he enjoys when, on a trip to tampa bay, the team has an extra day or two before or sometimes even after the game as he gets to visit the water and go for a realistic swim. of course there's water elsewhere (e.g., boston, san francisco, los angeles, seattle, manhattan) but the tampa bay vibes (bay [water] even in the name right there!) really hits aquatic style. if the inferno have a game against the barracuda on a thursday and get into tampa bay on wednesday morning, for example, philippe eko eel will spend the day at the practice rink skating with the team, then after team dinner head to the gulf of mexico for a nice long natural style swim. he would spend the night there if he were allowed to, but the team has a strict curfew to keep the ruffians out of trouble @goldenglutes lord knows the strip clubs in tampa bay would be in for a surprise if the atlanta inferno wrecking crew came on through!!! @frithjofr
Expansion into new markets is always a tricky situation for a hockey league. There's a delicate dance between the league confidently celebrating the arrival of top-tier sport and the need to woo a wary or indifferent fan-base. Act too much like you're doing the fans a favour simply by appearing, and you'll look arrogant; be too desperate to please the fans, and you'll look like a small-time operation.
One of the keys to a good expansion is doing the hard work of understanding the city that you're entering long before making too many decisions. What is the history of hockey in this city? Is this a city just learning about hockey? Has there been a painful history with past pro teams leaving fanbase behind?
Probably the number one best thing to do is to connect, in a meaningful and earnest way, with the most hardcore hockey fans in the city. Get to know them, actually meet them in person and listen to their concerns and desires. Branding seems like one of the first things a team needs to decide, but it should only follow the work of understanding the city's biggest hockey fans. Lose the ultras and you lose the soul of the hockey community.
My favorite city to visit is without a doubt Chicago. I am biased, because I was born and raised in Chicago, but I believe it is one of the most beautiful cities in America. Not only is Chicago amazing, but it is home for me. When we travel to Chicago to take on the Syndicate, I get the chance to invite so many friends and family to the game and then get to go back to my parents house for a home cooked meal. Living in Texas now, I do not get to spend time in Chicago like I used to. Now when I go back, I am like a tourist visiting all of the classic spots like Navy Pier and the Bean. I really do feel like a kid again, and to be able to play in front of fans who were just like myself attending Blackhawks and Syndicate game, it means a lot. Of course, it does not help that Chicago is a rival of ours, but I will always love the city no matter what!
I think that there are a few important things that a sports team should strive for when coming up with a name and branding.
1) Relevance to the location.
2) A good collective noun.
3) Good potential for secondary branding.
1) While it's easy to get suckered into googling "what is x known for" and picking one of the top results, I don't think that's necessarily the answer. New Orleans is known for a lot of things, and it's known as one of the most 'haunted' cities in America. I think the Specters, then, lean on that in an interesting way. It might have been too easy to go for the Jazz/Mardi Gras route. Similarly, with Philadelphia, while the city itself isn't known for iron/steel works, Pennsylvania as a whole is, and the connection to Philly doesn't seem too tenuous. Is Seattle known for their relationship to Greek Mythology? I dunno. It doesn't feel as plausible to be walking around the city of Seattle and meat a guy from the Argos as it does to be walking through Edmonton and experience a blizzard.
2) Try using your team's name in your head for a few different instances. Is the opposing team's star forward winding his way through a field of Scarecrows? Is he splitting a couple of Inferno? Is your goaltender facing down a 2 on 1 against a couple of Walleye? Some collective nouns hit the ear better than others, team names that are already pluralized I think do better, or names that are "base plurals" or "uncountable nouns" like Inferno, or Lightning (from the real NHL) loan themselves better to this. I think it just sounds "stronger".
3) Potential for secondary branding is one of my favorite things to consider, and by this I think about how the Tampa Bay Lightning can call their remote fans the "distant thunder" and invite their fans to "be the thunder", their outdoor viewing area is called Thunder Alley, they have the tesla coils in the arena, strong musical choices that feature the word Lightning/Thunder, etc. Every team has all of these little opportunities, and it definitely feels more natural for some than others. I think that having that strong branding is important though.
Written 1: Langston really enjoys going to San Francisco purely to head to Chinatown in the city. He always circles the away games versus San Francisco because he knows he will be eating extremely well. His favorite is to hit up the dim sum places as he is trying to make a list of his favorite dim sum places to eat. He also has a separate list for egg rolls but that’s beside the point because that is universal, not specific to San Francisco. After each dim sum brunch, Langston heads off to the bay where his friend has a boat and he sleeps on it with a beautiful view of the Golden Gate Bridge before waking then going for dinner, getting something different from a different restaurant each time.
His second favorite spot is New England, again this is purely food based. He goes to town on lobster rolls and clam chowder while he is there.
Option 1: Nor favourite city to visit since he made the move to the SHL is Montreal. Since they usually don’t have a lot to do at the hotel when they are on the road, Nor likes to go for a long walk at least once a day when they are in visiting an opponent. In terms of infrastructure for pedestrians, Montreal is probably the best equipped city to walk around without having to worry too much about cars. Montreal is also a fairly dense city, which means you can see a lot of different things during a single long walk. Montreal is also unique in how it is compared to the other cities in the league which makes it interesting to go around. It also has great food offerings, and it is always great to grab a good meal on the road. On top of that, Montreal kind of reminds Nor of his time in Quebec City during his SMJHL days and nostalgia usually has a great influence on what you like.
Marek's favorite road trip is LA because of the beaches and overall vibes. It makes a great place to take an extra day or two and its a place he doesnt get to quite as often as some of the other places. Theres hollywood, theme parks, easy access to multiple beaches and scenic areas as well as opulent shopping and pretty decent weather at any point in the season, especially in comparison to some of the other locations (looking at you, Edmonton). Last season, Marek finally tried surfing for the first time, getting into a private class with a few of his teammates and now that's an option as well. There are other cities that he enjoys visiting too, however. Seattle is a favorite because of his families roots in the pacific northwest and the fact that he comes from a brewery family, the beer scene there is excellent - however thats tough to truly appreciate in-season. Otherwise, New Orleans is great because its so different from everywhere else and the food is unique. Chicago is a big city with lots of things to do, like the museum of science and innovation (although its often bitterly cold with the wind.) Inside the division, Manhattan is always a trip and Tampa has some draw as well because you can get on the water easily.
For me for an expansion application to be deemed successful, I feel there needs to be a lot of work put into it. Not only do you need unique Locations, Team Names and such it has to make sense. This is one of the most exciting parts of making an expansion application in my mind. When I applied for a SMJHL expansion team (no I didn't get picked) the best part of the whole process was picking a location and researching the history and team ideas from the lore and beliefs of that area. I went through 3-4 different ideas before settling on one and then dedicating hours into doing the rest of the application. So in my opinion you have to have a unique location, with a geographically accurate mascot/team name, with an eye popping logo that puts the whole package together. I am super excited to see the upcoming new teams that will be joining the league and seeing what new locations it takes us to.
Credit to Ragnar and Enigmatic for the great Signatures
Rich Moderators
S30, S31, S39 Challenge Cup Champion
Posts:3,136 Threads: 183 Joined: Jun 2015 Reputation:30
Discord: rich_shl
Pronouns: He/Him
Player: Adam Prpich
I think the first thing you need is a location that makes sense. A market of reasonable size for a professional sports franchise to start with. Next I want a branding that makes sense for the location and also sounds good in combination. Alliteration is cool, but not necessary. For colors, something unique would be nice, but given how many teams we have it can be tricky. Don't do something too crazy just for the sake of being unique, but try to avoid the most represented colors in the league. Put these things together and work with someone who can create a piece of art that is broadly consistent with the aesthetic of the other logos in the league, as well as unique and interesting to look at. Something that is easily recognizable and translates well when put on a hockey jersey. I always look forward to what people come up with. We have some incredibly creative and talented people in this league, so I bet we get some amazing team concepts.
Magenta
![[Image: hqBRlWW.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hqBRlWW.png)
![[Image: jttEoMa.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/jttEoMa.jpeg)
![[Image: Uy7TeEn.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/Uy7TeEn.jpeg)
![[Image: Ivy-Atl.gif?ex=67f551de&is=67f4005e&hm=e...b237feaa0&]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/744742467332472884/1357757134569476248/Ivy-Atl.gif?ex=67f551de&is=67f4005e&hm=e2933a849621592da1f9eb14370cdca1891c7c3bb24e696f4c20607b237feaa0&)
![[Image: czfogRW.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/czfogRW.jpeg)
![[Image: F84OPdM.jpeg]](https://i.imgur.com/F84OPdM.jpeg)
![[Image: dragons.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/dragons.png)
![[Image: wolfpack2.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/wolfpack2.png)
![[Image: stars.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/stars.png)
![[Image: Dxdffra.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Dxdffra.png)
![[Image: hGKuRrv.png]](http://imgur.com/hGKuRrv.png)
![[Image: sAx3Llh.jpg]](http://i.imgur.com/sAx3Llh.jpg)
![[Image: firebirds.png]](https://simulationhockey.com/images/smilies/firebirds.png)
![[Image: v09bRKvt_o.jpg]](https://images2.imgbox.com/06/17/v09bRKvt_o.jpg)
![[Image: x17WALp.png]](https://i.imgur.com/x17WALp.png)
![[Image: hUtg6sH.png]](https://i.imgur.com/hUtg6sH.png)
![[Image: pPWkZOM.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pPWkZOM.png)
![[Image: Q9Ii17g.png]](https://i.imgur.com/Q9Ii17g.png)
Rich
![[Image: Dextaria.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/Dextaria.gif)
![[Image: Niz2wua.png]](http://i.imgur.com/Niz2wua.png)
![[Image: iB9r7kM.png]](http://i.imgur.com/iB9r7kM.png)
![[Image: 6by0kBi.png]](http://i.imgur.com/6by0kBi.png)
![[Image: S81-PT2.jpg]](https://i.postimg.cc/XvC3cbFp/S81-PT2.jpg)
![[Image: ekovanotter.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/ekovanotter.gif)
![[Image: YID8cTr.png]](https://i.imgur.com/YID8cTr.png)
![[Image: RichSHL.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/RichSHL.gif)
